Reviews

First of all, this book is weird. But it is so good. The world is vivid, but feels very alien at the same time. The magic in this world has this dark undertone to it that I don't see enough of in Fantasy. I think this book is loosely tied to her other series (The Raven Rings). It's been a while since I've read that series, and how I write reviews leaving out details to avoid spoilers doesn't help me when I go back to re-read reviews for stuff.

Juva is both likable and kind of unlikable. She is extremely stubborn, and she makes some really dumb decisions at times. Around the middle of the book she spent a lot of time waffling about how to handle something. While I get it to a degree, I feel like a lot of her problems could have been solved had she made a decision about some of it sooner.

Gríf, I struggled picturing what he looks like. And the fan art Pettersen has of him on her Instagram isn't what I thought he looked like. The fan art makes him look far too "human"... and he's not human. Maybe I missed a detail in his description, maybe something was lost in translation? The fan art is amazing, but I was picturing something else.

There are a lot of intertwined plot lines, a lot of backstabbing. And for a good while there I wasn't sure who I was supposed to root for. There are three POVs. I felt like one of them was slightly redundant with information we get from the characters. I also really hate that character in particular. What becomes of him is a little ambiguous, but I really hope karma catches up to him.

I have no idea where the story is headed from here, but I am excited to read it when it comes out.

sofielion's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Eg trur kven som helst som lika Ravneringene kjem til å lika denne (komande) trilogien, òg. Han er hakket meir vaksen i språket, men det oppfattast heller som ein måte å innvilga lesaren i verda heller enn å skapa reaksjon.

Og når eg snakkar om verda, så elskar eg korleis Pettersen har bygd henne opp! Det er ein fullstendig tydeleg estetikk som slukar lesaren inn i boka, og gjer det mykje lettare å skapa bilete i hovudet utan at alt skal forklarast.

Det er vel ingen karakter her eg ikkje likar, faktisk? Altså, til og med Solde, som er ei nokså motbydeleg jente, er ein godt skriven karakter.

Rugen var nok favoritten min, og Ester, viss eg skal taka med nokre av dei i mindre fokus. Han var vittig, og med eit heilt klart mål i livet. Det er fantastisk å lesa om korleis avhengigheita påverkar han.

Pettersen skriv med så fantastisk mykje karakter. Det er komplekst, men ikkje vanskeleg å setja seg inn i. Ikkje berre dét, men dei ymse perspektiva i kapitla har tydeleg personlegdom og tankegang. Eg las t.d. aldri eit kapittel om Nafraím, og trudde det handla om Juva.

Og apropos Nafraím, så er han kanskje den mest seksige mannen eg har lese om. Relaterer kraftig til Rugen der. Ned på alle fire med éin gong. No er eg skeiv, då, (i motsetnad til Rugen?) men uansett.

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