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dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Uh... How do I even begin?
I am so sad and disappointed. I really enjoyed The Thrashers and I wasn't expecting to. Soto made me enamored with her prose and ability to treat sensitive matters with a lot of respect in that narrative. The gripping paranormal mystery was exciting, she got me to love a mystery thriller which is not usually my jam. So when I found out she wrote a high fantasy book with a forbidden romance with emphasis on the angsty pining? I was sold!
... that is until I read it. What happened? How did the writing quality go so downhill? Why were the characters so flat? Where was that sensitivity to darker and serious materials? And I see some people saying this should been advertised as "Grimdark," and you know, while I feel like that would helped cover the type of material you get in the book adequately, that doesn't fix the hard-to-follow action scenes and some of the writing in general. What I mean is the actual prose itself is confusing, it's not just a taste thing. And I hate to keep bringing up The Thrashers, but I just don't understand. Soto wrote some very vivid and easy to action scenes.(Like swimming, crashing into river, gasping and frantically searching for an inhaler, etc.)
I'm stunned and stumped, not in a good way.
I will not be continuing the series. I'm rounding up to one star. Man... what a bummer...
Uh... How do I even begin?
I am so sad and disappointed. I really enjoyed The Thrashers and I wasn't expecting to. Soto made me enamored with her prose and ability to treat sensitive matters with a lot of respect in that narrative. The gripping paranormal mystery was exciting, she got me to love a mystery thriller which is not usually my jam. So when I found out she wrote a high fantasy book with a forbidden romance with emphasis on the angsty pining? I was sold!
... that is until I read it. What happened? How did the writing quality go so downhill? Why were the characters so flat? Where was that sensitivity to darker and serious materials? And I see some people saying this should been advertised as "Grimdark," and you know, while I feel like that would helped cover the type of material you get in the book adequately, that doesn't fix the hard-to-follow action scenes and some of the writing in general. What I mean is the actual prose itself is confusing, it's not just a taste thing. And I hate to keep bringing up The Thrashers, but I just don't understand. Soto wrote some very vivid and easy to action scenes.
I'm stunned and stumped, not in a good way.
I will not be continuing the series. I'm rounding up to one star. Man... what a bummer...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, War