Reviews

In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power

noranne's review against another edition

3.0

I found this book a little hard to get into. Eventually the story ended up picking up a little, but then it kind of went all over the place at the end. The idea of the characters and how they deal with their abusive father and their magical responsibilities was interesting, but they did not feel very real to me. I wasn't very sympathetic to them, running around acting like teenagers despite being ~100 years old. Obviously this is only the first book, so it couldn't end yet, but IMO the only satisfying ending would be

Spoiler

this whole damn family realizing they've already had more life than anyone else and accepting they should all just die

. Also there was a significant death that actually surprised me and started what I saw as a bit of a derailment of the book's momentum that was

Spoiler

then completely and casually undone in the epilogue? In fact that whole epilogue was a big no from me. A huge exposition dump to end the book does not make me excited for the next book, it makes me wonder why the f I spent so much time reading about other crap when actual important things could have been shown on the page.

All in all, the worldbuilding felt a bit thin to me. I don't really see how these families would stay in power, when they don't actually have any power. Their magic is not skills so much as it is caretaking, and if they stop doing it (ie die) then it just goes back to being done automatically. Lots of people are said to have authority who I don't think actually would have any real authority. There were some comically see-through plot points

Spoiler

the eternally overlooked second son was the real villain! dun dun dun! the random proposition by the weakest member of the group to destroy the most powerful member of the group was in fact immediately told to that person, shock!

I might pick up the sequel if I see it around (from the library, like this one), but I don't think I'll be waiting for it.

kleebo's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bluedaisygirl's review against another edition

3.0

This is really a 3.5.
I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would. I wasn't a big fan of Wilder Girls, but I liked the description of this one and wanted to give it a chance.
While it started out slow and didn't really keep my interest at first, it kept getting more and more interesting and at about 40% of the way in I was hooked.
The names of everyone in the beginning was unnecessary because they made it seem like keeping track of everyone's name and where they were from was more important than it was.
Sometimes I had questions about the magic and how it worked and why.
But I did like the sibling dynamics and the themes of family and sacrifice.

femme4fleurs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

yuck1209's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

• I get that Vasili is an abusive father and all, which complicates the feelings his respective children had for him. But it took much longer than I expected for them to reevaluate their misguided loyalty to him. I kept wanting to shake some sense into the twins, Lexos in particular. 
• The relationship between Rhea and Lexos is supposed to be particularly close. They’re twins, the book insists, so they have a unique bond and shared understanding. But it never quite comes together in a way that feels genuine or authentic. In fact, I felt taken aback at how little they seemed to know one another and the disregard they sometimes had for the other’s abilities. 
• Neither Rhea nor Lexos seemed good or competent at what they were supposed to do. Rhea wasn’t particularly clever or good at manipulating the men around her, which is like her whole thing with her consorts. Lexos is easily outmaneuvered by Tarro and his second. Neither of them considers
  <Nitsos the threat he ends up being despite there being no other person with access to the mechanical spies that appear throughout the story
  .
• The magic was somewhat explained but didn’t quite make sense to me, particularly as it related to the Stratagiozi federation and governance of a the varying kingdoms. I suppose it doesn’t help that, other than the Argyosi, we don’t really see many other Stratagiozi abilities. But the ones we DO see don’t seem important enough to stop anyone from murdering them and returning their power to the earth. Like they’re long-lived but not immortal. 
• I was baffled at how quickly the Sxoriza accept Rhea as on their side, especially Michali. They so readily accept her explanation and her “plan” to take over Stratathoma. 
• I felt bad for Nitsos and Chrysanthi. No one bothered to care about them in any meaningful way, and they were constantly underestimated or dismissed by their family as unimportant or ignorant of any goings-on. 
• The reveal that Nitsos was manipulating Rhea and influenced her decisions through the book felt like an odd choice. Was it intended as a way to invalidate her choices and sense of agency throughout the book?

atypicalfemale's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

kleonard's review against another edition

1.0

I was really enjoying this--neurodiverse characters, characters doing smart things and learning from mistakes, interesting plots and conflicts, a terrific world (although the magic system is vague and makes little sense)--until the villain is revealed to be the character coded as autistic. Really? Oh yes, we autistics, we have no love for family or anyone, we don't have the same emotions as others, we're machine-like evildoers. It made me furious. I am still furious. I'd give it 0 stars if I could.

snuzzbobble's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

bryn_cavin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

adr14nn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

the romance was too sudden and not built up properly, made it harder to actually dive into. everything happened either very quickly or very slowly, a bit weird to read