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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rounding up to 4, because it's probably a bit closer to 4 than 3 but somewhere in between and I could give either.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve enjoyed everything by this author that I’ve read so far. His world building is great and his characters are well-built although not the most deeply crafted I’ve ever come across. Most of all they’re just super fun reads, and this is no different.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. WOW!!! I am actually blown away by how much I love Foundryside. It’s been a while since I’ve felt so engrossed by a book; yes I’m talking about that please-just-one-more-chapter-then-I’ll-go-to-bed feeling, the I-need-to-know-how-this-will-turn-out-then-I’ll-stop-reading feeling. AAAhhhh I love this book so much!!
Ok some (slightly more) coherent thoughts – Foundryside, at its core, is an epic fantasy with a strong focus on high-stake heists. What that means is you’re going to see some cool ass magic and lots of fast-paced actions and plotlines. But what really sets this book apart for me is how insanely awesome (and awesomely insane?) all the characters are. I seriously love every character in this book. I could relate to or admire them all in some way or another. The shining superstar though, is our main character Sancia (san-chee-uh) Grado. She is honestly the kind of headstrong woman I hope to be.
Yasss queen! YOU TELL ‘EM!
I’m not going to spoil your fun by telling who Sancia is. You’ll find out as you read the book, and I hope you’ll have as much of a blast as I did in doing so. By the way, there’s a small part of sapphic romance in here that made me squeal so hard. Unfortunately, it was not the focus of the book, but I had expected that from the start.
TL;DR: I am currently beating myself up for not gobbling this book up sooner. And still daydreaming about it even after having long finished it. If you’re in the mood for some high fantasy and female badassery, do yourself a favor and check this book out!
Ok some (slightly more) coherent thoughts – Foundryside, at its core, is an epic fantasy with a strong focus on high-stake heists. What that means is you’re going to see some cool ass magic and lots of fast-paced actions and plotlines. But what really sets this book apart for me is how insanely awesome (and awesomely insane?) all the characters are. I seriously love every character in this book. I could relate to or admire them all in some way or another. The shining superstar though, is our main character Sancia (san-chee-uh) Grado. She is honestly the kind of headstrong woman I hope to be.
“My life’s not a hell of a lot better since I escaped the plantation. I still starve a lot and I still get beaten occasionally. But at least now I get to say no when I want to. And I’m saying it now.” She turned and walked out.”
Yasss queen! YOU TELL ‘EM!
I’m not going to spoil your fun by telling who Sancia is. You’ll find out as you read the book, and I hope you’ll have as much of a blast as I did in doing so. By the way, there’s a small part of sapphic romance in here that made me squeal so hard. Unfortunately, it was not the focus of the book, but I had expected that from the start.
TL;DR: I am currently beating myself up for not gobbling this book up sooner. And still daydreaming about it even after having long finished it. If you’re in the mood for some high fantasy and female badassery, do yourself a favor and check this book out!
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this book and will probably read the sequel, but it’s not without its flaws. Foundryside required me to actively suspend my disbelief and hold it at bay. My foes in this task included an ancient, sentient key , whose anachronistic manner of speaking most closely resembled the “hello, fellow kids” meme, and a magic system that made less sense the more it was explained. And it was explained a lot.
Once I forced myself not to think too hard about it, I did enjoy Foundryside for what it is: a heist novel. The plot itself was solid and the pacing was good, though the ending felt a little abrupt. The book was laden with twists and reveals, some of which were very well executed. I also found the lore interesting. Because none of the POV characters understood the lore, it didn’t suffer from the over-explaining that hindered the magic/technology of the present.
As for the characters, they were mostly likable but satisfyingly complex. There was appreciable, earned growth from all the secondary characters. I think I was most underwhelmed with the main character’s arc. I’d like to have seen more of her development manifest throughout the novel; it was sort of spelled out for her by a literal deus ex machina. So much telling, not enough showing in this book. Still, the characters did feel fleshed out. The tropey stock characters were few and far between. That said, Bennet uses the antagonist-to-ally bait and switch one time too many for the eventual antagonist reveal to have much shock value.
At the end of the day, this is still a novel I’ll recommend to my friends.
Once I forced myself not to think too hard about it, I did enjoy Foundryside for what it is: a heist novel. The plot itself was solid and the pacing was good, though the ending felt a little abrupt. The book was laden with twists and reveals, some of which were very well executed. I also found the lore interesting. Because none of the POV characters understood the lore, it didn’t suffer from the over-explaining that hindered the magic/technology of the present.
As for the characters, they were mostly likable but satisfyingly complex. There was appreciable, earned growth from all the secondary characters. I think I was most underwhelmed with the main character’s arc. I’d like to have seen more of her development manifest throughout the novel; it was sort of spelled out for her by a literal deus ex machina. So much telling, not enough showing in this book. Still, the characters did feel fleshed out. The tropey stock characters were few and far between. That said, Bennet uses the antagonist-to-ally bait and switch one time too many for the eventual antagonist reveal to have much shock value.
At the end of the day, this is still a novel I’ll recommend to my friends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Vomit, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Minor: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Car accident
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes