Reviews

I have spent a lot of this year struggling to find my reading groove. A lot of books have felt disappointing and I was worried that I had fallen into a permanent reading slump. However, this book has proved that I was maybe just reading mediocre books. This felt like reading the Cassandra Clare books that I love but in a whole new, unique universe with equally unique characters. Every one of these characters felt real with their own individual voices. Additionally, the chemistry and relationships between them was deliciously complicated in a way that led to some truly emotional back and forth. The representation throughout this book was on point with some very important, still relevant discussions taking place. I thought it was weird that the only thing the author changed about judaism and irish catholicism to make them more magical was their names but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was just odd. Either way, the representations of these two groups was excellently done. Additionally, inclusion of different types of neuro-divergency was handled very well. The plot was hugely engaging throughout with a satisfying tie off. Overall, this book was made for me and I loved it.

miagic_tome's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

This was a fun and unique fantasy book that is pretty east to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it but there were some parts that I really thought could've used another round or two of editing, mostly in the world building parts.

The Sumic, Yu'adir, and Kathartist religions were interesting in their differing interpretations on the same topics, like the Demiurge. But the almost one to one comparisons of language and practices to real life religions was so off putting it took me out of immersion. Reading words like Bible and confession felt so out of place in this story that tries so hard to be fantastical. Not to mention the very blatant antisemitic conspiracy theories that occurred within the world. How many religious groups can be hated for secretly controlling all the banks? At least two apparently. Considering how important it was that the main characters were religious minorities, these uncanny mentions happen quite a few times and it really struck me as odd every time, I feel like there are new practices and forms of hatred that could've taken place.

Despite the above, I really enjoyed the interactions between all the characters, good and bad. Margaret and Wes's inner monologues were immersive I loved both of them going from hate/indifference to begrudging companionship to.... more. Oh but it was like deja vu to see

the two of them having a heart to heart next to an injured dying animal while she points her gun at him for seemingly no reason than to raise the tension? twice. How did that exact situation happen twice?

As complainy as this review has been, I did enjoy this book and am open to reading more works from this author at some point.

Content Warnings

lumea19's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

2023 was een heel slecht leesjaar voor me, maar dit was het enige boek die ik niet opzij had kunnen leggen!

De herfstige, magische sfeer was namelijk heel sterk - zo sterk dat ik telkens naar dit boek getrokken werd. Ik verheugde me telkens weer om erin te lezen!
Verder vond ik dit boek ook heel lekker weglezen wegens het luchtige taalgebruik en de hilarische omschrijvingen.
Ik vond het ook positief dat de liefdesinteresse van de jongen niet beeldschoon is, maar eerder gemiddeld. Dit is namelijk ook hoe het in de realiteit is en zo krijgt de lezer geen onrealistische beelden van hoe hun geliefde eruit moet zien.
Ook vond ik het mythische wezen, de Hala, heel authentiek overkomen op de een of andere manier: alsof er in de echte wereld eeuwenoude folklore bestaat over dit wezen!
Bij andere fantasyboeken heb ik dit niet snel.

Ik vond alleen dat de chemie tussen de twee hoofdpersonen niet voelbaar was, ookal was het te merken dat de schrijfster dit wel probeerde te bewerkstelligen. Zonde.

Ook staat er op de flaptekst van het boek dat de jacht op de Hala erg belangrijk is, maar 80% of 90% van het boek speelt zich af vooraf deze jacht. Zo lijkt het alsof het boek zijn belofte niet helemaal waarmaakt.

Alhoewel dit boek imperfecties heeft, blijft het toch een favoriet van me!

missclaudiaar's review against another edition

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4.5

Full review coming soon but Wes and Margaret are so Royai-coded, I literally will never be over it. If you love Fullmetal Alchemist (and Roy and Riza in particular), you will love this book. So naturally I did.

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