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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
3,5 stars
Love the premise of the story, am delighted by the diversity of the characters, but the writing style feels too simplistic.
Love the premise of the story, am delighted by the diversity of the characters, but the writing style feels too simplistic.
I'm obsessed and in love with this series and I cant WAIT for the next books. Im not a picky reader, I dont notice errors or most plot holes if I like a book. And oh boy did I like this book. I didn't see stuff happen and some was kind of obvious, but it was still a great book. The characters and the suspense was destroying me. There was no doubt in my mind, I had to give it 5 stars.
I found AK Mulford on Tiktok and Im SO happy I was able to get a ARC for a honest review. Sometimes books dont live up to the hype, but this book went beyond my expectations. GREAT work.
I found AK Mulford on Tiktok and Im SO happy I was able to get a ARC for a honest review. Sometimes books dont live up to the hype, but this book went beyond my expectations. GREAT work.
The recipe: write a semi-decent story synopsis, take elements from the most famous fantasy books of current times
Shake it shake it shake it off.
That was this book. Zero points for originality.
A series of underwhelming scenes.
And, I want to write a list of copied-from-other-book scenes which were the most obvious ones, like I didn't even have to try to concentrate to remember where I have read them.
Will do that later, after I compile.
Shake it shake it shake it off.
That was this book. Zero points for originality.
A series of underwhelming scenes.
And, I want to write a list of copied-from-other-book scenes which were the most obvious ones, like I didn't even have to try to concentrate to remember where I have read them.
Will do that later, after I compile.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-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
It felt rushed but I kind of enjoyed that. I’d say it was pretty good!
I'm pretty torn on this one to be honest. I really enjoyed most of the book even if I didn't always gel with the main character (very basic oh-woe-is-me), or love interest (he's very cookie cutter). The "twist" is suuuuper easy to guess, and what really lowered my rating was that I can't help but feel like this book suffered from the "bury your gays" trope.
Spoiler
I wasn't necessarily bothered by the brother being killed immediately, it was more the need to then add in that he was gay and his Fated Mate, Bern, was in for a fate worse than death. I could maybe forgive this if there's a future book starring Talahan falling in love with Bern *wink wink nudge nudge* But right now this information just seemed... unnecessary and left a bad taste in my mouth.
If I could give this book 3.5 stars, I would!
The beginning was pretty slow for me, but once the romance and action picked up, it got so much better! There were several plot twists towards the very end too!
The beginning was pretty slow for me, but once the romance and action picked up, it got so much better! There were several plot twists towards the very end too!
I have come to realise that I really enjoy this style of high fantasy. 3 pages in I knew I was going to love this book, and I did. There is a lot to keep up with in terms of world building, but Mulford does a great job of reminding you of the important bits when you need to know them. This book feels like a combination of From Blood and Ash (in terms of the main characters) and Shadow and Bone (with the quest to find things).
However, there are some parts that seem very similar to FBAA in terms of characterisations. The first intimate scene is also extremely reminiscent of the other series. Considering that FBAA was one of my fave reads for the year I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it is something that I noticed. It would also be nice to spend a little more time with the queer characters in future, they are there, just lingering on the fringes. I look forward to reading what happens in the next one!
Thanks so much to Harper Collins for sending me a copy to review.
However, there are some parts that seem very similar to FBAA in terms of characterisations. The first intimate scene is also extremely reminiscent of the other series. Considering that FBAA was one of my fave reads for the year I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it is something that I noticed. It would also be nice to spend a little more time with the queer characters in future, they are there, just lingering on the fringes. I look forward to reading what happens in the next one!
Thanks so much to Harper Collins for sending me a copy to review.
This was a good debut novel, but there is definitely room for improvement.
As with most introductions to fantasy series, I expect the beginning to be a bit slow. I expect there to be a lot of world building and character introduction and a little necessary info dumping as we get introduced to a new world. However, the first half of this book was very slow for me with little in the way of world building and the characters, while I did enjoy their story/backstory, were a little flat. The first half of this book really struggled to keep my attention.
BUT the second half of this book was much improved with the romance, adventure, and stakes being kicked up a notch and doing a much better job of keeping me interested in what was going to happen next. Our two main characters became much more interesting which is what kept me reading this, but the large cast of side characters were still fairly unremarkable.
As with most introductions to fantasy series, I expect the beginning to be a bit slow. I expect there to be a lot of world building and character introduction and a little necessary info dumping as we get introduced to a new world. However, the first half of this book was very slow for me with little in the way of world building and the characters, while I did enjoy their story/backstory, were a little flat. The first half of this book really struggled to keep my attention.
BUT the second half of this book was much improved with the romance, adventure, and stakes being kicked up a notch and doing a much better job of keeping me interested in what was going to happen next. Our two main characters became much more interesting which is what kept me reading this, but the large cast of side characters were still fairly unremarkable.