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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Death of parent
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I picked this and the sequel up because not only am I a sucker for a beautiful cover but the synopsis on the back sounded great.
HOWEVER I seriously considered DNFing this book. The completionist in me pushed me through. The characters are so flat that I barely cared when anything happened to anyone. Vahli was the only character that had any kind of good backstory start to build but it wasn’t continued enough at all.
This book also went on for too long without anything happening. I am very much content with finding the beauty in mundane, but it truly felt like nothing worthwhile happened until the last 80 pages.
Lastly the writing and editing of this book is atrocious. Grammar and spelling errors all over the place, abrupt sentences, and odd POVs. It feels much more like a first draft than something that should be on a bookstore shelf.
I wanted to like this, I really did. But I’m just disappointed. Because I hate myself, I’m going to read the sequel. Let’s hope it redeems itself.
HOWEVER I seriously considered DNFing this book. The completionist in me pushed me through. The characters are so flat that I barely cared when anything happened to anyone. Vahli was the only character that had any kind of good backstory start to build but it wasn’t continued enough at all.
This book also went on for too long without anything happening. I am very much content with finding the beauty in mundane, but it truly felt like nothing worthwhile happened until the last 80 pages.
Lastly the writing and editing of this book is atrocious. Grammar and spelling errors all over the place, abrupt sentences, and odd POVs. It feels much more like a first draft than something that should be on a bookstore shelf.
I wanted to like this, I really did. But I’m just disappointed. Because I hate myself, I’m going to read the sequel. Let’s hope it redeems itself.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Adventure story cool characters that are memorable whole thing about how he was cowardly but actually a hero and brave since he kept going for it
I loved the musings of the characters and the story itself, but the writing style wasn't quite for me. Absolutely loved the depiction of PTSD though, and real heroes versus the stories told about them.
adventurous
emotional
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
adventurous
inspiring
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
I was really excited to read this one, and it was good! Might recommend to friends perhaps early in their fantasy novel reading...but not as excited as I thought I would be for the second book.
I was thrown through a bit of a loop when Kell's "cowardice" changed so quickly. I genuinely thought the story was going to be about his new life as a vigilante, trying to escape his fate/call to arms. Also thought the current storyline would read more like a war story but with fantasy since Kell's history was so gruesome. I just thought overall, the current storyline seemed a lot easier than the historic one.
Loved every character !! Definitely felt like a DND party, and liked how each one brought a different skill or character trope to the table even if they were a bit flat. The women were fantastic, I appreciate them being the muscle of the party.
Thought the POV change to the high priestess was well done, and enjoyed seeing her motivations, even if parts of her character were cliche for an evil church head.
Like I said, overall a decent, straightforward fantasy read. Just not my favorite. I've been spoiled with Ruin of Kings.
—
After further reflection, there are many things that I would have done differently with this book. It wasn't bad, but it could have been so much more if the author had made a different choice on key decisions. Such as:
Make Kell a Coward for longer. Perhaps even the whole book. There are ways to make him very sympathetic if his backstory is scary enough.
Make a new monster. The Ice Lich was been there, done that. Make it scarier with the unknown.
Give the characters consequences. Tbh, from the point Kell collects his little band of friends, you could've skipped the entire book up to the last 50 pages. Nothing mattered until that moment. Make things matter.
Yea, just some extra thoughts. Lowered my rating.
I was thrown through a bit of a loop when Kell's "cowardice" changed so quickly. I genuinely thought the story was going to be about his new life as a vigilante, trying to escape his fate/call to arms. Also thought the current storyline would read more like a war story but with fantasy since Kell's history was so gruesome. I just thought overall, the current storyline seemed a lot easier than the historic one.
Loved every character !! Definitely felt like a DND party, and liked how each one brought a different skill or character trope to the table even if they were a bit flat. The women were fantastic, I appreciate them being the muscle of the party.
Thought the POV change to the high priestess was well done, and enjoyed seeing her motivations, even if parts of her character were cliche for an evil church head.
Like I said, overall a decent, straightforward fantasy read. Just not my favorite. I've been spoiled with Ruin of Kings.
—
After further reflection, there are many things that I would have done differently with this book. It wasn't bad, but it could have been so much more if the author had made a different choice on key decisions. Such as:
Make Kell a Coward for longer. Perhaps even the whole book. There are ways to make him very sympathetic if his backstory is scary enough.
Make a new monster. The Ice Lich was been there, done that. Make it scarier with the unknown.
Give the characters consequences. Tbh, from the point Kell collects his little band of friends, you could've skipped the entire book up to the last 50 pages. Nothing mattered until that moment. Make things matter.
Yea, just some extra thoughts. Lowered my rating.