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a_modernstoryteller's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Addiction, Murder, Death of parent, Self harm, and War
Minor: Ableism
libertyreads789's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Before I get into the bulk of the review, I want to say a quick thank you to NetGalley and the publishers over at Orbit for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The City of Dusk is the first book in a brand new series set in a world of vengeful gods, chosen ones, and magic of darkness and light. In this Fantasy world, The Four Realms--Life, Death, Light, and Darkness--all converge on the city of dusk. For each realm there’s a god, for each god there’s an heir. But the gods have withdrawn their favor from the once vibrant and thriving city...and without it, all the realms are dying. The City of Dusk comes out on March 22nd and is available for preorder now.
The premise for this book got me and I had to immediately request an ARC. I was sad to say that while it’s an okay book, it didn’t hit all the things I was looking for. I’m completely open to the possibility that this is a me thing and not a book thing. I’ve recently had a lot of IRL chaos and the burnout might be causing me to rate this one lower. I know this has some amazing ratings on GoodReads so I’m willing to accept that this might have nothing to do with the book. But, to me, the world building was lacking. I thought that there wasn’t enough of a foundation for me to completely wrap my head around everything going on. And that’s another major point about this book: there are so many different political machinations here from what the gods want, what the people want, what the king wants, what the houses want. It’s a lot. It felt like the book was having a bit of an identity crisis at times.
I really enjoyed seeing a diversity of LGBTQIA+ characters in this one without it trying to beat you over the head about being LGBT+. And I enjoyed seeing the different types of magic in this world. I just wish there was more set up at the beginning for the different types of magic and the different lore surrounding the different types of magic. I loved the familiars that a few of the characters had. I’d love to see more of that. And even the two demons we saw in this book were...cute? Or at least not supremely evil? But I can anthropomorphize anything so that could just be me. The few things I would recommend to help make this book better: a solid map at the front, a solid reference for the families and/or lore surrounding the different types of magic, and clarity around different characters’ desires.
Overall, I would say this book is for people who don’t read a ton of Fantasy novels. I think if you’re new to the genre then this is a great stepping stone and it’s something I think you’d really enjoy. Also, the age ranges here would probably be good from upper YA to Adult so I think it would be easy for this book to find its perfect audience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Minor: Ableism
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