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mschat12's review
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.75
mels_reading_rook's review against another edition
3.0
While I enjoyed the central mystery of the story, there were several things that took away from my experience. For being a highly regarded senior agent for the government, Fatma had difficulty putting together things that were fairly obvious - including many of the twists in the investigation - and despite living in a world filled with magic and strange creatures, some of the lines she drew in the sand for what she believed exists seemed arbitrary and not well explained. The pacing of the story also suffered due to several asides that were taken to explain pieces of the world's history, even if it only had the barest relevance to what was currently going on.
The buildup for the villain was very cool, and it portrayed a certain ruthlessness that was scary to see the main characters face off against. But when the villain was finally revealed, they also suddenly turned inept and went "well since you caught me, I shall now execute my evil plan for world dominationand mass slavery of magical creatures!" That paired with how most of the final confrontation played out was underwhelming to me for what was built up.
I don't recommend anyone read this book without reading any of the short stories like I did. I thought I could jump in without any previous context, but I was mistaken. I felt I was missing pieces of the world and characters' relationships and histories (though some of their histories were explained throughout in short bursts). One of the focal points of the mystery relies on an element of one of the short stories, so when that piece of the mystery was brought into play, it didn't have the same gravity for me as it would for someone who read that short story. There's a point where a group of characters are all brought together, and it felt like it was supposed to be a big-deal-reunion moment and I was supposed to feel excited to finally see all these characters in a room together, but because I didn't read the short stories, it fell flat for me.
The world is really interesting, and like I said, the central mystery is a lot of fun. I definitely think this is worth giving a try, but only after reading all the short stories before it.
The buildup for the villain was very cool, and it portrayed a certain ruthlessness that was scary to see the main characters face off against. But when the villain was finally revealed, they also suddenly turned inept and went "well since you caught me, I shall now execute my evil plan for world domination
I don't recommend anyone read this book without reading any of the short stories like I did. I thought I could jump in without any previous context, but I was mistaken. I felt I was missing pieces of the world and characters' relationships and histories (though some of their histories were explained throughout in short bursts). One of the focal points of the mystery relies on an element of one of the short stories, so when that piece of the mystery was brought into play, it didn't have the same gravity for me as it would for someone who read that short story. There's a point where a group of characters are all brought together, and it felt like it was supposed to be a big-deal-reunion moment and I was supposed to feel excited to finally see all these characters in a room together, but because I didn't read the short stories, it fell flat for me.
The world is really interesting, and like I said, the central mystery is a lot of fun. I definitely think this is worth giving a try, but only after reading all the short stories before it.
_durnin's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
tazwarf's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Cool world building. But plot was really underwhelming. And Fatma is an insufferable main character that feels like the female version of a fedora guy.
idowwa's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ae_coughlin's review against another edition
I really wanted to love it but I just didn’t get hooked on the plot or characters!
allthelovers's review against another edition
3.25
i love this world and absolutely want to read more stories set in it.. i sort of felt like i was reading an ace attorney spinoff come to life (i know, i know, it's a whodunit, it's a whole genre) because of the mystery detective aspect + slightly wacky tone. that made me appreciate it more, because i think i'd walked into it expecting something dark and gritty. i feel like there were a lot of darker issues that i would love to see explored in more depth...
i couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed in the characters themselves. i feel like when i read a debut novel/first book set in a certain world, i want to be introduced to the world through the characters. but the main character, cool as she was, was just that-- cool. i was hoping for a more flawed/interesting protagonist, i suppose, which is ultimately up to personal preference.
overall good stuff, though it feels like a warmup to a truly mindblowing followup. i'll def be keeping up to date with this author's next works...
i couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed in the characters themselves. i feel like when i read a debut novel/first book set in a certain world, i want to be introduced to the world through the characters. but the main character, cool as she was, was just that-- cool. i was hoping for a more flawed/interesting protagonist, i suppose, which is ultimately up to personal preference.
overall good stuff, though it feels like a warmup to a truly mindblowing followup. i'll def be keeping up to date with this author's next works...
rjstellar's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
3.5
C: 7
A: 5
W: 6
P: 5
I: 7
L: 7
E: 8
a solid book, and a very solid setup to a sequel (?). the writing wasn't the best I've read, but it was very clear and concise. this helped make the fast pace a lot more digestible, but also occasionally led to moments that were meant to be heavy or intense just being kind of funny, unfortunately. "that sounded bad. very bad." rarely needs to be written out so plainly like that, and usually just had me chuckling instead of feeling dread. to be fair though, the tone obviously wasn't meant to be that dark, so it wasn't that big of a deal. the fast pace only became too fast at the end, where a lot of things were happening that actually could have been dreadful or scary, but really weren't thanks to the tone + the pace. but again, that could've been intentional. maybe the author didn't want this story to be as dark as it could've been, and there's nothing wrong with that.
altogether not bad and I'd definitely read a sequel for more Fatma and Siti. they were my favorite part lol
A: 5
W: 6
P: 5
I: 7
L: 7
E: 8
a solid book, and a very solid setup to a sequel (?). the writing wasn't the best I've read, but it was very clear and concise. this helped make the fast pace a lot more digestible, but also occasionally led to moments that were meant to be heavy or intense just being kind of funny, unfortunately. "that sounded bad. very bad." rarely needs to be written out so plainly like that, and usually just had me chuckling instead of feeling dread. to be fair though, the tone obviously wasn't meant to be that dark, so it wasn't that big of a deal. the fast pace only became too fast at the end, where a lot of things were happening that actually could have been dreadful or scary, but really weren't thanks to the tone + the pace. but again, that could've been intentional. maybe the author didn't want this story to be as dark as it could've been, and there's nothing wrong with that.
altogether not bad and I'd definitely read a sequel for more Fatma and Siti. they were my favorite part lol
001's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0