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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
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
Oh boy, why did I bought this book?
Oh, it was on sale at our local bookstore when I picked it up. I expected something thought provoking...something that is exceptional in the genre of action, fantasy, and dystopia...something that is written to take you out. And my prospects were granted. It was all I said...because it just so bad.
All the characters were uninteresting, especially since many were not given enough attention/spotlight for anyone to care about them. The main character is too tepid and lacks personal agency to be investable. He does nothing but either flirt, roam around, or be told by other characters on what to do. And don't get me started with this book's plot. It was a mess to say the least, with all this various sections meandering around that doesn't meld into a structured story. This one might be more subjective/personal, but I am not a fan of Tochi Onyebuchi's writing, specifically with this one.
Honestly, the premise of the book is nice, and I do need to give credit to the 'above-average' world building. Yet it doesn't matter that much. The execution was un utter failure to the point that it was genuinely embarrassing how it faltered so hard.
A 3/10 book. Not looking for its sequel.
Oh, it was on sale at our local bookstore when I picked it up. I expected something thought provoking...something that is exceptional in the genre of action, fantasy, and dystopia...something that is written to take you out. And my prospects were granted. It was all I said...because it just so bad.
All the characters were uninteresting, especially since many were not given enough attention/spotlight for anyone to care about them. The main character is too tepid and lacks personal agency to be investable. He does nothing but either flirt, roam around, or be told by other characters on what to do. And don't get me started with this book's plot. It was a mess to say the least, with all this various sections meandering around that doesn't meld into a structured story. This one might be more subjective/personal, but I am not a fan of Tochi Onyebuchi's writing, specifically with this one.
Honestly, the premise of the book is nice, and I do need to give credit to the 'above-average' world building. Yet it doesn't matter that much. The execution was un utter failure to the point that it was genuinely embarrassing how it faltered so hard.
A 3/10 book. Not looking for its sequel.
I loved the thought behind this book and the idea but I don't know if I like the execution. The world building was okay but I had a hard time following the story and what was really happening. The reveal at the end didn't make much sense to me. I loved the ideas of this book but didn't really get the execution of it, I'm hoping somethings are answered in the second book
I'm screaming what was that ending 😱😱😱ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
adventurous
challenging
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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
Good stuff first. I really like the descriptions of food and everyday lifestyle. The material world is tangible and vivid and interesting.
The characters and worldbuilding of the magical realm are utter shit.
The main character is a perpetually brooding, but horny teenage (??) boy. Literally every girl Taj interacts with in a significant way he flirts with and wonders if she's destined for him. The brooding part makes sense, the horniness is like emotional whiplash where the story is intensely confusing about where it wants to go with his own character development.
The plot jumps all over the place with veeeeerry little transition. There's a part where Taj is told he'll have to go to the training camp at the end of the chapter, and the beginning of the chapter he's there. And the way it's done is just confusing and jarring. There's no shift in tone, no expository paragraph about the journey or what the camp looks like. I thought I was honestly reading another book.
God the plot in this book has the worst pacing. There are endless plots and ploys, but none of it its foreshadowed, and character motivations aren't developed, so shit just happens. In the span of two short chapter, plucky band of heroes kill main villain, usurp the king, Taj finally gets with the princess only be be betrayed by the princess. It's interesting stuff but all compressed in such a poorly written way.
The magic system is like deus ex machina. I think the concept of physical marking representative of sin is interesting, and generally the size and ferocity of the tattoos and corresponding sin-creatures seems correlated. But randomly Taj can control them? Based on what rationale? Why do they even exist? There's some speculation in the more interesting parts of the book where Aliyah try to puzzle these things out but it doesn't read so much as a mystery that our heroes need to unravel as it does the author was making shit up as they goes along.
And oh god did I mention the plot and pacing are awful? There's no real mention of ages in the book, so I kind of have to infer based on context of how people act towards each other. There's a general sense that Taj is a teenager, maybe he gets older as the story progresses (? But there's no time markers so there is no concept of how much time passes). The princess I honestly didn't know. I thought she was the daughter of the king, and that the Prince Harris was her brother, but no, he's her nephew so that makes her the sister of the king, who is old (?). There's no explanation of any kind of age gap so she's anywhere between maybe twenties to forties? Which makes her relationship with Taj pretty coersive, not just in the monarch/peasant power dynamic way. Honestly it's refreshing to see this cougar thing be just normal (gross), in the way that a lot of literature seems to find older men/young woman romance normal (also gross). But yeah, the only descriptions about her are like vague instagram stories about her beauty and kindness and goodness and how she's willing to uplift only the best and brightest poor children out of poverty and how she's so generous and willing to help people but not enough to give up her palace or power and my eyes are rolling so hard they're falling out of my head.
There's potential in this book, but it's not well written.
The characters and worldbuilding of the magical realm are utter shit.
The main character is a perpetually brooding, but horny teenage (??) boy. Literally every girl Taj interacts with in a significant way he flirts with and wonders if she's destined for him. The brooding part makes sense, the horniness is like emotional whiplash where the story is intensely confusing about where it wants to go with his own character development.
The plot jumps all over the place with veeeeerry little transition. There's a part where Taj is told he'll have to go to the training camp at the end of the chapter, and the beginning of the chapter he's there. And the way it's done is just confusing and jarring. There's no shift in tone, no expository paragraph about the journey or what the camp looks like. I thought I was honestly reading another book.
God the plot in this book has the worst pacing. There are endless plots and ploys, but none of it its foreshadowed, and character motivations aren't developed, so shit just happens. In the span of two short chapter, plucky band of heroes kill main villain, usurp the king, Taj finally gets with the princess only be be betrayed by the princess. It's interesting stuff but all compressed in such a poorly written way.
The magic system is like deus ex machina. I think the concept of physical marking representative of sin is interesting, and generally the size and ferocity of the tattoos and corresponding sin-creatures seems correlated. But randomly Taj can control them? Based on what rationale? Why do they even exist? There's some speculation in the more interesting parts of the book where Aliyah try to puzzle these things out but it doesn't read so much as a mystery that our heroes need to unravel as it does the author was making shit up as they goes along.
And oh god did I mention the plot and pacing are awful? There's no real mention of ages in the book, so I kind of have to infer based on context of how people act towards each other. There's a general sense that Taj is a teenager, maybe he gets older as the story progresses (? But there's no time markers so there is no concept of how much time passes). The princess I honestly didn't know. I thought she was the daughter of the king, and that the Prince Harris was her brother, but no, he's her nephew so that makes her the sister of the king, who is old (?). There's no explanation of any kind of age gap so she's anywhere between maybe twenties to forties? Which makes her relationship with Taj pretty coersive, not just in the monarch/peasant power dynamic way. Honestly it's refreshing to see this cougar thing be just normal (gross), in the way that a lot of literature seems to find older men/young woman romance normal (also gross). But yeah, the only descriptions about her are like vague instagram stories about her beauty and kindness and goodness and how she's willing to uplift only the best and brightest poor children out of poverty and how she's so generous and willing to help people but not enough to give up her palace or power and my eyes are rolling so hard they're falling out of my head.
There's potential in this book, but it's not well written.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
Reminded me of the Legacy of Orisha series (Children of Blood and Bone)
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No