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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I really wanted to like this book, the ideas were great, it just wasn't as faced paced as it could have been, it was kind of boring.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Beasts Made of Night has a fascinating world, for sure. The main character, Taj, is an aki. A Mage can call forth someone's sins to take external form, and aki like Taj can then kill them, swallow them, and accept the sin into their own soul. Each sin will appear as a tattoo on their skin, and the more sins they swallow, the more likely they are to "Cross" -- a form of living death which is not entirely explained. Taj is a very powerful aki, and as such he gets quickly entangled into the plots of people in the palace.
The early parts of the book also have quite a strong sense of place: the dust and dirt, the food, the camaraderie between the aki and the fear of the populace. There's an intriguing brotherly relationship between Taj and one of the other "older" aki, Bo.
And then the advancement of the narrative speeds through all of it like a freight train. Suddenly Taj is in the palace, suddenly Taj is in love, suddenly Taj is outside the palace training other aki, suddenly he's close to Crossing himself from eating so many sins, suddenly there's a rebellion... It all happens quite quickly, and it feels like each event and interaction doesn't quite have the weight needed to gain a purchase. I should have had time to like and appreciate Arzu, Aliya and Karima, for example, but I didn't; things just keep on happening to Taj, and he's not even that interested in why half the time (and with the story limited to his point of view, we're stuck with that view of the world).
I felt pretty unmoored, unable to guess what the next thing would be, and yet at the same time totally unsurprised when it did (because I didn't have strong enough feelings about what would happen, and especially not why).
I think it was a really interesting world, but for me it didn't stick, and I won't read the sequel.
The early parts of the book also have quite a strong sense of place: the dust and dirt, the food, the camaraderie between the aki and the fear of the populace. There's an intriguing brotherly relationship between Taj and one of the other "older" aki, Bo.
And then the advancement of the narrative speeds through all of it like a freight train. Suddenly Taj is in the palace, suddenly Taj is in love, suddenly Taj is outside the palace training other aki, suddenly he's close to Crossing himself from eating so many sins, suddenly there's a rebellion... It all happens quite quickly, and it feels like each event and interaction doesn't quite have the weight needed to gain a purchase. I should have had time to like and appreciate Arzu, Aliya and Karima, for example, but I didn't; things just keep on happening to Taj, and he's not even that interested in why half the time (and with the story limited to his point of view, we're stuck with that view of the world).
I felt pretty unmoored, unable to guess what the next thing would be, and yet at the same time totally unsurprised when it did (because I didn't have strong enough feelings about what would happen, and especially not why).
I think it was a really interesting world, but for me it didn't stick, and I won't read the sequel.
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought this was a really interesting concept, I just also thought that this just wasn’t for me. I really appreciate what the author was trying to do with this novel.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
No. Just, no. Such a bait and switch. It has a really cool premise with the concept of sinbeasts and aki that battle and eat them. And then it throws all of that away by basically having 0 plot that it speeds through. None of the characters got much development and neither did the world. Lots of random Capitalized words would be thrown out, but then never elaborated on. I still have no idea what the main city of Kos is supposed to look or feel like. DNF'd this many years ago and came back because I hated having a book I haven't read on my shelf. Now I will happily say that I read it and will never read it again.
A little more than halfway through the book and I felt like nothing has really happened yet. There was so much worldbuilding but I didn't really feel interested in any of it, and all the characters that were introduced were so boring and 1 dimension that I couldn't even care about them. Even Taj was just neither likable nor dislikable; I felt no connetion whatsoever. Also I don't really understand the point of introducing Scribes? They added nothing to the story and I don't see why the kids wanted to be them at any point of time because all they do is paint on walls. Overall no part of the story pulled me to want to finish it even though I always try my best to finish a book so I can review it comprehensively
This book is mystical fiction, as there are Sin eaters, beast callers for sin, and Royal , its a story of how rich dominate poor, and how rich manipulate, destroy the village for there selfish motives and human want to destroy things and change it as per there wishes, power in hand corrupted the people.
There is a beast for every sin from lie to someone, adultery, betrayal, murder, harm someone, and all the necessary sin that one should be punished. Author written something worth reading, plot is good, simple and easy to read, and have some moments when we can surely become emotional, its a beautiful read from mystical fiction lovers its a gift, and for new readers its a genre to explore. Cover is so cool that one must fall in love with it instantly.
There is a beast for every sin from lie to someone, adultery, betrayal, murder, harm someone, and all the necessary sin that one should be punished. Author written something worth reading, plot is good, simple and easy to read, and have some moments when we can surely become emotional, its a beautiful read from mystical fiction lovers its a gift, and for new readers its a genre to explore. Cover is so cool that one must fall in love with it instantly.
adventurous
emotional
adventurous
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The more I got into this book, the more I enjoyed it. Stick with it as it starts a bit slow and confusing, but the end was action-packs and everything tied together!
Taj is an aki - a sin eater. Aki are shunned by "regular"folk, except for when the regular folk need a sin removed from their body. Sins take the shape of smoky somewhat corporeal animals (they can do harm), and are eaten by the aki, which then causes the aki to get extremely sick and leaves a semi-permanent or permanent tattoo on their body. Taj, as a very powerful aki, is recruited by the palace to eat the sins of royalty. While there, he discovers the royals are more corrupt than he could've dreamed, and he decides to do what he can to stop their nefarious plans.
That synopsis was nearly impossible to write because this book was short on plot, but more on that in a minute.
I went into this book really wanting to like it - the setting (alternate-Nigeria) is fairly unique in YA, and I was really excited to read a fantasy loosely set in an African country. I thought the premise of sin-eaters was super cool, and I was eager to learn more about it. Unfortunately, the premise was the best thing about the book. The book has a lot of promise (and I was reading an advanced reading copy, so some of these issues could've been rectified), but doesn't deliver on much. The first 35% of the book is worldbuilding, but a lot of the worldbuilding could've been incorporated into the plot instead of being presented as what more or less amounted to an info dump. Even worse, the worldbuilding doesn't necessarily make a ton of sense. For example, the "sins" are determined by lawmakers, which, just...how? And then...the magic follows the lawmakers wishes? Is it even magic? I'm not really sure. More will likely be revealed in the next installment as this book ends on a massive cliffhanger, but unless it gets amazing reviews, I probably won't be there to check it out.
Another issue for me was the lack of character development. We learn a lot about Taj, but little about anyone else, and so when side characters died, I found myself feeling pretty apathetic. There was also immense potential for development of the villains, but all was unrealized. A lot of plotting and scheming had to be happening behind the scenes, but as Taj was neither privy to nor interested in it, we don't get to see the villains' machinations, which could have been really interesting. Part of this, I think, was to hide a twist at the end, but as that twist could be seen from about a mile away, I don't think the decision to keep the villains' motivation a secret was worth the payout.
There's not a lack of action in this book, so I can see a certain reader really enjoying it. For me, there was too much wasted potential - the action and the cool worldbuilding didn't make up for the absence of plot and character development. This book could've been great, and I wish that it had undergone a few more drafts in the writing process. As it was, it was just ok. 2 stars.
I received an electronic advanced reading copy from Netgalley and Razorbill for review consideration. This in no way affected my opinion or the content of my review. Beasts Made of Night will be available on 31 October.
That synopsis was nearly impossible to write because this book was short on plot, but more on that in a minute.
I went into this book really wanting to like it - the setting (alternate-Nigeria) is fairly unique in YA, and I was really excited to read a fantasy loosely set in an African country. I thought the premise of sin-eaters was super cool, and I was eager to learn more about it. Unfortunately, the premise was the best thing about the book. The book has a lot of promise (and I was reading an advanced reading copy, so some of these issues could've been rectified), but doesn't deliver on much. The first 35% of the book is worldbuilding, but a lot of the worldbuilding could've been incorporated into the plot instead of being presented as what more or less amounted to an info dump. Even worse, the worldbuilding doesn't necessarily make a ton of sense. For example, the "sins" are determined by lawmakers, which, just...how? And then...the magic follows the lawmakers wishes? Is it even magic? I'm not really sure. More will likely be revealed in the next installment as this book ends on a massive cliffhanger, but unless it gets amazing reviews, I probably won't be there to check it out.
Another issue for me was the lack of character development. We learn a lot about Taj, but little about anyone else, and so when side characters died, I found myself feeling pretty apathetic. There was also immense potential for development of the villains, but all was unrealized. A lot of plotting and scheming had to be happening behind the scenes, but as Taj was neither privy to nor interested in it, we don't get to see the villains' machinations, which could have been really interesting. Part of this, I think, was to hide a twist at the end, but as that twist could be seen from about a mile away, I don't think the decision to keep the villains' motivation a secret was worth the payout.
There's not a lack of action in this book, so I can see a certain reader really enjoying it. For me, there was too much wasted potential - the action and the cool worldbuilding didn't make up for the absence of plot and character development. This book could've been great, and I wish that it had undergone a few more drafts in the writing process. As it was, it was just ok. 2 stars.
I received an electronic advanced reading copy from Netgalley and Razorbill for review consideration. This in no way affected my opinion or the content of my review. Beasts Made of Night will be available on 31 October.