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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5/5
came for the sapphics (I found the romance very weak unfortunately), stayed for the plot (which goes pretty hard!! very excited to see how this all wraps up)
came for the sapphics (I found the romance very weak unfortunately), stayed for the plot (which goes pretty hard!! very excited to see how this all wraps up)
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
(WAILS) AHHHHHHH. I WANT MORE. I WANT MORE SO BAD. GIVE ME THE SEQUEL NOW. SAPPHIC ENEMIES TO FRIENDS TO LOVERS?? FANTASY?? MEN I CAN HATE AND WISH ILL WILL UPON?? DAGGERS?? DAMN THIS BOOK IS PERFECT.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Sad cause this is supposedly sapphic but the characters feel so flat and stereotypical and I just can't get into it.
This is one of the Owlcrate picks for October. As always, I keep my reviews as spoiler-free as possible while also being honest. Also, I am going through my critiques first so I can end on a positive note. This is rounded down from a 2.5 rating because I don't feel strongly enough to give it three stars.
You should know what's coming up: the love story. I honestly don't like having to put this in my negatives, but there's just something about YA that so rarely does the love story in a satisfying way. This is the enemies-to-lovers trope, which I wouldn't have minded if we actually got to see that transition. Crier gets hit with insta-love the moment she sees Ayla, and while it takes longer for Ayla to get on board the love train, we aren't really shown that transition. A lot of their "romantic moments" are told during Crier's chapters, so we don't even get to see Ayla's feelings growing until after she's in deep. I finished the book and I still don't know if I could explain why they're in love. They don't even really have that many meaningful conversations.
I'd say that's another weakness of the book: a lack of meaningful conversations. Not just with our romantic leads, but with other groups of characters as well. Ayla comes across an important character in her life and they only talk for a few minutes before the character is gone again. Ayla attempts a meaningful conversation but the character brushes her off with that annoying "You wouldn't understand" and "I'll explain later" dodge technique. Maybe it will be explored in the sequel, but it is really irritating that the issue wasn't explored then and there when it was brought up. Crier never has a meaningful conversation with her father, as he always brushes her off as being inexperienced or naive or whatever. I'm getting really tired of the cliche of the daughter of a powerful political leader being ignored and pushed aside by their parent, especially in this time of YA when we're trying for more feminist and female empowering stories.
The world-building isn't as strong as it could be, either. I almost would've preferred a story told during the War of the Kinds so I could see how this all happened. Also, since they are built machines more or less, are all the Automae programmed with different personalities? And why? Who decides this? There is discussion of Midwives and Hesod, for example, commissioned the design on Crier, but if he had a close eye on how she was built, shouldn't he know all about her behaviors and moods and expect her to act the way she does? Why are the blueprints taken as undeniable fact without double-checking? Don't these Automae have the equivalent of an X-ray where they can go in and actually see first-hand how they're built? Since the results of a blueprint are a pretty huge part of the story, I think that particular question left a huge plot hole.
There are some good parts of it. I especially like all the parts showing how rumors and stories can distort perception and have no actual basis in fact. Cultural appropriation is touched upon but not really looked at in detail; I still thought the bits focused on it were done well. I also liked Crier questioning who and what she was. It did feel like that was dropped after a while, but still pretty good for what we got of it.
The writing is solid, though I admit the farther I read in the book the more I disconnected. I didn't feel as invested because I wasn't allowed to see the motivations all the time and the changing emotions. There are parts that intrigue me and I'll probably check out the sequel to see if some of my questions are answered, but in a weird way I wish this was a smaller story. Just Crier going through an identity crisis and Ayla slowly coming to terms with her changing emotions. Or honestly sticking to just one of their perspectives would've been fine. Switching back and forth always felt like I was missing out on the emotional growth of the other during crucial moments.
It's decent, but I hope the sequel has a better balance between the larger story elements and the smaller character stuff.
You should know what's coming up: the love story. I honestly don't like having to put this in my negatives, but there's just something about YA that so rarely does the love story in a satisfying way. This is the enemies-to-lovers trope, which I wouldn't have minded if we actually got to see that transition. Crier gets hit with insta-love the moment she sees Ayla, and while it takes longer for Ayla to get on board the love train, we aren't really shown that transition. A lot of their "romantic moments" are told during Crier's chapters, so we don't even get to see Ayla's feelings growing until after she's in deep. I finished the book and I still don't know if I could explain why they're in love. They don't even really have that many meaningful conversations.
I'd say that's another weakness of the book: a lack of meaningful conversations. Not just with our romantic leads, but with other groups of characters as well. Ayla comes across an important character in her life and they only talk for a few minutes before the character is gone again. Ayla attempts a meaningful conversation but the character brushes her off with that annoying "You wouldn't understand" and "I'll explain later" dodge technique. Maybe it will be explored in the sequel, but it is really irritating that the issue wasn't explored then and there when it was brought up. Crier never has a meaningful conversation with her father, as he always brushes her off as being inexperienced or naive or whatever. I'm getting really tired of the cliche of the daughter of a powerful political leader being ignored and pushed aside by their parent, especially in this time of YA when we're trying for more feminist and female empowering stories.
The world-building isn't as strong as it could be, either. I almost would've preferred a story told during the War of the Kinds so I could see how this all happened. Also, since they are built machines more or less, are all the Automae programmed with different personalities? And why? Who decides this? There is discussion of Midwives and Hesod, for example, commissioned the design on Crier, but if he had a close eye on how she was built, shouldn't he know all about her behaviors and moods and expect her to act the way she does? Why are the blueprints taken as undeniable fact without double-checking? Don't these Automae have the equivalent of an X-ray where they can go in and actually see first-hand how they're built? Since the results of a blueprint are a pretty huge part of the story, I think that particular question left a huge plot hole.
There are some good parts of it. I especially like all the parts showing how rumors and stories can distort perception and have no actual basis in fact. Cultural appropriation is touched upon but not really looked at in detail; I still thought the bits focused on it were done well. I also liked Crier questioning who and what she was. It did feel like that was dropped after a while, but still pretty good for what we got of it.
The writing is solid, though I admit the farther I read in the book the more I disconnected. I didn't feel as invested because I wasn't allowed to see the motivations all the time and the changing emotions. There are parts that intrigue me and I'll probably check out the sequel to see if some of my questions are answered, but in a weird way I wish this was a smaller story. Just Crier going through an identity crisis and Ayla slowly coming to terms with her changing emotions. Or honestly sticking to just one of their perspectives would've been fine. Switching back and forth always felt like I was missing out on the emotional growth of the other during crucial moments.
It's decent, but I hope the sequel has a better balance between the larger story elements and the smaller character stuff.