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asreadbykat's review against another edition
4.0
Actual Rating: a solid 4/5 stars.
Unmentioned Trigger Warnings: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Brief moments of animal killing/animals in pain, nongraphic sexual themes, Religious Themes
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I've been hearing about this book for months, and I've heard nothing but praises for it. So when my usual bookstore in Tokyo had it in stock, I immediately snatched it up. All I knew about it was that there was romance, alchemy, and I had heard whispers that it read very similar to Roy/Riza fanfiction from the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom. But the premise intrigued me, and I decided to give it a try.
First, I feel I should mention: the book is a lot darker in some ways than the synopsis here or on the book itself. I expected some darkness, but the themes I mentioned in my above trigger warnings took me by surprise because nothing about them is mentioned in any brief description of the book. At all. I wouldn't say it was an unpleasant surprise, because even if I (as someone who is more spiritual than religious) couldn't relate to the themes personally, I could empathize with them and still enjoy the story. However, as someone who ISN'T religious, it would have been nice to know that pretty much the entire premise of the book is tightly interwoven with those themes so that I could be prepared to read a book talking about it.
Second, I should also address this elephant in the room: to anyone who is familiar with the anime/manga Fullmetal Alchemist and its world and characters, then yes, this is going to feel VERY MUCH like professionally published and well-written fanfiction. Both Wes and Margaret tick off so many of the similarity boxes to Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye that FMA fans will be unable to overlook them. There's also the way the alchemy works in this world. Admittedly, I don't know much about real historical alchemy, but to my knowledge it never used "transmutation circles". Those I've only ever seen in FMA, and even googling the term the first page is nothing but links discussing FMA. Now, the author does use more traditional alchemical terms for the different stages of alchemy, but the presence of the circles and how they're used is so similar to FMA that I can't help but feel that is where the author drew inspiration. There is also a scene described (the source of Riza's trauma) that will be so familiar to fans of the show that, again, the similarities won't be able to be overlooked.
Now, please note that to my knowledge no one anywhere has confirmed whether this actually was originally a fanfic that got re-written a bit and published; I'm just mentioning all these similarities because as a fan of FMA myself, it was extremely distracting and disconcerting, particularly when there is no mention of the anime/manga or its creator being an inspiration in the acknowledgements of the book when all the similarities makes it feel like it should be.
All of that being said: I did actually LOVE this book. Once I could get past my distractions about whether or not it was inspired by FMA, I was thoroughly drawn in by the writing. Saft's descriptions are gorgeous and set the scenes well, and the struggles that Margaret and Wes go through are heart-breaking and familiar in many ways. I particularly related with Margaret's relationship with her mother and underlined and tabbed so many quotes about it in my copy there's hardly a single page without something marked.
I love that the true conflict of the book wasn't boiled down to the hala; it was, in a way, what the hala represented for our two characters, their struggles and their fight to survive in a world that is against them. The majority of this book is character driven; we switch between Wes' POV and Margaret's, and we spend a lot of time in their heads. It helps us to understand them, to see why they make the decisions they do and to really understand why hunting the hala is not only so important to them, but also so difficult. I also like that even with the "villains" of the story, there is a small bit of sympathy for them. They are still horrible people who did terrible things, but again, they're humanized. They aren't purely evil; they are just choosing to act on the darkness inside them, which is a theme that carries on throughout the book.
I aboslutely loved this book, and the only reason I'm not giving it a full 5 stars is because of the FMA confusion I mentioned earlier.
TL;DR: Beautifully written, character driven, and with a lot more depth than the synopsis implies. However, it also has darker themes that the synopsis doesn't mention, a lot of religious themes, and enough similarities to the characters and ideas in FMA that it can be a little bit distracting at first to fans.
Unmentioned Trigger Warnings: Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Brief moments of animal killing/animals in pain, nongraphic sexual themes, Religious Themes
------
I've been hearing about this book for months, and I've heard nothing but praises for it. So when my usual bookstore in Tokyo had it in stock, I immediately snatched it up. All I knew about it was that there was romance, alchemy, and I had heard whispers that it read very similar to Roy/Riza fanfiction from the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom. But the premise intrigued me, and I decided to give it a try.
First, I feel I should mention: the book is a lot darker in some ways than the synopsis here or on the book itself. I expected some darkness, but the themes I mentioned in my above trigger warnings took me by surprise because nothing about them is mentioned in any brief description of the book. At all. I wouldn't say it was an unpleasant surprise, because even if I (as someone who is more spiritual than religious) couldn't relate to the themes personally, I could empathize with them and still enjoy the story. However, as someone who ISN'T religious, it would have been nice to know that pretty much the entire premise of the book is tightly interwoven with those themes so that I could be prepared to read a book talking about it.
Second, I should also address this elephant in the room: to anyone who is familiar with the anime/manga Fullmetal Alchemist and its world and characters, then yes, this is going to feel VERY MUCH like professionally published and well-written fanfiction. Both Wes and Margaret tick off so many of the similarity boxes to Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye that FMA fans will be unable to overlook them. There's also the way the alchemy works in this world. Admittedly, I don't know much about real historical alchemy, but to my knowledge it never used "transmutation circles". Those I've only ever seen in FMA, and even googling the term the first page is nothing but links discussing FMA. Now, the author does use more traditional alchemical terms for the different stages of alchemy, but the presence of the circles and how they're used is so similar to FMA that I can't help but feel that is where the author drew inspiration. There is also a scene described (the source of Riza's trauma) that will be so familiar to fans of the show that, again, the similarities won't be able to be overlooked.
Now, please note that to my knowledge no one anywhere has confirmed whether this actually was originally a fanfic that got re-written a bit and published; I'm just mentioning all these similarities because as a fan of FMA myself, it was extremely distracting and disconcerting, particularly when there is no mention of the anime/manga or its creator being an inspiration in the acknowledgements of the book when all the similarities makes it feel like it should be.
All of that being said: I did actually LOVE this book. Once I could get past my distractions about whether or not it was inspired by FMA, I was thoroughly drawn in by the writing. Saft's descriptions are gorgeous and set the scenes well, and the struggles that Margaret and Wes go through are heart-breaking and familiar in many ways. I particularly related with Margaret's relationship with her mother and underlined and tabbed so many quotes about it in my copy there's hardly a single page without something marked.
I love that the true conflict of the book wasn't boiled down to the hala; it was, in a way, what the hala represented for our two characters, their struggles and their fight to survive in a world that is against them. The majority of this book is character driven; we switch between Wes' POV and Margaret's, and we spend a lot of time in their heads. It helps us to understand them, to see why they make the decisions they do and to really understand why hunting the hala is not only so important to them, but also so difficult. I also like that even with the "villains" of the story, there is a small bit of sympathy for them. They are still horrible people who did terrible things, but again, they're humanized. They aren't purely evil; they are just choosing to act on the darkness inside them, which is a theme that carries on throughout the book.
I aboslutely loved this book, and the only reason I'm not giving it a full 5 stars is because of the FMA confusion I mentioned earlier.
TL;DR: Beautifully written, character driven, and with a lot more depth than the synopsis implies. However, it also has darker themes that the synopsis doesn't mention, a lot of religious themes, and enough similarities to the characters and ideas in FMA that it can be a little bit distracting at first to fans.
harleyrae's review against another edition
3.0
2.5/5 Stars
I wanted to love this, it just wasn’t for me. The first 50ish pages were interesting, and then I lost interest very quickly! The magic system was interesting though.
I wanted to love this, it just wasn’t for me. The first 50ish pages were interesting, and then I lost interest very quickly! The magic system was interesting though.
samchiu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mandyhalbert's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
3.0
anasilva12's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
staticmemories's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lillithclaire's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
caillte's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0