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mels_reading_rook's review against another edition
3.0
Sal the Cacophony, a Vagrant of the Scar, has been captured by the Revolution. Now, on the day of her execution, she has one last story to tell. The story of her quest for vengeance as she crosses seven names off her list one by one...
There was a lot to like about this book. The world and magic is interesting and has depth to it. The characters are complex and flawed and dynamic. The action is fast-paced and wonderfully gruesome. When the plot is really rolling, the adventure is so much fun. And finally, from the get-go, I knew that the story was going to have an unreliable narrator, and it played out in a fantastic way.
So...why only three stars?
Unfortunately, the things I loved about the book was not consistent the whole way through. The beginning was action-packed and exciting, and so was the ending. However, there was a large segment in the middle where the pacing bogged down to what felt like a crawl. In fact, not only did I end up putting this book down for a week, but I also don't remember most of what happened in that section of the story. That was also around the point where the tone, or at least Sal's attitude in general, really started to affect my reading mood. The constant self-degradation started to wear on me, as for a while there, it felt like every other sentence was talking about how terrible Sal was.
Thankfully, as I said before, the ending really picked back up and I couldn't put the book down for the last 250 pages or so. Many action-packed fights to be had and targets dying left and right - it was great! I absolutely loved the ending, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
There was a lot to like about this book. The world and magic is interesting and has depth to it. The characters are complex and flawed and dynamic. The action is fast-paced and wonderfully gruesome. When the plot is really rolling, the adventure is so much fun. And finally, from the get-go, I knew that the story was going to have an unreliable narrator, and it played out in a fantastic way.
So...why only three stars?
Unfortunately, the things I loved about the book was not consistent the whole way through. The beginning was action-packed and exciting, and so was the ending. However, there was a large segment in the middle where the pacing bogged down to what felt like a crawl. In fact, not only did I end up putting this book down for a week, but I also don't remember most of what happened in that section of the story. That was also around the point where the tone, or at least Sal's attitude in general, really started to affect my reading mood. The constant self-degradation started to wear on me, as for a while there, it felt like every other sentence was talking about how terrible Sal was.
Thankfully, as I said before, the ending really picked back up and I couldn't put the book down for the last 250 pages or so. Many action-packed fights to be had and targets dying left and right - it was great! I absolutely loved the ending, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
worldsokayest's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
drowninthetoklat's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sour33's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
5.0
anpu325's review against another edition
5.0
The best fantasy novel I have read in quite a while. This is the kind of book that demands to be devoured. The dialogue was witty, the world-building creative and fresh, and the characters memorable. My thought upon finishing was that I needed more! I was glad to find out that this was only the first book in a series. I am so so glad I picked up this book.
itsfreelancer's review against another edition
5.0
Sal the Cacophony, you beautiful bitch!
I devoured this book and I just couldn't help not raving about this. This is one of the best books I've read. This is the kind of funny I like in my fantasy books. And the violence, oh god, the poetic violence.
I devoured this book and I just couldn't help not raving about this. This is one of the best books I've read. This is the kind of funny I like in my fantasy books. And the violence, oh god, the poetic violence.
therealbel's review against another edition
4.0
This really grew on me as I got farther through it. I wondered at the beginning if I’d made a mistake by starting this but actually, as complicated as the story got and as large as the cast of characters got, I found myself liking it more and more. It was fun, the writing chatty (not my usual favorite but it worked here) and the pace fast enough to keep me engaged.
frogggirl2's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
NOTE: This author was accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace, which he apologized for, then removed his apology from the internet. I own two copies of this book purchased before this was announced publicly, so I am choosing to read this. I add this note in case someone else decides that they do not want to read from this author, which I respect. What follows is a review of the book, not the author's conduct.
The magic is cool. The monsters are cool. The world building is continuous and integrated into the story - it is not dumped in tedious, unrelated chunks. It's easy to get into this book, which is not always the case with fantasies.
I've really grown to hate this unoriginal, distracting, unnecessary habit in fantasy of using an interrogation as a narrative frame.
"Had I known I was about to ruin his life, I probably would have felt bad right about then," (p. 66). I hate this kind of hokey, faux-cliff hanger chapter endings that keep happening throughout the book.
I don't know enough about the characters to care about the many long fight scenes. If you hide so much of the character's background, I can't invest in the character or the situation. No side character is ever fleshed out in a meaningful way.
There's a lot of redundancy around her relationship, her self-hatred, hiding who she is, and her relationship to the enemies of the book. It feels slow and it feels repetitive. This book is in desperate need of editing. If I wasn't so disconnected by the lack of information and annoyed by the repetiousness, I could have enjoyed this romantic relationship and felt more compassion for the main character throughout.
The magic is cool. The monsters are cool. The world building is continuous and integrated into the story - it is not dumped in tedious, unrelated chunks. It's easy to get into this book, which is not always the case with fantasies.
I've really grown to hate this unoriginal, distracting, unnecessary habit in fantasy of using an interrogation as a narrative frame.
"Had I known I was about to ruin his life, I probably would have felt bad right about then," (p. 66). I hate this kind of hokey, faux-cliff hanger chapter endings that keep happening throughout the book.
I don't know enough about the characters to care about the many long fight scenes. If you hide so much of the character's background, I can't invest in the character or the situation. No side character is ever fleshed out in a meaningful way.
There's a lot of redundancy around her relationship, her self-hatred, hiding who she is, and her relationship to the enemies of the book. It feels slow and it feels repetitive. This book is in desperate need of editing. If I wasn't so disconnected by the lack of information and annoyed by the repetiousness, I could have enjoyed this romantic relationship and felt more compassion for the main character throughout.
aranafyre's review against another edition
4.0
If this book had been shorter I would have given it a 5. I really like Sal and her personality. She’s obnoxious and strong and broken and crass and incidentally good. Her voice and story are wonderful. Though I quickly realized here is another strong woman on a vengeance quest. Why must strong women only be seeking revenge for crimes they have suffered.
I loved the frame of telling her story as a confession before she is to be executed. Unreliable narrators are definitely in one of my wheel houses. I also loved the twist at the end. It was great.
I got tired in the middle though. Her reliving her trauma became tedious. There was also a lot of oh no Sal is super injured oh wait she can fight again yay let’s fight more and here’s another battle but wait... it just felt too long. The twist at the end kind of explained why she was telling a long drawn out story but it was annoyed as I read it. Especially the two fights with Greta the Thorn.
I also really like Liette and Calvirc. Liette was a very interesting character. I loved seeing Calvric’s development too. Ironically I think a bit more time could have been spent on that.
I loved the frame of telling her story as a confession before she is to be executed. Unreliable narrators are definitely in one of my wheel houses. I also loved the twist at the end. It was great.
I got tired in the middle though. Her reliving her trauma became tedious. There was also a lot of oh no Sal is super injured oh wait she can fight again yay let’s fight more and here’s another battle but wait... it just felt too long. The twist at the end kind of explained why she was telling a long drawn out story but it was annoyed as I read it. Especially the two fights with Greta the Thorn.
I also really like Liette and Calvirc. Liette was a very interesting character. I loved seeing Calvric’s development too. Ironically I think a bit more time could have been spent on that.