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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
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
i must confess this series scares me. i hope to return to it one day
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really didn't like this book. It was so slow and I just didn't feel any buy in. Also, this was yet another fantasy book where the author chose not to out a content warning yet referred to and threatened SA frequently. I have no desire to continue this series.
adventurous
dark
tense
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
I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a YA book this much since The Hunger Games, (but nothing holds a candle to The Hunger Games, sorry). It was stressful in a good way, the stakes high enough that it kept me reading.
I really enjoyed the characters, and to be honest, it was the characters that kept me reading more than the actual story because they all felt pretty plausible.
I rooted for Laia because you can’t know bravery until you’ve known fear. It was really gratifying to see her come into her own. It was also really refreshing to read about a female character in a YA novel that didn’t constantly bemoan how “plain” or “not like other girls” she is. I like that she appreciated other female characters and valued their friendships. I really admired her tenacity and courage once she found it. I also liked her self-reflective nature.
Elias is simply a Good Boy. I liked him but for me his character was a little dumb and lackluster. Which isn’t a failing, necessarily. Other than hating the Martials and agonizing over finding his Badass Hot Friend hot and badass, but not wanting to be with her because they’re such good friends, I didn’t really get the sense he was struggling like Laia was. The stakes didn’t feel quite as high for him because he’s so tall and capable and also tall. That isn’t to say there were no stakes for him, just not a lot. I didn’t hate being inside his head. He was skilled and tough and compassionate but he didn’t beat you over the head with it. Simply, I like him. He’s good people. I really enjoyed the chapter where he confronts his greatest fear. And the battle royale chapter was quite intense.
I’m mushy as hell but I love a good Romantic Tension moment. Or several. I actually found myself rooting for Laia X Keenan and Elias X Helene more than Laia X Elias, though. I’m sure that’s gonna change in the subsequent books.
My biggest gripes with this book come from the world-building and plot. That’s fine; some writers excel at character interactions more than world building, which I think is the case here. However, beyond this being a recreation of The Roman Empire, magic shows up only when it’s convenient, and the simplistic names for the factions of people were pretty off-putting. Mariners live on the ocean. Tribal people live in tribes. Martials like war. Scholars like books. “Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.” Even the whole Trials-to-name-the-next-Emperor felt a little convoluted. But I suppose the point is that we really don’t know what the Augurs are up to, or why. Yet(?)
I enjoyed following the characters but I never really got the sense of truly inhabiting this world. Why are the Martials training elite soldiers if their only task is to bully slaves and scholars from wanting to not want to be slaves anymore? Why do they need to rob farmhouses if they’re already in control of this part of the world? What is the point of them? What is the point of this empire?
And the villains honestly felt pretty one note to me. Marcus the Rapist, who rapes people and I guess likes his henchman— I mean, brother, but only after he kills him. And the Commandant, the nasty old gal who hurts people for looking at her wrong and also *gasp* didn’t want a baby! Did she love the guy she hooked up with? Was she using him for his body and whoopsy-daisy’d on the birth control? Or was Elias the product of rape? I can’t recall if that was ever clarified and I’m not sure it matters. They were created to be Bad Guys and that’s it. Boring, tbh.
I will say, a big gripe I have with books in general is female characters being under CONSTANT threat of rape. It’s lazy and exhausting for no good reason. And it’s almost worse (?) when it doesn’t actually follow through because it goes the same way in nearly every damn book I read that uses rape as a plot device. Just when you think Raper The Rapist is gonna do a rape, Good Boy Love Interest saves the day because he is, indeed, the Goodest Boy. Predictable.
All that being said, I did enjoy this book enough that it held my attention, and I am fairly invested in finding out what happens next, so the author was successful, there. And the plot twists were fairly fun.
I really enjoyed the characters, and to be honest, it was the characters that kept me reading more than the actual story because they all felt pretty plausible.
I rooted for Laia because you can’t know bravery until you’ve known fear. It was really gratifying to see her come into her own. It was also really refreshing to read about a female character in a YA novel that didn’t constantly bemoan how “plain” or “not like other girls” she is. I like that she appreciated other female characters and valued their friendships. I really admired her tenacity and courage once she found it. I also liked her self-reflective nature.
Elias is simply a Good Boy. I liked him but for me his character was a little dumb and lackluster. Which isn’t a failing, necessarily. Other than hating the Martials and agonizing over finding his Badass Hot Friend hot and badass, but not wanting to be with her because they’re such good friends, I didn’t really get the sense he was struggling like Laia was. The stakes didn’t feel quite as high for him because he’s so tall and capable and also tall. That isn’t to say there were no stakes for him, just not a lot. I didn’t hate being inside his head. He was skilled and tough and compassionate but he didn’t beat you over the head with it. Simply, I like him. He’s good people. I really enjoyed the chapter where he confronts his greatest fear. And the battle royale chapter was quite intense.
I’m mushy as hell but I love a good Romantic Tension moment. Or several. I actually found myself rooting for Laia X Keenan and Elias X Helene more than Laia X Elias, though. I’m sure that’s gonna change in the subsequent books.
My biggest gripes with this book come from the world-building and plot. That’s fine; some writers excel at character interactions more than world building, which I think is the case here. However, beyond this being a recreation of The Roman Empire, magic shows up only when it’s convenient, and the simplistic names for the factions of people were pretty off-putting. Mariners live on the ocean. Tribal people live in tribes. Martials like war. Scholars like books. “Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.” Even the whole Trials-to-name-the-next-Emperor felt a little convoluted. But I suppose the point is that we really don’t know what the Augurs are up to, or why. Yet(?)
I enjoyed following the characters but I never really got the sense of truly inhabiting this world. Why are the Martials training elite soldiers if their only task is to bully slaves and scholars from wanting to not want to be slaves anymore? Why do they need to rob farmhouses if they’re already in control of this part of the world? What is the point of them? What is the point of this empire?
And the villains honestly felt pretty one note to me. Marcus the Rapist, who rapes people and I guess likes his henchman— I mean, brother, but only after he kills him. And the Commandant, the nasty old gal who hurts people for looking at her wrong and also *gasp* didn’t want a baby! Did she love the guy she hooked up with? Was she using him for his body and whoopsy-daisy’d on the birth control? Or was Elias the product of rape? I can’t recall if that was ever clarified and I’m not sure it matters. They were created to be Bad Guys and that’s it. Boring, tbh.
I will say, a big gripe I have with books in general is female characters being under CONSTANT threat of rape. It’s lazy and exhausting for no good reason. And it’s almost worse (?) when it doesn’t actually follow through because it goes the same way in nearly every damn book I read that uses rape as a plot device. Just when you think Raper The Rapist is gonna do a rape, Good Boy Love Interest saves the day because he is, indeed, the Goodest Boy. Predictable.
All that being said, I did enjoy this book enough that it held my attention, and I am fairly invested in finding out what happens next, so the author was successful, there. And the plot twists were fairly fun.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An adventurous and emotionally gripping tale.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence
so so good, one of the best fantasy books i've read. Despite it being very violent i really enjoyed reading this book and there was never a boring moment.
adventurous
inspiring
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:
Complicated