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hufflehawg's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I liked it. It was cheesy and loaded with tropes, but it hit the spot for a quick read in between series. That being said, it is not brilliant in its current realization or form.
The book presents as a standalone novel, but it reads more as the start of a cancelled series. It follows four “main characters”, a liberal usage of the term given their lack of development or depth throughout the novel. It feels like these characters are being dragged across a mystical realm, only propelled by the engine of plot necessity and random chance. Most interactions and scenes serve primarily to reveal a tiny bit of relevant plot driving lore - which the reader must remember later amidst an absolute avalanche of unnecessary world building lore. This is further displayed in the pre-text angelic hierarchy references and several maps required to make sense of certain angels power and supplementing sparse geographic development.
All of this, would be fine. If the book was better paced and more than half the lore didn’t remain on the mantle piece from start to finish. The book is hastily wrapped in the last hundred pages with an ending that was loud and more fitting of a trilogy of saga. The final chapter drops like a stone. And the epilogue doesn’t soften the fall. In fact it seems to tease more, which isn’t coming. Which is shame, because it would have been an intriguing and unique series given how the “magic” elements of this world function.
The book presents as a standalone novel, but it reads more as the start of a cancelled series. It follows four “main characters”, a liberal usage of the term given their lack of development or depth throughout the novel. It feels like these characters are being dragged across a mystical realm, only propelled by the engine of plot necessity and random chance. Most interactions and scenes serve primarily to reveal a tiny bit of relevant plot driving lore - which the reader must remember later amidst an absolute avalanche of unnecessary world building lore. This is further displayed in the pre-text angelic hierarchy references and several maps required to make sense of certain angels power and supplementing sparse geographic development.
All of this, would be fine. If the book was better paced and more than half the lore didn’t remain on the mantle piece from start to finish. The book is hastily wrapped in the last hundred pages with an ending that was loud and more fitting of a trilogy of saga. The final chapter drops like a stone. And the epilogue doesn’t soften the fall. In fact it seems to tease more, which isn’t coming. Which is shame, because it would have been an intriguing and unique series given how the “magic” elements of this world function.
keiramoran's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
chanelchapters's review against another edition
DNF
I can’t read a book where angels are basically slaves to humans and do stuff like make their clothes look newer - it just felt so lame.
And whilst the world building was solid, 100 pages in and I was still bored. None of the characters really appealed to me.
I can’t read a book where angels are basically slaves to humans and do stuff like make their clothes look newer - it just felt so lame.
And whilst the world building was solid, 100 pages in and I was still bored. None of the characters really appealed to me.
danique_sf's review against another edition
slow-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
3.5
It was a pretty good book, but it has much of its beauty to owe to the very interesting magic system and world building, and less to any engaging plot. It’s still good, but the story devices are quite obvious and I found myself caring more about finding out more about the background information and history than the main plot. I couldn’t connect as much to the main antagonist and her crew, but the other main characters were quite nicely designed.
jay_oaus's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-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
2.25
saslovesbooks's review
adventurous
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
2.5
Imaginative solid plot. The book had serious potential, but fell flat.
The 4 main characters didn't come to life for me and at times the book was a bit of a slog. There are some great ideas, but I think the writing could have been better. For me a case of everything felt described or explained rather than just happening. Perhaps because of the number of characters the PoV swapped between.
However enjoyed the premise and the plot.
The 4 main characters didn't come to life for me and at times the book was a bit of a slog. There are some great ideas, but I think the writing could have been better. For me a case of everything felt described or explained rather than just happening. Perhaps because of the number of characters the PoV swapped between.
However enjoyed the premise and the plot.
laurolly's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars. I started this book absolutely blind, and didn’t know enough about the Three Musketeers to realise that this was a retelling. But that didn’t hinder my enjoyment at all. I listened to this book, and really liked the narrator of the story - however, I unfortunately don’t think audiobooks work that well for me because my mind drifts too much. I really enjoyed the perspective of all four of our main characters, though I especially liked Dorotea. I could really feel the ease between the characters and thought they came together as a team really well. I thought that the start of the book was very slow, there was a lot of world building which I found to drag on too much and it disconnected me from the story. I did not see the final twist coming, and enjoyed how the plot played out - honestly I think the ending made me like the whole book a lot more.
booksandcat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Disappointing ending. Felt like the author couldn't decide whether to make this YA or adult so went somewhere in the middle.
shinycrochet's review against another edition
5.0
Intriguing and fun, it's quite different to my usual reads but I really enjoyed seeing how things developed.