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3.74 AVERAGE

mchapm88's review

5.0

I was fortunate to receive an ARC copy of this book from Jaclyn Kot and absolutely loved it.

Sage is a relatable female character whose curiosity helps the reader tap into this rich fantasy world. Her relationship to her family is a huge motivator and drives a good portion of this book.

Von is the mysterious male. He had me hooked from the first time he showed up on the page. Von gives off Ruhn Daanan vibes (Crescent City fans will get it!) while standing on his own two feet. If you wished CC had more Ruhn, this may just be the book for you!

And the ending? Man book 1 isn’t even officially released and I already want book 2!

Eta: I’ve now gone and read this through a second time and loved it as much as the first time. It’s an amazing read and I highly recommend it!
adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Liked but did not love. I got kind of bored reading this halfway through and also guessed pretty much all the plot twists from a mile away.

Not sure I’ll read the rest of the series
adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark emotional hopeful 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
adventurous fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I quite liked this debut. A lot of people compare this to ACOTAR and I can see the resemblances, but I do think the two stand on their own. 

The magic system in this world is interesting and I actually liked that it wasn’t explored much in this first book. I liked Sage a lot, but I guessed quite early of her circumstances (along with Von’s). It was a little predictable, but so are many romantasy novels. 

I liked Von a lot and liked that we didn’t get the third act exposition in great detail - I’m looking forward to hearing more of their story in the sequel. 
adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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: Complicated

Absolutely loved this book (and the narrators were PHENOMENAL), but there were a few small things that bothered me. Her relationship with the MMC seemed very sudden and also….babes HOW tf did it take you like 70% of the book to connect the dots. And the FMCs being smut readers is getting a little old imo