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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
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
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Set during the Spanish Inquisition, Luiza is a servant in a rapidly dilapidating household. She gets by with her small, everyday magic - but when her mistress finds out about her meager powers, she shoves Luiza into the spotlight for her own benefit. When the king announces a tournament of magic users, she's forcefully submitted and set up with a strange man with his own vast magic who has faith in her abilities.
Look, I haven't loved a Leigh Bardugo before. But this premise was so intriguing that I decided to read this and have it decide if I ever pick up from her again. Unfortunately, this wasn't really decisive - I had very few feelings about this. Maybe this means I need to stop picking up books I'll feel meh about? We'll see what she comes out with next but I might be done trying her stuff, just because there's so many books and so little time!
I think the strongest aspect was the setting. This isn't a popular setting to write in and I think she did a great job making it come to life. I thought there were some magical scenes that were really cool and felt large and important for the world and our characters. However, the magic wasn't expanded upon enough for my taste - I didn't feel like I had a good idea of what magic as a whole looks like in this world and what our characters were even capable of. This made most uses of magic feel stake-less or like deus ex machina. I didn't feel strongly about our characters, the plot, or the writing style. I was disappointed in the familiar itself - I wanted to see more prowess from him, and to see how uniquely he interacts with the world, but was positively yawning when this went into a romantic direction. I thought that the ending made a lot of sense - it felt like the only way that the book could possibly end. I just know I'm not going to remember anything about this book in a couple of months except that the setting was unique.
Overall, I thought that this book was meh. There wasn't much I thought was done well or badly. It does what it says on the tin and doesn't really go any further.
Look, I haven't loved a Leigh Bardugo before. But this premise was so intriguing that I decided to read this and have it decide if I ever pick up from her again. Unfortunately, this wasn't really decisive - I had very few feelings about this. Maybe this means I need to stop picking up books I'll feel meh about? We'll see what she comes out with next but I might be done trying her stuff, just because there's so many books and so little time!
I think the strongest aspect was the setting. This isn't a popular setting to write in and I think she did a great job making it come to life. I thought there were some magical scenes that were really cool and felt large and important for the world and our characters. However, the magic wasn't expanded upon enough for my taste - I didn't feel like I had a good idea of what magic as a whole looks like in this world and what our characters were even capable of. This made most uses of magic feel stake-less or like deus ex machina. I didn't feel strongly about our characters, the plot, or the writing style. I was disappointed in the familiar itself - I wanted to see more prowess from him, and to see how uniquely he interacts with the world, but was positively yawning when this went into a romantic direction. I thought that the ending made a lot of sense - it felt like the only way that the book could possibly end. I just know I'm not going to remember anything about this book in a couple of months except that the setting was unique.
Overall, I thought that this book was meh. There wasn't much I thought was done well or badly. It does what it says on the tin and doesn't really go any further.
Fantastic combo of history and fantasy tied together by beautiful prose