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A review by emeliaisreading_
When Shadows Grow Tall by Maressa Voss
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Title: When Shadows Grow Tall by Maressa Voss
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Pub Date: August 1, 2024
"You must never stop asking questions, my darling. If you don't go about asking questions, no one has to worry about the answers they're giving you."
🔥 Elemental Magic
🕯️ Ancient Secret Societies
⚔️ Growing Rebellion
⏳ Dual POV/Timelines
Voss utilities personification and metaphor heavily throughout. It's beautiful to read, but can quickly become difficult to comprehend (there are a lot of big words that aren't necessarily used in normal daily speech). There are also long descriptions of actions that were pretty and well written, but maybe more than necessary?
Ex: He sighed, a great heaving thing that made his bones press against his skin. And then, from deep within his belly, a strange gurgle rose. Laughter, in spite of himself. It climbed up and out of his throat, escaping his lips like a wild thing that would treat with no taming. It poured from him in an endless stream and soon deep hoots twittering chirps, tinkling bells and faint wheezes joined the rumble of his utter surrender to the path that lay before him.
As you can see, the writing style is beautiful but it's just a lot lol
I struggled to grasp things at the beginning, finding that world building/explanations of powers/etc is done later in the book. I'm not sure if that was intentional or not, but I felt pretty confused until about 50% in when things were explained in the form of "info-dumping" dialogue between characters. This is also where the story began to pique my interest.
For a debut novel, it was good. I personally prefer my world building sprinkled in the beginning to avoid the confusion, but now that I understand I have high hopes for the next book, and now I know I need to read this author's work when I'm in the mood for a lot of poetic language.
⭐ 3.5/5
Thank you so much NetGalley and Roundfire Books for the review copy!
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Pub Date: August 1, 2024
"You must never stop asking questions, my darling. If you don't go about asking questions, no one has to worry about the answers they're giving you."
🔥 Elemental Magic
🕯️ Ancient Secret Societies
⚔️ Growing Rebellion
⏳ Dual POV/Timelines
Voss utilities personification and metaphor heavily throughout. It's beautiful to read, but can quickly become difficult to comprehend (there are a lot of big words that aren't necessarily used in normal daily speech). There are also long descriptions of actions that were pretty and well written, but maybe more than necessary?
Ex: He sighed, a great heaving thing that made his bones press against his skin. And then, from deep within his belly, a strange gurgle rose. Laughter, in spite of himself. It climbed up and out of his throat, escaping his lips like a wild thing that would treat with no taming. It poured from him in an endless stream and soon deep hoots twittering chirps, tinkling bells and faint wheezes joined the rumble of his utter surrender to the path that lay before him.
As you can see, the writing style is beautiful but it's just a lot lol
I struggled to grasp things at the beginning, finding that world building/explanations of powers/etc is done later in the book. I'm not sure if that was intentional or not, but I felt pretty confused until about 50% in when things were explained in the form of "info-dumping" dialogue between characters. This is also where the story began to pique my interest.
For a debut novel, it was good. I personally prefer my world building sprinkled in the beginning to avoid the confusion, but now that I understand I have high hopes for the next book, and now I know I need to read this author's work when I'm in the mood for a lot of poetic language.
⭐ 3.5/5
Thank you so much NetGalley and Roundfire Books for the review copy!