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A review by rg9400
Legacy of Brick & Bone by Krystle Matar
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-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
4.75
A phenomenal follow-up to a complex character-driven story told in a unique and strong voice. I was hesitant to pick this up due to the huge page jump from the first book, but I did not find myself noticing it at all, due in no large part to her line by line prose remaining excellent. I found myself really enjoying the mix of stories that encompassed a ghost western, a boxing underdog, a prison drama, realpolitik behind closed doors, and attempts to ignite revolution. Matar effortlessly can shift between humor, spicy sex scenes, and bursts of violence and blood. Despite the grimness that lies at the core of this story, there is a message of hope, of the ability for people to change, to be resilient. And yet, there is also this sense of insidiousness, as Matar showcases how easy it can be to make mistakes in the name for the greater good and how quickly good intentions can lead to a deal with the devil. Underpinning it all is this sense of tension and foreboding as tensions continue to ratchet up as we race towards that anxiety-inducing finale.
When I initially read Legacy of the Brightwash, one of my only criticisms was that a lot of the side characters seemed to have complex interrelationships that the reader had no awareness of, making their communication seem opaque. Matar uses this extra page count to finally start peeling back these layers to all these characters, giving us their perspectives and motivations so we can finally start to better understand how they all relate to each other, how they all respond to the revelations in this book, and what motivates them to continue to fight and act within this poisoned political system. She creates a world that feels wholly her own. There are lots of complex connections between all the characters, and the world starts to feel even more fleshed out as we trace how different regions and factions within Yaelsmuir and beyond relate to each other.
One of my only two criticisms is found here though. All of the characters seem to know each other and have a large shared history, and so it sometimes feels like this complex world is running through only a handful of characters yet whose stations and positions within these books are not exactly the equivalent of their influence. My other minor negative was that the magic felt a bit too vague for me. I generally understood the logic of how it worked, but it did feel like the boundaries of what characters could or could not do was a bit arbitrary and shifted a bit throughout the book.
When I initially read Legacy of the Brightwash, one of my only criticisms was that a lot of the side characters seemed to have complex interrelationships that the reader had no awareness of, making their communication seem opaque. Matar uses this extra page count to finally start peeling back these layers to all these characters, giving us their perspectives and motivations so we can finally start to better understand how they all relate to each other, how they all respond to the revelations in this book, and what motivates them to continue to fight and act within this poisoned political system. She creates a world that feels wholly her own. There are lots of complex connections between all the characters, and the world starts to feel even more fleshed out as we trace how different regions and factions within Yaelsmuir and beyond relate to each other.
One of my only two criticisms is found here though. All of the characters seem to know each other and have a large shared history, and so it sometimes feels like this complex world is running through only a handful of characters yet whose stations and positions within these books are not exactly the equivalent of their influence. My other minor negative was that the magic felt a bit too vague for me. I generally understood the logic of how it worked, but it did feel like the boundaries of what characters could or could not do was a bit arbitrary and shifted a bit throughout the book.