A review by wordsofapaige
Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

5.0

Wow. Legacy of the Brightwash takes you on a journey, the characters you meet at the start of the book go through huge emotional and moral changes throughout the course of the novel. It is such an amazing thing to read. Krystle Matar has managed to craft and develop so much in the course of just one book.

This book features a lot of drinking, fighting, pining for someone and rule breaking. But it never gets old, our characters are constantly in some form of action, and it just makes their odd bit of down time all that more precious. Matar then uses these slower moments to really develop our characters relationships to one another. 

The plot centres around Tashué and his life. He is a Regulation Officer for the Authority. Essentially he keeps tabs on ‘tainted’ people, or people with some kind of special power. These tainted as seen as lesser people, and they can get put in the Rift for even having a relationship with another tainted person. Basically they are hated by the Authority and treated incredibly badly. At first Tashué is totally on board with what the Authority stands for, but as the  book goes on he starts to question things, and his new found friendships open his eyes to what is actually going on. It’s super dark. 

Mixed in with the above plot is the romance of the book. Matar doesn’t shy away from complicated and very human relationships. We see old lovers, there are LGBTQ+ couples, and we get to see Tashué fall rather hard for someone. Yes, occasionally I wanted to shake him and tell him to get a move on, but ultimately it works perfectly in time with his moral change throughout the book. 

There’s a wonderful cast of characters supporting this book. I loved them all despite their failings, and Matar makes them unquestionably human. Each one is connected to Tashué in some way, and many are incredibly loyal to him. It was a refreshing look into the dynamics of the characters and to have such a close found family bond between them all was a real joy to read. 

This is a complex, sweeping, epic book. Come for the plot and stay for the characters. It has some really dark undertones, which I’m sure will become more prominent as the series proceeds. Basically, I loved it.