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A review by kaulhilo
Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb
2.0
huh. took 12 days to finish, although that’s probably less to do with the book and more my hectic schedules and breakdowns etc. i’ve been looking forward to this book for ages, which is why i was very happy to have finally gotten around to starting it, but it really did not live up to any of my expectations.
the plot is very.. classical ya, in the sense that maybe it would’ve been received better (by me, at least) if it had been released around 2015. seven years later, however, it comes off as very retired and obvious, with very blatant and underwhelming characters and plot sequences. like, to the point where within five chapters i could predict who the killer was, where this book and series was going, and exactly how the characters would get there. it’s not bad, really, or even taxing to read, but it does feel extremely recycled and frankly, a pointless exercise in reading.
the only saving grace is the male lead, damian. even formulaic, he’s written with slightly more nuance and derivation than just about anything else in the book, probably because the series predominantly revolves around him/his “powers” (sorry, spoiler?) but it came to be the only thing keeping me from dnfing the book entirely. sadly, this interest didn’t extend to the female lead, or the love story, because although they’re.. sort of, in your face in the book, a lot of it is lectured in a very tired way. it’s a lot of tell, no show: which makes for an extremely exhausting read, because you’re told so many things “great romance!!!” “badass fmc!!!” “she’s broken!!!” “she’s vengeful she’s insane!!!” “they loved like starlight!!!!” and yet NONE of it is shown on page. i went through a lot of vague, flowery, not really feeling, honestly pointless words, and.. that’s it. as if i’m just supposed to accept it for that, despite never seeing any of this so called star-crossed depth on paper. i don’t know, maybe it’s likable to some people. to me, however, it came off as reading a particularly boring course book in a subject you didn’t much care about in the first place. but i digress. again, the book is truly not at all that bad, i promise. it’s just that it’s not good, when i was expecting it to be.. well, perhaps not perfect, but at least /something/, and it wasn’t. so. i don’t know what else to say lmao, but thanks to hachette book group for the arc. 2/5
the plot is very.. classical ya, in the sense that maybe it would’ve been received better (by me, at least) if it had been released around 2015. seven years later, however, it comes off as very retired and obvious, with very blatant and underwhelming characters and plot sequences. like, to the point where within five chapters i could predict who the killer was, where this book and series was going, and exactly how the characters would get there. it’s not bad, really, or even taxing to read, but it does feel extremely recycled and frankly, a pointless exercise in reading.
the only saving grace is the male lead, damian. even formulaic, he’s written with slightly more nuance and derivation than just about anything else in the book, probably because the series predominantly revolves around him/his “powers” (sorry, spoiler?) but it came to be the only thing keeping me from dnfing the book entirely. sadly, this interest didn’t extend to the female lead, or the love story, because although they’re.. sort of, in your face in the book, a lot of it is lectured in a very tired way. it’s a lot of tell, no show: which makes for an extremely exhausting read, because you’re told so many things “great romance!!!” “badass fmc!!!” “she’s broken!!!” “she’s vengeful she’s insane!!!” “they loved like starlight!!!!” and yet NONE of it is shown on page. i went through a lot of vague, flowery, not really feeling, honestly pointless words, and.. that’s it. as if i’m just supposed to accept it for that, despite never seeing any of this so called star-crossed depth on paper. i don’t know, maybe it’s likable to some people. to me, however, it came off as reading a particularly boring course book in a subject you didn’t much care about in the first place. but i digress. again, the book is truly not at all that bad, i promise. it’s just that it’s not good, when i was expecting it to be.. well, perhaps not perfect, but at least /something/, and it wasn’t. so. i don’t know what else to say lmao, but thanks to hachette book group for the arc. 2/5