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A review by sarahlreadseverything
Empath's Lure by Jen Lynning
5.0
4.5 rounding up
This was so so so enjoyable. The premise and characters are so unique and interesting - the POV male character has the ability to manipulate emotion, but must also feed on other's emotion via touch to survive. The POV female character can sense emotion in others (and therefore catch and call out the male character's actions). Both are being used as tools in a fraught trade negotiation between their respective country's.
Starting from a great premise, it's then beautifully executed. The political machinations are layered and nuanced. The relationship between the main characters as they slowly realise their respective powers puts them in a position to truly *see* one another in a way others cannot is so well developed. Lisca is a fantastic, self-aware and emotionally mature heroine - throughout the whole book she makes her own choices, for herself and is pretty much a badass.
Docking half a star because the world building was sometimes hard to get to grips with - you just get thrown into the story and little is explained explicitly. It's one of the few fantasy books I've read where I've consciously felt the lack of a map.
This was so so so enjoyable. The premise and characters are so unique and interesting - the POV male character has the ability to manipulate emotion, but must also feed on other's emotion via touch to survive. The POV female character can sense emotion in others (and therefore catch and call out the male character's actions). Both are being used as tools in a fraught trade negotiation between their respective country's.
Starting from a great premise, it's then beautifully executed. The political machinations are layered and nuanced. The relationship between the main characters as they slowly realise their respective powers puts them in a position to truly *see* one another in a way others cannot is so well developed. Lisca is a fantastic, self-aware and emotionally mature heroine - throughout the whole book she makes her own choices, for herself and is pretty much a badass.
Docking half a star because the world building was sometimes hard to get to grips with - you just get thrown into the story and little is explained explicitly. It's one of the few fantasy books I've read where I've consciously felt the lack of a map.