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blackcatreads 's review for:
Beneath the Citadel
by Destiny Soria
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
For the writing, I gave that a 6 out of 10. It was fine but it was nothing to write home about. I listened to the audiobook for the most part, so I can’t attest to any spelling or grammatical errors, but the parts I saw in my little tandem reads appeared fine. There was one issue I had in that Evander and Alys’s parents were in the house and the next morning they were gone, and I had no memory of them leaving. This is around the time I took a break, so I will sum that up to me not paying attention.
For the plot, I gave that a 5 out of 10. There really wasn’t much of a plot for a lot of the book, and for the parts I did pick up were both disjointed and predictable. The beginning of the book starts with the characters already caught and in prison beneath the Citadel after breaking in, so it felt like I was missing part of the story. They escape through the tunnels and run into an immortal seer named Solan who has been imprisoned by the Citadel, and Solan tells them that, if they want to bring down the Citadel, they should free him. The kids say they’ll think about it and leave. Later, when they escape, the Chancellor, the same man that imprisoned them, finds the kids in the city and says he needs their help to kill the seer and free the city. Later, they end up freeing Solan, only for him to be evil, shocker. So, the story takes too many turns, I feel like I’m missing information, and is also predictable.
For the characters, I gave that a 5 out of 10 as well. I could not connect with a single character in this book. Keep in mind that this book is YA and these characters are teenagers, so I am not the target audience. However, I don’t feel like these characters were fully fleshed out. They seemed very 2D. Cassa essentially did everything to live up to a legacy of her parents and impress other people. At the end of the book, she did grow a bit, but it didn’t matter in the end. Evander seemed like he was there for muscle and comic relief, and that was it. Newt was interesting in that he had Ehlers - Danlos Syndrome and he used that in his heists. He also had an interesting upbringing, and it didn’t seem to mean anything. Alys was fine. She has almost crippling anxiety and she does overcome it somewhat to get the mission done, but I just didn’t care enough to feel happy about it. Overall, I think I would have thought differently if I were also a teenager.
For the world-building, I gave that a 5 out of 10. The entire world is vibes only. If that is something you’re fine with, this could be a book for you. However, that is not fine with me. I don’t understand the time period. We have pistols and true indoor plumbing, but we don’t seem to have electricity. If we do have electricity, it’s ambiguous because they have flame lanterns they call Ghost Globes. I don’t understand the magic system, and when it’s brought up we’re told it’s not magic. The Diviners, Seers, and Rooks don’t have magic but are gifts from their god. Then we have blood bonds, which are a different type of magic that comes from a different country, but it’s not magic and never explained. The rest of the country is not a theocracy, but this specific city is a theocracy. This theocratic government is corrupt because of a warehouse fire a hundred years ago and that’s what sparked the revolution, but it’s never explained how the government was involved. Overall, the entire world was completely vague and frustrating.
Overall, I gave this 2.6 stars. This is very much a vibes book only and just wasn’t for me. I think I only finished it because I didn’t have another audiobook to read at the time.