Review by katelyn11 - Smoke and Scar

katelyn11 's review for:

Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny tense 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

Oh. My.

It's been a loong time since I've read an epic fantasy that had me gripped like Smoke and Scar did. Where to begin?

This book is like Dungeons and Dragons meets ACOTAR, but with very mild spice (a slow burn, really). The Crucible is reminiscent of the Hunger Games, but with adult players instead of children and teens and in an epic fantasy world instead of a dystopian United States. Gretchen plays with well-known tropes and plots, yet manages to marvellously spin them for a fresh take.

The characterization and dialogue were spot-on. It's rare that I feel truly immersed in a story; I felt part of this one as if I were a participant instead of a spectator. The diversity of races was beautifully unique, and each character's description, voice, and arc were realistic and believable. They felt like real people to me, and I loved them all (well, almost all). Elyria, in particular, is entertaining and witty but never falls prey to the temptation of being too charming or superficial. I thoroughly enjoyed the flipping of the damsel-in-distress trope.

A contemplative look crossed her face, as if she was carefully weighing her next words. “I know what it’s like . . . to carry that ever-present weight of guilt. Of blame. To feel like something inside you is wrong, to let it eat away at you until nothing of you remains but wisps of smoke and a collection of scars.”

I particularly resonated with Cedric's journey in identifying and peeling back the layers of his racial prejudices - it is a painful journey, but necessary when confronted with the reality that the people you have been taught to hate are people too. They might even become friends instead of enemies.

Was it possible that the hatred that had fueled Cedric for the majority of his life, that had pushed him toward the Crucible, had been manufactured by himself?

There are of course those characters who are despicable and are written to hate, and I hated them for their greed, blind prejudices, and arrogance as I ought. However, even with these, Gretchen is careful to not make them purely one-dimensional. Each character has motives for their actions; they are the way they are for reasons of their own.

The worldbuilding is done masterfully, drawing in the reader without info dumping or leaving information out. It reveals itself slowly, and again, I felt like I was part of the world of Arcanis instead of observing it. 'Epic fantasy' is a broad genre, and this book has deserved its place within it. It is also rare to have an epic fantasy balance the intricacy of worldbuilding and characterization as well Gretchen does. Too often, epic fantasies become buried in the details of worldbuilding and the characters fall flat. Not so with Smoke and Scar. The characters carry this story all the way.

I also want to add that I love that it wasn't smutty. The characters and story are not sexually motivated, and I can't tell you what a relief that was. According to many romantasy books, it seems like sex ought to be the only thing anyone thinks about. At its core, Smoke and Scar was about relationships - between enemies who become friends, estranged family members who are reconciled, and lost loved ones whose passing needs to be grieved - and these relationships were NOT primarily sexual in nature. I loved it.

Needless to say, I'll be buying this book in physical format when it comes out in March! If you loved ACOTAR, Throne of Glass, The Hunger Games, or anything resembling Dungeons and Dragons, you'll love this. Plus, these are adult characters, not angsty teens, which is SO much better.

This book was received as an ARC from Gretchen - thank you! Plus points to her for adding a content warning at the front of the book (more books need this, please!), listing Smoke and Scar as "an adult epic romantic fantasy that contains language, violence, and themes that may not be appropriate for readers below the age of 16. Content warning: Strong language, violence, blood, gore, murder, torture, grief, self-sacrifice, parental death depicted in a flashback, and prejudice/slurs against fictional races." (Profanity: 65 uses of f*ck, 29 uses of sh*t).

Content Warnings