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A review by imme_van_gorp
The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent
3.0
This was fine. Really. But still, there’s just something about this series that doesn’t quite work for me. The characters don’t draw me in entirely and the writing itself doesn’t grip me either. It all feels a little stilted and empty; without real emotion. Which is a shame, because the story itself is pretty decent.
That said, I do have to say that I enjoyed the second half of this book much better. Whereas the first half dragged so hard and was truly boring, the second half picked up its pacing and had a relatively interesting plot. I went from feeling bored to somewhat intrigued, and eventually ended up having a satisfied feeling about the ending.
Also, one of my main issues is that I simply don’t feel a true love connection between Oraya and Raihn. To me they just don’t have a lot of chemistry and their dynamic never feels super romantic to me. I don’t feel the tension or the longing; not even in a situation that should have been incredibly intense and angsty.
There were a lot of unresolved issues and betrayals between these two, but they never really do much about that: Raihn doesn’t grovel and Oraya doesn’t make him. I really expected her to want to take revenge against him, but nope. They were simply waiting to get back together, since they both knew they would eventually…
And so when they do finally get over their issues and give in to each other, it surely doesn’t come as a big surprise, but I will admit that they were pretty sweet and cute together at that point. It’s clear they loved each other, I just wish I could have felt and understood their love more.
Long story short, I’m definitely not raving about this series or this author’s writing, but I certainly don’t hate it either. It’s fine.
That said, I do have to say that I enjoyed the second half of this book much better. Whereas the first half dragged so hard and was truly boring, the second half picked up its pacing and had a relatively interesting plot. I went from feeling bored to somewhat intrigued, and eventually ended up having a satisfied feeling about the ending.
Also, one of my main issues is that I simply don’t feel a true love connection between Oraya and Raihn. To me they just don’t have a lot of chemistry and their dynamic never feels super romantic to me. I don’t feel the tension or the longing; not even in a situation that should have been incredibly intense and angsty.
There were a lot of unresolved issues and betrayals between these two, but they never really do much about that: Raihn doesn’t grovel and Oraya doesn’t make him. I really expected her to want to take revenge against him, but nope. They were simply waiting to get back together, since they both knew they would eventually…
And so when they do finally get over their issues and give in to each other, it surely doesn’t come as a big surprise, but I will admit that they were pretty sweet and cute together at that point. It’s clear they loved each other, I just wish I could have felt and understood their love more.
Long story short, I’m definitely not raving about this series or this author’s writing, but I certainly don’t hate it either. It’s fine.