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jlynnelseauthor 's review for:
Seven Faceless Saints
by M.K. Lobb
Holy wars. Lovers-to-Enemies-to-Lovers. A rebellion ready to strike back at the magically favored rulers by society. This book packs in a lot in only 384 pages, and it shows in the fast pacing.
The views on religion were very one-sided. There was a character of faith (Damian) clashing with a character of non-faith (Roz), and it seemed as though the faith character basically gave up religion because the girl he liked told him it was stupid. It would have been nice to have more of a struggle and a deeper discussion on how faith provides meaning to someone like Damian. In fact, Damian kind of changed everything about himself for Roz, and it really wasn't a struggle for him. Sometimes it took him a while to accept a truth, but he never questioned it once it came to light. Damian and Roz are also so *over dramatically* love-hate-love towards each other. One sentence would be about rage, then they'd shift to how hot the other person was and how they wanted to touch/kiss/jump them, then it was immediately back to anger. It got to be tiresome as it went on too long.
With that being said, I enjoyed the murder mystery. I felt it was a complex aspect with many threads. I also thought the saints with their saint-specific magic was a good aspect--this wasn't explored too much though as the only character we followed with magic was Roz. The rebellion was also a good subplot. It gave Roz a little heart in the midst of all her rage (so much rage).
Overall, I found the world and magic intriguing. I wasn't a fan of the main characters' constantly contrasting emotions and the one-sided argument about religion. Would I read book 2? We'll see when it comes out. I think there's lots of potential, and I liked how it resolved things. 3.5 stars.
I received an ARC paperback of this book. This has not influenced my review in any way. Thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
The views on religion were very one-sided. There was a character of faith (Damian) clashing with a character of non-faith (Roz), and it seemed as though the faith character basically gave up religion because the girl he liked told him it was stupid. It would have been nice to have more of a struggle and a deeper discussion on how faith provides meaning to someone like Damian. In fact, Damian kind of changed everything about himself for Roz, and it really wasn't a struggle for him. Sometimes it took him a while to accept a truth, but he never questioned it once it came to light. Damian and Roz are also so *over dramatically* love-hate-love towards each other. One sentence would be about rage, then they'd shift to how hot the other person was and how they wanted to touch/kiss/jump them, then it was immediately back to anger. It got to be tiresome as it went on too long.
With that being said, I enjoyed the murder mystery. I felt it was a complex aspect with many threads. I also thought the saints with their saint-specific magic was a good aspect--this wasn't explored too much though as the only character we followed with magic was Roz. The rebellion was also a good subplot. It gave Roz a little heart in the midst of all her rage (so much rage).
Overall, I found the world and magic intriguing. I wasn't a fan of the main characters' constantly contrasting emotions and the one-sided argument about religion. Would I read book 2? We'll see when it comes out. I think there's lots of potential, and I liked how it resolved things. 3.5 stars.
I received an ARC paperback of this book. This has not influenced my review in any way. Thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.