A review by andriaerin
The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst

3.0

I found that, while I did enjoy this book, it took me a really long time to get through and the pacing was a little all over the place. The first few chapters and the last few chapters were action packed and moved quickly, but a lot the middle was inconsistent with pacing. There would be chapters that felt purposeful and moved the plot along and there would be chapters that seemed like their sole purpose was to reinforce the difficulty of the island test or the danger of using powers or something along those lines. As an adult fantasy novel, I expected more exploration of the magic systems and the world but we got a cursory explanation of the powers and some world building; the world building was stronger than the explanation of the magic system (The role of the magic system was mostly clear, but not the how of it). I enjoyed the book and would recommend it if you like fantasy novels with unique worlds though!

3.5 stars