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A review by justkarlah
Spell Borne by Auden Llyr
Did not finish book. Stopped at 68%.
▪︎I got an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.▪︎
The plotline captured my attention right away, and I was excited to read about magic that influenced the lives of people based on fairytales. It was unique, but unfortunately I was unable to finish the book (I forced myself to read up to 70% before I gave up).
My first issue was with the POVs at the beginning. We're given a POV in the Prologue that I'm assuming is supposed to be mysterious, but then it changes to Loren's POV in the first chapter. It's confusing and could have been written differently to better fit the story.
My second issue is with the SA/trauma in this book. It feels like the SA was kind of just thrown into the book and randomly brought up when the main character needed to be seen as strong/a survivor. The mental trauma is basically glossed over by the other characters and Loren focusing more on the fairytale. I understand it's the type of topic that can be seen differently depending on who's reading it, but the way it was executed does not sit well with me.The chapter that focused on her being drugged/SA was super confusing and hard to read, in my opinion.
My third issue is with the amount of dialogue that this book relies on to keep the story going. There are parts where there is so much info just being dumped on you instead of being introduced to you in other ways. There were some chapters where I just kept hoping they'd move on from talking so much so that the story would progress, but it just kept dragging on.
I wasn't able to connect with Loren even when I was more than halfway through the book, which is another reason why I couldn't finish it. I really wish I loved it more, but unfortunately I did not.
The plotline captured my attention right away, and I was excited to read about magic that influenced the lives of people based on fairytales. It was unique, but unfortunately I was unable to finish the book (I forced myself to read up to 70% before I gave up).
My first issue was with the POVs at the beginning. We're given a POV in the Prologue that I'm assuming is supposed to be mysterious, but then it changes to Loren's POV in the first chapter. It's confusing and could have been written differently to better fit the story.
My second issue is with the SA/trauma in this book. It feels like the SA was kind of just thrown into the book and randomly brought up when the main character needed to be seen as strong/a survivor. The mental trauma is basically glossed over by the other characters and Loren focusing more on the fairytale. I understand it's the type of topic that can be seen differently depending on who's reading it, but the way it was executed does not sit well with me.
My third issue is with the amount of dialogue that this book relies on to keep the story going. There are parts where there is so much info just being dumped on you instead of being introduced to you in other ways. There were some chapters where I just kept hoping they'd move on from talking so much so that the story would progress, but it just kept dragging on.
I wasn't able to connect with Loren even when I was more than halfway through the book, which is another reason why I couldn't finish it. I really wish I loved it more, but unfortunately I did not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault