A review by honeyreads1066
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

First off, I had pretty damn high expectations from this book so maybe I did just expect too much. 

This book follows Robin, a civil servant who gets assigned to a new post that he's never heard of after his predecessor goes missing. After meeting his prickly colleague Edwin and finding himself cursed and amid a search for a magical item that has the power to change everything for all the magicians known, he begins to realise he is well in over his head. 

I found that the beginning portion of this book was a lot slower paced than one would think for a fantasy series. There were just so many questions, who even were the villains, what are they looking for, is anyone else not pretty concerned about this curse none of you seems to have heard of. Maybe it's just me but I did feel like the priorities were far out of line. 

Despite this, the things you learn about the magic system I adored. Did I completely understand it, no, but it had to be the most original way I've seen magic used in a book before? It also set up a lot of different ways that magic can be used, like domestically and for entertainment, it wasn't just characters throwing fireballs or able to control light and I enjoyed that. 

The characters I felt were a little lacklustre. Robin and Edwin had a romance that developed way too quickly for me, while I was convinced at it towards the end I was not at the beginning, that doesn't mean to say that their scenes together weren't great because they really were. I just didn't like either of them and were more excited by the plot, use of magic and 3 of the female characters including 2 sisters that turn up later in the book. I just was not invested in them or their well-being at all. 

Overall, I enjoyed it, I especially enjoyed the magic and how that was used throughout and honestly that's what made the book for me. Would I recommend it, yes I would but I don't exactly feel strongly about it. 
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