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elocinrhom 's review for:
Empire of Glass and Stone
by Brooke Clonts
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I went into this book blind and I'm glad I did. I was just as surprised as the FMC Yakua with some of the twists thrown her way. Without spoiling some of the twists, I'll have to say that I was really intrigued with the plot of the story, especially during the last half of the book. I wish I could go into detail with what I loved here but I want people to be as surprised as I was. For those who like spoilers, I loved the fact that she went in, thinking it was an arranged marriage to the emperor but then got blindsided with the fact that it was, in fact, a contest. And then when she thinks she has him wrapped around her finger at the waterfall only to find out he's doing the same thing with the other princesses. And then the fact that even if you "win" the contest, he already had more girls there to start the whole process over again.
Now for the constructive criticism. There were so many odd names thrown at us between characters, clans, Gods/Goddesses, kingdoms, and entities such as the mungacu and dragunche, and it made it hard to keep everything straight. Some of the characters we had to learn didn't end up making a difference in this book at all (maybe they were introduced for sequels?). I think maybe a few of the extra characters could have been given simpler names or not been introduced at all because we were trying to keep all of the important ones (plus the kingdoms and the various clans/social hierarchy) straight.
If you know me in real life, I hate giving negative reviews. But I did a bit more in this case, not because I hated the book but because I'm looking forward to more of this author's works in the future, including works set in this same world. All in all, I would definitely recommend this book. Just maybe have the glossary handy.
Now for the constructive criticism. There were so many odd names thrown at us between characters, clans, Gods/Goddesses, kingdoms, and entities such as the mungacu and dragunche, and it made it hard to keep everything straight. Some of the characters we had to learn didn't end up making a difference in this book at all (maybe they were introduced for sequels?). I think maybe a few of the extra characters could have been given simpler names or not been introduced at all because we were trying to keep all of the important ones (plus the kingdoms and the various clans/social hierarchy) straight.
If you know me in real life, I hate giving negative reviews. But I did a bit more in this case, not because I hated the book but because I'm looking forward to more of this author's works in the future, including works set in this same world. All in all, I would definitely recommend this book. Just maybe have the glossary handy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Classism