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A review by zephyrsilver
The Impossible Contract by K.A. Doore
Did not finish book.
Trigger Warnings for: Death, violence, gore, animal death
DNFing about 50% in.
I tried to push through this one, seeing as I wanted to DNF the first book but ended up enjoying it. However, I'm struggling and frustrated.
The only reason this contract is impossible is because Thana is wildly incompetent. The very first chapter starts with Thana nearly messing up a job and having to assassinate a target in a different way because she nearly messed up. That should have been my first warning about this book. So far, nearly halfway through, there have been about three instances where Thana thought 'yes this is the perfect time to kill my mark' and then it's gone horribly, which the reader is well aware it would, seeing as they all happened well before the halfway mark. At one point she even has a chance to not be seen by the mark but instead goes and talks to him like an idiot. Even aside from that, within the story itself, I'm not sure why this contract is considered "impossible". Sure he can do magic but that alone shouldn't make it impossible? Is it because he's an ambassador? It didn't really make too much sense to me. Thana had so many chances to kill him and just didn't because of "some plan" that we often times weren't even really told what it was until it failed to work. There was one point where she had a conversation with her mentor about a plan and the mentor (also the previous main character) claimed he couldn't see anyway the plan could fail; I saw like five different ways it would fail, and I was in fact right about how it did fail. The only reason Thana ever "succeeded" always felt like convenient plot reasons.
Thana's feelings for Mo also seemed to come out of nowhere. She met her once and then was suddenly acting like she knew her really well. It just didn't feel very natural. They also were both really flat characters. Mo was the kindhearted healer. Thana was a determined assassin. That's about it for both of their personalities. I didn't really feel any chemistry when they started saying they wanted to go see a city together. They barely knew each other.
So, this one is a DNF for me. I was far too frustrated and didn't want to push myself further. Which is a shame because the last third of the first book was my favorite part and made me like it quite a bit. I was hoping the same would happen for this one but I wasn't sure it was worth the risk considering how annoyed I was with this.
DNFing about 50% in.
I tried to push through this one, seeing as I wanted to DNF the first book but ended up enjoying it. However, I'm struggling and frustrated.
The only reason this contract is impossible is because Thana is wildly incompetent. The very first chapter starts with Thana nearly messing up a job and having to assassinate a target in a different way because she nearly messed up. That should have been my first warning about this book. So far, nearly halfway through, there have been about three instances where Thana thought 'yes this is the perfect time to kill my mark' and then it's gone horribly, which the reader is well aware it would, seeing as they all happened well before the halfway mark. At one point she even has a chance to not be seen by the mark but instead goes and talks to him like an idiot. Even aside from that, within the story itself, I'm not sure why this contract is considered "impossible". Sure he can do magic but that alone shouldn't make it impossible? Is it because he's an ambassador? It didn't really make too much sense to me. Thana had so many chances to kill him and just didn't because of "some plan" that we often times weren't even really told what it was until it failed to work. There was one point where she had a conversation with her mentor about a plan and the mentor (also the previous main character) claimed he couldn't see anyway the plan could fail; I saw like five different ways it would fail, and I was in fact right about how it did fail. The only reason Thana ever "succeeded" always felt like convenient plot reasons.
Spoiler
Also Thana is really stupid for not realizing there were two magic users (sorry I forgot what they were called.) Why would Heru, the mark, be attacked by his own zombies? (also not the right term, but again, forgot what they're called.) Why would he be fascinated by the writing/runes/magic on the bodies if he had made them himself? It was so obvious there was another person at play but it took that person literally revealing themselves for Thana to go 'Oh, there's two.'Thana's feelings for Mo also seemed to come out of nowhere. She met her once and then was suddenly acting like she knew her really well. It just didn't feel very natural. They also were both really flat characters. Mo was the kindhearted healer. Thana was a determined assassin. That's about it for both of their personalities. I didn't really feel any chemistry when they started saying they wanted to go see a city together. They barely knew each other.
Spoiler
Thana also at one point got mad at Heru for "betraying" her by trying to turn her in. Yeah, you tried to kill him about three times. He didn't "betray" you, he saved himself. Don't get mad about it like you had suddenly become friends.So, this one is a DNF for me. I was far too frustrated and didn't want to push myself further. Which is a shame because the last third of the first book was my favorite part and made me like it quite a bit. I was hoping the same would happen for this one but I wasn't sure it was worth the risk considering how annoyed I was with this.