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sarah_bell 's review for:
Snowblooded
by Emma Sterner-Radley
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An interesting concept (assassins in a 18thC Sweden with illegal magic!) but the execution fell flat for me.
Whilst I did enjoy the MCs as individuals, I grew irratited every time they shared a scene together in the first two-thirds of the book. Their arguments and 'banter' quickly grew annoying - there was far too much time dedicated to them flinging childish insults at each other repeatedly and I ended up skim reading a lot of their dialogue together. I did like the arc their relationship eventually went on, but I wish the story could have found a better way to show their initial antagonism.
One part of the characterisation I found really strange is that Valour is constantly described as 'quiet' and how she learns stuff by staying silent and listening, and yet she's never written like that and we never see her doing that.
There was also a few issues I had with the writing style. There's a couple of twists/ reveals in the story and, whilst they do make sense, I found the narrative a bit heavy-handed with its signposting of them. I also found that in the final fight scene the characters felt very detached from what was occurring around them and their actions unrushed despite the urgency of what was supposed to be happening.
My other main issue is that it adds a new aspect to the magic system in the second half of the book that was not well-explained - it had something to do with the Norse gods but that was about all I understood.
Overall, an intriguing concept and MCs, but could have done with less 'banter' and more world-building and a subtler writing style.
Whilst I did enjoy the MCs as individuals, I grew irratited every time they shared a scene together in the first two-thirds of the book. Their arguments and 'banter' quickly grew annoying - there was far too much time dedicated to them flinging childish insults at each other repeatedly and I ended up skim reading a lot of their dialogue together. I did like the arc their relationship eventually went on, but I wish the story could have found a better way to show their initial antagonism.
One part of the characterisation I found really strange is that Valour is constantly described as 'quiet' and how she learns stuff by staying silent and listening, and yet she's never written like that and we never see her doing that.
There was also a few issues I had with the writing style. There's a couple of twists/ reveals in the story and, whilst they do make sense, I found the narrative a bit heavy-handed with its signposting of them. I also found that in the final fight scene the characters felt very detached from what was occurring around them and their actions unrushed despite the urgency of what was supposed to be happening.
My other main issue is that it adds a new aspect to the magic system in the second half of the book that was not well-explained - it had something to do with the Norse gods but that was about all I understood.
Overall, an intriguing concept and MCs, but could have done with less 'banter' and more world-building and a subtler writing style.