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A review by cassanette
Darksoul by Anna Stephens
4.0
He closed his eyes and wept, knowing he was saving men just so that they could destroy more lives and spread their poison across Rilpor. Aiding the enemy. Collusion. Betrayal.
Justice. Good. Right.
TW: graphic violence,
This book was very good but it could have been great. It could have been amazing. It still was, in certain parts. The siege? Oh, the siege itself deserves solid 5 stars. But the antagonists were just not compelling (when is "just pure evil for the sake of evil" a compelling choice for an entire nation when it isn't even for a single person?) and, as for the characters, I wanted the characters to be... more.
There was nothing particularly wrong with the characters, maybe except for the fact that the "good" and "evil" groups could not be more easily divided. (Also, everyone wants the throne. On the evil side, of course. And no one on the good side does because they're so honourable. How convenient.) But my favourite chapter, chapter 10, was all about friendship and family and shared trauma, and those themes were never really given enough time again which was a shame in my opinion. Seemingly important characters disappeared into the background. The fighting and the intrigue were amazing but a lot of characters died in ways which made me feel like I was supposed to care for their hopeless situation when I didn't because to me they were just names on the page, easily replaced with the next heroic sacrifice.
What does anyone look like in this book? It's true, I might have missed on all that information by skipping book 1, but based on the reviews I read that was an issue there as well.
Not to mention the ending which just didn't make much sense.
That siege though.
That siege was magic.