A review by tacochelle
Nightbane by Alex Aster

challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

If there is one good thing about this book, it's that I felt compelled to take frequent breaks to read stuff that I knew I'd enjoy. Just because this book gives me a fucking headache. It's all the same problems I had with the first book but amplified. We bounce from scene to scene, always one big disaster after another with little to really connect it all together. Magic rulebreaking items like the starstick and the super duper healing potion are overused and abused. It makes the stakes so low despite the fucking war prepping and monster attacks. I don't care about the intricacies of aging between the different realms, Isla is barely an adult in a horny love triangle with two guys that are centuries older than her. It feels so gross. And what the fuck was that ending? That's not an ending to a book, that's a cliffhanger ending for chapters. I feel like I've wasted my time here.
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