A review by art_books_chemistry
Song of the Forever Rains by E.J. Mellow

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I'm a huge high/epic fantasy person and this scratched that itch well. I really enjoyed the world that E.J. Mellow built within this first book and am excited to read the second one. However, there are two short-comings for me with this novel. 

First, I wish there were more details is some parts. There were certain characters whose scenes were written as if we know everything about them, when we in fact no little to nothing as the reader yet. I'm always happy to see a map at the beginning of a book but I also think georgraphy should also be well-explained in the text. I do a lot of audiobooks, though this one I read via Kindle Unlimited, and a map only available in a visual format is a flaw over audio. 

Secondly, I found some of the dialogue to be awkward in spots. One of the MCs (all of whom are high class citizens in this world) said "G'night" at one point which just felt off-kilter to the rest of the higher brow style dialogue language. I also had to roll my eyes at the use of "Sticks" as an expletive. The entire cast after the prologue is 19+ and I cannot understand why sticks of all words even is an expletive in this world. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the storyline, there were some clever plot points I haven't seen done this way in other books. If you want a completely wrapped story in one book, however, you may not want this as only one of the two major plot lines is resolved in the conclusion. 

Definitely recommend for fantasy lovers! It's also technically a slow burn romance with the smallest amount of spice for those looking for that! 

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