A review by litwithlesia
Fate of the Five: Veil of Vasara by Niamh Rose

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

As someone who typically struggles with first person, multi-POV stories (especially when centered heavily around politics) I was a little apprehensive coming into this book. My expectations were absolutely blown away though once I got into it! Niamh has done such a great job of introducing multiple characters in a digestible way that really pulls you in and gets you invested right off the bat! 

All of our characters were flawed and operating on their own agenda, and it was really hard to know who to trust or what was going to happen. While I never thought that the pacing was slow, it definitely picked up near the end and I didn’t want to put it down! Knowing that this is the first book in a series also helped temper my expectations for a clear resolution at the end, but you should definitely expect a cliffhanger that leaves you gasping!

The dynamics between all the different characters was so interesting and fun to read, but Nathon and Hestan are everything to me! There were so many oddly tender moments between them, and I’m so excited to see where the story will take the two of them. The slow burn tension is so well done, but when I say slow burn I MEAN it! 😮‍💨

I also have to shoutout the queer and disability rep in this book! Niamh did such a great job creating a queer normative world, and I loved the way she addressed disabilities and various mental health struggles (specifically PTSD) throughout the book.

I’d highly recommend this book for anyone who likes political intrigue, slow burn romance, and morally grey characters who you never know if you can trust!