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A review by faefires
Castles in Their Bones by Laura Sebastian
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
if nothing else, this book is gutsy. three separate but interwoven storylines with three princesses and three princes and a shit ton of kings and side characters and political entanglement AND magic…it’s quite the undertaking.
there are things to enjoy about this book. the political intrigue is well, intriguing, the stakes are high, there’s a lot going on. despite that, there’s also nothing going on. chapters are spent describing tea parties and cakes and dresses that do not matter, and despite the importance of the four main countries, only one is fully fleshed out. for most of the book, daphne, who is meant to be the most clever, does literally nothing. the magic system is similarly underdeveloped, and is pretty much used as a get out of jail free card for the characters when they need to get around a plot issue.
twists abound, but after the third major reveal it gets tiring and no longer is unexpected. in a book like this, you expect everyone to betray everyone—so when the characters get betrayed for the sixth consecutive time, you’re hardly surprised, and end up slightly annoyed. the author clearly can write an engaging PLOT, but the characters have less going for them. they are hardly ever physically described with anything other than vague terms “pretty, handsome, soft, harsh, or beautiful”, which makes it difficult to picture them, and makes them all blend together in the mind. you can tell the author wrote lines to be “ya marketable,” the type of lines used in trailers and edits and promotional materials, rather than trying to make them not be cringey or overdramatic.
this book was almost good. but it was a bit too long, a bit underdeveloped, and a bit too mass market appeal YA fiction. the book succeeds in setting up an interesting premise for a series and it’s future sequels, but shoots itself in the foot by killing its most likable and well developed character, leaving me with little motivation to await the releases.
there are things to enjoy about this book. the political intrigue is well, intriguing, the stakes are high, there’s a lot going on. despite that, there’s also nothing going on. chapters are spent describing tea parties and cakes and dresses that do not matter, and despite the importance of the four main countries, only one is fully fleshed out. for most of the book, daphne, who is meant to be the most clever, does literally nothing. the magic system is similarly underdeveloped, and is pretty much used as a get out of jail free card for the characters when they need to get around a plot issue.
twists abound, but after the third major reveal it gets tiring and no longer is unexpected. in a book like this, you expect everyone to betray everyone—so when the characters get betrayed for the sixth consecutive time, you’re hardly surprised, and end up slightly annoyed. the author clearly can write an engaging PLOT, but the characters have less going for them. they are hardly ever physically described with anything other than vague terms “pretty, handsome, soft, harsh, or beautiful”, which makes it difficult to picture them, and makes them all blend together in the mind. you can tell the author wrote lines to be “ya marketable,” the type of lines used in trailers and edits and promotional materials, rather than trying to make them not be cringey or overdramatic.
this book was almost good. but it was a bit too long, a bit underdeveloped, and a bit too mass market appeal YA fiction. the book succeeds in setting up an interesting premise for a series and it’s future sequels, but shoots itself in the foot by
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder