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A review by caidyn
Crier's War by Nina Varela
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
On the reread, I liked it better. There were definitely some flaws still, but I enjoyed it more. Onto the next!
I received an ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!
I am so torn about this book.
At some points, it was so amazing. And at others, it was dragging. I will say, at the time of this review, I plan on reading the rest of the series. I'll reread this book and I think that I might enjoy it more a second time through. This might change as I reflect and read more opinions, but it was a very clever book with an interesting fantasci world that I would be interested in revisiting.
So, we're going to do a bullet point review.
What I liked:
☁️ The world. It was very clever. There are humans and then there are automae, or machines. The machines rule, but it wasn't always that way. There are humans trying to fight the status quo, of course, and there are people within the machines who don't agree with what's going on. But, I thought the world was so unique. I've never read anything like that.
☁️ The general plot. It was fun and took me on a ride that I wasn't expecting. It was just so damn cool.
☁️ Ayla! I really liked Ayla. She's the human who somehow finds herself in the royal intrigue going on. I totally understood her and I just loved her. She was fun to read about!
What I didn't like:
☁️ The political intrigue. It just... fell flat for me? That's what it comes down to. All the intrigue fell flat. I wasn't that intrigued by it because I got it right away. While the world was clever, I didn't think the intrigue was.
☁️ Where the plot went. What goes with what I mentioned above is that I wasn't a huge fan of where the plot wound up. Sure, it was nice and it took me on a ride, but I wasn't emotionally invested in it whatsoever. When the ending hit, I kind of rolled my eyes about it.
☁️ The romance. This is kind of touted as an f/f romance with enemies to lovers, but I didn't feel that way about it. Yes, they kinda get together. Kinda. I never really believed how they got together and I want to emphasize that they didn't really get together. It was more like the Captive Prince series where it's going to take multiple books. But, it fell flat for me. I was bored by it and I was really anticipating that part of it.
☁️ Crier! I wasn't into her. Yes, I got her struggle. Yes, I got her identity questions. Yes, I got it all. But I didn't love her chapters as much.
☁️ The angst. What can I say? It got boring. The romantic angst got stale for me.
Overall, as I said, I plan on reading the rest of the series. When I get wind of the second book, I'll reread this to decide if I want to try the rest of the series. I think this has a lot of potential and that people are going to like it, but it didn't live up to the hype for me.
I received an ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!
I am so torn about this book.
At some points, it was so amazing. And at others, it was dragging. I will say, at the time of this review, I plan on reading the rest of the series. I'll reread this book and I think that I might enjoy it more a second time through. This might change as I reflect and read more opinions, but it was a very clever book with an interesting fantasci world that I would be interested in revisiting.
So, we're going to do a bullet point review.
What I liked:
☁️ The world. It was very clever. There are humans and then there are automae, or machines. The machines rule, but it wasn't always that way. There are humans trying to fight the status quo, of course, and there are people within the machines who don't agree with what's going on. But, I thought the world was so unique. I've never read anything like that.
☁️ The general plot. It was fun and took me on a ride that I wasn't expecting. It was just so damn cool.
☁️ Ayla! I really liked Ayla. She's the human who somehow finds herself in the royal intrigue going on. I totally understood her and I just loved her. She was fun to read about!
What I didn't like:
☁️ The political intrigue. It just... fell flat for me? That's what it comes down to. All the intrigue fell flat. I wasn't that intrigued by it because I got it right away. While the world was clever, I didn't think the intrigue was.
☁️ Where the plot went. What goes with what I mentioned above is that I wasn't a huge fan of where the plot wound up. Sure, it was nice and it took me on a ride, but I wasn't emotionally invested in it whatsoever. When the ending hit, I kind of rolled my eyes about it.
☁️ The romance. This is kind of touted as an f/f romance with enemies to lovers, but I didn't feel that way about it. Yes, they kinda get together. Kinda. I never really believed how they got together and I want to emphasize that they didn't really get together. It was more like the Captive Prince series where it's going to take multiple books. But, it fell flat for me. I was bored by it and I was really anticipating that part of it.
☁️ Crier! I wasn't into her. Yes, I got her struggle. Yes, I got her identity questions. Yes, I got it all. But I didn't love her chapters as much.
☁️ The angst. What can I say? It got boring. The romantic angst got stale for me.
Overall, as I said, I plan on reading the rest of the series. When I get wind of the second book, I'll reread this to decide if I want to try the rest of the series. I think this has a lot of potential and that people are going to like it, but it didn't live up to the hype for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, and Police brutality