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A review by forthesanityof1
The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I think Melissa Caruso owns me by now because WOW does she know how to write a damn good book. I've read her other series and had the same feelings about it and all it's wonderful aspects, so when I saw that world coming back in a new, interesting way I jumped on this. Took me a while to get to it, but holy helps is it worth it.
This book exemplifies political intrigue mixed with interesting magic systems and mystery done right. I'm not usually a proponent of heavy political intrigue but the author keeps me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Ryx is a wonderful protagonist (similar to Amelia in her other series) I loved reading from. All the characters were fantastic. I think Whisper is my favorite-a breathtakingly dry humored, neutral beastie that constantly makes you wonder about his true nature? Sign me up. The expected love interest is also dynamic. I like that he's cowardly in some respects, and I hope to see him grow more as we interact with him more. The Rookery was a delight, loved the wlw representation and the nonbinary representation as well. I also loved the human moments with Ryx struggling with certain events. I see why they couldn't be fleshed out in this book, but I hope to see them being more processed in the second and third ones. Plot is so, so, SO interesting, pace is fantastic-it feels like so much is happening when nothing is really happening which helps keep me engaged-world building immaculate as always. I'm so excited for the second book, I can't wait to get my hands on it. I just devour everything she writes and I can't recommend this enough.
This book exemplifies political intrigue mixed with interesting magic systems and mystery done right. I'm not usually a proponent of heavy political intrigue but the author keeps me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Ryx is a wonderful protagonist (similar to Amelia in her other series) I loved reading from. All the characters were fantastic. I think Whisper is my favorite-a breathtakingly dry humored, neutral beastie that constantly makes you wonder about his true nature? Sign me up. The expected love interest is also dynamic. I like that he's cowardly in some respects, and I hope to see him grow more as we interact with him more. The Rookery was a delight, loved the wlw representation and the nonbinary representation as well. I also loved the human moments with Ryx struggling with certain events. I see why they couldn't be fleshed out in this book, but I hope to see them being more processed in the second and third ones. Plot is so, so, SO interesting, pace is fantastic-it feels like so much is happening when nothing is really happening which helps keep me engaged-world building immaculate as always. I'm so excited for the second book, I can't wait to get my hands on it. I just devour everything she writes and I can't recommend this enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, and Violence