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acinonyx 's review for:
Crier's War
by Nina Varela
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really loved this and I can’t wait to read the final book! The characters were each pretty well developed, and the plot was interesting from the very start. Once it was all set up, things did become a bit predictable, but not boring at all, still very enjoyable to read. Also love the timeline at the beginning, honestly wish more books would do that!
My only real critique is that it makes very little sense why Ayla wants to kill Crier specifically. Why not the king? He’s the one who ordered the raids and lords over the humans, literally. Crier never had anything to do with any of it! And it can’t logically be to hurt him through hurting his daughter because Ayla and humans in general are all in agreement that Automae don’t feel deeply like that. He’ll just kill everyone involved and make another daughter. 🤷🏻♀️ And on top of that, the Automae control the humans in the palace using the same exact tactic, hurting a loved one to punish the offender. But this connection is never even hinted at, much less defended or explained by Ayla.
To be honest, her wanting to kill Crier just feels contrived in an effort to drive the tension and conflict in the romance. I think because of this the romance also suffers a mild bit of “insta-love” syndrome. However I do find that easily forgiven because the book is YA, and there’s always room for some reasonable insta-love when hormones and plot dangers are in the mix.
Despite all this I really did enjoy the book and I’m picking up the finale ASAP!
My only real critique is that it makes very little sense why Ayla wants to kill Crier specifically. Why not the king? He’s the one who ordered the raids and lords over the humans, literally. Crier never had anything to do with any of it! And it can’t logically be to hurt him through hurting his daughter because Ayla and humans in general are all in agreement that Automae don’t feel deeply like that. He’ll just kill everyone involved and make another daughter. 🤷🏻♀️ And on top of that, the Automae control the humans in the palace using the same exact tactic, hurting a loved one to punish the offender. But this connection is never even hinted at, much less defended or explained by Ayla.
To be honest, her wanting to kill Crier just feels contrived in an effort to drive the tension and conflict in the romance. I think because of this the romance also suffers a mild bit of “insta-love” syndrome. However I do find that easily forgiven because the book is YA, and there’s always room for some reasonable insta-love when hormones and plot dangers are in the mix.
Despite all this I really did enjoy the book and I’m picking up the finale ASAP!