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A review by gigireadswithkiki
The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I'm feeling very "middle of the road" on this read, with my thoughts bordering BIPOC mediocrity. HOWEVER, even though I'm not invested enough to read its sequel, I will say I was still fairly entertained while reading. The little puzzles and quests reminded me of the Legend of Zelda puzzle rooms in Breath of the Wild, and I think the characters are fun, little personas of their colorful backgrounds.
Now, is the character development super in-depth/intentioned? Not particularly, and frankly at times it felt like there were too many characters that the story was trying to juggle at once, but their teen angst and squabbling was fairly compelling throughout the story. The political/sociopolitical dialogue wasn't especially nuanced but I do appreciate the cleverness of Riya's background/connections as a means of branching into a more monetarily diverse cast of characters, a choice which I feel is poorly lacking in most fantasy novels following monarchal main characters.
All in all, this book had a thrilling cast of characters and an exciting, cranial-centric plot, but the surface-level and nearly entirely character-driven nature of the plot leaves me wanting more.
Now, is the character development super in-depth/intentioned? Not particularly, and frankly at times it felt like there were too many characters that the story was trying to juggle at once, but their teen angst and squabbling was fairly compelling throughout the story. The political/sociopolitical dialogue wasn't especially nuanced but I do appreciate the cleverness of Riya's background/connections as a means of branching into a more monetarily diverse cast of characters, a choice which I feel is poorly lacking in most fantasy novels following monarchal main characters.
All in all, this book had a thrilling cast of characters and an exciting, cranial-centric plot, but the surface-level and nearly entirely character-driven nature of the plot leaves me wanting more.