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A review by fitzsbeloved
The Councillor by E.J. Beaton
4.0
There are many times I pick up a book and immediately feel engrossed with what I am reading. Other times, I find enjoyment with what I’m reading, but have a hard time finding the motivation with picking it up.
This is one of those times.
The Councillor by E.J. Beaton is a wonderfully crafted political-fantasy following a young scholar that I think many readers would enjoy. Lysande is smart, level-headed, and cunning, despite her struggles with her drug addiction. Her main goal is to figure out who murdered her best friend and queen of the realm, Seralin while also being tasked with deciding which of the four city-rulers will ascend the throne.
The problem here being, obviously, that it’s quite possible that one of the city-rulers might have been the one to kill Seralin.
Of course, the biggest draw here is trying to figure out the mystery alongside Lysande. Each of the city-rulers have their own distinct and enjoyable personalities. I quickly became attached to each of them and couldn’t fathom any of them being the betrayer (if only for the fact that my heart wouldn’t be able to take it).
Dante and Jale, the two star-crossed princes, were probably my favorite. It’s quite evident from the start that they have something going on despite being from two places that really seem to hate each other. Watching their budding romance from the sidelines was definitely one of the highlights for me. I can only hope for more content for them in the future.
Cassia was the one city-ruler I wasn’t sure about from the beginning. She sort of starts off as your typical “strong female” type that seemingly doesn’t have a personality beyond that. But she really grew on me! I especially loved her friendship with Lysande.
Then there’s Luca. I’m probably the least attached to him, which is a shame considering he’s the one Lysande has her eye closest on—both sexually and as a rival. He’s snarky, intelligent, darkly alluring, and reminded me of the adult version of every other YA protagonist. I do find his dynamic with Lysande fun (who doesn’t like rivals with sexual tension), but I did find myself rolling my eyes every time he opened his mouth.
I think the other side characters and their relationships with Lysande to be equally interesting. If anything, I wish we just got more time with individual characters.
The magic here isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, but I am always a sucker for elemental magic. This is a world where magic is frowned upon and people discovered being able to do it are executed. Because of that, there isn’t much use of actual magic on-page, but I what little there was was engaging. And it definitely sets up for future books to have more magical action.
Speaking of action, though:
There isn’t much. Which brings me to my biggest drawback with this book in that it is so painfully slow. Each chapter is long and most of the pages consist of people just talking and scheming. It’s interesting conversation, mind you, but each chapter took me so long to get through that I found myself losing motivation to pick the book up at all (hence why this took me over a week to finish despite not being that long of a book).
If you’re someone who loves politically-driven books and don’t mind minimal action and a slow pace, this is definitely the book for you!
In short: this is a good book! It’s well-crafted and smart. But it’s also one I can see a lot of people being turned off from just by how painfully slow it is. That being said, I am interested in any future installments that might come out in the future.
This is one of those times.
The Councillor by E.J. Beaton is a wonderfully crafted political-fantasy following a young scholar that I think many readers would enjoy. Lysande is smart, level-headed, and cunning, despite her struggles with her drug addiction. Her main goal is to figure out who murdered her best friend and queen of the realm, Seralin while also being tasked with deciding which of the four city-rulers will ascend the throne.
The problem here being, obviously, that it’s quite possible that one of the city-rulers might have been the one to kill Seralin.
Of course, the biggest draw here is trying to figure out the mystery alongside Lysande. Each of the city-rulers have their own distinct and enjoyable personalities. I quickly became attached to each of them and couldn’t fathom any of them being the betrayer (if only for the fact that my heart wouldn’t be able to take it).
Dante and Jale, the two star-crossed princes, were probably my favorite. It’s quite evident from the start that they have something going on despite being from two places that really seem to hate each other. Watching their budding romance from the sidelines was definitely one of the highlights for me. I can only hope for more content for them in the future.
Cassia was the one city-ruler I wasn’t sure about from the beginning. She sort of starts off as your typical “strong female” type that seemingly doesn’t have a personality beyond that. But she really grew on me! I especially loved her friendship with Lysande.
Then there’s Luca. I’m probably the least attached to him, which is a shame considering he’s the one Lysande has her eye closest on—both sexually and as a rival. He’s snarky, intelligent, darkly alluring, and reminded me of the adult version of every other YA protagonist. I do find his dynamic with Lysande fun (who doesn’t like rivals with sexual tension), but I did find myself rolling my eyes every time he opened his mouth.
I think the other side characters and their relationships with Lysande to be equally interesting. If anything, I wish we just got more time with individual characters.
The magic here isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, but I am always a sucker for elemental magic. This is a world where magic is frowned upon and people discovered being able to do it are executed. Because of that, there isn’t much use of actual magic on-page, but I what little there was was engaging. And it definitely sets up for future books to have more magical action.
Speaking of action, though:
There isn’t much. Which brings me to my biggest drawback with this book in that it is so painfully slow. Each chapter is long and most of the pages consist of people just talking and scheming. It’s interesting conversation, mind you, but each chapter took me so long to get through that I found myself losing motivation to pick the book up at all (hence why this took me over a week to finish despite not being that long of a book).
If you’re someone who loves politically-driven books and don’t mind minimal action and a slow pace, this is definitely the book for you!
In short: this is a good book! It’s well-crafted and smart. But it’s also one I can see a lot of people being turned off from just by how painfully slow it is. That being said, I am interested in any future installments that might come out in the future.