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ascheetzy 's review for:
A Shadow Bright and Burning
by Jessica Cluess
This book is definitely interesting.
The beginning is slow. It's honestly a really boring, cliche first 50ish pages. Thank God it picks up from there, but I had to push through.
Forget a love triangle, we have a love square. The three bachelor's are the devoted best friend who isn't as special as MC, Rook; the loveable jerk, Magnus; and the brooding richboy, Blackwood, who doesn't seem like a love interest but 100% is. I found it really hard to like Rook because I can only guess he's gonna get thrown under the bus for being the best friend, so I guess my commitment issues are showing.
Otherwise, I really liked the rest of the main characters. The villains were all pretty meh (no likable villains, which I tend to enjoy), but I loved all the other Incumbents and Agrippa. Honestly, Agrippa might have been my favorite character because he has the most complex story despite not being the main focus.
The magic system is fairly unique. The whole book relies on the distinction between sorcerers and magicians and witches and defying the gender norms of each one. The idea is interesting, but it does seem a little overcomplicated.
I was a little hesitant to read this because everyone was saying the story was all recycled stuff (and yes, it wasn't overly original, but "chosen one, but not" was definitely new for me). I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this to others, but I enjoyed it for the sake of the story.
The beginning is slow. It's honestly a really boring, cliche first 50ish pages. Thank God it picks up from there, but I had to push through.
Forget a love triangle, we have a love square. The three bachelor's are the devoted best friend who isn't as special as MC, Rook; the loveable jerk, Magnus; and the brooding richboy, Blackwood, who doesn't seem like a love interest but 100% is. I found it really hard to like Rook because I can only guess he's gonna get thrown under the bus for being the best friend, so I guess my commitment issues are showing.
Otherwise, I really liked the rest of the main characters. The villains were all pretty meh (no likable villains, which I tend to enjoy), but I loved all the other Incumbents and Agrippa. Honestly, Agrippa might have been my favorite character because he has the most complex story despite not being the main focus.
The magic system is fairly unique. The whole book relies on the distinction between sorcerers and magicians and witches and defying the gender norms of each one. The idea is interesting, but it does seem a little overcomplicated.
I was a little hesitant to read this because everyone was saying the story was all recycled stuff (and yes, it wasn't overly original, but "chosen one, but not" was definitely new for me). I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this to others, but I enjoyed it for the sake of the story.