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A review by mellamaron
The Beasts We Bury by D. L. Taylor
Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.
DNF at 72 pages.
I won this arc in a giveaway and was very excited to read it because I thoroughly enjoy dark ya fantasy but… this one I just didn’t vibe with.
It just feels SO basic? The FMC is pained that she has to kill animals for power - which is the most interesting thing in this book so far. The MMC is a generic thief who infiltrates the palace and pretends to be a servant. 🤷♀️ His “banter” with his friends is very 13yo kid. Which honestly is fine but NOT upper YA at all. And when the two finally meet… there is legitimately nothing witty in their conversation. It was SO plain. 😢
And her father is just a villainous coward who is forcing his daughter to kill animals. 🤷♀️ I don’t see any evidence of him having any deeper feelings. She’s likely going to throw him off his pedestal and yay, how inventive….? Mara, the sister, is pretty interesting but she’s the only one who is imo.
Like I said, the magic system is the most interesting thing in this book. The realms are legit named the Coast realm, the Swap realm, the Forest realm… etc. So far, I haven’t really gotten much world building that made me care. It, again, feels basic.
Also, I did skip to the end and read a few chapters there - it’s exactly what I would have predicted from the first five pages of the book with one small detail in the epilogue that is likely going to be the “conflict” next book. I just can’t bring myself to care at all about this after 70+ pages. 🤷♀️ So I’m out.
I won this arc in a giveaway and was very excited to read it because I thoroughly enjoy dark ya fantasy but… this one I just didn’t vibe with.
It just feels SO basic? The FMC is pained that she has to kill animals for power - which is the most interesting thing in this book so far. The MMC is a generic thief who infiltrates the palace and pretends to be a servant. 🤷♀️ His “banter” with his friends is very 13yo kid. Which honestly is fine but NOT upper YA at all. And when the two finally meet… there is legitimately nothing witty in their conversation. It was SO plain. 😢
And her father is just a villainous coward who is forcing his daughter to kill animals. 🤷♀️ I don’t see any evidence of him having any deeper feelings. She’s likely going to throw him off his pedestal and yay, how inventive….? Mara, the sister, is pretty interesting but she’s the only one who is imo.
Like I said, the magic system is the most interesting thing in this book. The realms are legit named the Coast realm, the Swap realm, the Forest realm… etc. So far, I haven’t really gotten much world building that made me care. It, again, feels basic.
Also, I did skip to the end and read a few chapters there - it’s exactly what I would have predicted from the first five pages of the book with one small detail in the epilogue that is likely going to be the “conflict” next book. I just can’t bring myself to care at all about this after 70+ pages. 🤷♀️ So I’m out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death