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A review by dearestdorian
Hope and Red by Jon Skovron
5.0
So much fun!
Hope and Red is an adult fantasy book, but it has the economy of style and fast-paced writing that YA is known for. I was instantly attached to every character - Sadie the Pirate Queen! Red the artistic orphan! Bleak Hope, a trainee warrior with the coolest name ever! Nettles! Filler! Hurlo! Brigga Lin! Awesome, awesome, awesome.
I read this book more than a week ago, and I still remember character names without having to look them up. That's rare. That means this book left an impression on me, stronger than most other things I've read.
The magic system is incredibly interesting, and the worldbuilding was so easy to slip right into. I felt like I was wandering the streets with Hope and Red, and the slang was both creative and easy to understand without even having to think about it.
There's a lot of plot packed into this book, but it never stops moving. Events lead right into one another, and it's very difficult to find a stopping point that won't absolutely torture the reader. You gotta eat, drink, pee, and sleep sometime, but where is this scene going, what's happening next?!
Scenes where magic is used as a weapon? Grotesque and terrifying, but also very effectively described. The author is very keen to unsettle the reader in those moments, and yeah wow, it works.
I've got both sequels sitting in my cart right now. Just waiting for payday.
Hope and Red is an adult fantasy book, but it has the economy of style and fast-paced writing that YA is known for. I was instantly attached to every character - Sadie the Pirate Queen! Red the artistic orphan! Bleak Hope, a trainee warrior with the coolest name ever! Nettles! Filler! Hurlo! Brigga Lin! Awesome, awesome, awesome.
I read this book more than a week ago, and I still remember character names without having to look them up. That's rare. That means this book left an impression on me, stronger than most other things I've read.
The magic system is incredibly interesting, and the worldbuilding was so easy to slip right into. I felt like I was wandering the streets with Hope and Red, and the slang was both creative and easy to understand without even having to think about it.
There's a lot of plot packed into this book, but it never stops moving. Events lead right into one another, and it's very difficult to find a stopping point that won't absolutely torture the reader. You gotta eat, drink, pee, and sleep sometime, but where is this scene going, what's happening next?!
Scenes where magic is used as a weapon? Grotesque and terrifying, but also very effectively described. The author is very keen to unsettle the reader in those moments, and yeah wow, it works.
I've got both sequels sitting in my cart right now. Just waiting for payday.