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A review by acschroeder
A Duet with the Siren Duke by Elise Kova
3.0
The human world is a mess... and so is this book.
I was leery going into this as it seems to be the lowest rated out of all the Married to Magic books, and my caution was not wrong. I feel like I can't rate this any lower than a 3 because Kova's such a talented writer, but the writing tries too hard in this book. There's something too trying about it, too repetitive, too "telly" vs "showy."
I liked Ilryth, for the most part. But Victoria and her sadness goes on and on. And I feel like, for me at least, we don't get enough background between her and Charles to know why she has PTSD from being with him. The beginning of the book was really gripping, but other than that, I feel like we barely learn about Charles in a way that makes me hate him and really feel for Victoria. That part felt lacking for me.
And there are too many things going on that are dragged out, that it feels like this was being made up as it went along. I wouldn't want to read this one without having read the others in the series first, and yet, even having read those, I am still confused by the Fade and Veil. Like there are parts of Midscape that the author understands but haven't been explained enough for the reader. (Maybe I need to re-read Elf King again).
While I think the world building for a story that places underwater was done beautifully, some parts felt glossed over as though the author wasn't sure how it worked either.
Something just fell flat in this one, sadly. By the end, I was just trying to finish it because it felt too weird to DNF after 75% finished.
I was leery going into this as it seems to be the lowest rated out of all the Married to Magic books, and my caution was not wrong. I feel like I can't rate this any lower than a 3 because Kova's such a talented writer, but the writing tries too hard in this book. There's something too trying about it, too repetitive, too "telly" vs "showy."
I liked Ilryth, for the most part. But Victoria and her sadness goes on and on. And I feel like, for me at least, we don't get enough background between her and Charles to know why she has PTSD from being with him. The beginning of the book was really gripping, but other than that, I feel like we barely learn about Charles in a way that makes me hate him and really feel for Victoria. That part felt lacking for me.
And there are too many things going on that are dragged out, that it feels like this was being made up as it went along. I wouldn't want to read this one without having read the others in the series first, and yet, even having read those, I am still confused by the Fade and Veil. Like there are parts of Midscape that the author understands but haven't been explained enough for the reader. (Maybe I need to re-read Elf King again).
While I think the world building for a story that places underwater was done beautifully, some parts felt glossed over as though the author wasn't sure how it worked either.
Something just fell flat in this one, sadly. By the end, I was just trying to finish it because it felt too weird to DNF after 75% finished.