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reader_fictions 's review for:
Umbertouched
by Livia Blackburne
Like Rosemarked, with Umbertouched I'm left surprised and impressed. Though I've read a lot of fantasy over the years, this one manages to surprise me.
As with the first book, the pacing is slow. In some ways, that does make the book a bit less readable, but it also feels very realistic. When Zivah works on healing someone from a grievous wound, it take days. The war is tedium and anxiety between the occasional climax of a battle. There's so much time that passes over the course of this book, which, for YA fantasy at least, feels rather strange.
The plotting is of the sort where nothing is ever particularly convenient. Things don't wrap up in a neat bow. Everyone's impacted by all the terrible things that have happened to them. Some villains face punishment, but some do not. The ending actually really surprised me, becausethere's no miracle cure for Zivah. As of the end of the book, she has at most a year left to live. It's heartbreaking but wow I didn't see that coming at all. Blackburne plays with the anticipated trope and doesn't heal the heroine.
The ending does feel a bit rushed, as though it was a struggle to fit it all into the duology. Another hundred pages or so probably would have been beneficial. The emotional arcs are the ones to suffer primarily, though the plot resolution also feels very swift. I wish I'd gotten a few feels from this series, but I'm very impressed with the creativity of the plotting, and I can't wait to see what else Blackburne can do.
As with the first book, the pacing is slow. In some ways, that does make the book a bit less readable, but it also feels very realistic. When Zivah works on healing someone from a grievous wound, it take days. The war is tedium and anxiety between the occasional climax of a battle. There's so much time that passes over the course of this book, which, for YA fantasy at least, feels rather strange.
The plotting is of the sort where nothing is ever particularly convenient. Things don't wrap up in a neat bow. Everyone's impacted by all the terrible things that have happened to them. Some villains face punishment, but some do not. The ending actually really surprised me, because
The ending does feel a bit rushed, as though it was a struggle to fit it all into the duology. Another hundred pages or so probably would have been beneficial. The emotional arcs are the ones to suffer primarily, though the plot resolution also feels very swift. I wish I'd gotten a few feels from this series, but I'm very impressed with the creativity of the plotting, and I can't wait to see what else Blackburne can do.