A review by newamsterdame
The Waking Land by Callie Bates

2.0

The Waking Land starts off with a fast-moving plot and a fascinating central emotional conflict. The world-building is lush, and the main character's narration is clear and compelling. However, I would have loved for the narration to linger more on the main character's emotional conflicts and especially her eventual changes of heart. About halfway through the book, the plot begins to move so quickly that there's no time to linger on anything, and barely enough time to understand why the main character is making the choices she does. It becomes increasingly difficult to buy into her relationships with other characters, even when the audience is told how strong those bonds are meant to be. This is particularly noticeable in the relationship between the main character and her central love interest. Both characters-- and the entire cast, really-- have a lot of potential, but the audience doesn't get to know them well enough to buy into their relationships and feel for their losses and difficult decisions. For a book with a dramatic tagline about the main character destroying what she holds dear, the promise of that internal strife and difficult decision-making never really plays out in the narration and emotions of the book. There's a lot of potential here, but the story really needed to slow down and allow its characters to develop.