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abby_ace_of_books 's review for:
Sword Catcher
by Cassandra Clare
"And she hated that because he was beautiful he was loved and forgiven, no matter what he did. He would always be wanted. The whole world wanted."
I was excited to see Cassandra Clare release a novel that isn't a part of her Shadowhunters series, and I was even more excited when it looked similar to A Darker Shade of Magic. However, I found Sword Catcher to be a bit of a let-down.
The world is reminiscent of A Darker Shade of Magic, although bits of it also reminded me of Amanda Foody's Ace of Shades and Tara Sim's Scavenge the Stars. The concept of a Sword Catcher - a body double that acts as a bodyguard at the same time - was very intriguing. However, most of the worldbuilding was done through info-dumps and small passages at the ends of the chapters. I didn't pay much attention to them until it was too late, so I wasn't really familiar with the Ashkar or their backstory, which is probably an issue.
As for the plot...I struggled to get through it. I didn't realize that it would be so focused on politics. Very little of the book was actual action, especially towards the end. There was one "big action scene" at 93%, but other than that, the characters didn't really seem to face much danger besides political issues.
Speaking of characters, I also struggled to connect with most of them. Conor just felt like a more stupid version of Rhy, and while I did like aspects of character, I think that a lack of POV from him almost worked against him because I struggled to understand him and some of his motives. I liked Kel, but his character didn't have much nuance. I didn't trust Antonetta, and most of the other side characters were forgettable. As for Lin...I didn't really like her. Her character was okay, but I found her POVs to be more disruptive to what I perceived to be the main plot and so I rushed through her parts because she bored me. And as much as I like the lack of romance, I wish there would've been more of it considering the rest of the plot was underwhelming.
So, unfortunately, one of my greatly anticipated books of the year turned out to be a bit disappointing. If you like politically focused fantasies or fantasies centered around historical eras, Sword Catcher might be a book for you.
3.25/5
Link to Libby Annotations
I was excited to see Cassandra Clare release a novel that isn't a part of her Shadowhunters series, and I was even more excited when it looked similar to A Darker Shade of Magic. However, I found Sword Catcher to be a bit of a let-down.
The world is reminiscent of A Darker Shade of Magic, although bits of it also reminded me of Amanda Foody's Ace of Shades and Tara Sim's Scavenge the Stars. The concept of a Sword Catcher - a body double that acts as a bodyguard at the same time - was very intriguing. However, most of the worldbuilding was done through info-dumps and small passages at the ends of the chapters. I didn't pay much attention to them until it was too late, so I wasn't really familiar with the Ashkar or their backstory, which is probably an issue.
As for the plot...I struggled to get through it. I didn't realize that it would be so focused on politics. Very little of the book was actual action, especially towards the end. There was one "big action scene" at 93%, but other than that, the characters didn't really seem to face much danger besides political issues.
Speaking of characters, I also struggled to connect with most of them. Conor just felt like a more stupid version of Rhy, and while I did like aspects of character, I think that a lack of POV from him almost worked against him because I struggled to understand him and some of his motives. I liked Kel, but his character didn't have much nuance. I didn't trust Antonetta, and most of the other side characters were forgettable. As for Lin...I didn't really like her. Her character was okay, but I found her POVs to be more disruptive to what I perceived to be the main plot and so I rushed through her parts because she bored me. And as much as I like the lack of romance, I wish there would've been more of it considering the rest of the plot was underwhelming.
So, unfortunately, one of my greatly anticipated books of the year turned out to be a bit disappointing. If you like politically focused fantasies or fantasies centered around historical eras, Sword Catcher might be a book for you.
3.25/5
Link to Libby Annotations