I have mixed feelings about this book. First of all it’s mostly a military fantasy, so be warned of that, since I don’t think the front blurb prepared me for that. I ended up being pretty into it but it was a bit jarring when I didn’t expect it.

When I started it, the writing felt a little simplistic and you’re immersed in a cool new culture/world but it takes WAY too long for the system to start being explained, which made me feel like I was drowning in unfamiliar terms for the first section of the book.

Once I started to understand the world more, the writing also got more fluid it seemed and it’s very action based so I really enjoyed the pacing after that.

I agree with some reviewers that the love story felt a bit too idealistic maybe but it was sweet enough I guess. I also felt that I had a hard time empathizing with Tau’s driving force. To be fair, I have this happen with most revenge narratives.

I also felt like the story arc was a little confusing. He’s hell bent on revenge and that seems to be driving plot line but then other things get woven in. I thought that these were really good additions and gave depth, but I just felt the overall plot development was a little confusing and then when we got to the twist, it was a little confusing because it didn’t feel well set up.

So I feel conflicted. From the “technical” side, I feel like I have some major gripes. But it was fairly entertaining as long as you don't hate Tau. I actually really enjoyed the many fight sequences, and I liked discovering a different culture and world. The longer I get from this one the less interested I am in reading the sequel. If you like revenge plots and don't care about necessarily having a likable main character you'll probably enjoy it more than me.

So I guess 3 stars?