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howlinglibraries 's review for:
Witch King
by Martha Wells
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
DNF @ 60%
I typically have two rules for DNFing books: I don't usually give them star ratings, and I almost never put them on my "read" shelf for my reading goal. I'm cutting myself some slack on this one, though, because I read nearly 300 pages of this book and it was a challenge.
Witch King is a book that I hoped to love, and by all reasoning, I should have adored this. Few things make me happier in stories than demons and antiheroes, especially when both are present in the same character, so if you combine that with Kai's dry humor, protective nature, and hopeful-against-all-odds attitude, this demon prince should have gone down in the "Destiny's favorite fictional characters of all time" Hall of Fame. And yet, even everything I loved about Kaiisteron couldn't redeem this book from dreadfully slow, boring writing and a plot I couldn't connect to, no matter how hard I tried.
Like many others, I've at least dipped my toes into Wells' Murderbot series, and I found the writing so witty and engaging in the first novella that I assumed all of her books would be equally well-paced, but this felt like I was reading an entirely different author's work. There were brief moments of the deadpan humor here and there that I loved, but they were few and far between. Mostly, Witch King was endless info-dumping, far too many characters to keep track of, and flashbacks to Kai's past that I wish had been cut out altogether in favor of better story buildup in the story's current day.
This was one of the toughest DNF choices I've made in a long time, because again, Witch King was brimming over with potential for greatness, but it missed the mark for me in so many ways that I can't bring myself to care enough to continue trudging through.
I read a final copy I purchased myself, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also sent an early review copy by the author/publisher. All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: queer main character, sapphic side characters, casual queerness in many side characters, multiple BIPOC main and side characters
I typically have two rules for DNFing books: I don't usually give them star ratings, and I almost never put them on my "read" shelf for my reading goal. I'm cutting myself some slack on this one, though, because I read nearly 300 pages of this book and it was a challenge.
Witch King is a book that I hoped to love, and by all reasoning, I should have adored this. Few things make me happier in stories than demons and antiheroes, especially when both are present in the same character, so if you combine that with Kai's dry humor, protective nature, and hopeful-against-all-odds attitude, this demon prince should have gone down in the "Destiny's favorite fictional characters of all time" Hall of Fame. And yet, even everything I loved about Kaiisteron couldn't redeem this book from dreadfully slow, boring writing and a plot I couldn't connect to, no matter how hard I tried.
Like many others, I've at least dipped my toes into Wells' Murderbot series, and I found the writing so witty and engaging in the first novella that I assumed all of her books would be equally well-paced, but this felt like I was reading an entirely different author's work. There were brief moments of the deadpan humor here and there that I loved, but they were few and far between. Mostly, Witch King was endless info-dumping, far too many characters to keep track of, and flashbacks to Kai's past that I wish had been cut out altogether in favor of better story buildup in the story's current day.
This was one of the toughest DNF choices I've made in a long time, because again, Witch King was brimming over with potential for greatness, but it missed the mark for me in so many ways that I can't bring myself to care enough to continue trudging through.
I read a final copy I purchased myself, but for the sake of disclosure, I was also sent an early review copy by the author/publisher. All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Representation: queer main character, sapphic side characters, casual queerness in many side characters, multiple BIPOC main and side characters