Thank you to Book Club Favorites for the gifted copy and the publisher for an eARC.

A LITTLE LET DOWN.

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I am OBSESSED, obsessed, with Gong’s YA series (go read it now please). And when I had the chance to get my hands on this I jumped so fast. And now I’m writing a review I don’t want to because I’m a little let down by the whole thing.

The idea of an epic fantasy was there, but the execution was not. Bogged down by heavy, complicated world building in the initial chapters had my mind clouded and it took way too long to figure things out. The magic system is unique, jumping bodies and qi and how that all flows together. Loved that, and I loved it more when it finally made sense against the back drop of the world building.

Romance wise, also a super mixed bag. It was tossed haphazardly in and all of a sudden I was getting I love you‘s without having that connection. I didn’t mind the characters or the fac there was a romance (of course, y’all know me), buuut once again, lacking in general execution. I liked the multiple points of view and seeing different angles of the competitors and pro/antagonists. It did allow for a wider view of the story at large.

I’ll read the second book because the ending was intriguing enough to give it a go. And now that I feel like I have a hold on everything I think the plot will flow better too.

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy
- Language: some strong
- Romance: 1 open; low explicit
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: moderate blood/gore depiction, loss of life, physical and weapons altercations