Reread 5/31/2020

I listened to the Jim Dale audiobook and I think this is one of those books that improves upon second read. The first time I read this, it took me so long to understand the story and what was happening and who these people are. This time I just immediately fell into the story and it was nice to experience this book without that initial 100-200 pages of confusion.

Beyond that, I think the writing is just as lovely as the first time. I enjoyed the characters a little more (although I still think the romance was not incredibly well done), and the intricacies of the story made more sense. I still highly recommend picking this book up, and that goes for a reread as well.

***

I really wound up enjoying this book. At the beginning I was unsure because of how atmospheric the book was, but the story was incredibly enjoyable and so well written. I did find that at times it felt like the atmosphere eclipsed the story, and it could be frustrating to read all these passages that added only to the atmosphere and not the story.

For me, the biggest detriment was that it was too heavy on atmosphere to the point where it weakened other elements of the book. This was especially true with the romance. I love romance in books, but because this book in essence was so beautiful and atmospheric, the romance wound up feeling too beautiful and atmospheric, and because of that, it also felt a bit fake and empty.

But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this and would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys artsy, atmospheric fantasy because this book was incredibly well done.