B.H. Malcolm takes on the enormous task of creating a whole new world, with character systems and complex regional dynamics. Biblical imagery and verbiage were prevalent throughout the entire book. I enjoyed the way it was woven in, it was very creative. One of the species spoke in Bahamian vernacular which is always a joy to read and see.

I wanted to love this book so bad but I did not. Any high fantasy book gives the author the hard task of trying to provide the reader with enough information to understand the world and follow along with the narrative. Malcolm was not able to do that. She gave too much too quickly. The number of character POVs and places readers are taken to should have been narrowed down for a more streamlined approach. Especially since Ibrida is the first book in the series there is no reason to rush the reader through the process of learning about the world and the characters. I think whoever was beta reading or screening the draft for Malcolm did a disservice to them.

I was unable to connect with any of the characters or care about them at all. People died, families died and I could not have cared less... I could not even remember who some of them were if I am being totally honest. I love a good romance and burn but the one that was slowly developing in this book had no reason to be here. The main plotline got lost in the POV skipping back and forth. I could not tell what the goal was beyond the Seram were bad and must be defeated. The chapters were split up into regions (and years) but they meant nothing to me. I think it was a lazy attempt at shifting POVs without having to do much work for the reader.

I see the vision with Ibrida but I think it should have been tweaked a bit before being published. There is so much potential here. I am curious to see what else B.H. Malcolm can come up with.