I really really wanted to love this book. The cover was gorgeous and while To Kill A Kingdom was never a standout for me, it was a fantastic read anyways. Unfortunately, this book was just way too generic for me, and coupled with characters I just never cared for at all, it was a drag to continue.

I probably would have DNFed this if I didn't have the audiobook (as well as owned a physical copy), but I can't say the audiobook really enhanced my experience either. I was only a fan of Tavia's narrator, and her chapters became more and more rare as the book went on. Saxony's narrator was just too loud/obnoxious at points (making me like her character even less), and Karam's just read really dramatically, putting too much emphasis on shocking moments or actions. On top of that, each of the 4 narrators had a starkly different accent, and while that was interesting and further pushed the diversity of the novel, it was also hard to follow at points and occasionally jarring.

I did enjoy the plot and world however, but they alone were not enough to fully pull me into the novel. The magic system was quite unique I felt, and it's combination with the heist plot was well-done. It all seemed to connect quite well together.

However, the book just really fell flat in the characters for me, to the extent that I never really felt anything when bad things happened to them. I had no stake in the plot because of that. Other reviews mentioned the lack of development beyond the backstories given and I have to agree. We get their motivations and how they got to where they are now, but we never get any real growth. It's just unfortunate.

Additionally, the writing didn't blow me away. I've been reading a lot of books recently where the writing is just stellar, but no lines really stuck out for me here, and it all just felt like a means of telling a story rather than an actual aspect of the story. It all culminated in the regrets scenes for me, where the writing got so repetitive that I had to roll my eyes that the 4th time the narrators repeated a warning.

Spoiler

The idea of seeing each character's biggest regret and forcing them to live through it without changing anything is a great one, but the way it was written made it lose any effect on me. We don't have to be reminded in each 'flashback' that "if we change something we get stuck in a dream forever!!"

All in all, I don't feel invested enough to even be interested in picking up the sequel, but we'll see.