read for OWLs Magical Readathon 2019: Transfiguration, a red cover

(Okay technically I finished this in May so it shouldn't count for the readathon but... oh well!)

I'm a little underwhelmed. This book has so much love and glowing reviews on goodreads that it probably worked against it for me. I enjoyed this sure, but I'm not loving it which almost makes me feel like I hate it because I don't love it? That makes very little sense, but it's part of the problem when books are so hyped. Either you love it and agree with the hype or you hate it and rail against "why is this so popular!!" (At least that's what the reviews of this book suggest) But I feel like I fall somewhere in the middle.

I think this world is really interesting. It's Ancient Roman inspired and incredibly dark and brutal. There's hints of magic and supernatural elements that don't quite get explored in this book, but certainly leave the reader wanting more. (I've got to know who the Augurs are because no one seems to know? Yet they're so powerful?) The plot is incredibly fast-paced. So much happens in the course of the book, and Sabaa Tahir quite excellently knows how to build tensions, end chapters with cliffhangers, and really keep you turning the page. The Resistance itself is completely shrouded in mystery but it did actually aid in the story. There's a layer of complexity that I suspect will play out as the story goes along. We get quite the range of characters, and oh boy does Tahir know how to write super evil psychopaths huh? I had some character issues, but i will say that Tahir gave them a nice arc. There was a decent amount of growth, and yet plenty of room for them to continue to grow in the sequels.

So my biggest issue with this book? I didn't like being in Laia and Elias's head. I really feel like I would have enjoyed this way more if there was a third person omniscient narrator. Laia and Elias were incredibly naive (they're 16/17 so it makes some sense) which lead to them just making stupid decision after stupid decision. It was hard to read sometimes because I was shaking the iPad yelling "why would you do that!!!!!" Like I said I enjoyed the character arcs. Laia having to find some courage (though frankly I think she blamed herself WAY too much for the events this story starts off with) and reconcile with her family's legacy. Elias has to decide what sort of man he needs to be. And oh poor Helene is trying to be a good person, but is clearly very loyal to the Empire and the way of life she's been taught since birth. I couldn't fault her for that.

This story was just... so bogged down by the romance. I think that's why I hated being in Laia and Elias's head. Because of boy were these some horny teens! Which is fine and all, but there's extremely little romantic action. Just extremely repetitive (and boring) romantic thoughts.

Oh you like Keenan? Name one thing you know about him other than he's a redhead.

It doesn't help that the power balance is extremely out of balance for Laia as she's completely dependent on the mercy of Elias and the Resistance.

I feel like I'm mostly being negative, which isn't fair because I did like this. I want to see where the story goes, so I definitely intend to read the sequel. I'm hopeful for these characters to grow and become even more complex. And I'd really like to start learning about the intricacies of this world

so we're all just okay with the Emperor being assassinated because a bunch of red eyed weirdos said he was out? Sure fine you fickle people

especially all the magic and supernatural creatures. Hello!! But sometimes when you're 25 reading from the perspective of horny teens... you roll your eyes a lot. Which is where I'm sitting with this right now.