The longer this book got, the less I liked it. It started off very strong, but I noticed pretty soon that the East and Tané were... Always kind of an afterthought. Tané and her relatively simple character arc existed only to propel the plot for Ead, who, in turn, seemed to stumble into things happening TO her, rather than necessarily being motivated to do them herself.

The prose was beautiful, except for moments when it was TOO flowery - namely, when the author seemed clearly uncomfortable depicting queer sex. It felt sanitized to me. I'm not sure if the author is WLW or not but I would bet she isn't. Not that straight authors shouldn't write queer stories; if they do - they just won't hit the same and that's fine.

The pacing was also off, especially the battle at the end, which ended things incredibly abruptly in a way that didn't seem as though the characters... Learned anything. It's the climax; they're supposed to connect the threads, apply all they'd learned and overcome, you know, Hero's Journey stuff. Not only did we skip the learning completely

(Ead and Tané "practiced with the gems" but what does that entail?)

, we also don't really get a satisfying conclusion. This book could have been more successful as a series than a standalone, I think. It skips all the "quiet" moments, where the characters bond, or even get to know each other, then expects us to care when they are killed or hurt. 

The only vehicle for the reader to learn the dense worldbuilding was, unfortunately, characters telling it to one another. There are better ways in fantasy to learn what's going on - and if there aren't, maybe there shouldn't have been that much history/historical context for us to discover. It grew tedious after the first time Ead talked to someone about her religion. 

Everything also felt... Easy. Even

Laya Yidage

makes it. 

Plus, it never feels like Niclays truly connects with his grief. 

The more I think about it, the more nitpicks I have. I'm going to stop here, I think.

I just had way loftier expectations, based on friends'  recommendations and reviews, I think.

The book is not particularly original or well-written, even if the premise is an interesting one. So much more could have been done, linguistically and narratively, with the plot. 

Instead we get paragraphs of over-descriptive text (seriously, it reads like mediocre fanfic), and a protagonist whose autism manifests itself as an occasional bout of anxiety rather than a disability that affects multiple areas of her life.

Rose's journey is also very... Abrupt. She goes from God-fearing Christian woman to fully accepting and deprogramming herself in a matter of days. I expected more introspection, at least. 

The book didn't feel thought out. Aspects of the narrative felt one-dimensional. The horror was predictable and gimmicky. 

Doesn't seem like I'm the target audience.

A very fun book. I can see some of the inspirations the author is drawing upon (Discworld likely chief among them; I also see a bit of Jay Kristoff's Nevernight in it). 

It doesn't take itself too seriously, except for where it matters. The prose and worldbuilding are dense enough to sink your teeth into, but in a satisfying way. 

The audiobook, despite being read by the author, is well narrated, almost rhythmic. 

Knocking a star off for

the twist with Lir and the inconclusive ending (I know it's being set up for a sequel, but stilllll) - the former felt cheap and out-of-nowhere, the latter - bait-y.

I listened to the audiobook - which was well narrated - so I can't say anything about this book from an editing perspective, but I found the prose itself fluid and engaging.

Apart from the finer points of world building (we never really got an explanation of Phosyne's magic, for example, nor that of the Saints, nor the

darkness under the castle

; and

Phosyne's pets/Boys/whatever they were felt irrelevant

), the story was relatively cohesive, and characters felt fleshed out. 

I'm becoming convinced that some authors write trippy books when they can't be bothered to explain the workings of their worldbuilding. I felt that way with Mount Char, and I'm getting that with this book too. 

I almost resent the

"happy" ending. We get it, Voyne wears plot armor as well as literal armor.

What can I say, I have a soft spot for T Kingfisher books. Her writing can be so comforting without necessarily turning the book into another vapid "cozy fantasy". 

I was surprised by this book's take on the "impossible tasks" trope, and the

refreshing subversion thereof

. The cast of characters leaning older (and remaining badass) is always great, and a common thread with this author; I wasn't disappointed there. 

Also - Bonedog is the MVP and we love him.

A profoundly weird book. I thought it relied too much on its own shock factor, but enjoyed it other than that.

Give it a chance even if it doesn't make sense at first, I feel like the end is kind of worth it.

Just shy of four stars for the rushed ending (I guess it sets up the next books nicely, but still). 

I don't see a lot of fantasy based on Russian/Slavic myth; it's refreshing to see my culture portrayed in this way, without over-explaining itself on every page. Even the sentence structure when characters speak is evocative of the Russian language. 

Still, a little to YA-ish, or tropey, for my taste. I also feel that the McGuffin wasn't set up well, and didn't pay off -

the talisman seems to have been given to Vasya by Morozko, but Morozko acts surprised she has it and it doesn't really factor into the final battle?

The writing is evocative and beautiful, however, and the overarching theme of the conflict between old gods and new was presented well. 

I found this book to have an interesting enough premise to finish it, even if the audiobook narration was awful. If you want to listen to this one - don't. When the narrator started putting on an accent to show that the characters switched to another language, I nearly dnf'd.

The cultures in the book felt fleshed out, and the theme of adaptation and mutual exchange was a prominent one; the conflict also felt multi-faceted and well developed.

However, the writing was clunky at times, and the world building outside of the two main cultures, and within them - outside of how they pertain to each other and to the war, seemed limited and underdeveloped to me. The two sides of the conflict also felt incredibly black-and-white, with the main villain especially being rather simplistic in his morality ("evil").

Still, Ryo is a well-meaning protagonist that tries very hard, and that endeared me to him. 

The prose is beautiful. That's the only good thing about this book.

My heart goes out to Fermina Daza for these two specific men being her only options. The woman deserves better than

a cheater

and

a stalker who was in bed with a 15 year old (while in his 70s) the day he proposed to her for the second time

. I wouldn't mind a morally bankrupt protagonist either, if the narrative didn't seem to staunchly defend everything Florentino does as both romantic and Romantic. The man is insane.

The author's/characters' blatant racism and rape apologism also lowered my opinion of this book significantly, to the point where I only finished it because I wanted to review it in full to warn other readers.

Turns out there's a reason Cien Años de Soledad is the classic and not this one.

As a satirical work, it was certainly thought-provoking. I found it interesting how Lewis has said in interviews that he did not enjoy writing Screwtape at all; I can see why. Confronting my own corruption as an atheist doesn't have quite the same effect, but the characterization of what it means to be Christian and what it means to be a good person is, in this case, somewhat interchangeable.