I wanted to like this book because I love Ironside Academy.  I thought I was just in a rut so I put the book down and read a few other things but when I picked it up I just felt meh about the story. 

Maybe I will pick it up later but i don't know 

It seemed like a cool and fast read.  Something different as it takes place in Paris.  Characters are born and bred Parisians.  So..cool perspective and some interesting metaphors.

Starts with a wild one night stand in the first chapter so great if you like spicy bits. 

But then it turned to some weird Parisian crime bit with a secret extra judiciary government group obsessed with Napoleon and it was just too much.  

Decided to stop while I was ahead and read something i know I will enjoy

The narration is terrible and the story is slow. 

It's boring. 

I really wanted to like this book but it's about teenagers and it's ... Boring.  

I really really wanted to like this book because I thoroughly enjoyed the legends of Thezmar series.  

But I just can't deal with Wren's always angry about everything attitude.   

I think this hatred trope doesn't work because we know ultimately they will end up together so it's boring watching the MMC try to win over the love of the embittered FMC.    Maybe there is a reader that enjoys reading the thawing out of a cold unfeeling character but to me it creates too much stupid inner monologue.

I don't love him.  I really dont.  I ignore this feeling inside me he makes me so angry 

Granted some writers can do the hate trope well.  Cora belts Simon with a frying pan.  Maybe it's the bitterness that turns me off.   If she was just happily enjoying her life and here comes some complete jerkwad ruining everything I can understand the anger.  But here it's a simmering anger that has no basis as the MMC has done nothing wrong other than existing.  

Of course he's snarky about it now as it's been 5 years so she should just get over herself which I have to agree with. 

Added to that we are going to read the same gauntlet of tests as Thea went through except now its poison not edged weapons?  

To top it off, Torj has a beard and I am vehemently against beards.  

The audiobook has to be AI.  The reading is so cold and  robotic and it mispronounces weird words.  It's very distracting 

I might try the actual text version but this is absolute garbage to listen to. 

I had hoped the story would be better to follow but it didn't grab me so well.  Main character a bit Mary Sue

I don't know if it's the wrong time or the wrong book but I just can't get into the main character.   
Also this is more fantasy in space with necromancy so I can't get beyond the Warhammer 40k aspect.  Not my cup of tea 

This is amateur writing.  Run on sentences.  Superfluous adjectives.  Tells me nothing about the situation or characters.  

This is the kind of writing I would use writing an essay to make my word count when I didn't have anything to say. 

The reviews of the book are outstanding but I couldn't stomach the godawful prose.  Did the writer use AI to make her language sound "sophisticated"?  

I have put up with a lot of bad writing (plot holes, heavy exposition, cardboard characters, pacing issues) and I have managed to ignore all that for a good story but I could only get two or three chapters before I gave up on this. 

If you want to be a writer you actually need to be a reader first.