“With every line he teaches her, the world grows a little wider. She had never known before how words could sing, how a turn of phrase could unlock a window in her mind.”

Stars (Out of 10): 6/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Vai

Spoiler Free: This book is not your standard Romeo and Juliet retelling. It’s main focus isn’t even their romance, as their passionate and quick romance and their marriage has all taken place before this story is set to begin. All in all, romance barely even plays a part in this story.

What this book takes from Romeo and Juliet is the basics: it takes a city that houses two powerful and warring families, and it takes the original relations between characters. We have our Romeo and Juliet and Paris, whose names are taken directly from the text, as well as other characters from the tale, Runajo as Rosaline, Makari as Mercutio (though far from Mercutio’s original role).

Where it differs is a much longer list. Viyara is the only city that isn’t plagued by the walking dead, or revenants, and is officially ruled by the old royal line of Viyarans (though the Mahayani/Montague family is the house with true power.) It also features a sect of Sisters who are only accepted due to their ability to keep the city safe. On top of this, there is a large range of belief systems, as each clan/family within the city (and there are many) has their own set of beliefs. The Catresou/Capulets believe in afterlife and gods, while the Mahayani do not. The royal Viyarans only care about fun and the Sisters, once again, also carry a different set of belief. We even get introduced to a character that is almost the last of their own clan, with another set of beliefs. Overall, there is quite a lot going on in this book.

If I’m being honest, you cannot take this book as a whole and understand. The only way I was able to understand the story was to focus on certain pieces of it at certain times. For example, in the beginning of the story, I couldn’t even see the book as a Romeo and Juliet retelling, as then I was unable to understand and look at what was actually happening in the world. There was just too much.

Additionally, like I said above, there was also just no romance. As the synopsis suggests, Romeo and Paris end up working together/bound while Juliet becomes bound to Runajo/Rosaline. This means that the lovers of the story spend the entire book without each other, specifically presuming the other is dead and thus wishing to die themself.

The plot itself was also filled with almost too much. Both POVs of the story are set on their own paths of discovery, and therefore the reader is the one with all the pieces of the puzzle at the end. However, the way it is done is almost too frustrating, as by 50% of the book the reader has practically figured out what is going on, but the actual characters are still entirely confused.

Lastly, I’m just extremely frustrated by the ending. I’m of the mindset that a book, especially the first book, should solve some portion of the main conflict presented in said book, but leave enough unresolved for the series to continue off of. Unfortunately, this book leaves everything to be resolved later, and I’m left, as a reader, with no satisfaction in the ending, as if I only read 70% of the book and was then forced to stop. Additionally, with pacing that felt like the plot train had come off the tracks and was moving at an increasingly faster speed towards the end, the suddenness of the emergency brakes, stopping me from reaching that conclusion, just hurts my head. It just feels unfinished.

Overall, I will most likely read the sequel, as I did enjoy the world and plot and characters, but that can’t change my annoyance with how the first book was planned.

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers:

Spoiler

One thing that’s still kind of bugging me is how Vai, as a somewhat transgender character, was handled. Since only women remained of Vai’s clan, and they cannot carry the name, Vai took an oath to be a male. However, since seeing Vai’s body, Paris starts using the pronouns of “she” even though Vai is officially, in his culture, a guy. It honestly just confuses me as to whether I should trust and accept the rituals of Vai’s culture, and how to see Vai as a character.

“You have to take things as they are, not how you hear they're supposed to be.”

Stars (Out of 10): 9/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Stevie and Nate! Jury isn’t out on David yet

Spoiler Free: I have never felt so betrayed by a book while still loving it. I am just plain mad at the state this book has left me in. I mean I loved every second of this book, but the ending is so frustrating and unsatisfying!

Okay, now to back it up to the rest of the book. I honestly loved every part of it. I recently watched Sherlock (the BBC show), and so I’m just super into detectives/watching people solve crimes right now, and this book was perfect fit with that! Stevie notices the little details in a similar way (though to a lesser extent when compared to Sherlock), but this skill is also combined with realistic traits, such as her anxiety and difficulty making friends/expressing emotion. She’s still entirely human, unlike some portrayals of Sherlock. Additionally, I just found her narration super funny to read, and I felt myself click with her way of seeing the world almost right away. It made reading the book such an amazing and fun experience!

In terms of plot, the book also did super well. It did a good job of both hiding facts that were detrimental to the ending while still putting them right in plain sight. It both didn’t give away the twists too soon while still ensuring they didn’t just come out of nowhere, which is just the best thing a mystery plot can do in my opinion. It also did a good job of paralleling the 1936 murder with the present one, making it super interesting to see both of them being solved simultaneously. Additionally, the book still blended in enough romance and friendship to keep the book feeling realistic and relatable, and it overall just did an amazing job of connecting with me as a reader, even if I’m not necessarily a super huge crime fan.

The setting of the book also fit in perfectly. We get this secluded manor that is both house and school, and carries dark undertones due to its past. However, it still functions super well as a scholarly setting, and doesn’t give the book too gloomy of a vibe. Additionally, all the secret pathways and crevices added a bit to the setting/plot as well, although I do feel this whole set of tunnels could have been utilized a bit more (only one was really focused on.)

The only reason I even dropped this book a star was due to the ending. Throughout the book, we’re given 3 main questions, as well as many sub ones, yet the ending only truly answers one of the subquestions, leaving me utterly lost on the answers to our main plot points. While I get the need to stretch the murder arc farther into the series, and not to give too much away too soon, I still expected some sort of closure, and the super ultra ending just leaves me wanting more, and feeling as if I didn’t truly read the end.

Overall, I did absolutely love this read, even though it’s left me super frustrated! Am now anxiously awaiting the next book!

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers:

Spoiler

Oh my goodness. I feel so tricked! Instead of giving me the answers to the murder mysteries, we just get a cliffhanger ending on who David’s dad was!

Speaking of which, whaaaaaat??? I never saw that coming, though I do completely understand David lying about it. I’m just hoping it bodes well for the romance (since I am super into that), but I’m thiiinking it would be okay since David has shown (in context clues to Stevie), his issues with his dad, so maybe they can bond over common hatred?

(I’m just dying over here)

Also, random theory that I now want to share since I’m pretty sure it’s wrong, but I totally thought Larry, our security man, was going to be our guy. There are so many references to the thin line between solving crime and committing it, and Stevie even says the skills can probably be applied both ways, that I totally expected something to be off about him when we found out he was a detective. Oh well! Misleading foreshadowing.

Spoiler

"I don't care what happens to my soul. I don’t care if there’s still a me. But I really want there to be a you. The world makes more sense, if there's a you."

Stars (Out of 10): 10/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Vincent! (I mean, a lot of this may also have to do with the amazing narrator)

Spoiler Free: There will be spoilers for the first two books in this review, as I really can’t discuss this book without mentioning important plot points from them!

When I first started listening to this book (definitely check out the audiobooks, they make the story even better!), I was surprised by the huge time jump. The story has jumped about a decade from where Waking Gods left off, and we now see the cast older and ready to escape from the alien world they’ve been stuck on. A lot has changed it seems, Eva is older, and Vincent and Rose seem much more morally flexible.

Thankfully, we get the answers to all our questions anyways, as the story follows a parallel structure, telling the story on from the time jump while still explaining what we missed in those ten decades. Vincent and Eva have also learned a new language, the one of the aliens, which is amazing to listen to spoken, and finds its way tied in with the normal English the narrators speak (for example, Eva seems very fond of an alien curse word.) The way these two tales are blended together are done an in amazing way, as I loved both learning about the past and seeing where the future went (as Earth is very different now).

A lot happens in the plot, with an interesting twist/tale in both the past storyline and the present storyline. I was enthralled the entire story, as there were never any lulls or empty spaces in the story. There was always something going on, something to pay attention to, and I loved it. Additionally, it wrapped up the story very well, and tied together all the loose ends amazingly.

The characters, once again, were fantastic. While we were unfortunately missing some of my favorites (Kara and The Interviewer), the story was still just as full of emotion and conflict with our smaller crew. I especially love that this story carries itself so well on friendships/familial relationships that almost no romance is needed to keep it interesting. This story especially focused on the father/daughter relationship of Vincent and Eva, and what happened to that while on the alien planet. This led to a lot of super emotional scenes that the audiobook narrators did a fantastic job of bringing to life (if I had just read this book instead of listened, I probably wouldn’t have cried as much. That’s how good that audiobook is)

We also get almost all the answers in this book. Books 1 and 2 left many gaps in terms of the aliens, we could only ever guess at what they wanted and their future plans. Now, we finally get those answers in the best form ever, a trip to the world itself. We even get to learn their culture, portions of their language, and the conflicts affecting them. It’s all very interesting, and brings this book to an entirely other level.

Overall, I absolutely loved this series, and cannot wait to see what Neuvel brings out. This book had science and plot, yet still was full of emotion, full of humanity. Each book seemed to get better, which doesn’t happen often with a series, and it will be a series I will definitely carry in my heart for a while.

“Maybe nothing will ever change for us,” he said. “But don’t you want to be around just in case it does?”

Stars (Out of 10): 8.5/10 Stars

Spoiler Free: Why did I ever stop reading this series? There was something really wrong with past me. On the other hand, it does mean I got to reread it again now!

I did expect to like the book less on this reread. One, I know all the twists already, a reason that usually keeps me from rereading in the first place. Two, I’m out of my dystopian phase. When I first read this, I was coming off the dystopian high that [b:The Hunger Games|2767052|The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)|Suzanne Collins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1447303603s/2767052.jpg|2792775] and [b:Divergent|13335037|Divergent (Divergent, #1)|Veronica Roth|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328559506s/13335037.jpg|13155899] had created, and so this book was in a genre I was already loving at the time. Now? It’s been so long since I’ve picked up a dystopian book and loved it, so I was worried this book might suffer from that. But it turns out, I loved it just as much as the first time I read it, if not more.

This world is still one that entirely fascinates me, and I’m almost happy I didn’t continue reading before because it means I still have secrets to unravel in it. There’s just so much going on, so much mystery and intrigue, that I just know this series will be chock full of twists and surprises!

I also love the extremely dark undertones this book has. The characters themselves are pretty light-hearted, but when you think more on their situation and the things they’ve been through, it’s really scary. This makes for all of the characters being broken in some way, making for a very interesting, and heartbreaking, cast.

The plot itself, as well as pacing of the story, were both also really well done. We’re given enough of an introduction to Ruby’s camp life, which is also used to give background information, before she moves on to the real part of the story. Additionally, the book itself feels evenly paced throughout, with bits of the world falling into place more and place over time as the story builds up to its ending.

The writing itself is also leagues up what I’ve come to expect from dystopia, especially as it was declining in popularity again. I had gotten used to the dime a dozen books, all capitalizing on the hype. But this one? It could’ve stood out from its writing alone. Bracken writes in such an enthralling style that keeps you hooked, while still inserting quite beautiful lines here and there, ones that make the story hit really hard. (Unfortunately, she still suffers from having characters lose breathes they didn’t know they were holding.)

Overall, I really loved rereading this book, and am starting on the next one right away!

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers:

Spoiler

That ending always kills me. I knew what was going to happen, I knew the persona Ruby would have to adopt and what she would have to give up to make that happen, but it stills makes me cry everytime. Expecting the pain did not lessen it.

“Now isn't the time to change yourself to fit into the world. You should be changing the world to accept you. To let you exist as you are, without being cut open and damaged.”

Stars (Out of 10): 10/10

Favorite Character: I just love everyone

Spoiler Free: I don’t think I can be okay again after this book. I don’t know what made this series stand out compared to the other dystopians I’ve read lately (which is not many), but I think this will be one of those series that sticks with me for a very long time.

This book will stick with me because it is honest, it is dark, and reveals to us the shadows that hide in our world. I don’t doubt for a second that if this were to actually happen that our world would react in a very similar way, and that what makes this series so hard to read sometimes.

The characters were also phenomenal, just like in books 1 and 2. Almost all the characters are layered in such a phenomenal way, given motivations and flaws, weaknesses and strengths. They are also all individuals, and while there is overlap in the reactions to certain events, there is not overlap in why they reacted that way. This series seemed to have some of the most realistic representations of humanity that I have read in a while, and it had this great representation in almost all of the characters.

It was this realism that allowed me to connect with this story, to fall into it, as much as I did, even if that had some emotional consequences on my end (I kept getting so sucked into the story that I felt as if I was the one experiencing the story itself, and led to me having some pretty rough anxiety at points, and a dream here and there). This connection made some of the deaths/rough parts even more hard hitting, as you feel for the characters as if they were your friends.

Once again, the pacing of the plot was also really well done as well. This series in general did a really good job of pacing out the twists so there was always something more shocking to learn about the world, and this lead to me being even more hooked by the story, as I kept wanting to learn more and more about the reasoning and mystery behind the world. Additionally, the plot itself was also just really interesting as well. While some of the events themselves are ones that commonly occur within dystopian/rebellion books, the way in which it was written made it all feel new. There was also a well-balanced blend of emotional and political tension throughout the entire book, making it interesting on a variety of fronts.

Lastly, the ending was both heartbreaking and happy at the same time. It was hopeful, yet realistic, which matched the rest of the series really well. It managed to make me smile while stabbing me in the heart.

Overall, this series has cemented itself in both my brain and my heart as one of my favorites, and has proven to hold up over time (to me, at least). It’s been a while since every book in a series has blown me away, and managed to consistently keep me happy. This is a series that I am happy to just have been able to experience, and I am incredibly thankful for that. (This review is bringing tears to my eyes, I don’t want to say goodbye!)

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers:

Spoiler

I love how the happy ending is darkened by all that happened in this book, this series. (Maybe not love, but I love how it makes the books more impactful, longer lasting.)

I won’t, can’t, get over how this story ended for some of the characters. We had Jude in book 2, the literal embodiment of love and sunshine, crushed by a building, dying alone in darkness. We had Cole being burned externally by what had been burning him internally for most of his life. And we had Clancy, who didn’t deserve the ending he got even considering what he put our cast through. Three kids who just wanted a life, wanted to control what their life was and would be, crushed by the darkness in the world, crushed by people just wanting more, and this is why this book will stick with me.

“One day we will ignite and create a blaze that no one can put out, ignore, hurt. We will move forward as one, and in time, rise like sparks beyond the night.”

Stars (Out of 10): 7/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Lucas

There will be spoilers for the main books within the short stories that take place after them. I have marked the location within the series of each of the novellas!

Spoiler Free: Well, this is it for now. I’ve reached the end of the currently released Darkest Minds world, and my heart is heavy. I’ve closed this long opened series in my life, and I absolutely loved getting the chance to read it now. But I explained a lot of my feelings for the series in my In The Afterlight review, so I’ll spare you here!

Unfortunately, while I enjoyed getting to see other parts of the TDM world, the novellas didn’t click with me as much as the main books did. I’ll break down this review into each of the three novellas!

In Time (Novella 1.5): I had actually read this novella once already, back when I first read The Darkest Minds, and I remember it hitting me really hard back then. The feelings I associated with this novella were stronger than the ones associated with the first book itself, at least in memory. However, while the first book did hold up to a reread, “In Time” just didn’t seem to. It seems like when I know how it ends, it kind of ruins the journey to get to that ending. Regardless, that doesn’t change that the first read through of this novella is an amazing experience, and gives an interesting new side to the world! Overall, this story was probably a 5/5 for my first read, and a 3/5 for my second.

Sparks Rise (Novella 2.5): I really enjoyed getting to see how life in Thurmond carried on after Ruby escaped, especially from Sam’s point of view. While Ruby was able to give a pretty good first-hand experience of the camps already, she didn’t showcase a character being broken, as Ruby was always fairly subdued compared to Sam in the camps. However, we see how different Sam is now, after that extra time in Thurmond, in this novella. Ashley and Ruby are gone now, and we see Sam stripped of her original courage and bravery, her fire. It was a hard voice to read from, to get used to, but I quite enjoyed the perspective in this point of view. The story itself is fairly tragic, like most of the world is, but the interweaving of hopeful moments made the tragedy even harder to bear. Additionally, we got to see even more of the fucked up stuff in the camps, as it seems to increased as time goes on with still no fix to the psi problem. Overall, this story was probably a 4/5 for me!

Beyond The Night (Novella 3.5): Overall, I’m not 100% what I feel about this novella. There were some really deep and introspective parts of it, where the kids thought more on their situation, but there was also too much action contained in certain moments. I think it just felt paced weirdly, in a sense. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the narration in this novel. I never really clicked with Mia, as I found her a bit too aggressive towards Sam/Liam/the others at points, but then again she didn’t know the background behind some of the actions she was angry about. It was also just hard to read Sam’s character at points, because of how broken she is after the main books and the second novella. It makes complete sense for her fire to be hidden, for her to lean towards cowardness at points, but it didn’t make it any easier to read. The book did seem to pick up around the final two chapters, and that was where the novella moved from a more actiony plot to a more emotional/mental one. I think another part that made this novella harder to read was the hope that it extinguished in me. This takes place after the liberation of the camps, when the world is rebuilding after the decade of suffering and pain. But it just doesn’t seem to be getting any better for these poor kids. Both before and now they are trapped by their age, their powers, still under the thumbs of adults when they’ve been surviving independently for a long time now. It just hurts to think how the work may have been for nothing, that they may just suppress the abilities or hide the kids in another camp-like setting until the abilities disappear. But I guess that would book 4 will help resolve! Overall, this novella hovers between a 3/5 and 4/5.

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars

Favorite Story: It’s a tie between “The Crimson Cloak”, “The Daughter of the Sun”, and “Eyes Like Candlelight”

Least Favorite Story: “Code of Honor”

Overall: While I haven’t read all that many anthologies, I’d have to say this is the strongest anthology I’ve ever read. None of the stories would fall under a 2/5 rating, and all at least somewhat captured my attention in some way or the other. For the most part, a lot of these stories would be rated as a 4/5 for me!

Additionally, this anthology did something unique at the end of each short story (like what [b:Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy|31450752|Because You Love to Hate Me 13 Tales of Villainy|Ameriie|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1475171453s/31450752.jpg|50459161] tried to do), as the author added a note to the end of their own stories, explaining the original myth and explaining their motivation for choosing/changing that myth. It really added to the overall anthology, and even saved some stories in my eyes.

I came in expecting retellings of myths in the standard way, short stories that are written like fantasy books. I expected a lot of third person stories that felt ancient and magical, and while some of the stories met this expectation exactly, others surprised me. A lot of tales felt like snippets of contemporary novels, and many were very modern, but I found myself enjoying them all the same! This led to a blend of ancient and modern, contemporary and fantasy, all bound by ancient myths. I honestly really loved this compilation.

Forbidden Fruit (Roshani Chokshi): I still have yet to read one of Roshani Chokshi's novels, but I've loved all of the short stories I've read in anthologies from her so far! While this tale was quite short, I still managed to become somewhat invested in it! I also really like that the authors give a background on the story at the end, and on why they chose that myth! (4/5)

Olivia's Table (Alyssa Wong): I really liked how much this story seemed to contain in only a few pages. There wasn't a true plot, but getting a peek into the culture and Olivia's life was really nice to read! I would definitely like to read a narrator like her! (4/5)

Steel Skin (Lori M. Lee): I liked what this story tried to do, and liked the deviation the author made from the myth, but certain portions felt a bit rushed, probably due to the length limitations. I still really enjoyed it! (3/5)

Still Star-Crossed (Sona Charaipotra): This one was shorter than the others, but the length worked perfectly! I think this one of my favorite contemporary style stories, as I hadn't guessed the twist, and it didn't feel rushed either! (4/5)

The Counting of Vermillion Beads (Aliette De Bodard): This story was short and sweet, even if the beginning was a bit rough (it was hard to see exactly what was going on in the world at first). But reading the author's note at the end really made me appreciate the retelling more! (3/5)

The Land Of The Morning Calm (E. C. Myers): I really liked this one! It blended modern and myth really well, and I loved all the characters involved! Additionally, the story itself and meaning behind it was also quite beautiful, and I really enjoyed the video game setting used to enhance that meaning. (5/5)

A Smile (Aisha Saeed): I really liked how much we got to learn/see of the characters in such a small amount of pages. Once again, the author's note at the end also made this story all the more interesting, by how it was connected to the myth. (4/5)

Girls Who Twirl And Other Dangers (Preeti Chhibber): I quite liked this story too, and how the myth blended in with the actual story taking place! It connected modern and myth in a new way, even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of all of the characters. (3/5)

Nothing Into All (Renee Ahdieh): I think this is one of my favorites, but mainly due to how it was written! I like the distance third person creates, allowing us to see the story/myth more fully. I also just really enjoyed reading the sibling bond. (4/5)

Spear Carrier (Rahul Kanakia): I think this one is the toughest to get into at the beginning, as you are literally thrown into the action, but I was able to catch on after a few pages. I wasn't a fan of the ending though, until I read the author's note at the end and learned of the original story it was based on. (3/5)

Code of Honor (Melissa de la Cruz): This story didn't really click with me at all, and it felt out of place compared to some of the other tales. While it is based on Aswangs, it felt entirely like another vampire story. It was also way too predictable, in my opinion. (2/5)

Bullet, Butterfly (Elsie Chapman): I really loved this story! The romance was developed well in a short time, and even the friendships were. The world was also an interesting one to get a peek at, even if it was a quick one. (4/5)

Daughter of the Sun (Shveta Thakrar): Oh man I absolutely loved this one! It was so wonderfully written, and I loved both main characters too. The story itself was also beautiful. (5/5)

The Crimson Cloak (Cindy Pon): All my favorites seem to be at the end! This one also exceeded my expectations, and I absolutely love how it was able to capture me in so few pages. Definitely another favorite. (5/5)

Eyes Like Candlelight (Julie Kagawa): I loved this one as well, and it was a wonderful note to end the anthology on!! These last 4 stories were definitely my favorites from this anthology though. (5/5)

“Truth be told, I liked that blurriness. That line where reality and fiction jutted up against each other.”

Stars (Out of 10): 7.5/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Jamie

Spoiler Free: I recently (finally) watched all the currently released season of BBC Sherlock, and I’m still on kind of a Sherlock Holmes high since then, and was dying to read all sorts of mystery! I’ve seen this series around for the longest time, and after some convincing from some of my book friends, I finally picked it up! (It helped that, at my time of interest, I was able to snatch the first three books in mainly hardcover for like, $15)

In the end, I quite enjoyed it. I was a fan of the writing style, and the plot kept me guessing, but I did miss the feeling of suspense that usually accompanies mystery books. Instead of feeling more and more tension as the story got further along, my feeling of suspense and intrigue seemed to flatline. It may just be the fault of how I paced the reading of this book though, as I limited myself to two chapters a day since I was reading with a buddy. Regardless, this is what lowered the book to 8/10 though.

Going back to the writing though, I was quite fond of the style. A contemporary, regardless of subgenre, grabs me most when there’s something unique about the style, whether it be an intrigued first person voice or just an odd, mysterious third person one. In this case, however, our Jamie Watson was an odd, sometimes aloof, voice, and I still really enjoyed seeing everything from his point of view. His personality was just different from the standard YA contemporary protagonist, but also still not a copycat of other “oddball” YA voices, and this is part of what hooked me!

Additionally, I quite liked the characters themselves. The author did a good job of building their personalities and ensuring the characters stuck to it. Jamie is a fairly friendly, forgiving guy, and this is held true throughout. On the other hand, Charlotte is often distant and strange, but still quite a strong character, and nothing changes this, even a little hint of romance. Even the side characters are quite interesting, and none seem to fall into stereotypical tropes (except for a few… exceptions).

I guess the plot is where it failed the most, mainly due to the lack of suspense build-up. I couldn’t guess what was going to happen next at all, but that may be due to the lack of foreshadowing (unless I entirely missed all the hints that were being dropped). Since this is a Sherlock Holmes retelling, and we are looking only through the eyes of Jamie (a much lesser detective by far), we really only know what Charlotte wants us to know, which didn’t seem to ever be enough to guess what was going on. Charlotte was the one with the background knowledge to know who it was, so when it was finally put together in front of her, we got the answer straight away.

Regardless, I’m intrigued as to how this series develops, as while this story could have definitely stood alone, there were more than enough loose ends to be knotted up, so I’m excited to see where those all go!

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars

Favorite Character: It flipped a lot, Zell at first, and Jax by the end

Spoiler Free: I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately, and it seemed like this one might just fall into the category of fantasies that just begin to blend together after a point. While there were some things I didn’t really like in this book, it did still stand out to me for a few reasons.

Firstly, I am really intrigued by the magic system. At first, it just seemed as if the mages used rings to cast magic, but as the story grew on, we kept getting tidbits here and there on how complex the system actually was, and how limited it is as well. While we seem to have only scraped the surface of understanding the magic system, I am definitely intrigued by it!

Secondly, I really liked the characters. From the beginning I was a fan of Jax, of his humor and way of looking at the world, but I also loved Tilla’s complexity, her inner turmoil between wanting what she can’t have to just accepting her life as a bastard. We see similar conflicts occur in almost all the characters, with Zell battling tradition vs. what is right, and Lyriana’s conflict with her upbringing and a more free sense of living. In the end, all of these conflicts were interesting to read, and I don’t think we’ve seen their resolutions yet!

Additionally, the book had some pretty dark moments. It wasn’t a “dark” fantasy by any means, but there were quite a few shocking moments that really hammered in how messed up certain things about the world were. It gave the book an extra level of gravity, of realness.

Lastly, I thought the world was also quite interesting. It’s the general fantasy world of conquered kingdoms ruled by a single, strong king, with the standard unrest thrown in. However, the perspective we are given on said world is an interesting one, as we are not automatically aligned with one side due to the circumstances around the beginning of the book. This was one of the most unique parts of the book probably, and the inner and outer conflict this caused was super interesting to read!

On the other hand, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the romances in the end. While they seemed to be heading down the slow burn path, and I was really into both of them, it ended up moving way too quickly at the end of the book, a trend I’ve been seeing more and more in YA fantasy. Just slow down sometimes guys! Romance doesn’t need to resolved in book 1!

All in all, I did really enjoy this though, and am excited to move on to book 2 now! There’s definitely a lot of ways this series can go!