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lennie_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I received an arc from Book Sirens but the views are my own.
I really loved the world building in this book, including the map, glossary and family tree at the beginning - these are all things that enhance fantasy books for me!
Our three main characters are all lovable whilst being very different;
Kira is our dark skinned POC MC who is good at hunting, trapping, into engineering and is also very stubborn.
Ryon is our POC, kinda soft boi hiding behind a bad boy exterior, caring, artistic scout with a troubled past.
Vylia is our sheltered POC Princess in her first diplomatic mission on behalf of her father.
The power systems, religion and gods / creatures etc are very intriguing if a bit confusing. I also really liked all the different countries (?) in this world and how the 'white' people are very far north and don't really feature much in this world (apart from Lysander who is mixed race and also deaf).
Another character, who I believe will be featured more heavily in book 2, is Lysander who is Ryon's cousin, an assasin and has recently lost his hearing. I felt that the book dealt with the disability rep well and showed the difficulty in them having to learn sign language so suddenly and it not quite being a habit yet.
I enjoyed the romance in this but it could come across as a bit childish or intense at times. Ryon could be a bit intense and Kira could be a bit childish but I genuinely liked them both and wanted it to work out.
However, the casual (and fairly 21st century) way that Ryon spoke definitely took me out of the story a bit. He constantly said 'yeah' and 'like' and it felt more like a Contemporary novel than a Fantasy at times.
I also felt a bit uncomfortable with the derogatory racist language towards Kira as it seemed that none of the other races were called insulting racial slurs. And I know it's meant well but when an orphan calls Kira 'chocolate lady' it just felt a bit off.
That being said, I'm looking forward to book two seeing where things are going to go with this world and these characters.
Cw: animal death, infection, wounds, mild racism, burns, death, bombs, hearing loss, sight loss, warwar
I really loved the world building in this book, including the map, glossary and family tree at the beginning - these are all things that enhance fantasy books for me!
Our three main characters are all lovable whilst being very different;
Kira is our dark skinned POC MC who is good at hunting, trapping, into engineering and is also very stubborn.
Ryon is our POC, kinda soft boi hiding behind a bad boy exterior, caring, artistic scout with a troubled past.
Vylia is our sheltered POC Princess in her first diplomatic mission on behalf of her father.
The power systems, religion and gods / creatures etc are very intriguing if a bit confusing. I also really liked all the different countries (?) in this world and how the 'white' people are very far north and don't really feature much in this world (apart from Lysander who is mixed race and also deaf).
Another character, who I believe will be featured more heavily in book 2, is Lysander who is Ryon's cousin, an assasin and has recently lost his hearing. I felt that the book dealt with the disability rep well and showed the difficulty in them having to learn sign language so suddenly and it not quite being a habit yet.
I enjoyed the romance in this but it could come across as a bit childish or intense at times. Ryon could be a bit intense and Kira could be a bit childish but I genuinely liked them both and wanted it to work out.
However, the casual (and fairly 21st century) way that Ryon spoke definitely took me out of the story a bit. He constantly said 'yeah' and 'like' and it felt more like a Contemporary novel than a Fantasy at times.
I also felt a bit uncomfortable with the derogatory racist language towards Kira as it seemed that none of the other races were called insulting racial slurs. And I know it's meant well but when an orphan calls Kira 'chocolate lady' it just felt a bit off.
That being said, I'm looking forward to book two seeing where things are going to go with this world and these characters.
Cw: animal death, infection, wounds, mild racism, burns, death, bombs, hearing loss, sight loss, warwar
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Blood
Minor: Racism