Jenny
This was a solid three-star read for me for most of the book, mainly because I didn’t find the writing especially strong or the story as compulsively unputdownable as romantasy favorites like ACOTAR or Fourth Wing. It wasn’t until about 87% in that something really clicked—and at that point I very willingly sacrificed sleep to find out how it ended.
I never quite felt as emotionally invested in the FMC or MMC as I have in other series, though several of the side characters were absolutely delightful (especially the pet fox, a fellow thief and rascal side character and some of the Fae sidekicks, who stole the show). I also struggled with some inconsistencies in the writing—most notably how the FMC’s obsession with rescuing her brother dominated the first third of the book, only for him to be barely mentioned afterward and how the world-building historical construct that motivated the MMC and will propel the story into the next book in the series was so completely opaque until the very end.
These were ultimately minor annoyances, but they kept the book from stacking up against the best in the genre for me. That said, the ending won me over enough that I’ll definitely be picking up the next book in the series.
This was a solid three-star read for me for most of the book, mainly because I didn’t find the writing especially strong or the story as compulsively unputdownable as romantasy favorites like ACOTAR or Fourth Wing. It wasn’t until about 87% in that something really clicked—and at that point I very willingly sacrificed sleep to find out how it ended.
I never quite felt as emotionally invested in the FMC or MMC as I have in other series, though several of the side characters were absolutely delightful (especially the pet fox, a fellow thief and rascal side character and some of the Fae sidekicks, who stole the show). I also struggled with some inconsistencies in the writing—most notably how the FMC’s obsession with rescuing her brother dominated the first third of the book, only for him to be barely mentioned afterward and how the world-building historical construct that motivated the MMC and will propel the story into the next book in the series was so completely opaque until the very end.
These were ultimately minor annoyances, but they kept the book from stacking up against the best in the genre for me. That said, the ending won me over enough that I’ll definitely be picking up the next book in the series.