Samia
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was pretty much like watching a train wreck of every cliché magic school and end-of-the-world trope mashed together—and not in a good way. Imagine *The Hunger Games* tried to date the Triwizard Tournament and they had a super awkward lovechild that also wanted to be a “chosen one” story **and** a pick-me girl story all at once. Frankly, it was kind of a dumpster fire.
It started off with me thinking, *oh cool, there’s a spy element, maybe this is gonna be interesting!* And then—surprise—we’re going to magic school, even though I’m still not entirely sure how she figured that out. Once you get to the school, it settles into a competition-style book, which I normally love, but the “ordeals” themselves didn’t seem that intense. There’s a lot of murder happening, yet somehow this supposedly super secure school can’t figure out what’s going on or protect their students?
There are also a ton of plot elements introduced and then barely explored: a mysterious building no one is allowed in, her parents who apparently went to this school but she only half-researches, and a mentor who’s supposed to be incredibly talented but somehow can’t actually mentor her. Her power is weak, and you’d think the mentor would sense that something else is going on or help her reach her potential—but nope.
The main character is also all over the place, bouncing between “I’m so insecure” and “I’m the best ever,” which gives you whiplash. That really annoyed me because for character development, you kind of need to pick a lane and grow from it in a way that makes sense.
The romance was so bland I almost fell asleep. It *starts* kind of interesting when they meet, but the way they connect is super choppy. Half the time she’s saying she’s just using him to win the trials, and the other half she’s like, “I can’t stop thinking about him.” Meanwhile, they barely know each other and lie to each other constantly in a way that feels toxic—not romantic.
The monster reveal was also incredibly mid. There’s no real sense of where this monster fits into the hierarchy of the world. There’s a war between countries where some ban magic, but we don’t get much detail until later when it’s suddenly relevant. There’s also a “Great Hunt” mentioned that happened eight years ago, but no one really explains it, and I just didn’t get why it was included.
There’s a lot of repeated word usage, and some of the words aren’t even real—which is fine—but then at least give us a glossary or something? It felt like ideas were added as afterthoughts instead of being part of a cohesive, progressive storyline. Overall, it felt sloppy and rushed, which was disappointing because I *could* see the potential of what this book could’ve been.
I basically hate-read this because I really tried to like it or appreciate something about it, but I couldn’t. I don’t think I’ll be picking up the second one.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was pretty much like watching a train wreck of every cliché magic school and end-of-the-world trope mashed together—and not in a good way. Imagine *The Hunger Games* tried to date the Triwizard Tournament and they had a super awkward lovechild that also wanted to be a “chosen one” story **and** a pick-me girl story all at once. Frankly, it was kind of a dumpster fire.
It started off with me thinking, *oh cool, there’s a spy element, maybe this is gonna be interesting!* And then—surprise—we’re going to magic school, even though I’m still not entirely sure how she figured that out. Once you get to the school, it settles into a competition-style book, which I normally love, but the “ordeals” themselves didn’t seem that intense. There’s a lot of murder happening, yet somehow this supposedly super secure school can’t figure out what’s going on or protect their students?
There are also a ton of plot elements introduced and then barely explored: a mysterious building no one is allowed in, her parents who apparently went to this school but she only half-researches, and a mentor who’s supposed to be incredibly talented but somehow can’t actually mentor her. Her power is weak, and you’d think the mentor would sense that something else is going on or help her reach her potential—but nope.
The main character is also all over the place, bouncing between “I’m so insecure” and “I’m the best ever,” which gives you whiplash. That really annoyed me because for character development, you kind of need to pick a lane and grow from it in a way that makes sense.
The romance was so bland I almost fell asleep. It *starts* kind of interesting when they meet, but the way they connect is super choppy. Half the time she’s saying she’s just using him to win the trials, and the other half she’s like, “I can’t stop thinking about him.” Meanwhile, they barely know each other and lie to each other constantly in a way that feels toxic—not romantic.
The monster reveal was also incredibly mid. There’s no real sense of where this monster fits into the hierarchy of the world. There’s a war between countries where some ban magic, but we don’t get much detail until later when it’s suddenly relevant. There’s also a “Great Hunt” mentioned that happened eight years ago, but no one really explains it, and I just didn’t get why it was included.
There’s a lot of repeated word usage, and some of the words aren’t even real—which is fine—but then at least give us a glossary or something? It felt like ideas were added as afterthoughts instead of being part of a cohesive, progressive storyline. Overall, it felt sloppy and rushed, which was disappointing because I *could* see the potential of what this book could’ve been.
I basically hate-read this because I really tried to like it or appreciate something about it, but I couldn’t. I don’t think I’ll be picking up the second one.