Eryca Liskovec
I read about 50% and skimmed until the end. I would have classified this as a DNF but I put in too much time not to count this, and I figure my other DNFs this year add up to a whole book.
I love Sue Lynn Tan’s writing style and vibe, and the book itself is gorgeous. I almost still want to display it on my shelf despite how much I actually disliked it. The FMC is good at everything except being a good person, and you’re constantly made to feel bad for disliking her bc she had a truly hard life from living in poverty and being abused by her step aunt. Despite her origins of poverty, thievery, and fake fortune telling, she manages to steal her way into a ball, have two powerful men instantly obsessed with her, including the Prince, talk her way into being a favored guest in the palace, and win an unwinnable tournament against the best general in the kingdom. She is angry all the time, which again, I can’t judge her for based on her life circumstances, except it’s not a righteous anger, for when the prince threatens to wipe out an entire family line bc they plotted against him for his cruel taxes and policies (things that also affected her in the beginning of the book), she doesn’t seem to care or empathize about that. I wanted to like this so badly, but I truly just don’t want to read about any of these characters anymore.
I read about 50% and skimmed until the end. I would have classified this as a DNF but I put in too much time not to count this, and I figure my other DNFs this year add up to a whole book.
I love Sue Lynn Tan’s writing style and vibe, and the book itself is gorgeous. I almost still want to display it on my shelf despite how much I actually disliked it. The FMC is good at everything except being a good person, and you’re constantly made to feel bad for disliking her bc she had a truly hard life from living in poverty and being abused by her step aunt. Despite her origins of poverty, thievery, and fake fortune telling, she manages to steal her way into a ball, have two powerful men instantly obsessed with her, including the Prince, talk her way into being a favored guest in the palace, and win an unwinnable tournament against the best general in the kingdom. She is angry all the time, which again, I can’t judge her for based on her life circumstances, except it’s not a righteous anger, for when the prince threatens to wipe out an entire family line bc they plotted against him for his cruel taxes and policies (things that also affected her in the beginning of the book), she doesn’t seem to care or empathize about that. I wanted to like this so badly, but I truly just don’t want to read about any of these characters anymore.
This book certainly wasn't perfect, but I found it enjoyable and will definitely be continuing the quartet. I think there could have been more time put into delving into the MMC's character and history rather than constantly telling us how beautiful he is and how perfect his face is - but, I also think this was an effort to show how Ravenna, the FMC, sees the world as a sculptress. Of course she's going to be drawn to angles and contours and symmetry, and so we're going to read about it. I would have liked to see a bit more of the slow burn, but to me, the romance didn't feel totally unearned either. He was your typical red flag of a dude who showed just enough, and chose her just enough, to convince you there was a green flag in there somewhere. And she was a quiet, but strong individual who was the only one who ever honestly challenged him. I didn't see the main twist coming, but I did catch the last twist right before it happened.
This book certainly wasn't perfect, but I found it enjoyable and will definitely be continuing the quartet. I think there could have been more time put into delving into the MMC's character and history rather than constantly telling us how beautiful he is and how perfect his face is - but, I also think this was an effort to show how Ravenna, the FMC, sees the world as a sculptress. Of course she's going to be drawn to angles and contours and symmetry, and so we're going to read about it. I would have liked to see a bit more of the slow burn, but to me, the romance didn't feel totally unearned either. He was your typical red flag of a dude who showed just enough, and chose her just enough, to convince you there was a green flag in there somewhere. And she was a quiet, but strong individual who was the only one who ever honestly challenged him. I didn't see the main twist coming, but I did catch the last twist right before it happened.
