Dae

First half of this book is an exercise in frustration, but at least in the second portion the mystery starts to get good.

This book has a lot of things you need to pay attention to and remember in order not to get lost at some points, but the real and main heft of what is happening in this story seems to take place in the latter half. That's where the threads start to really weave together and connect. I cannot say I was surprised by any of the twists and turns it took, but it was a fun ride nevertheless.

A lovely, cozy slow burn romance! (So slow in fact that you may scream, "just kiss already!!" at the characters like I did. Several times. But trust me, it's worth it!)

Noah is, to put it bluntly, a mess - and you soon realize why - but he's also trying his best to find his own truth and life. A struggle I think many people can resonate with. And Alex, the living embodiment of a golden retriever puppy, is endearingly oblivious to even his own growing obsession as he tries to make Noah his "friend".

And while Noah & Alex are certainly the stars of the show, it would be a disservice not to mention the friends/supporting cast. (Especially Yatesy! Whom my bff and I cannot wait to read about in the future.) All of them are the type of friends you might wish for; wise, funny, and most of all supportive.

The only thing I would say garners a deduction is that the Big Thing (tm) that seems to be a major hang up for Noah, and one of the hinges of the story (his own father) seems to get sort of hand-waved off and thinned to the point of hardly making an impact at all. There's no confrontation or repercussions to this apparent threat that has been dangling over Noah's head for the majority of the story. It all just..goes away. I think it could've been character affirming for Noah, who is shown to change and grow as he branches out, to at least have said he was done with his father to his face.

An interesting start.

It's not quite what I expected from the blurb and tags I saw while doing my preliminary research (before purchasing). I went in expecting more horror and wound up in a thriller-dystopian mash up.

The main character can be a bit dry and cold, but then you realize that's exactly what she's supposed to be. She's not out for peace and love, she's there for very serious reasons. She has the motivation and means to be a problem for people, and so she's going to fulfill that promise. Some might even call her kind of monstrous, but she's got plans to see through and little to no reason to stop before they're done.

There are certainly a lot of political issues in this world that don't start getting unpacked until the latter third of the book. (And they probably come more to the forefront in book 2). But overall the world building is good. The magic? - some of it sounds silly but makes sense. Some of it is more realistic and other bits lean heavier into fiction. It's a mixed bag.

(Undecided yet on whether or not to continue this trilogy.)

And this is where the series starts to get confusing because I lost track of which characters are which and who they're with. Aka: none of them were original and individual enough to remember anything about. They kind of blended into one..mmc paste.

And I read these books back to back, in order. So, conceivably, they should have had enough personality to remain their own distinct characters as I moved through the books.

There's also not a lot of build up to a love confession/relationship in any of these stories despite the author having doubled or tripled the chapter count after book 1. Every single couple is insta-love and immediately gets over whatever issues they have that, in the first third of the book, were reasons they couldn't be together.

Look, I get it, it's fiction. We read it to feel good and escape for a moment (or enjoy the smut). But there is no emotional payoff when every bit of challenge and friction is handwaved away so they can f*ck happily ever after.