Kane
_Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this early access eARC to enable this review._
Unfortunately I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would going in to it. Overall it's not a bad book but it is just not for me. The plot was pretty cool but the characters fell flat.
I'm a very character focused reader and I just ultimately didn't care about the characters in this book. Neither the main girl nor any of her classmates really drew me in or made me care about them as more than plot devices. If you asked me to describe any of their unique attributes I probably couldn't. If you asked me to pick a favourite, I had none.
The main thread of the book is around a school for assassin girls/women. Only the strongest can graduate so they all get killed off one by one until three remain. This means there was a looooot of fighting and a lot of backstabbing. I haven't gone back to count exactly how much; but, believe me, there was a lot. The first 25% or so was essentially all fighting - at that point I was wondering if there would be any other scenes. The problem with that? If I don't really care about the characters and if they win or lose then it really detracts from the fight. When so much of the book is focused on this suspense of killing characters off it relies on a certain attachment, which I just never had.
As I mentioned - the plot was actually pretty cool and crafts an interesting world and system. I am not really going to go into it because I consider most of it a spoiler; but, if you are a more plot focused reader or you can vibe with the characters more than me then I think you will love this book. That is why I give it 3 stars - my this has merit but it's not for me rating.
I'm not going to continue this series but I do think it is a good book for others and I hope those people find it and love it.
Originally posted at canberrabookclub.au.
_Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this early access eARC to enable this review._
Unfortunately I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would going in to it. Overall it's not a bad book but it is just not for me. The plot was pretty cool but the characters fell flat.
I'm a very character focused reader and I just ultimately didn't care about the characters in this book. Neither the main girl nor any of her classmates really drew me in or made me care about them as more than plot devices. If you asked me to describe any of their unique attributes I probably couldn't. If you asked me to pick a favourite, I had none.
The main thread of the book is around a school for assassin girls/women. Only the strongest can graduate so they all get killed off one by one until three remain. This means there was a looooot of fighting and a lot of backstabbing. I haven't gone back to count exactly how much; but, believe me, there was a lot. The first 25% or so was essentially all fighting - at that point I was wondering if there would be any other scenes. The problem with that? If I don't really care about the characters and if they win or lose then it really detracts from the fight. When so much of the book is focused on this suspense of killing characters off it relies on a certain attachment, which I just never had.
As I mentioned - the plot was actually pretty cool and crafts an interesting world and system. I am not really going to go into it because I consider most of it a spoiler; but, if you are a more plot focused reader or you can vibe with the characters more than me then I think you will love this book. That is why I give it 3 stars - my this has merit but it's not for me rating.
I'm not going to continue this series but I do think it is a good book for others and I hope those people find it and love it.
Originally posted at canberrabookclub.au.