Arrow's Fall

I almost want to give this series a rating of 3, but there are some parts of this book that elevate it to a 4. The story never completely drew me in – the plot was a little too simple, the worldbuilding a little too sparse – but it had some uncommon themes that made the reading of it worthwhile. One was the main character's self-esteem issues: because of growing up in a community where she was regarded as a nuisance, she never assumed that other people would want to spend time with her. Lackey was sensitive to how this might affect a person in the long run, and it was very special and enjoyable to be able to relate to a very fierce main character on this level. Another particularly well-done part of these books was the sex, which wasn't the horribly flat and gendered version that normally exists in fantasy. In fact, Lackey seemed to take special care in writing one of the male characters, Kris, in the way that male authors often treat female characters, with his looks as his main identifying feature. Do I wish the love story could be less love-at-first-sight and more I-fell-in-love-with-you-as-a-whole-person? Yes, but I still looked forward to reading Talia and Dirk's interactions.