The Wolf of Oren-Yaro

I was very neutral towards most of this book. Liked some parts, disliked some parts. I wasn't a fan of the main character. She's just so very incompetent for being known as “The Bitch Queen”. None of her guards or allies respects her whatsoever, and to be honest she does nothing to command any respect. Khine is a good character but waaaaay too forgiving for the shit she put him through. Rayyel had no redeeming qualities whatsoever in the flashbacks and it makes no sense that she was so head over heels for him (and to be fair, yes, love is blind, but nothing in the characterization for both convinced me on why she felt that strongly about him).

It's technically touted as being character-driven but ehhhhh. There's a lot of focus on character stuff but the events set in motion don't always make sense from their character's point of view, which makes it more plot driven than anything. (The Yuebek plan, I mean.. what?) I really thought I would like this because I found the first chapter very promising. It felt introspective and a bit Hobb-inspired to me, but it went downhill after that.