Review: The Reader by Traci Chee

The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold #1)
By Traci Chee
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley

To Sum It Up: In Kelanna, reading is unheard of, although legend says that an object known as a book holds the key to wielding powerful magic for those select few with the skill to use it. Sefia knows only too well how dangerous this mysterious object is; her father died hiding a book, and Sefia and her aunt Nin have been on the run from his killers since his murder. Now it seems those same people have kidnapped Nin, and Sefia is determined to save her aunt and avenge her father.

Review: A book called The Reader, about a world without books? What a promising premise! And a fantasy, to boot? Check and check!

And so it was with much anticipation that I finally got around to The Reader. The story follows Sefia, a young woman on the run with her fiery aunt, Nin, and in possession of a mysterious object that Sefia’s father died protecting—what Sefia later realizes is a book.

Shortly after the novel opens, the same people who killed Sefia’s father kidnap Nin, and Sefia embarks on a desperate search to find her aunt, despite still being in serious danger herself because she has the Book. A rather standard quest for vengeance with a rather unmemorable heroine ensues.

I became frustrated with Sefia quickly. Not far into the story, the book casually mentions that she’s spent a whole year looking for Nin and her abductors without any progress. A whole year passes in the span of a sentence! Sefia also teaches herself to read at what feels like an unrealistic pace. I think it’s a little ironic how fast Sefia picks up reading when the pacing of The Reader is laborious. At 15% in, I was still trying to work out what was going on plot-wise.

In addition to murky world-building, what really made this book confusing to me was the stories within the main story. While you later find out how they’re connected, for most of the book I found switching between the multiple narratives disruptive. Why are there now pirates in the story? Who is this Lon guy and why should I care about him? By the time the book explained the pirates and Lon, it was too late; the window for building my investment in them had passed.

I will say that the camaraderie among the pirates was well written. It’s evident that Captain Reed and the crew of the Current of Faith are a tight-knit group in a way that only surviving some harrowing adventures together can make them. I might have even enjoyed an entire book centered around their exploits on the high seas.

I’m sad to say that this was a disappointing read for me. While there are some very pretty passages of prose, the tedious pacing, lackluster characters, and jumping back and forth between multiple story lines made this a tough book to finish. I loved the premise so much, though, that I kept going, hoping that the story would pick up. Alas, it did not.

All in All: This book had so much potential, but I felt it didn’t dive into the books are forbidden/magic aspect enough, and that was the reason why The Reader appealed to me in the first place.

Review: Rule by Ellen Goodlett

Rule (Rule #1)
By Ellen Goodlett
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley

To Sum It Up: Zofi, Akeylah, and Florencia are strangers to each other until King Andros of Kolonya summons them all to court. Upon their arrival, they learn that the ailing king is their father, and they are all potential heirs to his throne. Each sister, however, carries an explosive secret that, if discovered, could result in execution. When the girls start receiving threatening messages, it seems that someone already knows what they’re hiding, and the sisters must band together to find their blackmailer.

Review: It’s been a while since a fantasy blew me away, and unfortunately, Rule left me less than awed. The premise sounds promising: three young women who would otherwise continue leading disparate lives suddenly discover that they’re daughters of the ailing king. Only one of them can inherit his crown, and each sister is hiding a secret that could get her executed. Zofi, Akeylah, and Florencia are all naturally wary of each other since only one of them can rule Kolonya, but the sisters may have no choice but to work together after all three begin receiving messages threatening to expose their secrets.

My biggest issue with the book was how thinly sketched everything was: the plot, the characters, and especially the world building. War figures heavily in Kolonya’s past and present, but the details are sparse and delivered through telling instead of showing. Despite a magic system based on tithing one’s blood to temporarily gain enhanced abilities, there isn’t much of a fantasy feel here. The story focuses more on the girls’ efforts to stop their blackmailer amidst a treacherous court where no one can be trusted.

The book is also repetitive, as we’re constantly reminded that the girls must do whatever it takes to keep their secrets safe, even from each other. A plot point that could have used some hashing out instead of belaboring the secrets thing was the big reveal of the sisters’ paternity. All three accept the news that their father is the king with relative ease. The girls then move swiftly on to resuming their worries over what they’re hiding.

As much as I’d hoped that Rule would be an engrossing fantasy read, it spent too much time on its non-fantasy plot as well as went down the YA trope road with some insta-love and a potential love triangle. I considered DNF-ing this, but there was something about the pacing that still made Rule compulsive to read. As much as I’d also hoped that there would be some resolution to the girls’ blackmail situation, alas the book ended on a giant cliffhanger which I’m not invested enough in to see the outcome of in a sequel.

All in All: Rule has some really good pacing, which spurred me on to read what otherwise would have been a DNF. The other aspects of the book, however, are not as strong. The plot is all about the sisters keeping their misdeeds hidden in a world that isn’t fully fleshed out.

Review: A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: The war with Hybern may be over, but Feyre and Rhys’s work to rebuild their court has only just begun. There’s also growing concern over discontent among the Illyrians, who fought alongside Feyre, Rhys, and their friends, as well as unease about the border between the human and Fae lands being unguarded. The Winter Solstice is approaching, though, and with it the opportunity for everyone to join in the celebrations and take a much-needed break from their worries.

Review: With A Court of Wings and Ruin supposedly concluding Feyre and Rhys’s arc, I was very intrigued to see what awaited in A Court of Frost and Starlight. I was particularly curious about which characters would be the main focus and where the future books might be headed.

Well, this novella didn’t quite turn out to be what I’d anticipated. Feyre and Rhys still feature very prominently here, and I really feel that their story ended with A Court of Wings and Ruin. While we get third person POVs in A Court of Frost and Starlight from Cassian and Mor, this is still very much Feyre and Rhys’s show, and, I don’t know . . . it’s time for them to take a backseat to other characters at this point?

The Feyre of A Court of Frost and Starlight spends her days shopping, painting, and pushing paperwork around. I have to say, the shopping killed me. Not just Feyre plunking down serious cash for everyone’s Winter Solstice gifts, but the details of other characters’ purchases, too. I really started to miss the days when Hybern could launch an attack at any moment and Feyre and co. were ready to kick some Hybern ass.

If you’re looking for action in this novella, you’re not going to find it. The closest A Court of Frost and Starlight gets to battle is some disgruntled Illyrians and Nesta death glares. There’s really not much of a plot here, either. I realize this is a bridge novella between the two halves of the series, but I still expected some kind of anchoring story line. Instead this reads more like a series of vignettes until you reach the sneak peek of the next full-length novel, which for an excerpt, felt more cohesive.

I never imagined myself saying this, but I think I’m officially tired of Feysand. There are so many times when all they can think about is how hot they are for each other, and ughhhh—the number of times they refer to each other as “my mate.” Although I noticed this in the previous books as well, it was a lot more pronounced and annoying here because with fewer pages than a regular novel, there are a lot of instances of “mate” crammed into the 200-plus pages of this novella.

It pains me to mention all these issues I had with A Court of Frost and Starlight when I enjoyed the first three books so much, but this was definitely not on the same level as the novels. As much as I was still invested in characters like Cassian, Azriel, Mor, and Amren, the Feyre/Rhys saturation was too much. I’m a bit wary about reading the next novel when it’s released, although I must say that the excerpt was quite interesting.

All in All: I’d seen some pretty savage reviews of A Court of Frost and Starlight prior to reading it, and sadly, they do make some valid points. This novella just didn’t add anything to the series, at least for me, and I would have been fine with the series just picking up again with the next full-length novel.

Review: The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green

The Smoke Thieves (The Smoke Thieves #1)
By Sally Green
Publisher: Viking
Format: eARC
Source: First to Read

To Sum It Up: Catherine, Ambrose, Tash, Edyon, and March could not lead more different lives, but they are all about to be affected by the looming war that Catherine’s ruthless father, the King of Brigant, seems to be preparing to wage. In a kingdom where women have no power, Catherine is a political pawn, about to enter in to a marriage arranged by her father. Meanwhile, Ambrose, one of Catherine’s guards, has just witnessed the execution of one of his family members for treason and knows that he could be targeted next. Thief Edyon is wandering through a fairly aimless life until he suddenly becomes of great importance to some very interested parties, one of whom is royal servant March. All demon hunter Tash is concerned about is collecting very valuable—and illegal—demon smoke with her partner Gravell, but it appears that even Tash cannot avoid the turmoil that is about to sweep across multiple lands.

Review: Having enjoyed Sally Green’s Half Bad and Half Wild, I was excited to see that she was venturing into fantasy with her new novel, The Smoke Thieves. My curiosity was particularly piqued by the comparisons being made between The Smoke Thieves and George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. Like Martin’s ubiquitous tome, Green’s book is set in a medieval world with multiple POVs. There’s even a bastard!

I try especially hard NOT to keep a running side-by-side comparison in my head between AGoT and books billed as the next AGoT. Reading Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire (at least what’s been published so far, haha) has been one of those life-changing reading experiences for me. What I attempt to avoid is reading every subsequent fantasy through the lens of ASoIaF. So here goes with what I hope is an impartial-ish take on The Smoke Thieves.

The novel follows five characters: Princess Catherine of Brigant, her guard Sir Ambrose, thief Edyon, servant March, and demon hunter Tash. Green does a good job of keeping the storylines tidy and tying them together, but at the same time, the short chapters often seem . . . well, short. The frequent POV shifts give the pacing a choppy feel. I also think they inhibit character development; just when you’re on the brink of spending some quality time getting to know a character, bam—chapter over and it’s on to a different POV.

In general, I found the character development rather lacking. For example, while I love how Catherine tries to find any way she can to undermine a patriarchal society, overall her arc feels a bit too cliché. Along the same lines, Edyon plays the thief with a heart of gold a little too well. March was my least favorite of the MCs for not realizing how blatantly another character was manipulating him. Young Tash the demon hunter was the standout here, thanks to her mettle and sass.

The most disappointing aspect of The Smoke Thieves was how light it was on the fantasy. The titular smoke refers to the substance released by demons when they die. It’s usually inhaled as a drug, but our motley crew of protagonists discovers another effect that could endanger them all. That’s not until late in the book, though. In the meantime, the demon smoke (and the demons, for that matter) is just hanging around, waiting to come off the bench and step up to the plate as a major plot point. I was definitely expecting more of a role for the demons and the smoke, and I suppose that was my overall issue with the book: the need for more. More depth to the characters, more substance to the plot, more fantasy elements. This isn’t a bad story by any means, and Green is a solid storyteller. It just wasn’t my type of fantasy read.

All in All: I love reading fantasy for mythical creatures, complex and often morally ambiguous characters, and richly drawn worlds that completely immerse you. Unfortunately, The Smoke Thieves didn’t quite deliver on those things for me.

Review: Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Reign of the Fallen (Reign of the Fallen #1)
By Sarah Glenn Marsh
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Print ARC
Source: YALLFest

To Sum It Up: In the kingdom of Karthia, the ruling nobles have maintained their positions with the help of necromancers who raise them from the dead. The Dead must, however, remain covered by a shroud or else risk becoming lethal monsters known as Shades. Necromancer Odessa’s dedication to her job has been unwavering, until a tragedy shatters her world, and grief envelops her. Meanwhile, Shade attacks are on the rise, and Karthia needs its most skilled necromancer to stop them.

Review: As much as I try not to make any assumptions about a book based on the cover alone, sometimes it’s really hard, especially when a cover is particularly eye-catching. When I first spotted Reign of the Fallen at YALLFest, its cover totally called to me, and after reading the blurb—necromancers, undead creatures called Shades, a kingdom in peril—this book sounded exactly like my thing. Unfortunately, it ended up falling way short of my expectations.

This is one of those cases where I should have DNFed but got too far into the book to put it aside. I was also reluctant to DNF this because I had just DNFed another book. I wasn’t too many pages into Reign of the Fallen when I started feeling iffy about it because the book repeatedly mentioned how special the main character, Odessa, was. Odessa’s awesomeness quickly became tiresome.

Reign of the Fallen employs a lot of telling vs. showing, and this affects so many aspects of the book, from the world-building to the character development. The world is never really fleshed out, and I couldn’t buy into it. The King of Karthia and his fellow royals have ruled for two hundred years because necromancers have raised them from the dead. Those who have been brought back must, however, remain completely covered by a shroud because if any part of them is seen by a living person, the dead individual turns into a zombie-like Shade. There’s no explanation for why this happens; it just does. The book also doesn’t go into any detail about the necromancers’ magic. For a fantasy read, Reign of the Fallen glosses over its fantasy elements.

All of the telling also undermines the emotional punch the novel tries to deliver. Odessa suffers a terrible loss early on, but the depth of her relationship with that character isn’t conveyed effectively. This in turn lessens the emotional impact of a chunk of the book, which follows Odessa’s grief-driven spiral into an addiction to calming potion. Both the book’s title and synopsis focus on the plotline involving an alarming increase in Shade attacks, but it takes a long time for that part of the novel to move to the forefront. Even when the story shifts to the threat posed by the Shades, there’s zero mystery as to who’s behind it. I’d hoped for some kind of twist because the clues were so obvious, but alas, there was none.

In the end, Reign of the Fallen was not at all the book I’d thought it would be. It barely explored any fantasy, which was disappointing because the premise had so much potential. Instead the story veered down a different path, which would have been fine if the book had dug deeper into the weighty subject matter as opposed to just describing it through telling. I’d hoped to like this as much as Garth Nix’s Sabriel, another fantasy with necromancy in it, but sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.

All in All: I should have listened to the part of my brain that said this book was not going to work out and given up after the first few chapters didn’t wow me.

Review: Ink by Alice Broadway

Ink (Skin Books #1)
By Alice Broadway
Publisher: Scholastic
Format: Print ARC
Source: YALLFest

To Sum It Up: In Saintstone, the marks inked onto a person’s skin tell his or her life story, both the good and the bad. When someone dies, that person’s skin is turned into a book and either deemed worthy of being preserved and remembered or forgotten and burned depending on what kind of life the individual led. Leora Flint has always followed Saintstone’s rules and traditions until her beloved father dies, and questions begin to arise about possible past misdeeds and secrets he might have kept, even from his family.

Lee's Review: Ink is kind of a hard book to describe, even when trying to pinpoint its genre. Because folklore is such an integral part of the novel, Ink sometimes feels like a fantasy. The unquestioning certainty with which the people of Saintstone, the town in which the book is set, must accept these stories as the absolute truth throws some dystopia into the mix.

The life stories of everyone in Saintstone are literally open books because they’re told through the tattoos people acquire—sometimes not voluntarily—throughout their lives. After death, one’s skin is turned into a book, and the books of those judged not worthy of being remembered are burned. It took me a moment to wrap my head around the bit where dead people’s skins become books, but once I got past the initial ewww factor, Ink was an intriguing read. Alice Broadway’s prose is very elegant, even when bringing to life a society ruled by a government that keeps a vigilant watch over its denizens.

Ink is narrated by Leora Flint, who at the book’s open is mourning the loss of her father. In the weeks leading up to the ceremony that will determine whether or not her father deserves to be remembered, Leora becomes increasingly anxious that his book will be thrown into the flames for possibly breaking Saintstone’s laws. Leora herself is not the rebellious type, and it comes across in her narrative voice. That posed a problem for me later in the book, when Leora makes decisions that seem uncharacteristic for her. I felt she needed more development leading up to that point so her actions made more sense for her character.

I also didn’t find the book’s big reveal all that revelatory. Again, I think it’s because Leora’s narration is so steady, it didn’t have the inflection needed to deliver an impact.

While Ink wasn’t quite a page turner for me, I did admire Alice Broadway’s lovely writing and creativity in devising the book’s premise. For me to read the sequel, though, I’d want to see more depth to Leora’s character and the secondary characters as well.

All in All: I really liked the genre mashup here and the prose, but I was looking for a bit more to Leora’s character.

Melissa's Review: In Ink, Alice Broadway crafts an exceptional setting through magnificent world building. She forms a unique culture that propels the plot and her characters successfully throughout the book. Because the society she places her characters within is so complex, the story carries a deeper meaning. The theme of the story becomes one of man (or in this case, woman) against a corrupt government, a theme I find particularly captivating. The theme does, however, cause Leora to be somewhat naïve in the beginning, but the reader does see her make some satisfying progress as the story continues.

Ink is very well written, and Broadway does an excellent job of describing the artistry behind the inking culture, truly showing the reader what these tattoos look like. The pacing of the novel is mostly consistent, keeping the reader interested. Additionally, the characters are likable, but not quite lovable. All of the important aspects of a good book are present, but the characters could not connect with me in a way to take this book to the next level.

The only true problem I had with Ink was that the ending felt slightly rushed. I would have really liked to see Leora develop more as a character while she dealt with the truths she had discovered. I think that growth would have made the resolution feel more complete. I do think the ending scene was quite powerful, but it could have been even better with more insight into Leora’s decisions.

All in All: This was an excellent read, and Broadway’s world building skills are phenomenal. I just wish the main character’s development felt more complete.

Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Buddy Read with Micheline of Lunar Rainbows Reviews

To Sum It Up: Feyre is back at the Spring Court, covertly plotting to undermine both it and its High Lord while also discovering what the King of Hybern has planned next for Prythian and the human lands below the wall. War is inevitable, but even that may not be enough to convince all the High Lords to set aside their usual squabbling among themselves and unite against their common enemy, Hybern. Feyre, Rhys, and their family are ready to stand against the massive invading Hybern army, even if they cannot rally any other courts to their side.

Review: After reading seven Sarah J. Maas books and being utterly annihilated by Empire of Storms last year, I prepared for the absolute, rock-bottom worst going into A Court of Wings and Ruin. I expected the Ruin part of the title to describe what was left of my heart after reading this because that’s become the norm post-Maas books.

Surprisingly, I don’t feel too wrecked. While there are plenty of intense, heart-stopping moments throughout A Court of Wings and Ruin (like the end of every chapter), I’m not the shattered wreck I was at the end of Empire of Storms. Fine, I may have almost cried a few times during A Court of Wings and Ruin. Maas certainly knows how to squeeze the reader’s heart to its bursting point.

A Court of Mist and Fury ended on one hell of a tumultuous note, with Feyre’s sisters, Nesta and Elain, being turned into Fae against their will and Feyre headed back to the Spring Court, vowing to make Tamlin pay for allying with the King of Hybern in exchange for the latter’s aid in finding her. A Court of Wings and Ruin picks up with Feyre back at the Spring Court, outwardly acting like she’s relieved to have been “rescued” from Rhysand and the Night Court. Meanwhile, Feyre is collecting intel on what Hybern is plotting and setting up the Spring Court to collapse around Tamlin. This second part of her plan has unforeseen consequences down the road, however, and I thought it was important to show that Feyre could still make mistakes after becoming the insanely powerful High Lady of the Night Court. As much as I love badass heroines, I also like to see them grounded and not ridiculously perfect. Maas does an excellent job here of keeping Feyre a well-rounded protagonist.

The hell that is war hits hard in A Court of Wings and Ruin, as Prythian braces itself for Hybern’s invasion. The battle isn’t only against an external enemy, either. The Fae High Lords, accustomed to years and years of infighting between the courts, must decide who represents the bigger threat: Hybern, which stands to destroy both Fae and humans alike, or their fellow High Lords. Even if the courts somehow manage to band together, they face a formidable foe, especially with the King of Hybern wielding the crazy powerful Cauldron.

Maas always writes fantastic action scenes, and they’re as pulse-pounding as usual in A Court of Wings and Ruin. She vividly conveys the sheer terror and chaos of battle. I frequently had to avert my gaze from further down the page, especially whenever I reached the end of a chapter, because I feared so damn much for Feyre, Rhys, Cassian, Azriel, Mor, Amren, and even Feyre’s sisters. Awaiting the outcome of each confrontation with Hybern on the battlefield was almost too much to handle. Feyre, Rhys, and their friends are a family, and they’re all prepared to sacrifice themselves if it means saving everyone else.

My only quibble with the book was the same one I had with Empire of Storms: the pacing. Both novels clock in at about 700 pages, and to me, both could have told their stories a bit more succinctly. I’m not sure what the original plan was for the number of books in this series, but A Court of Wings and Ruin tries to both bring this story to a close while also setting up possible plotlines for future books. Sometimes the flow between the two didn’t feel quite seamless, but the ending was very satisfying nonetheless, and I’m curious to see the direction the series heads in from here.

All in All: Taking on a 700-page book is absolutely daunting for me these days, but being back in this world with these beloved characters was like going home to catch up with old friends. A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fans looking to get their fix between books/season should definitely give this series a shot.

ARC Review: Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh

Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1)
By Renée Ahdieh
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Format: eARC
Source: First to Read
Publication Date: May 16, 2017

To Sum It Up: Hattori Mariko has grown up in a privileged world and is about to fulfill her family duty by marrying the son of the emperor. As she and her convoy travel to the imperial city, they are ambushed, leaving Mariko as the lone survivor. She suspects that a band of mercenaries known as the Black Clan is behind the attack, and Mariko sets out to track them and discover who ordered them to kill her. Meanwhile, Mariko’s twin brother Kenshin, a renowned samurai, refuses to believe that his sister is gone and is determined to find her. As Mariko, disguised as a boy, goes on her own dangerous search for answers, she begins to realize that the truth behind the attempt on her life is much more complicated than she first thought.

Review: Having heard so much about Renée Ahdieh’s The Wrath and the Dawn (which, alas, I still have not read), I jumped at the opportunity to read Flame in the Mist. I was even more thrilled to find out that the book is set in feudal Japan and is loosely based on the story of Mulan.

Ahdieh builds the world very well, really making you feel as though you’ve been transported to another time and place. The eARC has a glossary of Japanese words at the end, but I never really felt the need to consult it because the context clues were often enough to glean the meaning of any unfamiliar terms.

Where the book faltered for me, and it always pains me to say this, was with its protagonist. Mariko is the type of heroine who makes a lot of epic statements about how much ass she’s going to kick but doesn’t really follow through. She talks about female empowerment and becoming more than the dutiful daughter marrying to elevate her family’s status, but by the end of the book, I wasn’t quite convinced that Mariko had transformed into the fierce warrior she thought she was. I found her decision-making skills lacking, despite the frequent mentions of her keen mind. I wish that there had been more demonstrations of Mariko’s keen mind to back up the references to it.

I also expected a bit more to the plot than just Mariko’s quest to worm her way into the Black Clan, the group of bandits she believes tried to kill her, in order to learn who hired them. The novel occasionally cuts away to follow Mariko’s twin brother Kenshin, the famed samurai known as the Dragon of Kai, as he searches for his sister. As with Mariko’s arc, there wasn’t a whole lot more to Kenshin’s than finding his sister.

Flame in the Mist features some hints of magic that definitely left me looking for more than hints. What is this magic? How does it work? Why can certain characters wield it? I felt as though the details weren’t all filled in so that readers would be eager to find out more about the magic in the sequel. I needed answers to at least a few questions with this book, though.

Another underwhelming aspect of the novel for me was the romance. Most of the time, I absolutely adore romances that start out rocky but do a slow burn into swoon-ville. I just wasn’t swept away by the love story here; the relationship didn’t develop gradually enough for me. I thought the two characters involved went from loathing to love without much of a transition in between.

Aside from the setting, I couldn’t find a lot to get invested in. Mariko didn’t quite fit my notion of a badass heroine, and the magic wasn’t explained adequately. The next book might provide the details, but I’m not curious enough to read it for that reason alone.

All in All: I loved the setting, but everything else was pretty meh.

Review: Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Facing impossible odds in their battle against Erawen and the Valg, Aelin and her friends set out to rally any allies they can. Along the way, Aelin finds out a devastating truth about her destiny, but she’ll accept whatever cost if it means ridding her world of the Valg and restoring prosperity to her homeland of Terrasen.

Review: Reading a new Throne of Glass novel has truly turned into an epic event, especially considering the increasing page counts. Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen, Heir of Fire, Fireheart (all these titles make me think of another queen from another fantasy series with “throne” in the title) has certainly come a long way from when we first met her as assassin Celaena Sardothien. The series as a whole has come a long way, expanding the world, the story, and the characters with each successive book. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that we’re already five books in.

At this point in the series, I really do think there are quite a few parallels between Throne of Glass and Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, even down to the ice and fire. ToG isn’t only just about Aelin/Celaena anymore, either. Aelin’s companions have steadily moved toward the forefront, often making the more recent books feel like they feature an ensemble cast of characters, again à la GoT/ASoIaF. You always know, however, who indisputably owns ToG; that would be Aelin, of course.

I’m on a roll with the ToG/GoT parallels now, and I might not be able to quit. Like GoT’s fiery dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen, Aelin finds herself fighting to regain her throne. Unfortunately for Aelin, she runs up against some unyielding opposition from the lords of Terrasen. Determined to breathe life back into her kingdom, Aelin resolves to do whatever must be done, emphasis on whatever, to defeat Erawen and the Valg. Denied the backing of Terrasen’s lords, Aelin must look elsewhere for allies, even if a huge question mark hovers around their trustworthiness, and that’s putting it mildly.

Much of Empire of Storms focuses on Aelin and her cohorts attempting to build an army and hunting for a possible way to send the Valg back to the hell they spawned from. While there was no shortage of intense action scenes, the book occasionally felt a tad too much like a buildup to the series finale. Something about the pacing of Empire of Storms just felt slightly off compared to the other installments. I also found myself really wishing that I’d read The Assassin’s Blade before reading this. I wasn’t exactly lost, but I definitely got the impression that familiarity with the novellas provided the optimal Empire of Storms reading experience. And while I’m mentioning the couple of quibbles I ran across, I cannot overlook the complete absence of a certain character. It’s just that I LOVE said character, and to only see a handful of passing references in about 700 pages? Ouch—that hurt.

Overall, though, Empire of Storms commanded every spare second of time I could devote to it. I loved Manon so much in this book; her plotline has become one of my favorites. Maas continues to demonstrate her insanely formidable fantasy writing chops with this novel as well. Reading ToG is such a fully immersive experience thanks to its richly detailed world and equally deep lore. Maas also ups the series’ heat factor. Way up. It’s not quite as steamy as her other 2016 release, A Court of Mist and Fury, but there were still moments when I feared that my copy of Empire of Storms would spontaneously combust.

All I have to say about the ending was that it was crueler than cruel. I have to try not to dwell on it because I only get all upset anew over having to wait for the next book. Delaying reading new releases certainly has the advantage of not having to endure long waits for the sequels, but this is Aelin Galathynius we’re talking about here; she demands that you read her latest adventure immediately!

All in All: As much as I love Aelin and her friends, I think some pages could have been shaved off here. Empire of Storms was still one hell of a read, though, and Sarah J. Maas reigns supreme as the queen of YA fantasy.

ARC Review: Brightwood by Tania Unsworth

Brightwood
By Tania Unsworth
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Format: Print ARC
Source: Publisher
Publication Date: September 27, 2016

To Sum It Up: Daisy Fitzjohn has never ventured outside the grounds of her family’s once stately home, Brightwood Hall. The only other person Daisy has ever known is her mother, who’s still haunted by a family tragedy from her childhood. One day, Daisy’s mother fails to return home from a shopping trip, and Daisy’s fear only heightens when a stranger turns up at Brightwood, with intentions that quickly reveal themselves to be sinister. As Brightwood becomes less and less of the haven it’s always been for Daisy and her mother, Daisy must face the very real possibility of escaping into the unknown world that waits beyond Brightwood’s gates.

Review: I’ve always been fascinated by grand houses, even way before ever watching a single episode of Downton Abbey. They’re even more intriguing when they’re shrouded in mystery, as is the case with the titular Brightwood Hall. Once majestic, Brightwood has fallen into disrepair over the years and now houses only two members of the Fitzjohn family: our protagonist, Daisy, and her mother, Caroline. In the book’s prologue, we learn that Caroline lost her parents and older brother in a tragic accident when she was very young, and when the story resumes in the present, it quickly becomes apparent that adult Caroline has never recovered from the loss.

Despite being a middle grade novel, Brightwood is quite dark in tone. Caroline has never allowed Daisy to set foot outside the gates of Brightwood, and Daisy has never met another human being besides her mother. Caroline has essentially turned Brightwood Hall into an enormous safe house, only leaving for regular supply runs. There’s more than routine behind them, though; Daisy observes that the basement is loaded with more provisions than two people will ever need, and yet her mother continues to buy in bulk. Caroline also has a daily ritual of collecting random objects as mementos of each day and storing them in boxes, and she’s filled the house with years and years’ worth of these Day Boxes.

We already have a heartbreaking story established when it takes an even darker turn. Caroline fails to return home after a trip to the supply store, and suddenly there’s a stranger on Brightwood’s grounds—past the gates. I don’t want to give away too much about this unwelcome individual’s backstory, but he is certainly not a friend. Although this antagonist’s motives and intentions are always transparent, you don’t know what’s going to happen to Daisy, who’s never been left alone for this long and has never experienced the world outside of her home. The suspense is rather intense and gripping, and it’s maintained until almost the end of the novel.

In the meantime, Daisy is without any human help and without any means to contact anyone, Caroline having previously disposed of both their phone and TV. I say “human help” because Brightwood also has fantasy elements to it. Daisy’s friends include a talking rat and a talking horse topiary. The book blurs the line between fantasy and reality very skillfully here; just as you’re kept guessing as to the story’s ultimate resolution, you’re also constantly wondering what’s real and what might be imaginary.

My school aged self definitely would have enjoyed Brightwood as much as my adult self did. The book explores some quite serious themes but without becoming too weighty for younger readers. The suspense build-up was very well done, and Brightwood Hall was a richly drawn setting for this tale.

All in All: Brightwood is simultaneously a thrilling and poignant middle grade novel, with plenty here to appeal to adult readers, too.

Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

Sabriel (The Old Kingdom #1)
By Garth Nix
Publisher: Harper
Format: Paperback
Source: Gift from Micheline of Lunar Rainbows Reviews ♥

To Sum It Up: As both the daughter of a necromancer and a necromancer herself, Sabriel has had a rather unconventional upbringing. Now eighteen, she’s still not quite prepared to assume her father’s title as the Abhorsen, but Sabriel has little choice when her father disappears and is believed to be in very great danger. To find him, Sabriel must journey into the unknown of the Old Kingdom, where all sorts of evil beings created by Free Magic await. Sabriel fears that these creatures are responsible for whatever has befallen her father, but she’s determined to find him.

Review: Sabriel is one of those books that lingered on my TBR for who knows how long and now that I’ve finally moved it to my Read shelf, I have to wonder why I didn’t pick it up sooner.

I admit to finding the world a tad confusing at first. Sabriel’s quest to find her missing father, Abhorsen, begins in Ancelstierre, where our protagonist has spent most of her life. I think I’d expected more of a medieval setting for some reason, but Ancelstierre seemed rather modern. This wasn’t an issue, but it did take me a bit to get a grip on the magic system. Sabriel practices Charter Magic as opposed to Free Magic, which, as its name seems to imply, isn’t bound by rules. On the other side of the Wall that separates Ancelstierre from the Old Kingdom (I couldn’t help thinking of the Wall from A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones here, LOL), Free Magic has been used to raise the Dead, and they take all sorts of grotesque forms. While the differences between the two types of magic become evident, I still thought a little more explanation would have been helpful here.

My tiny hiccup with the world-building aside, this was a tautly paced, wonderfully written novel. I loved the imagery that Garth Nix’s prose evoked, even when said imagery scared the hell out of me. Necromancy plays a huge part in the novel, and Nix totally delivers with the thrills and chills. The Dead seemed all too real, and every time they got too close to Sabriel and her companions, my heart skipped a few beats on their behalf.

Despite Sabriel being eighteen, the novel feels like a coming-of-age story in a way. Sabriel is a skilled necromancer (a good necromancer, one who puts spirits to rest, not one who raises them for an army of the undead), but there’s still so much she doesn’t know. All these years, she believed her father’s name was Abhorsen, and now she learns that he is the Abhorsen, a title that Sabriel must now take on, along with all of its burdens. Sabriel is more than equipped for the responsibility, though; she’s such a steady character, resourceful when questing solo but also willing to accept help when it’s offered. And help in locating her father does arrive in the forms of a sassy cat and a young man awakened after being suspended in time for 200 years.

Mogget is a talking cat with snark to spare. His biting commentary provides some of the book’s most humorous moments. Don’t assume that Mogget is merely the comic relief, though; there’s much more to this feline, I promise. As for Touchstone, the third member of Sabriel’s group, my heart went out to him for losing about 200 years of his life because of some extremely powerful magic. What he hasn’t lost, however, is his guilt over an event in the past that continues to reverberate throughout the present-day Old Kingdom. Although Touchstone struggles to avoid dwelling on the past, he also realizes the urgency to Sabriel’s mission. As much as I still would have enjoyed this book even if Sabriel had continued journeying alone, the addition of her two very intriguing companions was most definitely welcome.

I ended up becoming so engrossed in Sabriel’s tale that the ending arrived all too soon. Seriously—I wasn’t yet ready to say goodbye to this brave young woman who owned everything that life and death threw at her. I’ll certainly be visiting the Old Kingdom again and look forward to discovering more of its secrets.

All in All: A good necromancer? Yes! Sabriel is quite a unique fantasy anchored by a very grounded heroine with formidable inner strength and magical talent. Definitely recommended for fantasy fans.

Review: Night Study by Maria V. Snyder

* This review may contain spoilers for the previous book, Shadow Study.

Night Study (Soulfinders #2)
By Maria V. Snyder
Publisher: Mira
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Yelena and Valek find themselves in danger once again, and this time, not even their combined formidable escape skills may save them. Yelena is still without her magic and the target of assassins. Valek, meanwhile, is no longer certain of his once unwavering loyalty to the Commander of Ixia, and the Commander is no longer sure that he can completely trust Valek. As Ixia and Sitia edge closer to conflict, Yelena, Valek, and their family and friends race to thwart it, but their numerous enemies always seem to be a step ahead of them.

Review: Night Study is the second book in Maria V. Snyder’s new series featuring Yelena, Valek, and all the gang from her original Study series plus characters from her spin-off Glass series. So this is technically the eighth book set in this world that I’ve read, and it’s always a bit of a homecoming to return to it.

Yelena and Valek are one of my favorite fictional couples; their slow burning romance way back in Poison Study was just perfect. I can’t begin to quantify how much sentimental value this series holds for me thanks to these two and their close-knit circle of family and friends. In all seriousness, I’d read books about Yelena and Valek in their old age; they’d probably eschew retirement and still be running about Ixia and Sitia trying to save everyone.

As much as I love these characters, though, there were a few things about Night Study that I couldn’t quite look the other way on. The first was the book’s pacing; it took me almost two weeks to read this. While there was no shortage of action scenes, which Snyder has always written well and continues to do so, the story itself just felt slow moving in places. Valek goes off on a solo mission that for the most part seems better suited for a standalone short story. Although an interesting twist awaits at the conclusion of his mission, the path to it is somewhat circuitous.

While I liked the addition of Valek and Janco’s POVs in the previous novel, Shadow Study, the multiple POVs, which also include Yelena’s brother, Leif, didn’t work quite as well for me this time around. You will never hear me complain about reading from Valek’s perspective. Ever. And that’s not to imply that I’m going to complain about Janco and Leif’s chapters. Maybe it’s because every POV except Yelena’s is written in the third person, but Janco and Leif’s narrative voices don’t always come across as distinct from one another.

So on to what was awesome about Night Study. I liked seeing Valek conflicted over his loyalties. He’s been the Commander’s right hand man for years, but Night Study sees their relationship grow increasingly strained. The Commander is wary of Yelena, with her ties to magic and to Sitia, where magic isn’t banned as it is in Ixia, which also drives a wedge between Valek and the Commander. Valek would do anything for Yelena, his heart mate, even defy the Commander. Watching Valek have to make a difficult choice made for a very compelling plotline.

We also get the usual witty observations from Janco, a narrow escape or two or three, and a development that’s sure to elate longtime fans of the series. I know I almost melted. While this wasn’t my favorite installment in the chronicles of Yelena, Valek, and co., I’m still very much invested in their next set of adventures.

All in All: I found the pace at which Night Study moved on the sluggish side at times and would be OK with fewer POVs, but the swoony Yelena and Valek moments and a big revelation definitely helped balance things out.

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2)
By Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Feyre freed Prythian from Amarantha’s brutal rule, but she’s haunted by all that happened Under the Mountain. As Feyre struggles to move forward with her now immortal life, a new threat to both Prythian and the mortal world is building. Feyre also knows that any day, she will have to uphold her side of the bargain she made with the High Lord Rhysand, a deal that demands her presence at his dreaded Night Court.

Review: Another Sarah J. Maas book read, another lingering feeling that I’ve just been steamrolled. What. The hell. Just happened?!

I didn’t realize what a hulk of a book A Court of Mist and Fury was until I opened up the box. Maas gets down to business straightaway: although Feyre liberated Prythian from Amarantha’s reign of terror, she has constant nightmares about her time Under the Mountain. It’s not long before things unravel, and Feyre starts down a long, painful path to healing. At first I was a bit jarred by the shift in Feyre’s circumstances; I think because it brought back memories of a certain . . . something in Maas’s Queen of Shadows. I also just have trouble adapting to change in general, even outside of books, but A Court of Mist and Fury gave me over five hundred pages to adjust, and I’m OK now. In fact, I’m perfectly fine with the direction the story went in, and I admire Maas for going with it. Oh, and I know I’m being kind of cryptic, but I’m afraid of spoiling anything. This particular aspect of Feyre’s journey in this book absolutely needs to be experienced for yourself.

So what can I go into detail about? Ah—the world-building! Just as she’s done with Throne of Glass, Maas takes us beyond the world of the previous book, and it’s an amazing tour. Oh, some places are totally terrifying, but you’re thrilled to go there anyway! Feyre’s bargain with Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court, in A Court of Thorns and Roses promised that we’d get to see said court in the sequel, and damn does Maas do a knockout job of bringing that court to life. The Night Court was NOT what I expected, but then maybe I should have expected being surprised because Maas is such a genius. All I can say is: I want to run away to the Night Court, okay?

The character depth in this book . . . defies adjectives. Rhys’s development is superb, and I’ll leave it at that because again, that’s something you’ll want to read for yourself. A Court of Mist and Fury also introduces Rhys’s Inner Circle: Mor, Cassian, Azriel, and Amren. Be prepared to love them all.

If Prythian thought it was going to get a little breather with Amarantha’s downfall, its powers of clairvoyance need some work. A new, horrible threat is on the horizon, and as much as it chills your mortal bones, it’s also thrilling to watch Feyre, with the help of some new allies, rise up to meet the approaching danger. There are also the usual court politics and betrayals, which add to an already tense atmosphere that explodes in the book’s final pages. Armor your heart now.

One final note: this book SERIOUSLY needs to come with a warning label strongly advising not to read it without the air conditioner or a fan cranked way, way up because of the heat factor. There WILL be smoldering! Five scorching, white-hot stars for the romance alone!

All in All: Yet another tour de force for SJM! Feyre’s growth is spectacular, the expansion of the world-building is spectacular, and Rhys is spectacular. If only I could will book three into existence this very second; the wait for it is going to be nothing but C-R-U-E-L.

Review: Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1)
By Susan Dennard
Publisher: Tor Teen
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

To Sum It Up: Safiya and Iseult’s friendship can withstand anything, including life on the run when the ladies find themselves pursued by multiple parties. Safi’s Truthwitch magic, unknown to most, makes her the perfect political asset in a world that’s about to reach the end of a twenty year truce between empires. Prince Merik Nihar knows all too well the destruction of war, and his efforts to restore vitality to his ravaged homeland put him directly in Safi and Iseult’s path. Although they’re fiercely independent and used to relying only on each other, this time Safi and Iseult may need the outside help, as their current predicament is far from being one of their typical brushes with danger.

Review: With the massive marketing campaign that preceded its release, it was nearly impossible not to have heard about Truthwitch. What really sold me on needing to read this book, though, was its being compared to Avatar: The Last Airbender. You had me at Avatar: The Last Airbender because I. Love. That. Show. So the expectations were high for this one, and try as I did to keep them within reason, I think it’s always a bit of a challenge to not anticipate perfection or something very close to it from ultra hyped books.

Truthwitch wastes no time cutting straight to the action. Best friends Safiya and Iseult become wanted young women almost immediately after we meet them when their little attempt to recoup some gambling losses goes awry. This puts a mercenary monk named Aeduan hot on their trail with Javert-like doggedness, a chase that persists for the rest of the novel but for motives that shift over the course of the book.

While I loved the whirlwind pace of Truthwitch and the relentless action, I also found myself wishing for more exposition. Other readers have mentioned that the world-building was a bit lacking for them, and I’m afraid I agree. This world is busy, with quite a lot to absorb from the get-go regarding elemental magic and the politics of the Witchlands. I struggled to add everything up and often felt like I had plenty of puzzle pieces to work with but no matter how I arranged them, I couldn’t assemble a full picture.

As with Rebel of the Sands, I also wondered about the overall story arc for Truthwitch. The twenty year truce between the empires of the Witchlands is about to end, and war could be on the horizon. The potential for conflict eventually gathers steam, but for most of the book, it takes a backseat to Safi and Iseult’s adventures. Truthwitch is very much Safi and Iseult’s show, not that this is entirely a bad thing, but every time the pair wound up in a new predicament, I couldn’t help thinking, but where is this going? How does this latest narrow escape figure into the broader story?

My difficulties fully grasping the world aside, there was still much to enjoy about Truthwitch. Safi and Iseult’s friendship is by far the book’s highlight. These two share an utterly unbreakable bond; there’s absolutely nothing one wouldn’t do for the other. Readers whose hearts melted over the epic brotherhood between Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs in The Infernal Devices should be very happy here.

Truthwitch also boasts some witty dialogue exchanges, particularly those between Safi and Prince Merik, a Windwitch with a temper that ignites as easily as Safi’s does. They bait each other frequently, usually to hilarious effect. Merik’s aunt, Evrane, a Carawen monk like Aeduan but unlike Aeduan, not a threat to Safi and Iseult, was one of my favorite characters. Evrane is as badass a fighter as Safi and Iseult, and her relationship with her nephew kind of reminded me of Uncle Iroh and Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aha—I’ve made my AtLA connection!

The characters are what made this book for me, and I definitely have enough investment in them to continue with the series. I do hope, though, that the sequel provides some more backstory to the world, especially the inner workings of the magic. If that happens, this will be a knockout of a series.

All in All: While Truthwitch was a solid read overall thanks to the wonderful friendship, the strong female characters, and the clever banter, the world-building left me with more than a few unanswered questions. This may not be a big deal for some readers; I just happen to like my fantasy reads highly detailed, and this one was a tad light with the explanations in my opinion.

ARC Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1)
By Alwyn Hamilton
Publisher: Viking
Format: Print ARC
Source: YALLFest
Publication Date: March 8, 2016

To Sum It Up: Amani dreams of a life far away from her home in Dustwalk and hopes that her sharpshooting skills will help her obtain the money she needs to escape. Her plans get set into motion with some unexpected assistance from a mysterious stranger named Jin, with whom Amani finds herself fleeing across the desert from the authorities. The pair must not only evade their pursuers but also the dangerous otherworldly beings that dwell in the sands. While Amani doesn’t entirely trust her new companion, she also isn’t sure she wants to strike out on her own, either.

Review: This is one of those instances where I’m going to need to talk through what did and didn’t work for me about a book because I’m really torn over what to rate Rebel of the Sands. Overall it’s a solid debut novel, but there were also a few key things that I thought could have used some fine tuning, like the pacing. One rating seems like it gives too much weight to these items, while another feels like it doesn’t take them into consideration enough. So let’s see if we can sort this out.

Rebel of the Sands can best be described as a Western set in the Middle East. Our heroine, Amani, is a feisty gunslinger who’s banking on her sharpshooting prowess to get her the hell out of dead end Dustwalk. Although it took a while for me to buy into the world, I give Alwyn Hamilton a lot of credit for coming up with an intriguing mash-up that also tosses supernatural elements into the mix. In this world, beings such as djinni, ghouls, and skinwalkers are not just myths. Again, I did think that it took some time for the separate components of the world to cohere. By the end of the novel, everything had meshed together nicely, but I can’t help wondering what the effect would have been if this had happened earlier on.

My primary issue with this book boils down to the difference in pacing between the first half of Rebel of the Sands and the second. When we first meet Amani, her sole focus is on putting as much distance as possible between her and Dustwalk. Once she leaves the town behind, though, the plot wanders for a while until the “rebel” part of the title fully moves to the forefront of the story. Yet even as I found myself asking what was next for Amani beyond Dustwalk and waiting for something big to happen, I didn’t lose my investment in the book because the prose is engaging throughout. The plot definitely picks up again when Amani and her traveling companion, Jin, meet up with a set of lively characters and the fantasy aspects are much more tightly integrated into the story.

I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the development of the romance in the book. While there’s undeniably chemistry between the two characters involved, the relationship proceeds to the romance stage a bit fast. But then I love a good slow burn, so perhaps my bias is showing here.

Although I thought the first half of Rebel of the Sands felt a little light on plot, at no point did I want to put the book aside because the writing kept me turning the pages. I really enjoyed the second part of the novel, when the world and the fantasy clicked into place for me. If the series carries this momentum forward, it’s going to be a good one.

All in All: This is worth a read if you’re looking for a fresh spin on fantasy, though you may need to be a bit patient with it waiting for the world to gel and the pacing to gain its footing. But the second half of the book really soars and demonstrates the series’s strong potential.

Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)
By Sabaa Tahir
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library

To Sum It Up: Laia and her family are Scholars, a class brutally oppressed by the ruling Empire. When Laia’s brother is accused of being a rebel and imprisoned, Laia undertakes a dangerous mission to free him. The Resistance movement tentatively agrees to help her, but only if she infiltrates the walls of the infamous Blackcliff Military Academy, which trains the Empire’s future soldiers. Top student Elias Veturius is on the verge of graduating—with his loyalty to the Empire in question. But fate has other plans for Elias, and his service to the Empire may have only just begun.

Review: An Ember in the Ashes was one of the most hyped books of 2015, and for that reason alone, it secured a spot on my TBR. I’d also seen it compared quite a few times to A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, so I absolutely needed to check it out. I came this close to buying a copy; I actually held the book in my hands at Barnes & Noble but put it back in the end because it just wasn’t in the budget. Well, I’m glad that I opted to borrow this from the library instead because hardly anything about the novel, including the characters, the pacing, the world-building, and the romance, worked for me. Now, this book has received A LOT of love from other readers; I'm sorry to say that I'm not among them.

The comparisons to Game of Thrones led me to expect an epic fantasy here, but the fantasy elements were minimal, in my opinion. Jinn, efrits, and wraiths were occasionally thrown in, but the brutal, oppressive rule of the Empire gave An Ember in the Ashes a very dystopian feel. It reminded me more of Divergent, The Hunger Games, Legend, and Red Rising, the latter especially. As with Red Rising, I considered quitting An Ember in the Ashes after about 100 pages, but I’d already invested so much time in the book that I figured I might as well just tough it out till the end.

I had no problem whatsoever with this turning out to be more of a dystopia than fantasy, but the world-building was just lacking, regardless of the genre. Other than the abundantly clear picture of the Empire’s totalitarianism, this world didn’t make much sense to me. Blackcliff Military Academy, the elite school that churns out the Empire’s finest soldiers, is all-male except for one female student because that’s the policy. A new Emperor must be chosen through a contest to the death because a bunch of seers called Augurs say so. I needed further explanations for a lot of things, but I just didn’t get them.

Alternating POVs from the two main characters, Laia and Elias, are employed in the novel, but there’s little distinction between their narrative voices. Neither was an especially compelling protagonist, although if I had to pick between them, I’d go with Elias, whose arc had slightly better pacing. Laia’s storyline dragged, and I had issues with her character from the start. When Empire troops turn up at the home she shares with her grandparents and brother, Darin, to arrest Darin for rebellious activities, Laia has to choose between helping him and running. Darin tells her to run, and she does, and then she spends the next 400 pages regretting the decision. Okay, Darin did urge his sister to flee, but the way that the scene unfolded didn’t effectively convey the urgency of fight-or-flight to me. I think what gnawed at me was how Laia kept going on and on and on about how much she loved Darin and how she would do anything to bust him out of prison, but she didn’t make a stand when an opportunity literally stood right in front of her.

I also couldn’t suspend enough disbelief over how quickly and easily Laia ran into the rebel group that she hoped would help rescue Darin, the group that her parents used to lead. Laia approaches the Resistance with a rather large sense of entitlement because 1) rebels ratted Darin out to the Empire, so the Resistance now owes her, and 2) her parents were the greatest Resistance leaders ever, without question. But Laia is not quite so cut out for the family business of undermining the Empire, and she gets in way, way over her head when she agrees to spy on Blackcliff’s Commandant in return for the Resistance freeing Darin. Laia’s naïveté, coupled with some poor decision making, made her chapters really tough for me to get through.

I fared a little better with Elias’s POV, primarily because he winds up entangled in a Hunger Games-esque contest that will determine which Blackcliff student becomes the next Emperor. Even with the trope, at least the scenes with the Trials move at a solid pace, unlike the majority of the book. Both Elias and Laia are very, very chatty with their internal thoughts, which adds up to a lot of telling over showing.

The novel’s romance frustrated me most of all. Laia insta-falls for Keenan, a member of the Resistance. Elias sort of has feelings for his best friend, Helene, Blackcliff’s sole female student. But whenever Laia and Elias clap eyes on each other, it’s like, Keenan and Helene who? Put Laia and Elias back with their original love interests, though, and they return to their original feelings for them. Meanwhile, there’s barely any chemistry between any of these characters! I could somewhat buy into Elias and Helene’s friendship; I even thought that Helene might have made a more interesting female protagonist than Laia. As for the other pairings, there was zero build-up to the intense emotions that everyone suddenly felt for each other.

I really, really wanted to love An Ember in the Ashes like just about everyone in the universe did, but sadly, we were not compatible with each other at all. But, just as there’s another book out there that’s perfect for me, this book may perfectly suit another reader.

All in All: Fans of Red Rising may want to check this out. Unfortunately, An Ember in the Ashes came up short for me as both a fantasy and a dystopia, and I’m okay with not knowing what happens in the rest of the series.