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foiblesandfiction's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.0
thank you to the publisher for a review copy.
this story was a bit of a fever dream. maybe i'm missing information because it's a novella that should have been a novel. or maybe there's necessary information to be found in the rest of the series even though this book should be able to be read as a standalone. nevertheless, i'm not really sure what i just read.
the general premise was interesting: a female academic main character (which i always love) and new-to-me magical system with gems. also themes of colonization and it's appropriation of culture and history.
but it was all rather abrupt, nonlinear. i don't know where we ended up or even really how we got there. though, it was a fun journey and i'd be willing to try another book in this series to see if the pieces come together a bit more.
this story was a bit of a fever dream. maybe i'm missing information because it's a novella that should have been a novel. or maybe there's necessary information to be found in the rest of the series even though this book should be able to be read as a standalone. nevertheless, i'm not really sure what i just read.
the general premise was interesting: a female academic main character (which i always love) and new-to-me magical system with gems. also themes of colonization and it's appropriation of culture and history.
but it was all rather abrupt, nonlinear. i don't know where we ended up or even really how we got there. though, it was a fun journey and i'd be willing to try another book in this series to see if the pieces come together a bit more.
neurosmorgasbord's review
3.0
Was intrigued by the premise and I appreciated the worldbuilding. The atmosphere at times sucks you in, but the prose and the pacing often felt choppy and repetitive. Didn't love it but I can see the potential.
rara2018's review
2.0
I really need to quit trying to read this series. There has yet to be a single one I truly enjoyed. Luckily, they’re short so it’s not too much of a burden, but still they are just not for me in the slightest. This one was generally boring and soooo frustrating especially with Dev’s complete refusal to believe a main plot point that was made immediately obvious the first time it appeared. As always, the characters made zero impact on me and you could’ve literally swapped them out with potatoes and it would have read the same in terms of emotional complexity. The gems are still a cool concept in theory, but I have yet to see it play out in a truly interesting fashion.
harborwriter's review
A novella that achieves world building in a small space, with a very cool science/magic system I would have liked to see explored in more depth.
I read this novella with the understanding that it could stand alone, and fortunately that is the case--although I do feel that I would have understood the last third of it better with more context, which presumably exists in the first books.
I read this novella with the understanding that it could stand alone, and fortunately that is the case--although I do feel that I would have understood the last third of it better with more context, which presumably exists in the first books.
ddmgembala's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
foolishyetdangerousbooks's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
zana_reads_arcs's review
2.0
Novellas have started to grow on me so I requested this arc thinking that it'd be a great read, filled with worldbuilding and lore. While the storytelling itself was fine, ultimately, the whole thing fell short for me.
First of all, I wasn't sure which audience this novella was targeting. The synopsis didn't sound YA at all, but the writing style was very YA. Which isn't a bad thing if that was what you were looking for. I was expecting something more mature, but I got used to it eventually.
Secondly, the second half of the novella felt very rushed. I liked the slower worldbuilding in the first part, where we see Dev, the MC, go to the valley and get acquainted with the secondary characters, such as the innkeeper, Lurai, her grandmother, the dig master, and the other two Society archaeologists.
But after that, everything happened so quickly. Without saying any spoilers, what happened to Lurai wasn't explained well. She had a chatty, bubbly personality and then something huge happened to her (which was explained well enough), but the symptoms were all over the place. She could physically move but she couldn't speak? And sometimes it seemed like she was frozen and couldn't move at all, but suddenly she'd reach out and grab something. It made no sense.
And lastly, the POV changes. The first half clearly delineated between Dev's POV and Lurai's POV. Then after the midpoint, when both characters were together, the POVs became so muddled that I wasn't sure whose perspective I was reading. One paragraph would clearly be Dev's thoughts and actions, and the next paragraph would be Lurai's thoughts, and then it'd switch back to Dev. But the POV switches happened so abruptly that it was a jumbled mess to try to understand whose thoughts belonged to whom and which character was performing which action.
If the second half of the novella hadn't been such a mess, I would've loved to pick up the first two novellas in the series.
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this arc.
First of all, I wasn't sure which audience this novella was targeting. The synopsis didn't sound YA at all, but the writing style was very YA. Which isn't a bad thing if that was what you were looking for. I was expecting something more mature, but I got used to it eventually.
Secondly, the second half of the novella felt very rushed. I liked the slower worldbuilding in the first part, where we see Dev, the MC, go to the valley and get acquainted with the secondary characters, such as the innkeeper, Lurai, her grandmother, the dig master, and the other two Society archaeologists.
But after that, everything happened so quickly. Without saying any spoilers, what happened to Lurai wasn't explained well. She had a chatty, bubbly personality and then something huge happened to her (which was explained well enough), but the symptoms were all over the place. She could physically move but she couldn't speak? And sometimes it seemed like she was frozen and couldn't move at all, but suddenly she'd reach out and grab something. It made no sense.
And lastly, the POV changes. The first half clearly delineated between Dev's POV and Lurai's POV. Then after the midpoint, when both characters were together, the POVs became so muddled that I wasn't sure whose perspective I was reading. One paragraph would clearly be Dev's thoughts and actions, and the next paragraph would be Lurai's thoughts, and then it'd switch back to Dev. But the POV switches happened so abruptly that it was a jumbled mess to try to understand whose thoughts belonged to whom and which character was performing which action.
If the second half of the novella hadn't been such a mess, I would've loved to pick up the first two novellas in the series.
Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for this arc.
mayakittenreads's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
valhecka's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
satisfying