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stephaniemcuervo's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Infertility and Vomit
steffiraquel's review against another edition
3.0
She reminds me of me when I was a teenager
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Torture, Bullying, and Suicide
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Eh...this was okay. Set in a world where magic is forbidden, Josslyn accidently comes in direct contact with magic when she stumbles upon a robbery. In order to get rid of the magic and back to her somewhat normal life, she has to trust the man who took part in the robbery, Jericho. They make a deal, but as Josslyn learns more about magic and her past, the more she realizes she's missing a lot of the story.
One of my first issues with this was the world building. It's like a modern world, but it didn't feel like one? Like, I would be vibing with the magical system and the class system, but then random technology would be thrown in, like phones. While yes, a good majority of the novel takes place in an area without electricity (which is a whole other thing), I just felt the world building itself was inconsistent and hard to get a handle on. Which make it difficult for me to get fully immersed in the story itself.
This also makes use of a lot of typical YA fantasy tropes, and doesn't really turn much on its head. Do I read more than the average person? Yes. So, that might partly contribute to it. But I wanted Rhodes to do something different with our expectations, and I just didn't find that she did. This is the first in a series, so there might be hope for future books. But I didn't find that I was invested enough to find out.
Finally, the characters. Josslyn was...fine. Jericho was fine. Most of the characters were just fine. Most of them fell flat to me, and I just wanted a bit more of a spark. Something that took them out of the general fantasy tropes they were fufilling. Something that made them leap off the page. Just something more overall!
Overall, if you don't mind YA fantasy where you don't really have to think a lot, you'd probably enjoy this book. But it was a bit of a miss for me.
One of my first issues with this was the world building. It's like a modern world, but it didn't feel like one? Like, I would be vibing with the magical system and the class system, but then random technology would be thrown in, like phones. While yes, a good majority of the novel takes place in an area without electricity (which is a whole other thing), I just felt the world building itself was inconsistent and hard to get a handle on. Which make it difficult for me to get fully immersed in the story itself.
This also makes use of a lot of typical YA fantasy tropes, and doesn't really turn much on its head. Do I read more than the average person? Yes. So, that might partly contribute to it. But I wanted Rhodes to do something different with our expectations, and I just didn't find that she did. This is the first in a series, so there might be hope for future books. But I didn't find that I was invested enough to find out.
Finally, the characters. Josslyn was...fine. Jericho was fine. Most of the characters were just fine. Most of them fell flat to me, and I just wanted a bit more of a spark. Something that took them out of the general fantasy tropes they were fufilling. Something that made them leap off the page. Just something more overall!
Overall, if you don't mind YA fantasy where you don't really have to think a lot, you'd probably enjoy this book. But it was a bit of a miss for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Torture, Violence, and Alcoholism
Minor: Bullying, Grief, and Kidnapping
scribbledpizza's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I meant to write this review this morning but I was actually productive with back to school prep today which means by now I have even less to say about this book. It was fine, the writing and dialogue were kind of stiff/slightly off in a way that made me notice the mechanics more than I like to and also question myself like what is even a good sentence anyway and why do I think there's something wrong with this one? Am I getting snobby? I don't know. The plot and characters were fine but nothing special, the romance was kinda fast but it went through the motions satisfactorily, and I get to the end and...is this a series? Those are my feelings but also it was a quick read and I liked the tropes it gave me so I don't regret reading it either and I might even continue the series if it is one. I think I liked it more than I'm letting on. Just not mind-blowing. Oh also the mystery was predictable but still produced some good moments imo.
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief
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