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lezreadalot's review against another edition
2.0
I should have DNFed this. I kept going because I liked the start and it showed promise and this author wrote one of my favourite series from last year. But this is one of her backlist titles, and it sadly missed the mark by a mile for me. I'll try to keep this short.
- My biggest problem was the worldbuilding. It was... non-existent. In that, there was really little build-up to anything. Most of the time, we'd only become aware of a detail or plot-point at the very MOMENT it became relevant. An early example is the fact that we were never told about Aysha's mother's past until they decided to leave for Tiersten. It's a place that her mother supposedly told her stories about all the time as a child; the idea of it could have been seeded from early. There are so many instances of things like this throughout the book, where I had to pause and wonder, 'why is the reader only JUST being made aware of this?' It wasn't great storytelling.
- The writing was spare, which can be a good thing, but here... oof. I don't need flowery descriptions, but there was just... nothing. At times I felt like I was reading a bulletin board. And the writing just had no... weight, if that makes any sense. A scene of a character getting stabbed, a scene of a kiss, a scene of riding a boat through a storm... they all felt exactly the same. I didn't connect with or feel anything for these characters, and that's down to the writing.
- The plot was convoluted but also way too convenient in every way, and I just found myself being super bored. The romance was cute and had promise, but overall moved too quickly, and none of their conflict was compelling to me.
I think this had a great start; those first few chapters were my favourite. Darin was great; I really love reading about gender non-conforming women in fantasy/historical settings, so that was a delight. This is one of the only books where I didn't get annoyed at having a third POV in a romance. Aysha's brother Ranik has almost as equal amount of scenes and romantic intrigues of his own. I didn't find his plotline super interesting, but well, at least it wasn't any worse than the main story. I don't know! I just didn't click with this at all and I'm sad! I will most definitely read from Clevenger again; I can't overstate how charming and sweet I found her Paradise series! I'll just... make sure to stick to her newer stuff. Or maybe it's her fantasy I don't gel with, IDK.
Content warnings:.
- My biggest problem was the worldbuilding. It was... non-existent. In that, there was really little build-up to anything. Most of the time, we'd only become aware of a detail or plot-point at the very MOMENT it became relevant. An early example is the fact that we were never told about Aysha's mother's past until they decided to leave for Tiersten. It's a place that her mother supposedly told her stories about all the time as a child; the idea of it could have been seeded from early. There are so many instances of things like this throughout the book, where I had to pause and wonder, 'why is the reader only JUST being made aware of this?' It wasn't great storytelling.
- The writing was spare, which can be a good thing, but here... oof. I don't need flowery descriptions, but there was just... nothing. At times I felt like I was reading a bulletin board. And the writing just had no... weight, if that makes any sense. A scene of a character getting stabbed, a scene of a kiss, a scene of riding a boat through a storm... they all felt exactly the same. I didn't connect with or feel anything for these characters, and that's down to the writing.
- The plot was convoluted but also way too convenient in every way, and I just found myself being super bored. The romance was cute and had promise, but overall moved too quickly, and none of their conflict was compelling to me.
I think this had a great start; those first few chapters were my favourite. Darin was great; I really love reading about gender non-conforming women in fantasy/historical settings, so that was a delight. This is one of the only books where I didn't get annoyed at having a third POV in a romance. Aysha's brother Ranik has almost as equal amount of scenes and romantic intrigues of his own. I didn't find his plotline super interesting, but well, at least it wasn't any worse than the main story. I don't know! I just didn't click with this at all and I'm sad! I will most definitely read from Clevenger again; I can't overstate how charming and sweet I found her Paradise series! I'll just... make sure to stick to her newer stuff. Or maybe it's her fantasy I don't gel with, IDK.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
on god i just finished this book but most of the details have already flown out me head. but from what i remember... miscarriage, infidelity, deathsynth's review
1.0
- tries to be complex, only succeeds in being convoluted but simplistic
- at no point in time do the main characters convince me they're in love, nor does their love truly makes sense, as one is emotionally constipated and a murderer, and the other is dangerously stubborn and mercurial, all for drama's sake. At least, it tried to portray a somewhat healthy relationship, which I appreciated, even if it fails in that it just feels unnecessarily dramatic and unrealistically resolved most of the time
- the magic kinda makes sense, but people's refusal to learn to heed forecasts and more-than-natural inklings and feelings is very frustrating
- at no point in time do the main characters convince me they're in love, nor does their love truly makes sense, as one is emotionally constipated and a murderer, and the other is dangerously stubborn and mercurial, all for drama's sake. At least, it tried to portray a somewhat healthy relationship, which I appreciated, even if it fails in that it just feels unnecessarily dramatic and unrealistically resolved most of the time
- the magic kinda makes sense, but people's refusal to learn to heed forecasts and more-than-natural inklings and feelings is very frustrating
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