Reviews with content warning for Murder - Dustborn

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

howlinglibraries's review

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Considering how much I've loved most of the other Erin Bowman books I've read and how incredible the premise of this book is, I had very high hopes that Dustborn would be a new favorite; unfortunately, though, it fell short for me in a lot of ways. Despite a lot happening in the first half of the book, it dragged by, and the second half, while being substantially more action-packed, was still hard to connect with.

Delta's a protagonist who should have worked well for me in theory (she's grouchy, pragmatic, and yet her maternal urges are overwhelming - all of these are typically ingredients for a main character I can root for), but somehow, I never was able to emotionally invest in her, and I think part of that may be due to this being a stand-alone.

While I love an SFF stand-alone as much as the next person does on occasion, this is a story that I personally feel would have lived up to its potential so much more if it'd been further embellished upon and split into a duology. I would've had a chance to grow to genuinely love these characters, and so the stakes would have felt higher, but as it was, none of the risky moments of action ever struck a chord because I simply didn't care what happened to anyone (other than Bay and Rune - and frankly, I could knock off an entire star just for how furious I was over that scene with Rune).

The romance was lackluster, the twist was very interesting (and surprising) but ultimately not enough to save the story leading up to that point, and the ending felt anti-climactic and strange. Again, I sound like a broken record here but I truly believe that splitting this book into two installments would have gone a long way to allow it to live up to the tremendous amount of potential the synopsis held.

I'm excited to read more from Erin Bowman because I know what she's capable of, but Dustborn was disappointing and unmemorable, and I strongly recommend that people who are new to Erin's work start with Contagion or Vengeance Road instead.

✨ Representation: BIPOC side characters; queer side characters; multiple side characters have disabilities (including missing eyes and prosthetic limbs); the main character and love interest are heavily scarred

Content Warnings

rosenectur's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

First of all, I have to thank Lauren of Always Me, Never Anyone Else blog for the book, which I won through a contest on her site. The contest winner got to pick one of the books from this post: Sci-Fi Month 2021 – Top Ten Tuesday: Sci-Fi Hidden Gems and I picked Dustborn.

This book is ALL ABOUT THE SETTING! Yes, the characters are good. Yes, the plot is fast paced. Yes, the in-world mythology is interesting. Yes, you’ll want to punch the villain. But none of it works without the setting.

Dustborn is set on a harsh world that has experienced extreme desertification. Oceans, rivers and lakes have dried up or acidified and become undrinkable. Humanity is living on the brink in small groups called “packs”, or in one of two know cities. Roaming raiders are a constant threat.

Bowman does a really good job of dropping you into this world. You can almost feel the heat and dust and grit, and I was so glad not to actually be there. I’m not kidding there are parts of this book that will literally make you thirsty, so keep your water bottle close.

Harsh worlds often produce great characters and Delta is one of them. Her grit and determination, combined with her love of family make her a character you root for. Although, this being a young adult/coming-of-age she does make some questionable choices (because she’s a teenager, and that’s what teenagers do.) I know this turns off some readers, but I found even after those moments of rash or not-thought through choices Delta redeemed herself.

I also enjoyed that Delta was a strong female character who didn’t need male characters to prop her up or propel her forward.

The two main male characters Asher and Rook are both complex well fleshed out characters. Their backstories make the book so much more interesting and I was thankful for the multi-dimensional characters.

The story builds to a very interesting reveal. I don’t want to say anything more that it was good and not what I had expected and again it made the setting stand out that much more.

Bottom Line:

If you are like me and enjoy good world building and fast paced stories then pick up Dustborn right away. It was fantastic.

Content Warnings