Reviews

the plot was really slow, and things don’t really pick up until halfway through. i didn’t mind it as much. each of the siblings were really fleshed out, similar in some personality traits, but different enough that they felt like individuals and not one person multiplied by four. my favorite was kaleb, especially with his mixed identity that i could relate to.

the sibling dynamics were truly everything.

jellybeanie's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

tiareleine's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

gigireadswithkiki's review

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adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I'm feeling very "middle of the road" on this read, with my thoughts bordering BIPOC mediocrity. HOWEVER, even though I'm not invested enough to read its sequel, I will say I was still fairly entertained while reading. The little puzzles and quests reminded me of the Legend of Zelda puzzle rooms in Breath of the Wild, and I think the characters are fun, little personas of their colorful backgrounds.

Now, is the character development super in-depth/intentioned? Not particularly, and frankly at times it felt like there were too many characters that the story was trying to juggle at once, but their teen angst and squabbling was fairly compelling throughout the story. The political/sociopolitical dialogue wasn't especially nuanced but I do appreciate the cleverness of Riya's background/connections as a means of branching into a more monetarily diverse cast of characters, a choice which I feel is poorly lacking in most fantasy novels following monarchal main characters.

All in all, this book had a thrilling cast of characters and an exciting, cranial-centric plot, but the surface-level and nearly entirely character-driven nature of the plot leaves me wanting more.

jesshaleth's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

Setting is magnificent, the premise intriguing and original. The writing style is fine. Slogging through a generic D&D dungeon with four whiny kids bickering at each other got really old really fast. A ruler of a country being able to swan off for an adventure rang pretty false. Won't read the next one, but if you enjoy teen drama and traps straight out of Indiana Jones, along with an actually great magic system and absolute tons of Indian food, then this book is for you!

cupiscent's review against another edition

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There's not really anything wrong, it just wasn't grabbing me. A lot of the most interesting stuff seemed to have happened in the backstory, partly because there was just so much going on. With four points of view, all of whom had their own big deals going on, there was very little room for overlap and resonance, leaving everything feeling a little thin and underdeveloped. Which is a shame, because the world was absolutely replete with amazing Indian-inspired detail and I really wanted to get into it and experience the story.

fionadesantis's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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