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intotheheartwyld's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Master Assassin’s is one of those books that is actually pretty good, but you have to weave your way through the muck to actually get to the good parts.
The story starts out rough in my opinion, you are instantly thrown into this world where rape, prostitution, sex slaves and child rape, are highly relevant to the plot. Which was honestly very jarring to start out with. It takes about 100 pages to get pass this but it does unfortunately pop back up numerous times in the plot, the start was just very heavy with it.
Once you get past this the story does unfold and the first two twists were quite honestly really good, the second one shocked me more than the first but they were both good enough to make me go “whoa”
The characters while being very diverse in race, was unfortunately very lacking in women. Majority of the women mentioned in the story are either, prostitutes, sex slaves, child abuse victims/child sex prostitutes, or considered crazy and unstable, even the Prophet who is a woman is described as crazy (I mean she is and her favorite son is a huge clue as to why she isn’t a good person because that guy was literal trash) The few women not associated with these positions are mentioned in passing or only around for a short period before they are dead. So as a woman that very frustrating to read.
For the main characters Kandri and Mektu, I actually ended up liking Mektu more just because his story is a thousand times more interesting then Kandri. Kandri is literally just a piece of trash who keeps going for the same women his brother likes and that’s annoying. But Kandri is also just kind of dry and bland, his constant memories about Ariquita got old real fast, and his indecisiveness was frustrating.
Mektu, while there are parts of his personality I dislike (basically how he treats women who are prostitutes) His whole Yatra thing is extremely interesting and I have a feeling there is more to him then just being crazy and scared of ghouls and such. There is something seriously going on with him and I want to know more, I need to know more. His entire story arc is fascinating once you get pass his rubbish personality traits he has.
Telapeku was such a great addition and her revenge she got on the one dudes uncle FIRE!!! I was not expecting it but you know what I am here for girl doing what she needed to get back at that man! Chindlean was my absolute favorite and I am definitely going to keep my eye out for him, he is another I think is very valuable in terms of the story telling. And last but not least Eschett. I don’t really hate or like her, she was nice at first but the end with the bath scene irritated me, so yah.
The world building was good, the entire place was flushed out and it was done in a manner that used the main party traveling so there wasn’t any massive info dumps. We discovered the world at the same rate the characters did, so it made it flow really well. I enjoyed that some parts of the world are considered deserted and uninhabitable. There is a plague and a war going on. But there also seems to be lots of mystery involved in this world, places no one thinks exist, tinkers who shouldn’t be making things and doctors who are shunned by the prophet. It’s all such bewildering elements, that make you want to know more. I just wish the whole slave and prostitute thing wasn’t so in your face.
I want more on the prophet and her other sons, I want answers to Lantor, and what is this white child, that concept is crazy and I want to know about it. There are so many elements that just pull me in and make me want more, so it made it worth the struggle of the beginning of the story.
I do believe if you can make it pass the beginning of the story it will be worth the struggle, it won’t blow your mind but it will make you yearn for answers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Pedophilia
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