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brenana's review
3.0
2.5, rounded up to 3
so the concept of the world is really cool, like i've never read a fantasy book thats based on india so that was really neat?? and the caste system, and the use of magic, and the sort of overarching idea to eliminate the social groups and the strict rules
like that was all neato
the plot of the book fell pretty flat for me tho. one of the main focuses was the romance, and it was honestly???? a little boring??? both characters were relatively interesting on their own, tho they weren't super developed or anything and didn't develop much through the book (especially keshan), but the romance felt rushed and sort of out of nowhere
like they go from 'yea lets just have fun and flirt' to like suddenly being like 'woah i love u' without any emotional development
and then the climax of the book was not good for me either
like the plan to split up the kingdom was exciting like ! woah interesting twist
but then the gambling scene was boring, mostly because the exact plan was spelled out earlier with no deviations from that plot
so it was like oh already knew what was happening and how it was gonna go
and the gamblin brother, like we are never shown the extent of his gambling problem
like its an issue of being told that hes a gambler but never shown, so the scene where he is literally willing to gamble his brother away just seems out of character compared to what we've been shown
i think the 'tell not show' was used a lot, tho that was the most obvious point
some of the writing is really nice tho, but there are some instances where the language didn't really match up with the overall feel of the book, like modern language trying to be mixed with a historical feel and it didnt really work
not awful, but not something i'll revisit
might eventually continue with the series, but it definitely didn't make me excited to continue
so the concept of the world is really cool, like i've never read a fantasy book thats based on india so that was really neat?? and the caste system, and the use of magic, and the sort of overarching idea to eliminate the social groups and the strict rules
like that was all neato
the plot of the book fell pretty flat for me tho. one of the main focuses was the romance, and it was honestly???? a little boring??? both characters were relatively interesting on their own, tho they weren't super developed or anything and didn't develop much through the book (especially keshan), but the romance felt rushed and sort of out of nowhere
like they go from 'yea lets just have fun and flirt' to like suddenly being like 'woah i love u' without any emotional development
and then the climax of the book was not good for me either
like the plan to split up the kingdom was exciting like ! woah interesting twist
but then the gambling scene was boring, mostly because the exact plan was spelled out earlier with no deviations from that plot
so it was like oh already knew what was happening and how it was gonna go
and the gamblin brother, like we are never shown the extent of his gambling problem
like its an issue of being told that hes a gambler but never shown, so the scene where he is literally willing to gamble his brother away just seems out of character compared to what we've been shown
i think the 'tell not show' was used a lot, tho that was the most obvious point
some of the writing is really nice tho, but there are some instances where the language didn't really match up with the overall feel of the book, like modern language trying to be mixed with a historical feel and it didnt really work
not awful, but not something i'll revisit
might eventually continue with the series, but it definitely didn't make me excited to continue
woodruffles's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
slammy90's review
2.0
A parte che mi sono annoiata da morire tanto da volermi strappare le unghie.. ma poi ci fosse un personaggio simpaticoo per cui tifare! non riesco ancora a capire chi l'autrice abbia scelto come protagonista, a dirla tutta :D
Mi fa male sapere che Astrid Amara sia la BFF di Ginn Hale, che è la mia dea ☹️
Mi fa male sapere che Astrid Amara sia la BFF di Ginn Hale, che è la mia dea ☹️
dee2799d's review
2.0
Oh no. I really wanted to like this.
A fantasy novel with queer characters, based on Indian mythology? With archery and magic weapons? Political intrigue? It was supposed to be everything I like. It's also published by Blind Eye Books and everything I've read from them is great.
Of course, this is all based on my tastes, so think of it what you will.
1, I don't actually feel the chemistry between the two main characters. Sure, we know they find each other attractive. They also enjoy each other's company, but I feel we're barely scratching the surface of their acquaintance and I'm not sure what to feel about it.
Maybe I'd prefer for them not to actually feel love for each other at first and just have amicable/affectionate physical relations? Their connection just doesn't feel as fully formed to me as it could have been.
2, Which sucks because there are moments when the narration summarises important actions taken by the characters (e.g. they fast travel, I guess, to meet each other and stuff like that. Things that take time and need more fleshing out get reduced to a few sentences sometimes), while we get lovingly written and very long sex scenes. Of the romantic kind. Between two characters whose chemistry I'm not 100% convinced of.
It's not ideal. :'D
3, The politics are not as strong and fully developed because... sex scenes. We get a lot more from Tarek's POV-which makes sense because he's from the lower caste and more directly affected by the laws of their land, but Tarek shouldn't have been overshadowing our main characters. I find myself caring more about Tarek and what happens to him than Keshan and Jandu.
I don't know if I'll read the rest. I'm not the biggest fan of the pacing. And the world building is not my favourite either--I want to like it, but I don't know if I can see it fully yet? Maybe it'll get better in the latter books, though.
A fantasy novel with queer characters, based on Indian mythology? With archery and magic weapons? Political intrigue? It was supposed to be everything I like. It's also published by Blind Eye Books and everything I've read from them is great.
Of course, this is all based on my tastes, so think of it what you will.
1, I don't actually feel the chemistry between the two main characters. Sure, we know they find each other attractive. They also enjoy each other's company, but I feel we're barely scratching the surface of their acquaintance and I'm not sure what to feel about it.
Maybe I'd prefer for them not to actually feel love for each other at first and just have amicable/affectionate physical relations? Their connection just doesn't feel as fully formed to me as it could have been.
2, Which sucks because there are moments when the narration summarises important actions taken by the characters (e.g. they fast travel, I guess, to meet each other and stuff like that. Things that take time and need more fleshing out get reduced to a few sentences sometimes), while we get lovingly written and very long sex scenes. Of the romantic kind. Between two characters whose chemistry I'm not 100% convinced of.
It's not ideal. :'D
3, The politics are not as strong and fully developed because... sex scenes. We get a lot more from Tarek's POV-which makes sense because he's from the lower caste and more directly affected by the laws of their land, but Tarek shouldn't have been overshadowing our main characters. I find myself caring more about Tarek and what happens to him than Keshan and Jandu.
I don't know if I'll read the rest. I'm not the biggest fan of the pacing. And the world building is not my favourite either--I want to like it, but I don't know if I can see it fully yet? Maybe it'll get better in the latter books, though.
stranglingstars's review
2.0
I've had this among my Goodreads recommendations for ages so when I saw it on Kindle for a dollar I thought, why not?
I have a hard time rating this.
I LOVE the setting, I mean, how often do you stumble across fantasy set in an India-inspired society? The caste system and all of that is very interesting, though I would have liked to get a deeper look into their religion. As I said, it's inspired by India but as far as I could tell, they had a monotheistic religion with a bunch of prophets. Since their society is pretty much built around their religion (it dictates their laws, is what keeps the caste system in place etc), I felt like that might have been worth expanding on.
Now, the thing that really bugged me was that sometimes the writing style was really good, but most of the time, especially regarding Keshan's and Jandu's relationship, I felt like there was a lot of telling instead of showing. As individual characters, they're ok. Keshan is a bit boring in my opinion, but Jandu has potential for some good character development. But I'm not invested in their relationship at all, because I keep getting told that they love each other but I'm not actually feeling it. Even though this problem was most prominent in the depiction of their relationship, it sometimes bled into the writing elsewhere too, like some of Jandu's introspection and other important plot points (yes, I'm talking about the gambling scheme. It could have been handled more delicately). It's just too straightforward.
As a reader, I don't want to be handed all the information on a silver platter. I want to have to work for it a bit. A complex character is no fun if I get all the complexity explicitly explained to me.
Not sure if I will continue the series or not. Time will tell, I guess.
I have a hard time rating this.
I LOVE the setting, I mean, how often do you stumble across fantasy set in an India-inspired society? The caste system and all of that is very interesting, though I would have liked to get a deeper look into their religion. As I said, it's inspired by India but as far as I could tell, they had a monotheistic religion with a bunch of prophets. Since their society is pretty much built around their religion (it dictates their laws, is what keeps the caste system in place etc), I felt like that might have been worth expanding on.
Now, the thing that really bugged me was that sometimes the writing style was really good, but most of the time, especially regarding Keshan's and Jandu's relationship, I felt like there was a lot of telling instead of showing. As individual characters, they're ok. Keshan is a bit boring in my opinion, but Jandu has potential for some good character development. But I'm not invested in their relationship at all, because I keep getting told that they love each other but I'm not actually feeling it. Even though this problem was most prominent in the depiction of their relationship, it sometimes bled into the writing elsewhere too, like some of Jandu's introspection and other important plot points (yes, I'm talking about the gambling scheme. It could have been handled more delicately). It's just too straightforward.
As a reader, I don't want to be handed all the information on a silver platter. I want to have to work for it a bit. A complex character is no fun if I get all the complexity explicitly explained to me.
Not sure if I will continue the series or not. Time will tell, I guess.
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