read_game_stitch 's review for:

Voidwalker by S.A. MacLean

5.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Voidwalker is such a refreshing romantasy book. I love romantasy, and I read a lot of it, but sometimes it feels so familiar. You might have a stabby FMC who blazes in and doesn't listen to anyone else's advice. She's normally amazingly talented at something and finds an equally strong MMC to banter and fight with. He's usually charming and super masculine, the strongest person in any room he finds himself in. I loved that the author subverted the stereotypes and just did something different with the characters. In Voidwalker, MMC Antal isn't the strongest person in the room. He's vulnerable and he fails. He admits that he's bad at things. The FMC, Fi, is constantly battling to appear brave and has a fake-it-til-you-make it persona that masks her guilt and shame at running away from an awful situation 7 years ago. They just felt real. The plot didn't feel like it was spun together by picking a collection of popular tropes and micro tropes and ordering them in a certain way to create the storyline. It just did its own thing and didn't focus on the tropes and stereotypes. I love that and it genuinely felt a breath of fresh air.

Also, Fi is 32, and I love protagonists who are 30+. I'm so happy when I get to cheer on a formidable, competent woman!

Although Voidwalker is part of the Beasts of the Void series, it doesn't end on a cliffhanger and tells a complete story so it's safe to read now - you don't have to fear a horrible cliffhanger. It definitely leaves the characters in a good place for a sequel and there's so much of the world still to explore so I'm very excited to see how it all progresses further!