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A review by mlvalard
Empire of Light by Alex Harrow
4.0
3.5 stars
This one was a ride. I'm honestly not exactly sure where to start with this review. There was so -much- crammed into this that I'm not sure I'll feel any assessment quite does it justice.
The pros:
-I enjoyed the world building. It was an interesting sort of sci-fantasy dystopia. Definitely really intriguing and well put together.
-The atmosphere. This one was gritty and I felt it. Very sensory, sounds, smells, tastes. It was immersive dragged me into it and washed me along for the ride.
-The story itself was a wild sort of political mess with a lovely enemies to lovers arc right in the middle of all the rest.
-I really enjoyed Raeyn. I felt for him, perhaps in a way more than I did for Damian even though with first person the entire thing was seen through Damian's eyes.
The cons:
-Wow a lot happened. This was good in that it kept me there a bit on the edge of my seat but a con in that it was almost too much. This was fast paced and though my reading has been spotty and slower than usual so far this year it was still almost exhausting to read.
-Violence. There's lots of it and no shying away from it. It's as vivid and immersive as the rest of it so though I didn't personally mind much it was almost hard to cope with.
-There were parts of the twists and turns that were nearly confusing, and things that I really would have liked to see better explained. As it looks like this is the beginning of a series, though, I will expect those to be dealt with as it progresses.
Overall, I liked this one. It was not at all the light pick-me-up sort of read I might have needed just at the moment but there was never any question at all of not finishing it. Slow reading and all I did quite enjoy it. I do like this sort of thing: the action, the intrigue, the tense relationships were all right up my alley.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books. I'd really like to know what happens next. And hopefully see more of Raeyn and Damian. So to me this was a solid 3.5 stars, not flawless but definitely very enjoyable.
I received a free ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This one was a ride. I'm honestly not exactly sure where to start with this review. There was so -much- crammed into this that I'm not sure I'll feel any assessment quite does it justice.
The pros:
-I enjoyed the world building. It was an interesting sort of sci-fantasy dystopia. Definitely really intriguing and well put together.
-The atmosphere. This one was gritty and I felt it. Very sensory, sounds, smells, tastes. It was immersive dragged me into it and washed me along for the ride.
-The story itself was a wild sort of political mess with a lovely enemies to lovers arc right in the middle of all the rest.
-I really enjoyed Raeyn. I felt for him, perhaps in a way more than I did for Damian even though with first person the entire thing was seen through Damian's eyes.
The cons:
-Wow a lot happened. This was good in that it kept me there a bit on the edge of my seat but a con in that it was almost too much. This was fast paced and though my reading has been spotty and slower than usual so far this year it was still almost exhausting to read.
-Violence. There's lots of it and no shying away from it. It's as vivid and immersive as the rest of it so though I didn't personally mind much it was almost hard to cope with.
-There were parts of the twists and turns that were nearly confusing, and things that I really would have liked to see better explained. As it looks like this is the beginning of a series, though, I will expect those to be dealt with as it progresses.
Overall, I liked this one. It was not at all the light pick-me-up sort of read I might have needed just at the moment but there was never any question at all of not finishing it. Slow reading and all I did quite enjoy it. I do like this sort of thing: the action, the intrigue, the tense relationships were all right up my alley.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books. I'd really like to know what happens next. And hopefully see more of Raeyn and Damian. So to me this was a solid 3.5 stars, not flawless but definitely very enjoyable.
I received a free ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.