vkelt's review
adventurous
dark
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? No
2.5
I hate to say it, but I skimmed through large chunks in the middle. Not a fan of this author’s tendency (in this series, at least) to separate the main characters for so much of the story. It causes the story to drag on and become a slog to get through, and that’s yet another reason I think the books would benefit from an editor who could tighten the story and help shape the plot and character development into a stronger, more cohesive whole (plus catch some obvious grammatical and spelling errors, though I don’t really begrudge those as much as the other issues).
This book was a culmination of a lot of things I’d disliked in the other books—the aforementioned separation; weak plots; unclear reasons for why things had to happen the way they did; some info dumping disguised as world building; a habit of telling rather than showing when the latter would be better; a tendency toward instalove, or the characters already being in love before we meet them, which is only so satisfying when it keeps happening, no matter how endearing the characters might be (and made worse by that pesky middle-of-the-story separation, which really stunts a lot of the plot and relationship development). All of this was present in the previous books, but it does get more blatant the more I read.
That all said, I do find the characters endearing, I love seeing glimpses of the previous characters again (especially when they don’t always get proper epilogues in their own books, looking at you, Jader and Kamir), and the world building is quite interesting at times. The way gender and relationships are expressed in this series is so refreshing, with people (in Harken, at least) being so accepting in ways I only dream of the real world being some day, and I’m already dreading going back to less open-minded fantasy settings in the future. There’s a lot to love in the books of this series, and that keeps me stuck on seeing what happens next.
I’m super interested to see where the larger story is going in book 5, especially since I’ve wanted to read Desmond’s story since he first appeared in book 1, but despite the hints at Chass having more depth than he originally appeared, I’m really not thrilled about him being the love interest. On its own, I probably wouldn’t read it, but as part of a series, I don’t think I can stop! Plus, the way the ending of this one was rushed (another bad habit of this series), it feels necessary to keep reading for some closure on Charlaine, Jac, and Myra’s story. For all my complaints, I did genuinely like them together and their relationship was fun to read, I just wish we’d seen more of them all actually together. In every book, the romance is the bright spot, and the plot tends to detract from that; this book was no different. Genuinely seems like the only way to see the characters actually in a relationship is to read the next book in the series, which is admittedly effective so far at getting me to keep reading.
This book was a culmination of a lot of things I’d disliked in the other books—the aforementioned separation; weak plots; unclear reasons for why things had to happen the way they did; some info dumping disguised as world building; a habit of telling rather than showing when the latter would be better; a tendency toward instalove, or the characters already being in love before we meet them, which is only so satisfying when it keeps happening, no matter how endearing the characters might be (and made worse by that pesky middle-of-the-story separation, which really stunts a lot of the plot and relationship development). All of this was present in the previous books, but it does get more blatant the more I read.
That all said, I do find the characters endearing, I love seeing glimpses of the previous characters again (especially when they don’t always get proper epilogues in their own books, looking at you, Jader and Kamir), and the world building is quite interesting at times. The way gender and relationships are expressed in this series is so refreshing, with people (in Harken, at least) being so accepting in ways I only dream of the real world being some day, and I’m already dreading going back to less open-minded fantasy settings in the future. There’s a lot to love in the books of this series, and that keeps me stuck on seeing what happens next.
I’m super interested to see where the larger story is going in book 5, especially since I’ve wanted to read Desmond’s story since he first appeared in book 1, but despite the hints at Chass having more depth than he originally appeared, I’m really not thrilled about him being the love interest. On its own, I probably wouldn’t read it, but as part of a series, I don’t think I can stop! Plus, the way the ending of this one was rushed (another bad habit of this series), it feels necessary to keep reading for some closure on Charlaine, Jac, and Myra’s story. For all my complaints, I did genuinely like them together and their relationship was fun to read, I just wish we’d seen more of them all actually together. In every book, the romance is the bright spot, and the plot tends to detract from that; this book was no different. Genuinely seems like the only way to see the characters actually in a relationship is to read the next book in the series, which is admittedly effective so far at getting me to keep reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming and Violence
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