lalu's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I won this book in a StoryGraph giveaway and I'm grateful for the chance to read something outside my comfort zone as I usually buy traditionally published books and mostly read cishet authors (not intentionally, but they just make up the majority).
I enjoyed the first ~80% of the story a lot. I expected less fantasy elements but the concept of the In-Between was intriguing and I actually found myself wanting more information and more details about it.
What sometimes threw me off was the amount of mistakes. For Example I'm pretty sure the MC was first intended to be non-binary and then got changed to female at some point, since she was occasionally referred to with they/them pronouns; one character had two different spellings; and often there were just blatand grammar or spelling mistakes. The author said they had an editor and a proofreader... If I was the author, I'd want my money back!
But apart from that the majority of the story was very much enjoyable. However the ending was disappointing. What should have been this great climax full of suspense and high stakes was just boring. There was. That should be a scene full of tension with the reader being unable to stop reading. But it just wasn't. That the aftermath of that was nothing but smooth sailing just felt too easy and the only hiccup being that the MC - who throughout the book stressed that she was not spontaneous at all - randomly starts pointing at whoever is closest to become ... It just felt so inconsistent and rushed.
I just wish we could get like a revised edition with an ending that is worthy of the concept and the characters.
I enjoyed the first ~80% of the story a lot. I expected less fantasy elements but the concept of the In-Between was intriguing and I actually found myself wanting more information and more details about it.
What sometimes threw me off was the amount of mistakes. For Example I'm pretty sure the MC was first intended to be non-binary and then got changed to female at some point, since she was occasionally referred to with they/them pronouns; one character had two different spellings; and often there were just blatand grammar or spelling mistakes. The author said they had an editor and a proofreader... If I was the author, I'd want my money back!
But apart from that the majority of the story was very much enjoyable. However the ending was disappointing. What should have been this great climax full of suspense and high stakes was just boring. There was
Spoiler
a mad king who almost killed his own son but got literally stabbed in the back in the last momentSpoiler
her husbandI just wish we could get like a revised edition with an ending that is worthy of the concept and the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Body horror
Moderate: Death, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, and Rape
Minor: Child death and Pregnancy
Blood, body horror, death, murder:Spoiler
some bad guys (try to) kill an innocent person an the MC by magically forcing their blood to leave their body. The MC's son sees this and uses the same strategy to kill the bad guysSpoiler
the birth-father of the MC's son tries to kill him but gets stabbed in the back before he can hurt the kidSpoiler
the MC got raped 9 years before the book takes place and got pregnant from the rapist.
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