pinkfloydian's review
dark
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Gun violence, Gore, Death, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, Child death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Addiction, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, and Murder
wardenred's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.25
Everyone’s tired, Captain. Everyone is just bones and exhaustion in this city.
Wow, this book took me ages to read, didn't it? And it wasn't just because of its size. I'm not quite sure why I had to drag myself through some parts, because I mostly really liked it. There's a lot of originality here. The plot is built on one of my favorite tropes: magic users getting heavily regulated and contained by people in power. The characters are all fully developed and well-written, and the MC is basically a Lawful Good person who realizes he can be either lawful or good. There's interesting politics. The setting is nuanced and rich. The plot has a lot of interesting twists. Overall, this is definitely a book I'm going to recommend to people.
However, I think the story could benefit from being tightened up. There were a lot of scenes here that didn't directly serve the larger plot. I didn't mind some of them, because they deepened my understanding of the characters and the world around them. However, there was just a lot of repetition, like Stella constantly thinking about Tashué’ being a tinman for paragraphs on end. Those parts grew frustrating fast—I found myself skimming over them, thinking, Yeah, okay, okay, I get it, I've read it 10 times already, and I'm afraid that led me to perhaps skipping some new details presented alongside those repetitions.
At the same time, the plot was generally well-constructed, with so many hidden truths getting skillfully revealed at the precisely right times to completely overthrow my perception of what was going on, while also making complete sense. The backstory facts came fully into play. Etc, etc. But this deftly crafted and already complex narrative was at times obscured by those needless repetitions and detours. Most of the book is complex in a very good way, but parts of it got overcomplicated in a bad way, if that makes sense? And that's why I can't really give it 5 stars.
In spite of those structural problems, I'll state again that the story has a lot of great things going for it and it's definitely made a lasting impression on me. Tashué’, Stella, Jason, Lorne, and all the other characters will stay rent-free in my head for a while. And so will the grim, gleaming city of Yaelsmuir—perhaps the best new setting I got acquainted with in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Confinement, Medical content, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Xenophobia, and Gore
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