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bibliophiliadk's review against another edition
3.0
COMPLEX, INNOVATIVE FANTASY
I like my fantasy novels with a rich, complex world and a lot of action. That I certainly got with this book, but I just wasn't completely blown away, sadly, because it had the makings of something great. Still, it was entertaining and clever.
The sisters Kisare and Belili have been slaves their entire lives, working in the orchard of the noble Aricaba-Ata, who has the red hair of a fire-wielder. Kisare and Belili are blondes - magicless slaves who cannot use any of the three godfruits to wield magic. Their lives seem predetermined - slavery and death - at least until they find a strange box with some earth and a glowing seed. It doesn't resemble any of the seeds for the other four godfruits, so what is it? Desperate to be free, the sisters run away from the orchard and join the mysterious caravanners, who wield the magic of spirit. Together, they can work towards freeing all blonde slaves and remove the nobels from their unjust seat of power.
THE GOOD STUFF
Complex world: Rarely do you come across as complex, intriguing and original worlds as this one. There were so many bits to it and to top it of, it had a rich mythology that underlined it all and made it convinsing and fully fleshed. World building is something that means a lot to me, especially in fantasy books, and this world was certainly well worked.
Kisare and Belili: Usually, these fantasy novels have either a band of main characters (like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter) or a romantic pair as MCs (mostly in YA). Here, however, I enjoyed that the main characters were siblings. The relationship between Kisare and Belili (or Kisa and Bel) was quite sweet - I liked how they complemented and balanced each other, with Bel being the feeling, kind sister and Kisa being the analytical, removed one.
THE BAD STUFF
The beginning: Like I said, the world that this story takes place in is very complex, and, unfortunately, the beginning didn't ease me into it. I was dropped straight down into this world and expected to understand everything intuitively. That was not the case, however much I wanted it to be. As a result, something momentous happened at the beginning that I actually didn't pick up on until later on, simply because I hadn't been introduced to that part of the mythology. I think it was this confusing beginning that hindered me from truly enjoying the book to the fullest.
Kisare vs. Belili: While I really enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters, it seemed as if the author had a preference. Each chapter of the book was told from the 3rd person POV of one of the sisters, but it didn't take me long to notice, that Kisare's chapters were almost always longer than Belili's. And a few times, Belili's chapter actually turned into Kisare's half way through. It might seem like a weird thing to notice, but once I was tuned into this discovery, I had a hard time ignoring it.
This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review.
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"The gods made mortals as their servants but freed them when they became troublesome to keep."
I like my fantasy novels with a rich, complex world and a lot of action. That I certainly got with this book, but I just wasn't completely blown away, sadly, because it had the makings of something great. Still, it was entertaining and clever.
The sisters Kisare and Belili have been slaves their entire lives, working in the orchard of the noble Aricaba-Ata, who has the red hair of a fire-wielder. Kisare and Belili are blondes - magicless slaves who cannot use any of the three godfruits to wield magic. Their lives seem predetermined - slavery and death - at least until they find a strange box with some earth and a glowing seed. It doesn't resemble any of the seeds for the other four godfruits, so what is it? Desperate to be free, the sisters run away from the orchard and join the mysterious caravanners, who wield the magic of spirit. Together, they can work towards freeing all blonde slaves and remove the nobels from their unjust seat of power.
THE GOOD STUFF
Complex world: Rarely do you come across as complex, intriguing and original worlds as this one. There were so many bits to it and to top it of, it had a rich mythology that underlined it all and made it convinsing and fully fleshed. World building is something that means a lot to me, especially in fantasy books, and this world was certainly well worked.
Kisare and Belili: Usually, these fantasy novels have either a band of main characters (like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter) or a romantic pair as MCs (mostly in YA). Here, however, I enjoyed that the main characters were siblings. The relationship between Kisare and Belili (or Kisa and Bel) was quite sweet - I liked how they complemented and balanced each other, with Bel being the feeling, kind sister and Kisa being the analytical, removed one.
THE BAD STUFF
The beginning: Like I said, the world that this story takes place in is very complex, and, unfortunately, the beginning didn't ease me into it. I was dropped straight down into this world and expected to understand everything intuitively. That was not the case, however much I wanted it to be. As a result, something momentous happened at the beginning that I actually didn't pick up on until later on, simply because I hadn't been introduced to that part of the mythology. I think it was this confusing beginning that hindered me from truly enjoying the book to the fullest.
Kisare vs. Belili: While I really enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters, it seemed as if the author had a preference. Each chapter of the book was told from the 3rd person POV of one of the sisters, but it didn't take me long to notice, that Kisare's chapters were almost always longer than Belili's. And a few times, Belili's chapter actually turned into Kisare's half way through. It might seem like a weird thing to notice, but once I was tuned into this discovery, I had a hard time ignoring it.
This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review.
FOLLOW MY BLOG FOR MORE BOOK GOODNESS
erikasarutobi's review against another edition
5.0
This was honestly so good!! As soon as I read that first line, I was hooked! I'm at a loss for words. The writing style, the characters, the pacing and especially the magic system, were amazing.
The characters were fleshed out and didn't feel superficial. I liked that they were all diverse. From the description, you could know that one of the main characters is lesbian. You could say it was LGBT friendly and only one character was mentioned that he opposed to it but like in one line. One of the characters were transgender even but I won't mention who. There are only two main point of views in the book which are the sisters. I loved that they're opposite to each other especially so that they are the strength to the other's weakness.
The magical system was very interesting. I loved that it was limiting rather than continuous as the usual fantasy setting. The characters could use magic by eating godfruits and depending on the hair color, they could use different abilities. Due to this system, there's racism when it comes to the hair colors.
The story was great and despite the romance being instalove somewhat (I'm not a fan of instalove), they aren't the main focus of the book. Heck, the romance doesn't even progress until close to the end of the book. But because of that, I wished that Kisa and Hbelu had more time to develop their relationship rather than happen off screen when the book finished.
The ending left me wanting more since it ended without an exact resolution. It's easy to know how it'll end up but I wasn't satisfied with the open ending mostly because I wanted to see more of the romance of the main characters.
Overall, it was a great read and I love this book so much. The pacing is great and it was nice to read a standalone that didn't feel rushed with great world building and magic system. The mini stories before each chapter were a delight since they told the history of how things developed the way it did.
TW: mentions of rape, slavery and the abuse because of it, and a bit of incest though not mentioned a lot.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.
The characters were fleshed out and didn't feel superficial. I liked that they were all diverse. From the description, you could know that one of the main characters is lesbian. You could say it was LGBT friendly and only one character was mentioned that he opposed to it but like in one line. One of the characters were transgender even but I won't mention who. There are only two main point of views in the book which are the sisters. I loved that they're opposite to each other especially so that they are the strength to the other's weakness.
The magical system was very interesting. I loved that it was limiting rather than continuous as the usual fantasy setting. The characters could use magic by eating godfruits and depending on the hair color, they could use different abilities. Due to this system, there's racism when it comes to the hair colors.
The story was great and despite the romance being instalove somewhat (I'm not a fan of instalove), they aren't the main focus of the book. Heck, the romance doesn't even progress until close to the end of the book. But because of that, I wished that Kisa and Hbelu had more time to develop their relationship rather than happen off screen when the book finished.
The ending left me wanting more since it ended without an exact resolution. It's easy to know how it'll end up but I wasn't satisfied with the open ending mostly because I wanted to see more of the romance of the main characters.
Overall, it was a great read and I love this book so much. The pacing is great and it was nice to read a standalone that didn't feel rushed with great world building and magic system. The mini stories before each chapter were a delight since they told the history of how things developed the way it did.
TW: mentions of rape, slavery and the abuse because of it, and a bit of incest though not mentioned a lot.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.
ursareads's review against another edition
3.0
Un début prometteur qui s'est rapidement applati, pour ne connaître une amélioration qu'aux deux tiers du livre. Mais un concept original et vraiment sympa, l'univers est définitivement ce qui m'a motivé à poursuivre. Ce n'est ni une déception, ni un grand coup de coeur, une lecture sympa, sans trop en faire.
A promising first pages that flattened quickly, only to get better at the two third of the book. But an original and cool concept, the world-building is definitely what kept me hooked. This is not a deception, no more than a favourite, but a nice reading.
A promising first pages that flattened quickly, only to get better at the two third of the book. But an original and cool concept, the world-building is definitely what kept me hooked. This is not a deception, no more than a favourite, but a nice reading.
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