k_winchester's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
This was a really cool concept and really cool mashup of total fantasy (wizards, faery, mythology, magic, etc), total post-apocalyptic scfi (code, virus, hacking, dead zone, so much tech) and political espionage/mystery! I genuinely admire the way this is very unique in tackling all of that in one story, and the genre mashup made it memorable.
That being said, it also had a big horror element I wasn't prepared for when I started reading - did not realize that was one it's subgenres. It had a lot of graphic gross descriptions of injuries, violent monster deaths and fights etc, especially at the end/climax, which I really had to skim and skip through, and that really detracted from it for me.
Also, much of the story read like it was a sequel or third adventure in a series rather than #1 which sometimes felt like I was missing something. It took me a long time to get into the story, and even then I never felt overly invested or attached to the main guy.
So... tough one to rate, because there was a lot of cool things done and bits to enjoy (the subplot with Jack Frost and his magic going missing was SO COOL and I actually was way more invested in that than anything else, which is tragic given it was *such* a minimal subplot it barely cropped up lol), but also I just didn't jive with a lot of the overall story at the same time. 🤷♀️
Really cool and unique, but ultimately just not my cuppa tea.
Really cool and unique, but ultimately just not my cuppa tea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
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