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A review by kmiamattingly
The Half King by Melissa Landers
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I think the book's title is representative of a lot of what went wrong here. This is a book that wants to be about stuff that it ends up being only half about, and half-formed ideas. The title is a reference to the male lead, however the book is largely attempting to be a critique of a patriarchal religious/political system and how it disenfranchises, decenters, and oppresses women. And yet the book is named after a man who, I can't stress enough, really doesn't DO anything -- thus, factually, overshadowing all the stuff the heroine actually does do. 🙄
The world-building was very weak. Going back to "the half king" as a thing, the reason given in the book/synopsis is he gets the name because he fades away every night due to a curse. The name never really ended up earning how punchy it sounds, because we spent no time dealing with how this shadow curse has impacted his rule as a very young king. No time actually thinking about how supposedly most people disdain him, but not enough they'd rebel. I just feel like we never actually thought about what the impending end of a dynasty looks like politically.
The characters, sadly, were flat and/or static. I can't tell if this book was supposed to be YA, but it FEELS YA. And not in a good way. I wasn't a fan of the insta-love, and the plot felt like we were going breakneck pace. I literally could not give you a reason as to why the two leads like each other by the end of the book. Not a clue. I could see a version of this story that easily could've been chopped up across several books to allow for actual world building and character interaction/developments. I think I mostly finished because by the time I figured out nothing interesting was going to happen, I was already halfway through the book and didn't want to give up. This came to me in a romantasy box, and sadly it ended up being a losing combination: not enough interesting romance to justify the romance, not enough interesting world to justify the fantasy.
That said, it wasn't entirely bad. There was so much I genuinely wanted to like, it was just things got in the way. The book attempts critique at the patriarchal religious system, but isn't self-aware enough to chastise the two main male characters/supports for looking down on our female character's "foolishness/naivety/faith". This book is also INCREDIBLY male-heavy. There are no supporting female characters and we don't even call attention to that and take time to think about what it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated space. We also don't really ever dwell on this idea that she's in a relationship that's incredibly imbalanced in terms of power/agency with the king. Yeah, he's a good guy, but that doesn't eliminate the imbalance of power. It just feels better/safer/less hostile than being under someone who flaunts that power.
I really want this author to try writing again, because I don't think her style is unreadable, and the best parts of this were her thinking about how this character takes strength and inspiration from this goddess. I just wish she'd done a little more thinking about where she ought to place her focus when writing.
The world-building was very weak. Going back to "the half king" as a thing, the reason given in the book/synopsis is he gets the name because he fades away every night due to a curse. The name never really ended up earning how punchy it sounds, because we spent no time dealing with how this shadow curse has impacted his rule as a very young king. No time actually thinking about how supposedly most people disdain him, but not enough they'd rebel. I just feel like we never actually thought about what the impending end of a dynasty looks like politically.
The characters, sadly, were flat and/or static. I can't tell if this book was supposed to be YA, but it FEELS YA. And not in a good way. I wasn't a fan of the insta-love, and the plot felt like we were going breakneck pace. I literally could not give you a reason as to why the two leads like each other by the end of the book. Not a clue. I could see a version of this story that easily could've been chopped up across several books to allow for actual world building and character interaction/developments. I think I mostly finished because by the time I figured out nothing interesting was going to happen, I was already halfway through the book and didn't want to give up. This came to me in a romantasy box, and sadly it ended up being a losing combination: not enough interesting romance to justify the romance, not enough interesting world to justify the fantasy.
That said, it wasn't entirely bad. There was so much I genuinely wanted to like, it was just things got in the way. The book attempts critique at the patriarchal religious system, but isn't self-aware enough to chastise the two main male characters/supports for looking down on our female character's "foolishness/naivety/faith". This book is also INCREDIBLY male-heavy. There are no supporting female characters and we don't even call attention to that and take time to think about what it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated space. We also don't really ever dwell on this idea that she's in a relationship that's incredibly imbalanced in terms of power/agency with the king. Yeah, he's a good guy, but that doesn't eliminate the imbalance of power. It just feels better/safer/less hostile than being under someone who flaunts that power.
I really want this author to try writing again, because I don't think her style is unreadable, and the best parts of this were her thinking about how this character takes strength and inspiration from this goddess. I just wish she'd done a little more thinking about where she ought to place her focus when writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Sexism, and Murder
Minor: Blood