A review by dembury
The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence

4.0

This book is such a unique blend of fantasy with hearty veins of sci-fi; it has flavors of "The Magician's Nephew", the His Dark Materials trilogy, and something entirely it's own. I have to admit the final quarter-ish REALLY threw me for a loop and I'm still not entirely sure I understand a few of the things that happened? I do think part of this is Lawrence's prose (it's lovely but veryyyy cluttered/frantic at times) but also part of it is me simply trying to understand the whole portal/ghost situation as well as a couple other climactic moments. The last few chapters would have benefitted from another round of editing for clarity.
I do admit I think the twists were quite clever! There were little things I saw coming but largely the surprises were just that - total shocks that I did not see coming. Lawrence did a wonderful job combining familiar fantasy elements with new bends to the genre.