A review by bluebreex
A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

adventurous dark lighthearted tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

A promising start to the series! It was an easy and quirky read - would recommend to anyone who is a fan of fantasy, dungeons & dragons, alchemy systems or faerie court systems.

While the pop culture references did feel a bit over done at times, I still found the dialogue humorous and quickly fell in love with the characters. I do think the shining quality of this series so far is the court system as well as the lore regarding magic and alchemy.

The one draw back for me is that, while I do not believe it was intentional, it is hard to include goblins while following how they are described and characterised in other popular media without them coming across as antisemitic. I do hope this will be avoided in future books.
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