A review by nexon
Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-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? Yes

3.5

This book clearly takes a lot of inspiration from Six of Crows, but I think it lacks the heart that really pulls you into Bardugo's world. It isn't bad by any means, and I did enjoy it quite a bit, but it's not really something that keeps you thinking about it once you're done.

I liked most of the main characters and enjoyed the nuance to side ones, rather than a strictly defined "good/bad" like a lot of fantasy novels. The plot also kept me intrigued and I honestly was not sure which way it would go.

One thing I didn't like was Cassa. She was just an extremely irritating character, and the best chapters were the ones without her involved. Unfortunately, those were few and far between. I understand why she was driven to do what she did, but her personality seriously grated me. I spent half the book hoping she would die.
Though when she did, I was surprised to find myself feeling sad, mostly due to the other characters' reactions, so I think that part was done well.


Additionally, it was kind of... awkward when the characters straight up stated their sexuality. The representation is nice, but I feel like the labels we use in real life don't translate that well to fantasy worlds. Forgive me for making the comparison again, but imo Six of Crows is a great example of how to handle such things.

A smaller pet peeve I had is that there were several sentences that ended with the word "though" without using a comma. They came up enough to be annoying and somewhat immersion-breaking, at least for me.

Overall, I think it's worth the read if you just want to enjoy a standalone adventure without getting too invested in the world.
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