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A review by morganish
Crier's War by Nina Varela
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Crier's War started off a little slow for me, BUT. The book very quickly overcame my doubts, and I found myself really looking forward to picking it back up every night! It's fantasy of the YA variety, which doesn't deviate too much from a lot of the themes, stylistic choices, and characterization of other YA stories.
Yet even as I've been leaning away from YA fantasy and more toward adult recently, I found myself really absorbed in this one. The prose was straightforward, but sometimes unexpectedly beautiful; the worldbuilding wasn't dense or complicated, and yet the central conceit works well and there's a surprising amount of effective mystery. All the untold secrets yet to be discovered ultimately worked to hook me in. The romance is a kind I like but don't often find executed this effectively: angst-heavy, with lots of pining. It's a true slow burn, with outstanding threads still left hanging by the end of this installment, the first of a duology. Even though I'd heard others say this book was really good, AND even though I was excited by the idea of AI creations in a traditional fantasy setting, I was still surprised how good Crier's War was.
If you like your slow-burn romances to actually feel like something slow and aching and epic, this book probably has what you're looking for. (Especially if you're looking for more sapphic fantasy.) If you like the feel of YA fantasy stories, but sometimes wish the worldbuilding had just a little bit more mystery or intrigue like adult fantasy, this might serve, depending on your tastes. But if you're just completely done with YA fantasy and all the aspects that come with it, or don't like romances that build across multiple books, OR don't like the enemies-to-lovers trope, this book probably won't do much for you.
Yet even as I've been leaning away from YA fantasy and more toward adult recently, I found myself really absorbed in this one. The prose was straightforward, but sometimes unexpectedly beautiful; the worldbuilding wasn't dense or complicated, and yet the central conceit works well and there's a surprising amount of effective mystery. All the untold secrets yet to be discovered ultimately worked to hook me in. The romance is a kind I like but don't often find executed this effectively: angst-heavy, with lots of pining. It's a true slow burn, with outstanding threads still left hanging by the end of this installment, the first of a duology. Even though I'd heard others say this book was really good, AND even though I was excited by the idea of AI creations in a traditional fantasy setting, I was still surprised how good Crier's War was.
If you like your slow-burn romances to actually feel like something slow and aching and epic, this book probably has what you're looking for. (Especially if you're looking for more sapphic fantasy.) If you like the feel of YA fantasy stories, but sometimes wish the worldbuilding had just a little bit more mystery or intrigue like adult fantasy, this might serve, depending on your tastes. But if you're just completely done with YA fantasy and all the aspects that come with it, or don't like romances that build across multiple books, OR don't like the enemies-to-lovers trope, this book probably won't do much for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Genocide, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
A lot of the elements I include about the content warnings are specifically fantastical, like fantastical xenophobia. Most of the other content warnings have some level of fantastic to them as well. It isn't a direct reference to IRL events and doesn't include IRL bigotry, for example.