readundancies's reviews
1614 reviews

This is by no means my favourite.

I don't love it.

But I have not been so engaged with a story plot for so long, and this one has captured my attention like no other. 

So bring on the sequel, because this series is giving serial.

this is just too YA for me to engage with in my current headspace

The actual romance leans a bit too hard into the insta-love over chemistry between the main leads, which was a bit of a bummer.

And the plot is kind of lame all things considered.

But there was something inherently charming about it which I didn’t get from the first novel of the series, and that’s that I appreciated Frederick as a side character way more than I did when he was a main character. 

Not a bad pick up for the spooky season, just not an instant fave either.

I just could not find it in me to care an ounce about the characters AT ALL.

I was bored, the drama was just dull and trite, and upon conclusion, I am unenthused.

Look, I'm not here to yuk anyone's yum, but the hype is very much over-hyped with this novel.

However, in spite of my gripes this was still a fairly enjoyable YA/NA read.

What it isn't, is adult fantasy. If you can make peace with that, you'll find something about it to enjoy. If you can't, well, this just isn't the book for you.

The long and the short of it is, I liked the dragons. But I couldn't fall in love with them because they did not get nearly enough page time and for a novel that kind of revolves them as a main focus, that's not OK. Which wasn't great because I also hated every aspect of the romance - from the shitty attempt at a love triangle for a brief moment, to the literal insta-love between enemies to lovers which was a giant turn-off for me - and I don't really know why I put up with it.

But I was genuinely disappointed by the overall plot and world-building, especially when it comes down to what should be a high level of political intrigue that just did not deliver. I tend to live for fantasy novels which have rich world-building and smart, engaging plots. I am sad to say that this is not one of those novels. It reads very YA, especially when it comes to the characterization, only really hits NA status because there's smut, but there's no nuance. 

And I live for the nuance.

I also really struggled with the pacing because I did not appreciate how erratic it came off as. Time was stretched out at certain moments, and name-dropped by months passing at others. Nothing was fluid, nothing felt consistent, and with the very small seed of political intrigue that was sowed, it made it extremely difficult for anything of substance to be cultivated over time. So much so that nothing ever came out of it.

What tempers some of this out is how readable the writing is. It's not ground-breaking, it's not gorgeous, but it is easy reading. It wants to be more deep and violating than it actually is (it's not quite pretentious but it is trying just a bit too hard at times, especially when some of the many deaths are treated with an overly sardonic tone), and yet, in spite of that, it's the kind of read where I didn't need to devote a hefty amount of brainpower to follow along which meant I could chug along at pretty quick pace.

I am curious to see if the gripes I have with this story can be addressed and improved upon in the sequel, so I probably will continue with the series. But maybe it's a good idea to save it for a reading slump.

It’s been said before, this is chick lit with a romance as a subplot.

I wanted a romance, which this was not.

I liked it for what it was, but it was not what I wanted, and didn’t do anything in a way that would overcome that.

It’s a mix-match hodgepodge of Lucifer meets The Good Place alongside Good Omens with a hefty dose of Garth Nix’s The Left-Handed Booksellers of London and I enjoyed every bit of absurdity it had to offer.

Lump was a dear, Maggie was a force to be reckoned with and Laszlo was my spirit demon. The characterization was just on point.

I really liked the worldbuilding we got but also wanted so much more to explore. It helps that the pacing was steady throughout and carried along at a decent rate. And the plot, while not a favourite aspect of the novel for me, was equal parts compelling and entertaining even if it wasn’t consistently.

I had a really fun time with this one and would definitely read from this author again.

I mean, it was fine, I guess.

But it also felt incredibly long and I can’t figure out if it’s because the plot felt dragged out or if the pacing was just shite.

It’s whatever.