Loved this book ♥️

The only negative thing ai have to say about this book, is the way the voice actor performed the parts where the characters are shouting. I just needed him to read it and say “blah blah” shouted or shout 💁🏻‍♂️

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Great premise, awful execution

The audiobook is read magnificently: the reader really puts his all into it, but sadly this proves that there’s only so much a good actor can do to save a bad script.

The premise of the story is SO promising: reminded me a lot of Rainbow Rowell’s Simon Snow series, which I loved. But the execution faceplants ultimately, and the book ends up just boring!

It’s very information-dumpey all throughout. Even the final battle—the characters just STAND THERE talking for minutes on end (confirmed in-universe by one of said characters verbally pointing this out). Kieran, while an interesting character at the outset, is rarely allowed (by the plot) to do anything. He becomes a very passive character, who mostly exists to observe and comment upon the world around him. But worst of all, the romance development is just not there. The two main leads just…exist together and then suddenly fall in love, seemingly out of nowhere, and then we never even get to see them have a private moment where they so much as share their feelings with one another—they are ALWAYS interrupted.

My disappointment is immense. Don’t waste your time with this. Instead of this, go read or listen to Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (Audible’s audio version is read gorgeously, 5/5 stars). Trust me, your money will be much better spent.

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A really well-written, entertaining debut novel

This is a really well-written, debut novel, hopefully with more to come with the same characters and universe. Once I started listening, I could hardly stop and found myself wanting life not to intrude so much so that I could get back to this story. In fact, listening to it on a long train ride yesterday, I got so engrossed in it that I nearly missed my stop.

By now, I guess you know that I like it. So, where do I start with a review of it? I know that one should never judge a book by its cover, but this one sold it to me. I love the pinks and the blues, and, I have to say, as a gay male, the artwork of both Esten and Kieran, but Kieran sold it for me. It was probably the slightly farm-handish look of him.

The plot is solid, and I couldn't spot any holes in it. A lot happens in a short period of time, but it's not difficult to follow, immersion in the universe was total for me, and the story unfolds itself in a way which is both logical and which still manages to be surprising. In this regard, it reminded me somewhat of Peter S Beagle's "The Last Unicorn", although the stories, settings and style are completely different. This novel stands alone very strongly, in my opinion, but would also be an excellent first novel in a series, and I, personally, would love to see more of these characters and this world.

I love the way that the magic in this world works. Without giving too much away, I really felt the side-effects of thorned magic and its effects on the characters. Some of those brought a tear to my eye, and it really conveys well the dangers of magic, as well as the benefits. I have never come across a magic system quite like it before and found it completely believable and realisitic to the setting.

Kieran's vulnerabilities came across very well, and I could relate to he and Esten's interactions. I couldn't quite work out which of them I liked more and, in the end, I have had to settle for loving the duo. I'm not normally a fan of romances, but I do feel that they have a great future together, even though in some ways they are like chalk and cheese to one another. I'm sort of reminded of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg from Pratchett's Discworld in that respect: complete opposites in many ways, but they work so well together.

I also like the way that inclusivity is weaved into the narrative. It's subtle and, at the same time, matter-of-fact, and it's good to see a world where, in my opinion, at least, this is represented well. I enjoyed reading about a character with rather literal gender fluidity, one who has aquired a disability, and the general theme of the magic and non-magical worlds existing side-by-side.

For me, though, the real show-stealer of the novel was Ellis Devine. I don't want to spoil others discovering her, but between her and Oi, I got some great laughs.

So, with all this, do I have any criticisms? Only one, really. Becuase the novel is written in the first person, split between two main character's viewpoints, I did find it a little confusing when "jumping between heads" with each chapter. The author seems to have used the character's names as the chapter title to cue the reader into knowing whose head you will be occupying for the chapter, which I think is an elegant solution and I think would work well in print, but with an audiobook (and with my tendency to listen to them on the train), if you miss the chapter title, as I did a couple of times, you may find yourself a bit confused until you work out whose head you are occupying at the moment. This really is a minor criticism on my part; others may have no difficulty with it and, once I realised what what happening, it didn't cause me any major problems. It's just something to be mindful of when you listen to this: keep an ear out for the chapter titles.

Overall, I loved this novel and very much look forward to listening to more stories from this author. They have hooked me in the same way that Harry Potter, Discword and others have: love at first hearing and certainly this is now in my top 10 fantasy reads.

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3 people found this helpful