Tag Archives: 3 stars

books, Dark fantasy, Fantasy, Reviews

Equinox by David Towsey

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Stars: 3 out of 5

There is a fascinating premise in this book. What if all humans have two souls inhabiting one body? One has the reigns during the day, the other one during the night? And those are completely different people. They have different names and personalities. They want different things in life. They have different professions. Heck, most of them are even married to different people either night or day. Or married at night but single during the day. Or the night-brother had committed a crime and stays in prison during the night, but their day-brother is released to live their life every morning because it’s not fair to punish both souls for the mistakes of just one. 

Some people are lucky enough to live harmoniously with their night or day sibling. Some even hold the same profession on both sides of the ettienne. Others are not so lucky. In fact, it seems like a horrible way to live, if you think about it. You wake up every morning/night next to a stranger that your day/night sibling is married to. How awkward is that? It also seems like one sibling will be more dominant over the other.

Like in the case of our protagonist. The night brother is a special inspector, so his job takes precedence over his day brother who is a musician. When the inspector has to leave town on an investigation, the day brother has no choice but to follow, no matter how inconvenient that is for his professional and personal life. 

I would have loved to explore this fascinating world a bit more. Like what happens to the children of those married couples? If the night sister is the mother of the children, but the day sister is unmarried and leads a completely different life, who takes care of the children during the day? Especially when they are babies? Does the day sister have a choice in the matter or is she forced to care for them no matter what? Wouldn’t that create resentment between the siblings? Wouldn’t the children suffer because of that?

The mystery itself is rather complex and progresses at a very leisury pace. In fact almost half the book is setup, and even though the story picks up in the second half, it can still be a slog. There are also some leaps of logic that I found hard to follow. And some plot holes that were rather glaring. Like we are expressly told that the father packed up his family and left town after his wife was arrested. Yet, both the oldest and the youngest children are conveniently present to be sacrificed for the ritual. How did that happen? Also, where is the middle sister and the father? Also, this horrible murder of children isn’t even mentioned or addressed in any way afterwards. And the mother doesn’t express a single ounce of grief or regret over it. And that is the night-sister that gave birth and raised those children. 

All in all, it was interesting mostly for the unique concept and worldbuilding, but I wasn’t totally onboard for the story itself. And while I liked both Christophor and Alexander, I wasn’t as thrilled with the other characters in this book. And I would have loved a few more answers to the day-to-day conundrum that having two souls in one body represents, because from where I stand, this is the definition of hell.

PS: I received a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Reviews, Romance, Space opera

Grimspace (Sirantha Jax 1) by Ann Aguirre

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Stars: 3 out of 5

This was a decent first book in a new series that kept me interested enough to read it in a couple days. I hadn’t realized that it was also a romance however, so that skewed my perception a little, because the older I get, the more cynical I get and the less tolerance for romantic tropes I have.

Our protagonist is likeable enough, and I truly feel for her. The trauma she went through, not to mention mental and psychological torture, as no joke. No wonder she is a hot mess for most of this book, unsure of what really happened on her last flight, wracked with guilt because everyone died and she survived. In fact, I would have loved for the author to explore this aspect a bit more in the book. As it is, the other characters kind of shrug it off. Yes, it’s horrible, now get over it and take us places. That was rather irritating.

Speaking of other characters, none of the other members of the Folly’s crew are developed sufficiently for me to care about them. In fact, they feel more like placeholders than real people. The butch mechanic with a foul mouth but secretly a heart of gold. The pacifist doctor who cares more about his experiments than people. The strange alien boy that suddenly imprints on our protagonist, etc. 

In fact, that last character was woefully underutilized. There could have been such a good story there. We could have explored their relationship, and how Jax would have had to cope with having someone dependent on her for his survival. As it stands, this storyline is downplayed, and the character is promptly disposed of, so we don’t get to witness character growth for either of them.

That was my other issue with this book. There are a lot of plotlines that were introduced… and them simply dropped after a few pages without rhyme or reason. Like the whole story with Baby-Z. Again, this was a storyline that was woefully underutilized. It could have served as a bridge of sorts between Marsh and Jax, having them care about an alien baby they inadvertently hatched. It would have made their developing relationship more organic. Instead – baby is gone and forgotten a few chapters later.

You could argue that those sudden deaths are there to reinforce Jax’s belief that she is toxic and that she destroys everything and everyone she touches, but that is the simple way out. 

That’s the biggest problem for me – this book seems to always take the path of least resistance when it comes to resolving its storylines, whether it’s the relationship between Jax and Marsh, or her guilt about the crash and death of her previous pilot and lover, or the situation with baby-Z. 

And let’s not even mention the ending of this book, because it’s laughable in its simplicity and wishful thinking. I’m sorry, but a megacorporation won’t fall apart just because of an unsubstantiated broadcast. Not when it has a monopoly on fast space travel. Yes, it’s a giant PR blunder, but that’s what the Corp has a PR Department for. Oh, and call me a cynic, but Jax and her friends wouldn’t have walked out of that building alive, or if they did, they wouldn’t have remained so for long.

All in all though, this book interested me enough to check out the rest of the series, mostly because the glimpses I got of the world are interesting and I want to learn more about Grimspace and why certain people can navigate it. And I also managed to cross another book off my TBR list.

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

A Matter of Death and Life (Gideon Sable 2) by Simon R Green

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Stars: 3 out of 5

You have to put a specific lens to enjoy this series. If you are looking for an intricate story with life and death situations and complex characters, this is probably not a book for you. But if you are looking for a quick and fun romp through a seemingly impossible heist, then by all means, come right in. 

I like the world this author created. It’s full of weird and unusual things, places, and people. Just take the Moonlight Express, for example, what a wonderful concept. And all the weird and terrible characters we encounter in these books are simply fascinating. Some of them are even more interesting than the main crew doing the heist.

And hence lies my issue with this book. The main crew is… okay, I guess, but they don’t really evolve much compared to the first book, with the exception of Lex. Annie is still anybody but herself, Johnny is still on tedious terms with reality, and Gideon… well, Gideon always has a plan. Problem is, we don’t learn much more about who Gideon is, or, more importantly, who he was before he stole that identity. There is  mention of the fact that he used to run with Switch it Sally before, and that the big bad in this book had two of his friends killed. But that’s it, we don’t get more details. We don’t get any more insight into this character other than he has a few tricks in his pockets and always has a plan.

I would have loved to learn a bit more about him as the series progresses, but as it stands, he is the character that has the least personality in this crew. I see the mask he’d donned, but I don’t see the real person behind it, which is disappointing.

The pacing is also a bit off in this book, even though it moves rather quickly. What I mean by that is that we spend too much time assembling the team. I mean we don’t get to Las Vegas and start the con until almost 70% into the book, so this whole portion feels very rushed. It’s a whirlwind of action that introduces all the villains, sets up the stakes, executes the con, etc. There is never a real sense of danger or realization that the stakes are high. Plus, Gideon always has a plan.

In fact, this book follows exactly the same blueprint as the first book did, but it worked in the first book because we were being introduced to all the characters for the first time. Here however, we already know them, so there was really no need to putter around for over half the book. I would have been more happy if they had gotten to Vegas earlier and infiltrated the casino gradually.

But all in all, this was a quick and fun read. A good palate cleanser between longer books that have more substance to them. So I think I will check out the next book in the series as well.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews

Serious Crimes (Strike a Match 1) by Frank Tayell

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Stars: 3 out of 5

This is not a bad book at all. It was just rather meh to me, but that might just be because I was expecting something more out of this post-apocalyptic read. 

I liked the glimpses into the past and what brought down the end of the world as we know it, even though the explanation about the AIs wasn’t all that satisfying. I mean, the technological remnants we are shown in this book aren’t advanced enough to have created something as sophisticated as the AIs as they are described. From everything I’ve seen in this book, the world “before” was at about our technological level (as in 2020’s), and we don’t have AIs or are even close to reaching that threshold. 

Also, a lot of things are hinted at, but not fully explained. Like the fact that the official story behind the Blackout isn’t really how it happened. I understand that this is only the first book in a longer series, but I would have appreciated a few more answers.

I think the biggest reason why this book was meh to me is that I never managed to connect with the characters. Mitchell seemed promising enough, but the author purposefully keeps him as a closed book. He knows a lot of things and a lot of people, but he speaks in riddles. We also never really get a glimpse inside his head or understand his motivations. I mean it’s hinted that Ruth’s mother asked him to look after her, but their connection isn’t explained.

Ruth herself didn’t work for me as the protagonist. I think it’s because she is so passive for most of this story. She joined the police academy because she couldn’t go to University and didn’t want to be a farmer or miner. She isn’t particularly motivated to be there. This is not a career she decided to pursue yet. So she kind of tags along for most of the investigation. 

She also feels woefully unprepared for the job she is supposed to be doing, which is surprising. Are you telling me that in a post-apocalyptic world where things are so bad that there is food rationing, people stopped committing crimes like murders and burglaries? So the police force is thought math and science instead of how to shoot a gun and how to best overpower and disarm a belligerent suspect? I’m sorry, but human nature being what it is, I would think that crime would have skyrocketed in society like that, so the police force would have to be a lot more brutal and better trained.

Also, because Ruth is only marginally interested in the investigation, and the reader sees it through her eyes, I was only marginally interested as well. It doesn’t help that everyone talks in riddles and never gives a straight answer.

But I guess that’s one more book I cleaned off my TBR list this year, even though I will not be continuing with the series. 

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

The Best Thing You Can Steal (Gideon Sable 1) by Simon R Green

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Stars: 3 out of 5

I love me a good heist and I am always excited to read about London in urban fantasy. It’s such an ancient and wonderful city that adding a magical element only adds to it’s fascination. So I dived into this series without reservation and read this book in a day. 

So what’s my verdict? It’s popcorn stuff. It’s a fun little romp through a fictional magical London, full of action and never a dull moment… It’s also pretty light on substance. I mean the whole book is about introducing the team, then explaining the plan, then executing the heist. Pretty straightforward.

And that’s the biggest drawback of this story, I think – I would expect a plan to fail, things to go wrong forcing the team to improvise. And while it does a little, none of the drawbacks seem dangerous or earthshattering. Ultimately, the plan goes exactly as formulated in our protagonist’s head. I never worried about the characters being in danger, because they really weren’t.

Part of the issue is that all of the characters are so overpowered that it’s hard to imagine that anything can truly hurt them. I mean the Damned has the armor of angels. The Wild Card can alter reality as it pleases him. The Ghost is a ghost, so bullets can’t hurt him. The only real humans are Anny Anybody and our protagonist, but the author never puts them in real danger. 

Finally, the villain himself is rather underwhelming all things considered. We spend the whole book building him up as this ruthless horrible person, someone extremely overpowered and who is in possession of unimaginable artifacts… What we get at the end is a mustache-swirling Bond villain who monologues about how villainous he is for about 10 pages, then gets beaten by a McGuffin. 

As I said, don’t read this book if you are looking for a memorable villain and edge of your seat action with high stakes and life and death situations. However, if you are looking for a quick read to take to the beach with you or to your morning commute – this definitely fits the bill. And while I seem critical, I did like it well enough to continue with the series. 

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Redshirts by John Scalzi

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Stars: 3 out of 5

For about 80% of this book I thought it would be a solid 5 stars… then the weird codas happened that turned me completely off. But since I was engaged with the story and the characters for most of the book, I am willing to still give it 3 stars.

Most of us watched Star Trek and noticed that nameless redshirt crewmember that usually dies horribly on an away mission in almost every episode, right? Well, what happens if the story is told from the perspective of some of those redshirts? Suddenly, they aren’t nameless anymore. Suddenly, they have a backstory, needs and wants, and friends. And they start wondering why so many of their crewmembers die so horribly on this one ship and not the others. Or why their commanding officers survive encounters that should have killed them ten times over. Not only do they wonder about it, but they decide to right that wrong once they discover the truth, no matter how crazy it seems.

I really got attached to these characters and was just as intrigued as they were to discover what was happening on the Intrepid. It’s an interesting take on the weekly scifi shows that kill off random characters just for shock value. You know that the core team (usually the captain and officers on the bridge) would always survive to the end of the episode, but what happens to the rest of the crew? More importantly, how do they feel about this? Well, how would you feel if you work on a spaceship where any mission suddenly becomes a life and death crisis, laws of physics and space-time stop applying, and your superior officers behave in a very strange manner from time to time. Oh, and don’t forget the Box. No wonder everyone is terrified. No wonder everyone is hiding when the call comes for an away mission crew members. They might be just extras on a show, but to themselves, they are people, and they don’t want to die.

I wanted them to find a solution to this problem and finally lead their lives on a normal Intrepid, not a ship constantly overtaken by the Narrative. So I was very shocked when that story abruptly ends on a rather negative note and we get “real” life codas instead. Honestly? I don’t care that the main writer for the show has writers block now or how he manages to overcome it. I don’t care that the actress who played Jenkins’ wife in real life finds her happy ever after. I did care a little about Hester’s transformation into Matthew, but that was about the only satisfying closure in this book.

So what had started as a fun story left me frustrated and even annoyed by the end. I know some readers would appreciate this breaking of the fourth wall, but I would have rather gotten more closure with the characters I had grown to love.

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

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Stars: 3 out of 5.

I feel bad giving this book less than a stellar rating, because it raises some pretty important issues about inclusion and the casual mistreatment of those who are different. It also talks about trauma and healing and finding your purpose in life. So all the things that should be right up my alley, right? Yes this book left me pretty much cold. 

I see several problems with the narrative that made it so this book didn’t work for me.

First, there is too much going on. There are demons ready to buy your soul and the competitive world of violin music. There are aliens escaping the collapse of a distant civilization. There is a traumatized transgender kid who is trying to find her way in this world that has never showed her kindness. There is the Queen of Hell, who already damned the souls of six of her most brilliant violin students and only need to collect one more to buy back her own.

On each own, all these stories would make a wonderful book. Reading about Katrina finding her own voice and melting the Queen of Hell’s heart in the process would have been wonderful. Reading about Lan Thran building a new life on Earth for her family and finding a modicum of happiness. And also realizing that music might be just the thing that could heal the soul of her dying civilization. Or even reading about the strange and cutthroat world of violin competitions and the violin repair shop owner who had the power to repair and exorcise cursed violins. And it is also a story about immigrants and refugees who are trying to rebuild a life on distant shores, as demonstrated by the Asian diaspora in California. 

Unfortunately, mashing them all together into the same narrative did a disservice to all of the stories. First, it felt like a clash of ideas, but more importantly, there wasn’t enough time to develop each story to the extent that it needed to be developed. There were too many characters to keep track of, as a result, almost none of them felt fleshed out. I could honestly say that the only two characters that felt “alive” to me were Katrina and Shirley. Ironic, isn’t it, considering Shirley is an AI?

As it stands, I felt like all the stories were underdeveloped then forcibly woven together to create a happy ending. 

Also, I found that for a book that seemingly had such high stakes – the souls of two women in jeopardy, aliens fleeing the destruction of their civilization, etc. I never felt any urgency in the narrative. We are told that the stakes are high, but we aren’t shown that. Apart from that last competition where Katrina plays her heart out, I never felt like any of the characters were in real danger. 

It might also be because violence is glossed over or threated with a passing shrug and nothing else in this story. Katrina is raped by her roommate and it is barely mentioned afterwards. I mean, she was betrayed by someone she trusted, yet again, but we will not dwell into that? Or when Lan’s son casually kills a civilian and then Lan just disintegrates his friends so that they wouldn’t go to the police? There is no aftermath for her for that. Oh, we just killed four people. Oh well, moving on. That felt very callous to me, especially in a story that talks about how music can heal our souls.

The ending is also something I didn’t like about this book. I understand the author’s desire to end the story on a good note, to create a happy ever after ending. Unfortunately, it cheapens Katrina’s sacrifice and self-realization during the violin competition, and also Shizuka’s real sacrifice after it, when she chose to forfeit her soul instead of damning Katrina. Shizuka was bound to Hell. That was the choice and the sacrifice she’d willingly made. It would have made for a heart-breaking, but beautiful ending of the book. One that I would have remembered and praised. Getting her out of that bargain by cope out space aliens was wrong, in my opinion. It sends the message that no matter what horrible things you did in your life, you can always escape punishment if you have the right friends. 

I would also argue that the way this book treated Katrina’s trauma was very “fairy tale” ending as well. She has severe PTSD from all the abuse she’d suffered from her family and those around her. She has self-loathing and self-image issues. Winning one competition and finding her music won’t solve all that. Finding one person who loves and support you helps, but doesn’t eliminate the trauma. Katrina needs serious therapy and years of work and recovery to be whole. Yet that part is completely glossed over. 

So yes, I like all the ideas in this book and a deep dive into violins and music was fascinating. I just didn’t particularly like how they were blended together in this book. 

PS: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance 3) by Naomi Novik

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Stars: 3 out of 5

This book, even though it was a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy, felt less well structured than the previous two. Also, it dragged. Hence the 3 star rating where the previous two books were solid 5 stars for me. 

I think my biggest problem is that this book spends too much time spinning its wheels. We pick up right after the awful events at the end of book 2. El is safe. El is back home with her mom, but El’s world has crumbled. She is traumatized by the events of the graduation. She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. She is depressed. So she spends a lot of time mopping around. Granted, that was very true to El’s character, since she tends to overanalyze everything to death and circle around the drain, but it makes for rather boring reading. 

I also felt that the middle part of the book dragged and lost its focus a bit. Yes, we learned some big revelations, especially about the correlation between mawmouths and enclave creation, but it felt like we were retreading the same ground again and again after the attack on London. The whole middle part could easily have been condensed and made more fast-paced and exciting without loosing any of the impactful reveals and character development. This is the first time in this series that I was tempted to skip forward and just skim through the pages. 

I loved the confrontation at the gates of the Scholomance. It really felt like this was the culmination of all the threads so carefully set up in the previous books. This was the culmination of Orion’s story. Of the mawmouths and the enclaves, and of the Scholomance itself. I think it would have been a better book if the author had decided to end it right there and then. Unfortunately, she didn’t…

I understand that she wanted to leave her character for a happy-ish ending, but it felt rather forced and shoehorned into what was a rather bleak story at times. I liked how Orion’s arc was resolved at the gates of Scholomance. I would have been happy with him being bound to the school, because that’s what El and all of the wizards had asked of him and the school itself – stay and protect our children. The fact that suddenly he can travel freely everywhere he wants and still has his ability to “eat” mals even though El killed the mawmouth inside him… it feels like a cheep copout. It cheapens the sacrifices and hard decisions both had to make during the battle of Scholomance. 

I also wasn’t completely happy with the solution they found for the enclaves. It’s not sustainable in the long run. After all, El is not immortal. One day she will be gone and there will be nobody there to kill the mawmouths. And yes, people will always choose the path of least resistance if they can. Building Golden Enclaves is harder than normal ones and requires more mana investments from the builders. So give it a generation, and wizards will revert to building modern enclaves again. 

In order to get rid of that practice, there needs to be a huge shift in how people think. Unfortunately, I don’t think the ending of this book laid a good enough foundation for that. So this is a hollow victory, because nothing has really changed. Which is a little disappointing.

It was still a good read though. All in all, I liked El’s growth and emotional journey and the fact that she finally found a modicum of peace.

books, Dark fantasy, Fantasy, Reviews

Savage Legion (Savage Rebellion 1) by Matt Wallace

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Stars: 3 out of 5.

While I mostly liked this book, it didn’t wow me like some other fantasy books I read this year. 

I think the reason for that is that I had too many questions about the worldbuilding that were never answered. Crache is a fascinating concept, but if you start digging a little deeper into it, you realize that it doesn’t work. 

Try as I may, I couldn’t picture this country. Cities are mentioned, but never truly explored apart from the parts of one city where the Gens live and the Bottoms, where the poor, the beggars, the infirm, and the “useless” eke a pitiful existence. What about the people in the middle? What about the simple citizens? They are mentioned once in passing. How do they live? How do they make a living? If you have to form a Gen to do any kind of trade in Crache, then what do the simple citizens subsist on? Are they allowed to work? Or do they just exist on some kind of universal income and do nothing? 

The second problem for me was the whole concept of the Savage Legion. “Brutal. Efficient. Unstoppable.” is what the blurb says. I would have to disagree with the last two statements. There is no way an army assembled from the dregs of society, barely trained, equipped with broken weapons and almost no armor can be efficient. Yes, they can overwhelm some opponents with their sheer numbers, but there is a limit to that as well. The Roman Legions have proven that organization and training trump sheer numbers any day of the week. Legionnaires conquered most of Europe, even though their numbers were much smaller than the Visigoths that opposed them. But they were professional soldiers, skilled, trained, and better equipped. 

With the Savage Legion, we are talking about half-starved and often infirm people who had never fought a battle in their life before. Who are just thrown into the fray as cannon fodder. Any well organized army would make quick work of them.

Finally, the multiple POVs do this book a disservice, in my opinion. They are too distant from each other. I understand that the author wanted to show different aspects of Crache through the experiences of these three women, but as a result, all three stories feel broken and disjointed. As soon as we are immersed in one story and the tension is mounting to some kind of resolution, the next chapter switches to another story. Tension – killed. We try to pick up the thread of that story again and decide whether we care or not. And as soon as we start caring for that story again, the POV switches one more time.

The problem with multiple POVs in this book is also that none of the stories have a resolution. I understand that there is a sequel, but there should be at least some emotional pay off at the end of book 1. A reward for following the story so far, of sorts. Some kind of win for the protagonists. Here, the story just… stops. Well, all three stories just kind of stop in the middle. 

To me that is rather frustrating, and it doesn’t make me want to pick up the next book, even though I already have it on my kindle. But I might give it a go just to see if I get more answers to all my questions.

books, Fantasy, Reviews

The Godstone by Violette Malan

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Stars: 3 out of 5.

I loved the worldbuilding in this book. It’s different and interesting… and very confusing. The author drops us right into the world and doesn’t pause to explain anything, so in the beginning I was a little lost. I usually don’t mind that, because I like figuring things out and I assume that some explanation will be forthcoming eventually. I like when authors gradually introduce us to their worlds instead of doing a 10 page long infodump in the beginning. 

Here, however, the explanation never came. I still don’t know what the Modes really are. Are they different worlds stitched together? Are they different versions of the same world from alternate realities? Are they the same world from different times? The author never explains. 

We also don’t get any firm explanation on how the magic in this world works. Why did one Practitioner need a relative’s blood to open another dead practitioner’s vault when our protagonist was able to do that just by replicating that practitioners pattern? How is it that their clothes never change… yet that rules seems to go out of the window for the protagonist in the middle of the book? 

See, when the rules of the world and of the magic are not fully defined and explained, the reader is left floundering, trying to understand what’s going on. And a lot of time I felt like things happened or the protagonists were able to do things not because those things were possible, but because the author wanted it to be so. Because it was convenient for the plot. I don’t mind suspending my disbelief and getting immersed in a fantastical world, but that world has to make sense. The characters have to live within the established rules or there has to be a valid explanation as to why those rules were broken.

That’s most infuriating about Fenra. A lot of times the author says that some things are just not possible or have never been accomplished… only for Fenra to go and do them a few pages later. It’s hinted a few times that she is much more powerful than she lets people know, but it is never explained why she chooses to do that. Why the secrecy? Why pretend to be less than you are? Why fake an infirmity? See, if she had some powerful enemies or needed to hide from something, that would make sense. But the author never mentions that. In fact, as far as the White Court is concerned, nobody gives a flying fig about Fenra. So why is she wearing a figurative mask?

We get more explanation about Arlyn, but even then there are still so many unanswered questions about what he can and cannot do. How did he end up in the farthest Mode? If he lost his “magic”, how comes he can still see the changes in Modes as they travel to the City? How did he suddenly become this renown furniture maker? Was that a hobby when he was a Practitioner? 

The whole structure of the White Court is nebulous at best. We get no real explanation about its structure, hierarchy or anything else. We meet two apprentices and maybe 2-3 other masters, and lots of guards who are ordinary people. Even less is explained about the Red Court. That one doesn’t bring anything to the story at all. We are also told that there is tension in the City and that the common people don’t like the Practitioners, but we are not shown this. One little walk through the city and some unfriendly stares don’t show that dislike at all, at least to me. Also, no real explanation is given as to why they are suddenly disliked.

All in all, this was interesting enough for me to keep going, but it could have been so much better if the author had taken the time to set up and explain the rules of their world better before breaking them. And explain why they were breaking them. As it stands now, I don’t think I want to revisit this world again, even if there is a second book coming.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.