Stars: 2 out of 5
I had such high hopes when I picked up this book. The description was right up my alley, since I love Celtic and Nordic lore-inspired stories. Unfortunately, the book itself was a big disappointment.
I think the thing that so many people loved this book for and gave it 5 stars reviews is what didn’t work for me at all, and that’s the writing. It’s overly purple and dramatic. It uses 50 words to describe something when just 10 would have been plenty. While it is justified in some case, like describing the Hall of Roven for the first time, it quickly gets tedious.
I also struggled with the stream-of-consciousness narration. The story is told entirely through Kanda’s perspective, and her constant cycle of fears, complaints, self-recrimination, and denial became frustrating after the first hundred pages. As the story progressed, I found her narration increasingly difficult to tolerate.
The dialogue was another challenge. Conversations are filled with stutters, unfinished sentences, false starts, and abrupt shifts in thought. Rather than feeling natural, the dialogue often felt disjointed and difficult to follow. At times I just wanted to shake them and yell, “Focus! Use your words!”
Communication—or the lack of it—is a recurring trait among the characters. They keep secrets, avoid difficult conversations, and allow resentment to build until situations explode into conflict. Many of the story’s problems could have been avoided if the characters had simply spoken honestly with one another.
By the end of the novel, I had grown to dislike most of the characters, making it difficult to care if Kanda and Calian got Sal back or what would happen to Dellet. They were all pathetic and selfish, and a lot of their problems could have been solved if they had just talked to each other before things got out of hand.
I am happy for everyone who liked this book and the writing style, but I’m afraid that this author and I will part ways after this book.
PS: Big thanks to NetGalley for my review copy.