DNF 150 pages / 40% ….

Once again I fell for a five star hype train, and I do wonder whether if I had read this without all the rave reviews I would have had a different take. I have read a spoiler synopsis so I know the ending / what happens.

This book isn’t (subjectively) ‘bad’ to me, it’s just very confused and ‘meh’, you have a story that is being told through the eyes of an FMC who is really only there for convenience of the third party plot telling rather than her being integral to the story (it is essentially about the two prince brothers story).

It is very very tell not show, on top of a LOT of convenience plot writing - she just ‘happens’ to be able to cast a big spell two working days after learning to read because she’s ‘seen’ it done. She just ‘happens’ to trust and open up to the right Eunuch who, spills the beans she needs later in the story etc etc.

I had problems from 50 or so pages in after it had been HAMMERED into us that this girl (she’s 16) sole reason for living and breathing is saving and helping her family, then, at the first opportunity for her to actually DO anything, she chooses instead to save the life of an utterly irrelevant to the plot peacock … we then hear nothing about her family at all for the next 90 or so pages even though we are in her head, so that during character point is now forgotten? 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s also meant to be an insanely toxic and politically dangerous court where death is at every turn, yet girly pop is out here casting spells (which is a death sentence behaviour for both her AND her family), in front of utter strangers in the court she doesn’t know…. Come ON now!!

Then we get to the writing, it’s very easy to read, it shouldn’t be. This is a dark fantasy book in terms of themes, or, it pertains to be. The author never commits to it, everything that is dark is very much written in fade to black. It pertains to be like Game of Thrones whilst being written like it’s for YA. I have NO problem with YA books or fantasy, I enjoy them hugely, but this is written like it’s YA whilst flirting with it being dark and grim, but it actually isn’t - or, could have been SO much more if she had really dived into that. Ultimately, because she doesn’t deal with the ‘dark’ properly, the things that happen seem sensational and overbearing, and just written to shock. We never see or feel or hear about how the main FMC has handled or come to terms with that trauma, she remains the same as she did on the first page, which then again leads you to take what happens less seriously than is meant.

It’s a stand alone book, trying to cover an immense amount of themes and storylines; it should have been 600 pages, I think that way the author would have had time to build out the magic systems, the politics and the characters SO much better. Instead what we have is the bones of something that could have been brilliant, condense into 390 pages, and thus missing everything that could make it so. Also, this is NOT a romantasy book!!

I know this is a beloved book and I’m the outlier 😅😅 but this one wasn’t for me. Which is something I’m finding with a lot of modern books atm!