mvk
Written on Dec 1, 2024
To start with the positives, I appreciated that Laura Thalassa gave War a distinct personality and character arc, setting him apart from Pestilence. His character felt unique, and I found him more compelling than Miriam, the main female character. Unfortunately, I found Miriam too repetitive. Her constant cycle of escaping, being captured, and returning felt artificial and uninteresting after a while. It wasn’t annoying, but it lacked depth, and I ended up skimming through parts of her inner monologues because they didn’t add much to the story.
Compared to Pestilence, I felt the romance here was weaker. War’s transformation felt rushed and less believable. While I love the idea of love changing someone, the way it was portrayed here didn’t feel natural. His sudden shift felt more like a forced narrative device rather than a genuine evolution of his character. In Pestilence, the change was gradual and organic, slow, which made it more impactful. Here, War’s change felt too quick and overly reliant on external forces, as if it was driven by destiny or divine intervention rather than his own understanding.
The ending was another issue for me. It was overly tragic and dramatic, but also blatantly obvious that it wouldn’t stick. I understand the intention was to show War’s growth and emotions, but it didn’t land well for me.
Despite these flaws, the book still had its moments. The dynamics between the characters had potential, and War himself was a strong, well-written character (I liked him more than Miriam). This is a solid 3-star read for me - good, but not great. I might have enjoyed it more if I’d read it before Pestilence.
