Reviewed by Leigha on
When I saw this available on Edelweiss last fall, I requested it as quickly as possible. Once I received it, I tried to read it. Put it down after 5%, tried a month later. This went on until February when I finally said “just read the dame thing.” I read it to 50% before scanning it to the finish.
Evie should be a fascinating character – she’s survived a massacre to become queen of the kingdom, she’s a political strategist, and she’s even a freaking gladiator. Despite all of these interesting dichotomies, Evie is boring. Her magic always grows to match her particular circumstances, meaning she rarely comes across an enemy she can’t beat. She spends the majority of the novel focused on herself or her enemies, meaning side characters we’ve enjoyed in the past tend to get lost. Where the hell was Sullivan? He’s around, appearing magically for a few minutes to disappear for pages. It was so disappointing.
The other issue is the descriptive world building. I’ve noticed this before in other Estep novels – she over shares details about her worlds. She details to the nth degree the clothing, the architecture, the food, etc. I don’t need to know ever single detail about each location or culture. Pair it down to the basics to make the descriptions impactful.
tl;dr Disappointed in the last book as it’s bogged down by world building and the main character’s boring evolution.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 14 February, 2020: Finished reading
- 14 February, 2020: Reviewed