Reviewed by dragononabook on
First up: Chupeco's use of all sorts of fairy tales and mythology was just absolute perfection. Maybe I'm biased, because the Snow Queen and associated figures has been my long-time favourite, but I honestly couldn't think of a better example of the merging of our world with fairy tales and other forms of traditional stories. They didn't overshadow the plot itself, rather they complemented it and helped it and the world building run smoothly. The way that the magic structure was built into the world fascinated me as well, and the depth to the backstory of this alternate universe (which I have to admit I really want to live in) pleased the history nerd in me immensely.
This brings us to arguably one of the most important parts of a fantasy novel: world building. This was a massively juicy book in terms of the world building, and I can understand how the massive amount of detail could turn people off. However, it was done in a way that didn't make me feel like I was in a class having information chucked at me; it was more like having someone extraordinarily passionate about the world tell me all about it, which is basically what a book is anyway. The layers and layers really helped me get right in the world, and there were some elements (like ICE's presence, which I thought was excellent) that helped diminish the distance between the reader and the world itself.
This, as well as being a heavy-on-the-world-building book, was also a heavy on the plot and plot twists. Despite the large number of twists (and there were quite a few), I never felt like I was going to get whiplash for several reasons. The main reason was that Chupeco did what the most excellent of storytellers do and left nuggets of information dotted around the framework of the story, leaving me feeling very satisfied when I came to a twist that I saw coming, and delightfully shocked when I pieced everything together post-big reveal. It's not often that I get to do this, and I really, really enjoyed the way Chupeco artfully draped the plot around the multitudinous other elements of this book.
I'm not usually a fan of large casts, however this book features one of the most delightful casts of characters I have read about. They all had their distinct personalities, and they all contributed to the group dynamic; there was a balance in character types, and I never felt overwhelmed by the number of characters that the narrative followed. The characters existed solidly as individuals, notably Tala and Alex, as the main characters. Tala was a wonderful addition to the current offering of YA fantasy main characters, especially with her status as a Makiling. Often, fantasy focuses on the characters having epic powers, or occasionally none at all; Tala finds the perfect middle ground with her magic-negation, the Makiling agimat, as well as still being a massively relatable teenager. Alex, while unlikeable at times, had the motivation and depth that many similar characters lack, and I ended up liking him more than expected. I could go over all the other characters but that would take a while, so I'll finish this review up by mentioning my personal favourite, Cole. He's the classic brooding YA character, but actually not so classic and not so broody. I'm really looking forward to seeing where his arc goes in the sequel.
Overall, I think there was no way I couldn't love this book. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's so flavourful and complex that I couldn't stop thinking about it for days, and I'm looking forward to both the sequels and my eventual reread. Hats off to Rin Chupeco for writing a book that feels like it could fill an entire 'My Favourite Things' song.
Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 28 January, 2020: Finished reading
- 28 January, 2020: Reviewed