Reviewed by Amber (The Literary Phoenix) on
I found myself waffling back and forth about this book, because on one hand, I really enjoyed the medieval world near the Scottish highlands. And on the other hand, I hated the love story. I always hate the love story, why do I always hate the love story?
The thing is, the world building is incredible. It's dark and shadowy and the friendships are good. The love story pops up at all the wrong moments - in the training montage, in the battle scenes, and in moments of mourning. The love story reduces the two men involved (one good, one evil, who guessed?) to flat, uninteresting blobs carrying swords. Whyyy.
But if you pull them out of it, it's a good book. I love good vs. evil medieval fantasies. I will read that trope over and over again. There are other side characters who are really fantastic. My absolute favorite was Saoirse, who was a woman warrior who found her place among men long before the start of the book. I'm actually still quite made about her....
Anyways, I really liked Rift, but it's the kind of 'like' where I want to complain about the handful of small things I didn't like because I wanted a perfect book. But read it! Read it if you like medieval fantasy. The first book is Western European, but they're headed east....
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 10 July, 2018: Finished reading
- 10 July, 2018: Reviewed