I was extremely excited to get my hands on this! I have been seeing this all over the place. This book is quite a monster, in the fact that it is dense. It is a slower read because there is just so much information. Personally, it was on the verge of being too much. It was really complex with the magic and religion systems that were mixed in.
There were so many things that I liked about this book. I think I’ll just do a list type review today. My thoughts are really just all over the place and it’s probably going to be easier on both of us!
♦ The school of magic/military training was so interesting. I really loved it and I flew through these chapters.
♦ I really enjoyed the magic system. It was really complicated and different than anything I’ve read before. The Spiritual world was just so cool.
♦ I really loved the relationships that Rin has formed throughout this book. She’s so brutal and very creative in her war tactics. Yet, she formed some really deep relationships with her master, mentor and couple friends from school. It humanized her a little bit. This book is dark and brutal, like really brutal.
♦Rin was awesome. Her character development throughout this book is just fantastic! She grows so much and learns who she is and what she believes. What impressed me most about her character was that she never gave up. She was always willing to fight even when everyone thought she would fail. She makes some really hard decisions because others would not. Her character is definitely morally grey because she is ruled by vengeance.
♦ There is NO love triangle!!!!! How refreshing and better yet, there was no romance at all! There are only male/female friendships, which is amazing for a book these days, not even in a subplot. I won’t say that there wont be one in a future book but this one was all about the action and not about romance. If you are the type of person, who has to have romance, this is not for you.
Now some things that I did not like…
♦ I think the time that Rin spent at the school just went rather quickly. There were times that we flew ahead two years. I wish that we could have seen more happen and more growth there. It felt really premature to just throw her into battle without the proper training.
♦ I wish the time that Rin spent with Alton and their little army was also expanded on a little more. By the end of the book, she’s supposed to have these relationships with them but we don’t really see much interaction with them in the story.
♦ I was not the biggest fan of the graphic descriptions of rape and dismemberment that happens in this book. There’s a part that they arrive at a city and there’s description upon description of the way people were “creatively” killed. It was hard to stomach.
Overall, this was a great debut novel! It did get a little too dark at times but the rest of it totally outweighs that. I can’t wait to read the next book. This one did an amazing set up and I can’t wait to see what Rin is up to next!!
Great review! I’m glad you liked this one! I’ll have to get it from the library soon. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I hope you like it when you get your hands on it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a brilliant review – I love how honest you are about your thoughts on the book and I love checking your blog to find out the strengths/weaknesses of books I’m considering picking up! Thank you for sharing!
Nati x | http://www.naticreates.com | @naticreates
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!! That is very kind of you to say! I’m glad that you enjoy my reviews. Thanks for reading my blog, I really appreciate it! 😊💕 If you pick up this book, I hope you enjoy it!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you enjoyed this one! I’ve heard so many good things about this book and your review really makes me want to pick it up even more!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad!! I heard a lot of good things and was nervous! I’m happy that I fell into the hype with this one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: 3 Quotes, 3 Days Tag #2 | Day Three – ❤ Bibi's Book Blog ❤
I need to read this book ASAP, great review!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I hope you love it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: August Monthly Wrap Up! | Books Are The New Black
Pingback: 2018 End of Year Book Survey | Books Are The New Black