A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and DAW for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
An in-depth fantasy world (with dragons!A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and DAW for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
An in-depth fantasy world (with dragons!) with multiple POVs occurring on opposite ends of a conflict, and it’s not until things really kick off where we can see how everything interconnects and works together. If you like slow-building fantasy where there are both heroes and villains on every side, then you’ll like this novel. Much of the slow advance to learning how everything works together strongly reminded me of Samantha Shannon’s “Priory of the Orange Tree” - if you liked how slow and in-depth that novel is, I think you’ll find similar enjoyment from this novel as well. (And this book does start slow, but trust me it does pick up once the events start unfolding.)
This story is told through multiple POVs, but I will say that for once I didn’t have much confusion about who was who. The characters (and their names!) were unique enough that I was able to pretty early on identify who and what was going on - which is rare for me, I’m kind of stupid in this department normally. I liked how much of the worldbuilding was slowly given to us by the world and actions of each named character, and while there was a lot of information to take in it never felt info-dumpy to me. Something I really liked about the multiple POVs in this book is that many times the character we were reading about would either mention, or talk to another character - and then we would have a POV from that character. It made connecting who was who easier in my opinion, as we had essentially an introduction to that character and then a more in-depth look into them.
My only issue with this novel was that there were a few times I was kind of confused about what the conflict exactly was, or what goal the characters were working towards. It could be that I wasn’t paying as close attention as I should have, but sometimes the characters would decide on a plan that didn’t make a great deal of sense to me - nor did it fit into the urgency of what exactly was going on.
However, I found this book engaging enough that while it was personally a slower read, it was an enjoyable one. I was engaged as we were learning more about the interconnections of the politics and the church, and thought the religious twist that the characters discover was really well done.
(Also, I don’t know what it is, but it seems like every book I read with a religion has a similar twist to it - Seven Faceless Saints and The Ghost and the Fallen, are two novels with a similar religious situation going down.)
The ending was an interesting twist, and I will be reading the next in this series to see what these characters do with the events that unfolded at the end of this book....more
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Simon and Schuster for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A tale of a sister’s quesA huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Simon and Schuster for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A tale of a sister’s quest for revenge after the unjustified death of her sister, this book has a lot going for it to make any mystery lover intrigued. We follow Maude Horton (of the title) as she investigates the truth of how her sister died - and its coverup. Maude’s sister disguised as a cabin boy to go on an Arctic exploration and rescue - but she never comes home and no one will tell Maude exactly what happened. Told through dual timelines and 3 POVs - Maude, her killer, and the journal of her sister on this fateful journey - we slowly piece together the truth of what really happened out there on the ice.
I kind of feel this story might have been more interesting from Maude’s sister’s main POV, and I felt a bit too much of the narrative was in the mind of her killer (and to be honest, Maude’s “revenge” is only near the end) but otherwise this was a fun book to read. I think anyone who likes Victorian era historical fiction, mysteries, and doomed Arctic exploration tales would enjoy this book. Despite knowing who the “villain” of this tale is right at the start - Maude still needs to figure out a way to prove his guilt and exonerate her sister after death. We follow her investigation as Maude gets close to her sister’s killer - who, ironically, is out of luck himself and is trying to shill anything he can to pay his debts.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and had fun with it, despite (especially near the end) it feeling like Maude herself didn’t really have much to do with this “revenge” and it just kind of falling into her lap at the conclusion. ...more
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Wicked House Publishing for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A creepy horror thatA huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Wicked House Publishing for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A creepy horror that takes you further into the dark than even your darkest fears will expect.
I started this book expecting strictly a story about grave robbers - and instead was given something much more intriguing and in-depth. Yes, this story is about graverobbing, but that’s only the beginning to the events that eventually unfold.
We begin this book with the aforementioned graverobbing - complete with some grisly descriptions about the corpse’s smell and appearance. But it’s what happens with the newly deceased during these experiments in the wealthy Mr. Creighton’s basement where this story really takes off. Eventually hearing about this spat of grave robberies, Chicago reporter Michael Jacobs winds up investigating the case for a story. But when he thinks he’s solved it - suddenly he’s entangled more than he could have ever expected.
Something I think this book does exceptionally well is with existential horror. I won’t spoil anything, but there’s a character (or characters) who become essentially “trapped” in their own bodies, who can no longer move as quickly as they can think. Ever. And in my honest opinion, that part of this novel was the scariest part. (Yes, there were other rather shockingly scary parts - but being trapped in your own body is a particular fear of mine and this book captures that feeling PERFECTLY.)
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys horror, with some mystery, as well as some rather fun and gory descriptions - as well as a possibly ambiguous ending. Once I began reading this book I had to finish it, and the story took a few significant turns that I was not expecting. ...more
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
ThisA huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This novel is a phenomenal addition to the romantasy genre that will keep you guessing about who to trust until the very end. (And will also make you never trust your mirror again - that is, if you ever did in the first place.)
I had to finish this novel in one sitting, as once I started reading I could not stop.
I’ve always found that mirrors made me anxious, and after a certain point at night I would never look into them - as I was terrified that my reflection would do something that I myself wasn’t doing.
This novel is what happens when that exact scenario is something that can, and will, happen.
Our main character Ying is soon to be married to the crown prince, but the only problem is - she’s been locked in her room the entire time she’s been there, and every time she meets with him he’s cruel and cold to her. And if that’s not enough, suddenly every reflection she sees seems to be showing her things that only she notices. Until finally, it all comes to a head and she rips away the barrier between her world, and the mirror world.
Here, Ying meets the Mirror Prince - the complete opposite to the crown prince in her world. Kind and loving, the Mirror Prince is the love that Ying has always dreamed of - and yet, she can’t stay in this world forever. Things are happening, war is on the horizon, and soon lines are drawn in the sand between friends and foes.
Keshe Chow has both incredible worldbuilding and characterization in her debut novel, and at no point did I feel bored or felt like something didn’t make sense.
Never once did I feel like yelling at my book because the main character did something I felt was stupid, or obviously the wrong decision. Ying is thrust into this strange world of mirrors, and neither her, nor the reader, is ever certain of who she can really trust. She makes the best decisions she can with the very limited information she has, and even when everything comes crashing down around her - I felt like she did the best she could have done.
I also never once felt that the worldbuilding in this novel was done poorly or without care. As Ying is learning about the dynamics of the mirror world as compared to the “real” world, so is the reader. Whenever I had a question about how something worked - so did Ying, and so we essentially learned the ropes of this reality together.
This novel also gets really intense at multiple times, and there is one scene in particular that shocked me to my core and EXTREMELY raised the stakes. (I might have yelled at the author for this scene in discord, but trust me - it’s worth it.) While much of the beginning of this novel feels like much of the danger will bypass the main character - the tension slowly rises until you can't be certain about who will survive until the end.
I would describe this book as perfect for fans of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, The Scarlet Alchemist, and Song of Silver, Flame Like Night and would highly encourage anyone who is a fan of high-stakes romantasy to check it out. The romance is fantastic, the worldbuilding is fascinating, and the characters are believable and human....more
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Angry Robot for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This story is told from mostly tA huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Angry Robot for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This story is told from mostly two points of view - Vedma Kada, and noblewoman Sladyana. We also occasionally get a point of view from the fox - our main antagonist in this book, as well as Secha, Kada’s daughter. There are a few others sprinkled throughout, but these are the most plot significant.
Kada is the Vedma for the town she lives in, a kind of witch who helps people with their issues - delivering babies, curing ailments, as well as communing with the goddess Zemya - the source of the bone roots which gives the book its name. Her goal is to protect her daughter Secha at all costs - as her daughter will only become fully human, and safe from the goddess claiming her as her own, when she turns sixteen. Until then, she runs the risk of being captured by the fox and given to the goddess Zemya - unless Kada can stop her, even if it means betraying everything she’s worked for.
Sladyana is a noblewoman whose daughter, Luba, went missing 15 years ago - taken by the same fox hunting Secha. She has been searching everywhere for a trace of her daughter, but has also adopted a four year old mute child named Tula. Sladyana is convinced Kada - who is the woman who helped her have a child in the first place years ago - knows something about what happened to her missing daughter. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get her back.
The conflict in this book is between these two mothers trying to do anything they can for their daughters. However, we eventually find that only one of them can have a truly happy ending - and she must bring suffering to the other to achieve it.
Once the plot of this book kicks off, it’s easy to sympathize with both of the mothers and their respective scenarios. We might not agree with everything they do to achieve their goals - but we can understand them. There’s also a twist at the end that I very much didn’t see coming, but it recontextualizes previous scenes in a way I wasn’t expecting. The reveal at the end makes much of the earlier character’s actions (especially Kada’s) make significantly more sense than before, and I thought it was a really clever interpretation, as well as fitting into a common theme in folklore of hidden agendas and betrayals. I was especially not expecting how this book ended itself, with neither mother getting what they wanted or expected to happen by the end.
The biggest issue with this book is the pacing, and how it starts. Each chapter of this book is told from a different character’s perspective, which at the start of the book, with no knowledge of who or what these characters are - is very confusing and off putting. It was kind of hard knowing who was who, or how they fit together, until significantly later in the book.
As well as the fact that the two mother POVs aren’t connected to one another until later in the book, and I wasn’t aware until they met each other that they were happening at the same time, but separated from one another. I couldn’t tell if these POVs were past/present or who was what until this point, which made me miss a lot of the beginning context for the first 20% of this book.
Honestly, I think if you liked the premise given in this book, as well as stories focused on Slavic folklore - just read through the first 20% until it makes sense. Then, you can decide if you want to go back and re-read (or do what I did and just continue on the journey the book takes you.) Once you can piece together the relationships and how everything fits together, this is a very good book and I significantly enjoyed the last 70% and wanted to stay up to finish reading this to see how it resolved itself.
If you like Slavic folklore, I think you’d like this book. Even if you’re not too familiar with Slavic folklore, I don’t think this book will be altogether too confusing for you - as I’m not overly familiar with it and I was able to follow along fairly well. It was a really good read that made you understand the motivations and actions of all the characters, without a true villain in it causing the issues for you to root against. Even with the copious creatures and forms of magic present within the book, the conflicts feel real and grounded in a way I wasn’t expecting - nor was I expecting to be simultaneously rooting for the victory of both of the mothers at the end, regardless of what they had done beforehand....more
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Orbit Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A beautifully crafted debut thatA huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Orbit Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A beautifully crafted debut that incorporates real-world issues into a fantasy setting, and allows the reader to really dive into all the issues present in this novel.
The worldbuilding in this novel is intense, and while it took me a little effort to fully understand how everything worked, I really enjoyed the setting once I could easily picture it. The description of the city and the combination of where/how the humans live vs the folk I found really fascinating - especially with the opened up worldbuilding of the ability of the folk to live underwater. I think possibly a softer introduction to this world for the reader would have been nice, but overall it captivated me enough that I wanted to learn more.
This story is told through the multiple POVs of the main characters - Nami, Mira, Cordelia, and Serena. Since this is an advanced digital review copy, I have no idea if this will be the case in the finished novel, but I think a chapter title of the character’s names would make reading this easier. Nami and Mira have very similar character voices, and there were a few times I wasn’t sure which one was speaking until I saw their name written. I don’t think it’s that much of an issue that their voices are similar, as they have very similar motivations and beliefs - they just have their own way of reaching them. Cordelia and Serena have a very distinct narrative voice, so for their chapters I immediately knew which character was speaking.
There isn’t a great deal of romance in this novel, and the little that is I thought was mildly lacking. .Mira and Kai are already romantically linked by the time the novel starts, so while they have a fairly healthy relationship I found some difficulty connecting to them as a couple. I think it would have been nice to see their relationship develop, which could have provided a nice parallel to the relationship that Nami has later in this book. Since Mira and Nami are very much two sides of the same coin as characters, I think I would have preferred a more explicit parallel for the relationships they form in this novel.
I also had difficulty connecting with Nami and Firth’s relationship, as it was very close to insta-love and I had questioned why she was so taken so quickly. There were a few times Nami began to question Firth’s intentions, but once she saw him she decided to be with him anyway. I think it might have worked better if he was a folk who is known for using their allure, or something to force attraction, to make this work better. However, while we can sense some issues hiding under the water with their relationship, it never fully was too unbelievable that Nami was just simply attracted to him - it just happens that that’s not my preferred relationship dynamic.
Since this is an early digital review copy, I have no idea if this will be in the final draft. However, I want to suggest a glossary of terms in this novel to help the reader more easily learn what certain words or creatures mean, to more easily read through this novel.
All-in-all this was a solid debut with a strong voice and unique worldbuilding, and I highly suggest everyone to check this out. There are a few plot twists that I didn't see coming, some hints at a deeper world to be explored in the next novel, as well as some heartbreak that I will be devastated if it’s not resolved. This novel left me wanting more, and I am very excited to see where the author continues the story....more
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Flatiron Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A fantasy novel where the fouA huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Flatiron Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A fantasy novel where the four seasons are actually gods who enter our world for only 3 months out of the year, and whose presence facilitates is the cause of the changing of the seasons. This novel greatly resembles how the Greeks saw the change of the seasons, with the presence or absence of Persephone in the Underworld, but takes it further to include all four changes - Summer, Winter, Spring, and Autumn.
Our main character, Tirne, is the Herald of Autumn - in charge of bringing the spirits of the dead to rest, and in bringing her god of Autumn into the world when it’s time to change the season from Summer. However, in her sixth year of doing this - when exiting the Mirror to bring the gods into the mortal realm - it breaks, shattering the connection and trapping the world in an endless autumn. Nothing can grow as everything slowly dies, and eventually famine hits the world and the spirits of the dead pile up, with nowhere to go.
Tirne is the main suspect for the breaking of this Mirror, and she must investigate on her own to try to uncover the real culprit before time runs out on the living. With her connection to Autumn, she has a bit of his magic, and the ability to feel his emotions - as the longer he remains in the world of the mortals, the more mortal he becomes.This is dangerous, as if he spends too long in the mortal realm he may no longer be an immortal god, and instead simply a man.
I wanted to like this novel more than I did. Even with its very Greek retelling feel, this novel never fully did it for me. I’ll explain further in detail with more specific spoilers, but as I believe this novel to be a standalone I felt much of the worldbuilding and character relationships left much to be desired. (If there is a sequel, then I will revise my statement.) I think if this book had a sequel, it could account for much of the issues I had with this novel, as much of my issues are things feeling unfinished with questions left unanswered.
There are issues with the religion in this novel - much of which are things assumed to be factual, that Tirne discovers to be untrue - that is simply brushed over at the end of this book as things go back to Square One. In the same way, she has 3 relationships throughout this novel, all of which do not really go anywhere and end with none of them together - which makes the reader feel a bit empty when the book ends. There were also parts of this book near the end that felt rushed, and as I was reading it (and especially after the ending) it felt like a good 100-200 pages of plot was removed and only the main events were kept. However, near the middle there is a bit of a stagnation where nothing really happens, which I think should have been the parts that were edited for brevity instead.
However, overall I did enjoy this novel and would recommend it for a reader who enjoys novels that feel like Greek myth retellings. As I was reading it, I was never bored and I cared about the characters and what happened to them. I enjoyed some of the romances in this novel, and thought the character relationships to be interesting and diverse. I also enjoyed the disability representation with the main character and her chronic headaches.
SPOILERS AHEAD: I kept these at the very end, so you could read my full review without reading any spoilers. These are more specifics with the issues I had with this book, but in describing them I’d be spoiling those events. Also, I may or may not get mean so don’t shoot the messenger, I warned you.
RELATIONSHIPS:
I thought the development and inclusion of some of the relationships in this novel to be unnecessary, and a few times it felt like they were included only to keep this novel from being classified as YA.
Our first look at this is when Tirne returns from the ceremony with the broken mirror, and meets up with her childhood friend. Instead of communicating, they immediately have sex to distract herself from her issues - and apparently, them hooking up when she’s back in the mortal realm is a regular occurrence, despite him having another relationship. I’m not a prude or saying friends with benefits can’t exist, but this felt like an abrupt change of pace when it happened and I was more surprised than anything. Reading this didn’t do anything for me, and I kind of just read it waiting for it to finish so we could continue the novel. (Also, I clearly missed something when he was introduced because I legitimately thought he was her brother before this point, but clearly I was wrong, lol. That’s how out of left field this development was.)
The other relationship that I kind of thought was unnecessary was her attraction to her god Autumn. I have to admit, while this concept drew me in (the relationship between the two developed kind of like in Gods of Jade and Shadow), with Tirne’s other more prominent relationship this never impressed me. The description says this is a forbidden romance between the two, but it’s more of a blink and you’ll miss it - and then, he’s back in the realm of gods and no longer has human emotions so it’s done. We suddenly go from her being his Herald, to her noticing how “attractive” he is, and then as Autumn becomes more human with more and more emotions - he starts breaking the rules to be with her. (Also, this is a personal gripe, but they hook up after she’s had months of starvation to the point she can’t eat without severely watering it down for her stomach - the entire time they had sex I was like “hello???? HELLO???? Miss ma’am, how do you have the energy for this?” It’s just hard to get into the idea of them having sexytimes when she’s described as being sunken and skeletal, okay.)
Her final relationship, and the only one that actually fits in this novel, in my opinion, is with a sorcerer named Sidriel. I was kind of surprised this turned into an actual relationship, because he’s such a morally ambiguous man who at times is a significant antagonist. However, their chemistry develops fairly well from hate sex to something more, and I wish the novel focused more on this than her other romantic entanglements. There’s supposed to be some drama between her being attracted to the other two as opposed to him, but honestly I feel like the drama could have been even if she wasn’t attracted to Autumn, and just him to her. Also, there’s literally no development to this relationship, as after the events of the novel he breaks it off with her and she mopes on her own. And then, she decides she NEEDS closure and goes to see him again - and once again, he just says no and then she accepts it?
Tirne had an entire dynamic where she had to break up with a significant other because she only spends 3 months out of the year in the mortal realm. However, after the events of the novel she has to remove Autumn’s magic and live there full-time. I thought for SURE that would be the catalyst for her and Sidriel to be together, as he had lost one love to the gods, but gained another - and she learned to prioritize being with others over her obsession with being important. But no, they just say “Nah” and move on. Sure I guess?
RELIGION:
I won’t go as in-depth here as I did the relationships, but there were multiple MUTLIPLE times we see the cracks in the facade of their religion after Tirne is cast out of it.
We begin with her having a less than stellar relationship with her aunt, who has rejected the main religion to follow a more offshoot one that focuses on the creatures who remained after the 4 season gods defeated the master of those monsters. Tirne doesn't believe in those monsters at all, and her aunt thinks that the gods are poisoning the world with their magic - and so, their relationship has frayed beyond repair.
However, when Tirne is cast out of the temple and must live on her own, she reconciles with her aunt and slowly starts to see the legitimacy in what her aunt believes. Tirne is told a hidden truth in the history of their religion by Autumn - a secret so major that she can’t tell a single other person - but refuses to see her aunt’s point of view when she says that there are two sides to every story. Even when Tirne begins seeing the creatures and monsters, she only “joins” that religion when she has nothing else to turn to - and even tells Autumn that she never abandoned him or her beliefs. This I understand, but it seems that the second her aunt dies and they fix the Mirror, Tirne goes back to Square One and never even THINKS about the truths she discovered away from the temple, and from her aunt.
This also goes into the conflict caused by the main bad guy, who is the cast away god from their religion origin story. He doesn’t seem to have much of a plan, and then at the very end he simply just tries to stab Autumn as he is fully mortal, rather than killing him in his sleep - as he could have very easily done. His reasoning is that by doing this he proves to the people that the gods are fallible, but I think a god dying would ALSO do that, no? However, because he randomly does this in a crowd of people he’s immediately caught and his blood is drained to fix the Mirror. The End. (What????)
This is what I mean by saying I think this novel would highly benefit from a sequel. As both the relationships and the religion are kind of shuffled back to the same status quo we had at the beginning of the novel, and unless this is further explored it kind of feels like a “what was the point?” to the reader.
A sequel could explore the issues with the religion, now that Tirne is no longer the Herald of Autumn and an important member of it. It could give context to the villain’s motivation (who was in a relationship with her best friend and may have had feelings for him) - where we could find out that using his blood on the mirror to fix it, and “killing” him, was his original plan all along. We could also learn more about the truths of the religion, and whether or not Autumn and the other gods are really as benevolent and trustworthy as they seem. And finally, we could explore her relationship with Sidriel as they both learn to live with one another without the issue of the Mirror or past lies hanging over their heads.
In all honesty, if we get a sequel I think I’d enjoy this first book much more, as my issues are with this novel being a supposed “standalone,” where it brings up a bunch of issues and then never solves them by the end....more
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love creepypastas and r/nosleepA huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love creepypastas and r/nosleeps, so this story immediately drew my attention with similarities to the creepypasta Candle Cove. Instead of a group of strangers reminiscing on a children’s show that may or may not have existed, however, it’s a reunion of the last set of child actors. There’s a kind of cult classic feel to the hype for the show, as people seem to remember it but they can’t quite remember exactly what they watched nor can anyone find evidence of it online. It’s a mystery, and so once word gets out about the last cast getting together to do a podcast about the show - it’s all over the internet.
This book does a great job of bringing that feeling into it - it includes blog entries, discussion boards, Wikipedia articles, etc - with the rest of the world’s opinion and feelings towards Mister Magic and the cast reunion. I loved this, as it really brought a sort of “reality” to the novel. It’s not just the main character or the previous cast who are both obsessed with the show but also can’t quite remember anything specific that happened - it’s the rest of the world too. It really gives a solid foundation to the almost eerie feeling of this show that was a part of everyone’s childhoods - but yet no one can find evidence of it online.
The main character, Val, was apparently a cast member as a child on this show, but she has absolutely no memory of it. Her father brought her to the farm that she’s lived on for the past 30 years, keeping her hidden from anything that could identify her - but why? Does it have something to do with the show Mister Magic? What’s wrong with the show if everyone who remembers it only has positive memories attached?
We kind of wander in the dark, trying to figure out what’s exactly going on - all the while, an omnipresent uneasiness fills both the reader and Val, letting us know that there’s something not right going on. Why did her father essentially kidnap her, and never tell her about her past? What’s going on with the house they supposedly filmed Mister Magic in? And who exactly is the podcast narrator? We don’t know the answers to any of these questions, and neither does Val. From the start, Val can sense a feeling of wrongness about everything that’s going on, but she needs answers to these questions as well.
There is a very strong (and explicitly stated) theme of religious trauma in this novel, that lends an entirely other aspect to the horror happening. Once the reader can start to connect the dots between the events of the book, and the real-life abuses inflicted by the LDS church, it brings everything that’s happening into a new light. The ending might not be satisfactory to some, but I felt - with the context of this being a novel by White to confront her religious trauma from growing up in the LDS church - that it made sense. There’s never an easy answer or an easy solution when you grow up and move on, and there shouldn’t have to be.
If you, like me, read Candle Cove years ago and wanted more out of it - I recommend this book. It’s obviously not the same as Candle Cove, but it incorporates a lot of the things I loved about the creepypasta into this novel, all the while still being its own unique experience. (However, if you have issues with confronting religious trauma or cults, I would kindly suggest choosing another novel.)...more
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House Ballantine/Del Rey for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Before I staA huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House Ballantine/Del Rey for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Before I started reading Destiny, I re-read Prophecy - which, while a good idea, I do not believe is necessary to catch all the minor details. This second novel is great at re-introducing ideas we learned in Prophecy, without being over-explanatory to concepts we should “already” know. I do still think it’s a good idea to re-read the first book when reading a sequel, but that’s also in part because the first book was also great so it’s not a great loss to re-read it.
This book starts with a timeskip from the ending of The Art of Prophecy. The best way I can describe this series, and I mean this with admiration, is as if I’m watching a TV show. Prophecy ends with two of our main leads - Taishi and Jian (along with Zofi) escaping and with Taishi finally starting Jian’s training as a windwhisper. It’s very cinematic, a great ending to the book that makes you want to continue with the series. I could almost picture it as the season finale.
Destiny, then, starts with a timeskip. We still focus on the same four characters with their own POV chapters - Taishi, Jian, Qisami, and Salminde - but we see the effects of the end of the first book in their current lives.
- Jian is much more trained as a war artist, but he’s still struggling with mastering the art of windwhispering - Taishi is aging and her body occasionally fails her, along with her worries of promoting Jian and leaving him without a master - Qisami and her shadowkill cell are dealing with the aftermath of their failed capture of Jian, and are now struggling to make ends meet after having been demoted - Salminde is struggling with the piece of her soul from the eternal Khan, and it is rotting her away as she searches for a way to remove it without sacrificing her life
I did catch something in Prophecy I somehow missed during my first read - the prophecy is not actually broken. The Zhuun believe the eternal Khan is an immortal being, but the Katuia know that it is an unbroken cycle of people being possessed and becoming the Khan. It’s also fascinating that this same cycle happens with the oracle who originally told the prophecy of the hero who would kill the eternal Khan. There’s definitely a connection here, and Destiny works to explain the larger picture about how everything connects.
I think it’s very interesting how the understanding of the belief systems in these novels change depending on whose POV we are following. This is something I really enjoyed in both novels - there are no outright villains in the conflict between the Zhuun and the Katuia, nor is there anyone directly in the right. We can sympathize with Jian being the prophesied hero of the Tiandi, but we also sympathize with Salminde and her people as well. We get a nuanced view of the conflict from both sides, and I always enjoy that within my fantasy novels.
The main character POVs in this novel are mostly separated from one-another, as opposed to in Prophecy when there were multiple times they directly interacted. Jian and Taishi have one plot, and then Qisami and Salminde each have their own plots. Other than a brief meeting in the book, none of these plots really interconnect. However, we (as the reader) can see the overarching plot that interconnects everything, even if it hasn’t technically occurred yet.
The way these POVs inform our understanding of the prophecy/religion, strongly remind me of Samantha Shannon’s “The Priory of the Orange Tree.” In both these series, there are almost separated plots happening with each of the named characters, and it’s not until significantly later that we can see how they interconnect to the larger plot. Each character having their own separate plots also allows us a deeper look into the world without being “stuck” in one place. Jian and Taishi are focusing on his training to (possibly) defeat the eternal Khan if the prophecy still exists. Salminde is exploring the birthplace of the Khan and through her we gain more understanding of the religions involving him. Qisami’s chapters are more focused on the Dukes and the politics surrounding the world, expanding our knowledge of the political conflicts that were only hinted at in Prophecy.
A big theme in Destiny is doing what you believe to be right, even if it’s against expectations or what everyone else expects you to do. That it’s more important to do the right thing in the moment, to help the people being directly affected, than doing some nebulous “right” thing that may or may not have a better impact in the future. Do what you know will help, not just what you hope will pay off in the future. Each character is given growth to learn and be their own person, and each one surprised me with their actions and how it related to their growth as a character.
While this book does feel like it’s the middle novel in a fantasy series, that’s not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion. Personally, I only find it an issue if I didn’t enjoy the first novel. However, I enjoy how these books are set up to be extremely character driven with focus on the thoughts of the POV characters. I think Destiny is excellent at expanding each of the POV characters to give us both a better understanding of their character, while also allowing each of them to grow as a character. None of the four POV characters remain stagnant in Destiny, and each of them grows and changes in some way throughout the novel. Personally, I was really interested in the more in-depth character analysis of Qisami, and she really grew on me throughout Destiny as she became less and less of a single-note character.
I highly recommend The Art of Destiny, as it took everything I was hoping for in a sequel after I read The Art of Prophecy, and accomplished it and more. There were some plot twists that happened that I ABSOLUTELY did not see coming. It really allowed me to learn more about the characters and bond with them more (even Qisami, which surprised me).
And finally - The Art of Destiny - just like The Art of Prophecy - ends on a season finale decision that makes me excited to continue the series in the next book....more
I love this series and will absolutely be checking out the podcast ASAP.
I think my honestly favorite part of this series is just how even the terriblI love this series and will absolutely be checking out the podcast ASAP.
I think my honestly favorite part of this series is just how even the terrible editor character (I love Banecroft don't worry) is only so messed up BECAUSE he loves his wife and is torn up about that. That's so refreshing? It's like, the opposite of the "I hate my wife" trope, AND IT HAPPENS TWICE WITH STANLEY.
Obviously I have real thoughts, but that's the one that gets me the most - Banecroft lost himself (both before the first book and SUPER in this one) because he loves his wife so much and can't accept her death, and Stanley is like "I'm an irredeemable asshole but I'd never cheat on my wife and I need to literally risk my life and work with someone I hate to prove myself to her so she'll take me back". I just love that so much I don't even know how to put it into words.
I mean, everything else is fun and I love all the characters, and how all the plots intertwined and were resolved (and also continuing the world building).
I just had the misfortune to recently read another hyped urban fantasy written by a man that was so sexist it would have been more progressive without any women in it at all. And this series has singlehandedly given me back my hope for this genre and male authors, lol.
-- Unrelated to everything else, but the short story at the end, The Rain, had SUCH a similar feel to the podcast I Am In Eskew that I just loved so much? I honestly mean this in the best way possible, it made me want to relisten to the entire thing, it was so well written and atmospheric....more
Anne (eggcatsreads)
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