This was unexpectedly good! I have been in a KPop Demon Hunters spiral and I kept seeing this book recommended to cure that hangover. It certai4.5 ⭐️
This was unexpectedly good! I have been in a KPop Demon Hunters spiral and I kept seeing this book recommended to cure that hangover. It certainly has similar vibes.
We’ve got Kings of Hell, Reapers, Revenants (they resemble demons), and Exorcists who hunt the Revenants. This story has so many intertwined elements and was so intriguing from start to finish. The magic system was very unique, the idea that some are blessed with a powerful spirit core, where their magic resides, and allows them to join the esteemed Exorcist Academy to be the hero’s of their world.
The romance in this was also incredible! It’s a mashup of soul mates, star crossed lovers, and grumpy sunshine, so basically all of my favorite things. All of the characters were so real and relatable on some level but my favorite was Zizi! He was so unserious and unapologetically strange, yet he owned it! He also didn’t flaunt his powers even though he was an insanely powerful mage. You could tell throughout the entire book that he was completely in love with Rui and it had me so giddy. Not to mention that towards the end of the book he basically tells her he’d let the world burn if it meant she was alive! I’m SCREAMMMMMING!
I had no clue this wasn’t a standalone but I’m so invested and need to know what happens next. ...more
Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this book
✨Magic academy ✨Magic based on pleasure and pain ✨Rival guilds ✨4 ⭐️
Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this book
✨Magic academy ✨Magic based on pleasure and pain ✨Rival guilds ✨Betrayal ✨Morally gray ✨Magic mafia ✨Secret mission ✨Good vs evil
This book was so deep and detailed and had some of the most unique ideas I’ve ever read. The world building is very rich and vivid, painting a compelling backdrop to this story that completely consumes you. Paired with a magic system that is insanely creative based on the ideas of pleasure and pain. Mages replenish their magic through feeling pleasure of varying kinds (favorite foods, wine, reading their favorite book, physical touch, etc) but can sharpen the potency of their spells through pain. Such a cool idea!!!
Paired with the epic world building and magic system, we learn about the various societal issues. This kingdom is one at war with itself on all fronts. We have rival mage gilds (thieves, mafia and detectives) all fighting it out over the ideals of good and evil, opposing religious groups who follow either Saints or prophets, corrupt nobility and a rare group of mages called TimeWeavers who were all thought to be eradicated from their world long ago who could remake the very fabric of their reality. All of these details were some of my favorite parts of the story.
One of my other favorite parts was THE ROMANCE! I loved Levan because for the longest time I couldn’t puzzle him out. He was a mystery and so complex all the way to the very end. He’s also borderline morally black. With Levan and Saffron, I love how their broken jagged pieces fit perfectly together to make them whole. They understand one another in a way that only someone who’s been through similar trauma could.
I did knock this down a star for a few reasons. I felt the pacing was off. It felt alittle like whiplash at times where the story would progress but then details from prior would constantly be repeated or Saffron would continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. She was a bit insufferable at time. She was undercover behind enemy lines and made a terrible spy in my opinion.
Overall, this book is worth the read and I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing where it goes from here....more