Well i certainly read the last 200 pages and change in one sitting.
For a standalone novel I felt like there was an appropriate amount of worldbuilding and background. It doesn't necesarily explain why some of the Queenly Laws stayed relevant (were they? I don't think so, neither did the Queens apparently).
I did like the characters enough, especially Varin ..the first character I have met with a degenerarite eye condition with no known cure or effective treatment, and I can feel all his fears trapped inside. I know that feeling of staring a little too long at a gorgeous scene and trying to memorize everything. I won't be murdered (I'm 30 now) but am definitely struggling at times, so with an overpopulated society in which laws seem to just be what they are...I get it. And I liked that the Queen was able to bide him some time. My condition has a corneal injection that may buy me a few more years, and his character just resonated with me.
I mentioned this to the author - she said that she also struggles with vision loss and seems to have written him in her image, which is why his feelings ring so true. I would literally fund the research on it if I could. This is just like Kaz needing a cane like Bardugo does for her condition. Authors write what they know. Author wants a cure. (It's kind of nice to have someone in literature in my boat other than my one-eyed Karigan ((Green Rider)) who the author destroyed anyway).
Anyway... I didn't like Keralie so much, she was pretty mean and I don't arguably think that Varin would have done more than feel bad for her, maybe.
I am 4 starring this because the chapter timeline just doesn't make sense. At least one Queen died in an early chapter, well before the assassins even got inside the palace (a later chapter) and it threw my understanding of events. Also the end felt a little bit easy, would the inspector have just believed the story? I would have liked to see some of the explanation of events in that conversation.
So call me biased or whatever but I love this book simply for Varin's character. Recommend me more books with people going blind and I'll read those too.
For a standalone novel I felt like there was an appropriate amount of worldbuilding and background. It doesn't necesarily explain why some of the Queenly Laws stayed relevant (were they? I don't think so, neither did the Queens apparently).
I did like the characters enough, especially Varin ..the first character I have met with a degenerarite eye condition with no known cure or effective treatment, and I can feel all his fears trapped inside. I know that feeling of staring a little too long at a gorgeous scene and trying to memorize everything. I won't be murdered (I'm 30 now) but am definitely struggling at times, so with an overpopulated society in which laws seem to just be what they are...I get it. And I liked that the Queen was able to bide him some time. My condition has a corneal injection that may buy me a few more years, and his character just resonated with me.
I mentioned this to the author - she said that she also struggles with vision loss and seems to have written him in her image, which is why his feelings ring so true. I would literally fund the research on it if I could. This is just like Kaz needing a cane like Bardugo does for her condition. Authors write what they know. Author wants a cure. (It's kind of nice to have someone in literature in my boat other than my one-eyed Karigan ((Green Rider)) who the author destroyed anyway).
Anyway... I didn't like Keralie so much, she was pretty mean and I don't arguably think that Varin would have done more than feel bad for her, maybe.
I am 4 starring this because the chapter timeline just doesn't make sense. At least one Queen died in an early chapter, well before the assassins even got inside the palace (a later chapter) and it threw my understanding of events. Also the end felt a little bit easy, would the inspector have just believed the story? I would have liked to see some of the explanation of events in that conversation.
So call me biased or whatever but I love this book simply for Varin's character. Recommend me more books with people going blind and I'll read those too.