***SPOILERS AHEAD***
I wanted to like this book more, especially since I have seen so few fantasy novels with BIPOC main characters so I was so excited to read this book. Unfortunately, it missed the mark a couple of times for me.
This book was decently lengthed, so I think there were plenty of opportunities to make it more robust but I think that it felt repetitive at times or I couldn't figure out why certain elements felt very repetitive versus others that weren't explained well at all. I wish that "toushana" were better explained, as it took me getting to the end to understand why it was so feared -- I wish that it could've been introduced sooner.
Additionally, Quell's friendships and romantic relationships felt very surface-level under the guise of a much deeper connection, but I wasn't buying it. It felt sudden to witness and be part of Quell and Jordan's love story, and then suddenly, it felt like it faded at the end of the book... That's how the entire novel felt, sudden and not entirely thought out (but also not sudden at all?). These were all complex relationships that I wish had been more built out to fully understand Quell's feelings around these characters. For example with Abby, I am not sure why Abby would risk it all for Quell at the end when throughout the book, it felt as though they were just roommates who got along, not actual friends. At times, I felt like I just had to fill in the gaps as to when the relationships became more concrete/defined.
I think Grandma Marionne's complexity was written about well, and we still have a lot to learn about her. I can see how future novels in this series will bring us into her story more and how her toushana came about and why there's this pressure to have an heir! But, I would also love to learn why Quell is the heir and not her mother (which is seemingly the thread amongst each of the Houses).
I can see how this book could be great. I see the potential for a wonderful series, but I think it just needs a little bit more finesse (and punctuation/spelling checks!).
I wanted to like this book more, especially since I have seen so few fantasy novels with BIPOC main characters so I was so excited to read this book. Unfortunately, it missed the mark a couple of times for me.
This book was decently lengthed, so I think there were plenty of opportunities to make it more robust but I think that it felt repetitive at times or I couldn't figure out why certain elements felt very repetitive versus others that weren't explained well at all. I wish that "toushana" were better explained, as it took me getting to the end to understand why it was so feared -- I wish that it could've been introduced sooner.
Additionally, Quell's friendships and romantic relationships felt very surface-level under the guise of a much deeper connection, but I wasn't buying it. It felt sudden to witness and be part of Quell and Jordan's love story, and then suddenly, it felt like it faded at the end of the book... That's how the entire novel felt, sudden and not entirely thought out (but also not sudden at all?). These were all complex relationships that I wish had been more built out to fully understand Quell's feelings around these characters. For example with Abby, I am not sure why Abby would risk it all for Quell at the end when throughout the book, it felt as though they were just roommates who got along, not actual friends. At times, I felt like I just had to fill in the gaps as to when the relationships became more concrete/defined.
I think Grandma Marionne's complexity was written about well, and we still have a lot to learn about her. I can see how future novels in this series will bring us into her story more and how her toushana came about and why there's this pressure to have an heir! But, I would also love to learn why Quell is the heir and not her mother (which is seemingly the thread amongst each of the Houses).
I can see how this book could be great. I see the potential for a wonderful series, but I think it just needs a little bit more finesse (and punctuation/spelling checks!).