I really enjoyed Nick Martell's debut fantasy novel and was especially pleased by the aspects of mystery thrillers that put a fun spin on the fantasy setting. I would argue this book reads less as a pure fantasy novel and arguably could simply be categorized as a mystery set in a fantasy world.
Speaking of the fantasy world, the premise is definitely interesting: magic exists but it's use comes with the loss of the user's memories. This mechanic has a ton of potential but I feel there simply wasn't enough development of exactly how this magic works and the rules that limit it. That lack of development carries over across the rest of the world building too, there is clearly some neat stuff going on but we just never get told enough to actually wrap our heads around it fully. This is especially surprising given how lengthy this novel is. That being said I never felt so lost that the reading experience became un-enjoyable. I genuinely hope that Martell uses the next two books in the series to properly flesh out the world and magic because this series has a ton of potential.
Speaking of the fantasy world, the premise is definitely interesting: magic exists but it's use comes with the loss of the user's memories. This mechanic has a ton of potential but I feel there simply wasn't enough development of exactly how this magic works and the rules that limit it. That lack of development carries over across the rest of the world building too, there is clearly some neat stuff going on but we just never get told enough to actually wrap our heads around it fully. This is especially surprising given how lengthy this novel is. That being said I never felt so lost that the reading experience became un-enjoyable. I genuinely hope that Martell uses the next two books in the series to properly flesh out the world and magic because this series has a ton of potential.