The worldbuilding is strong in this excerpt and the writing is good, too, but that's about it. The characters aren't strong enough for readers to care and neither is the story. The MC's mother is a harsh woman, yet the MC wants to return to her. We don't get why she's so fixated on returning to her mother in a world that's terrible and cruel. The fake polytheistic religion is also cringy like it's trying to mock actual world religions (Toranic? As in Torah? Judaism?), which also doesn't make sense how a "law" determines the fate of the people, yet they have multiple deities? It's like the author didn't care to research world religions; she just mashed them up for the sake of plot (or maybe to comment on how religions are all the same, controlling forces--like really?? I'm not a Jew or a Hindu, but that's insulting, and these authors can get away with it because it's "fantasy").
I thought this would be India-inspired, since the author is apparently of Indian descent, but I don't see much of this to continue reading. It has the same pitfalls of YA these days: get the action going with another set of polytheism with magic for worldbuilding.
Also, the cover is terrible.
I thought this would be India-inspired, since the author is apparently of Indian descent, but I don't see much of this to continue reading. It has the same pitfalls of YA these days: get the action going with another set of polytheism with magic for worldbuilding.
Also, the cover is terrible.