Based on the premise, this book sounded very exciting and unique to me. The potential for the promised world building made me want to read this gorgeous book. However, this book just fell flat for me and here's why:
1) I was expecting a young adult book based on the point of view character's age, but as I was reading I mistakenly thought I was reading middle grade
2) The plot was everywhere and no where simultaneously; it started off as a fantasy thriller, then moved to a royal school story, then romance, then a murder mystery, and felt more of a surface tale in which the magical system aspects were assumed and events happened conveniently
3) I felt the romance was not authentic and too insta-love with no chemistry
4) MJ needed to find her talent to become queen, but never did anything to try to find it and when the last seconds were ticking away, she just happened to find her talent just in time
5) The murder mystery didn't have enough red herrings/false leads
6) The characters lacked depth and all felt like cardboard cutouts, giving me nothing about them to care about and cheer them on
Overall, middle grade readers who enjoy fantasy may like this book. The ending leaves a small cliff hanger telling me there will be a sequel and makes me curious what feature book two will focus on--the romance, the mystery?
1) I was expecting a young adult book based on the point of view character's age, but as I was reading I mistakenly thought I was reading middle grade
2) The plot was everywhere and no where simultaneously; it started off as a fantasy thriller, then moved to a royal school story, then romance, then a murder mystery, and felt more of a surface tale in which the magical system aspects were assumed and events happened conveniently
3) I felt the romance was not authentic and too insta-love with no chemistry
4) MJ needed to find her talent to become queen, but never did anything to try to find it and when the last seconds were ticking away, she just happened to find her talent just in time
5) The murder mystery didn't have enough red herrings/false leads
6) The characters lacked depth and all felt like cardboard cutouts, giving me nothing about them to care about and cheer them on
Overall, middle grade readers who enjoy fantasy may like this book. The ending leaves a small cliff hanger telling me there will be a sequel and makes me curious what feature book two will focus on--the romance, the mystery?