Thank you so much to Bookish First and Razorbill for my finished copy of The Kinder Poison! It is a gorgeous hardcover and for my fellow book sniffers, has that great sawdust smell 😂
Tons of sibling rivalry, a magical and dangerous race, a taste of political intrigue, and some interesting family dynamics are all aspects that drew me to - and kept me interested in the book while reading.
The sibling rivalry is the base for the entire plot, so lets start there. One of the three has to make it across the desert first and complete the sacrifice in order to become the new ruler. First we meet Sakira who might love to party and appear reckless, but is ruthless and refuses to be dismissed. Kasta is the eldest and has a paranoid darkness about him. Jet is the second son, not wanting the kingdom but determined to see his sister safely in charge.
The history between the siblings and the Royal family make up most of the background and world building of the book. The book is SO character driven that it makes most sense to talk about those relationships. They are complicated, real, interesting, and all competing for their father's approval, as well of that of the nation and the innate power given by completing the human sacrifice.
Each sibling is competing with a team of 2 helpers, and the dynamics within the groups are all so different and equally entertaining. Kasta I think had the most interesting group, including a demon shifter named Maia. Her story is totally heartbreaking and between her demon aspect and Kasta's insanity, they set up the main twist for book 2. The best part was that for every twist and turn and bit of character development.....right until the very, very end, I had NO damn idea who was going to win that race.
The race itself isn't all that interesting, the groups do have some hurdles to overcome but most of the barriers come from the sibling detaining each other or trying to kidnap the human sacrifice, Zahru. I haven't talked about her yet because she's literally a stable girl that snuck into the palace, and somehow is the bravest person ever. She has no interesting backstory, no anecdotes like the siblings have, no life story that indicates where she got her cunning from....and I docked a star for yet another boring lead. Thankfully the siblings carried it.
Each sibling really was truly and uniquely interesting enough to make me keep reading the book quickly. I liked Jet a lot, he is the main male character (ish) and I might have liked to stroll in the starlit desert with him too. Ha.
Just to touch on the magic system - almost everyone is born with some magical talent in the land of Orkena. From animal whisperers to sound benders and firespinners, everyone has a place. There was nothing terribly extraordinary about this but some of the individual talents were cool.
There was a lot of vivid imagery and good scenic descriptions of everything from clothes to horses to the land. I like Mae's writing style because there is just enough prose and banter to make her story seem real, but not enough to make it purple and boring. I wish there was more world building - but this book had to focus on establishing the character background and future political rivalries as well as the Crossing itself. The history that mattered was there, some quite brutal, but what about the mood of the people in general? The surrounding nations that are brewing this war/conflict going forward?
All in all, definitely a great read if you like sibling rivalries, friendships, banter, danger and magic, with a twist of romance, all swirled into one cunning race for the future of the kingdom. I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you again to Bookish First and Razorbill for my copy, all opinions are my own!
Tons of sibling rivalry, a magical and dangerous race, a taste of political intrigue, and some interesting family dynamics are all aspects that drew me to - and kept me interested in the book while reading.
The sibling rivalry is the base for the entire plot, so lets start there. One of the three has to make it across the desert first and complete the sacrifice in order to become the new ruler. First we meet Sakira who might love to party and appear reckless, but is ruthless and refuses to be dismissed. Kasta is the eldest and has a paranoid darkness about him. Jet is the second son, not wanting the kingdom but determined to see his sister safely in charge.
The history between the siblings and the Royal family make up most of the background and world building of the book. The book is SO character driven that it makes most sense to talk about those relationships. They are complicated, real, interesting, and all competing for their father's approval, as well of that of the nation and the innate power given by completing the human sacrifice.
Each sibling is competing with a team of 2 helpers, and the dynamics within the groups are all so different and equally entertaining. Kasta I think had the most interesting group, including a demon shifter named Maia. Her story is totally heartbreaking and between her demon aspect and Kasta's insanity, they set up the main twist for book 2. The best part was that for every twist and turn and bit of character development.....right until the very, very end, I had NO damn idea who was going to win that race.
The race itself isn't all that interesting, the groups do have some hurdles to overcome but most of the barriers come from the sibling detaining each other or trying to kidnap the human sacrifice, Zahru. I haven't talked about her yet because she's literally a stable girl that snuck into the palace, and somehow is the bravest person ever. She has no interesting backstory, no anecdotes like the siblings have, no life story that indicates where she got her cunning from....and I docked a star for yet another boring lead. Thankfully the siblings carried it.
Each sibling really was truly and uniquely interesting enough to make me keep reading the book quickly. I liked Jet a lot, he is the main male character (ish) and I might have liked to stroll in the starlit desert with him too. Ha.
Just to touch on the magic system - almost everyone is born with some magical talent in the land of Orkena. From animal whisperers to sound benders and firespinners, everyone has a place. There was nothing terribly extraordinary about this but some of the individual talents were cool.
There was a lot of vivid imagery and good scenic descriptions of everything from clothes to horses to the land. I like Mae's writing style because there is just enough prose and banter to make her story seem real, but not enough to make it purple and boring. I wish there was more world building - but this book had to focus on establishing the character background and future political rivalries as well as the Crossing itself. The history that mattered was there, some quite brutal, but what about the mood of the people in general? The surrounding nations that are brewing this war/conflict going forward?
All in all, definitely a great read if you like sibling rivalries, friendships, banter, danger and magic, with a twist of romance, all swirled into one cunning race for the future of the kingdom. I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you again to Bookish First and Razorbill for my copy, all opinions are my own!