So what we have here is a case of the Mixed Feelings™, friends! But before we get to said feelings, let's take a moment and appreciate the gorgeousness of the cover, shall we? My eyes have been blessed. I am so torn about this one, and frankly, sad to be torn about it, because I was so excited for it. And truly, some of the aspects I was looking forward to did deliver (for example, I was one million percent here for the Mesoamerican inspiration, which was awesome). But in other areas, the story fell flat. So let's see what happened:
What I Enjoyed:
►The aforementioned Mesoamerican influence was on point, as was the atmosphere. The world felt so very lush, and so intricately described, I was definitely a fan. And I also loved the bits we learned about the cultures and societies that each main character grew up in, I found those really fascinating and well-done.
►The main characters were great. I liked them a lot, even if I had a hard time deciphering who was who around them or what was going on. Indir very clearly loves her family and her people, and will do whatever she must to protect them. Saya, on the other hand, is dealing with her mother who is kind of awful, and when she finally gets some autonomy, she begins to see her own strength, which is quite lovely. I enjoyed both girls' journeys.
►I really enjoyed the last quarter of the story. By this point, I was kind of picking up on what was happening a bit more, and the plots began to pick up and get more exciting. Some twists were happening, and basically, this was by far my favorite part of the book. Sadly, because it is the end, it is also the part I can say the least about, but I had been pushing on in hopes it would get better by the end, and it did indeed.
What Fell Short
►There were so many characters introduced (especially in the first few chapters) that my head was spinning. And look, maybe I ought to have worked harder to keep them all straight, perhaps that is on me. But I am just tired and I don't have that much to give, sorry. At one point, I highlighted a passage where there were 8 names of people/groups in one paragraph and I just could not remember who at least half of them were supposed to be. It was a lot.
►Speaking of being overwhelmed, there was a lot of information given in the first few chapters- even more because there are two main characters in two different places, we're getting double the info. Add that to the literal dozens of characters we meet and... yep, consider me overwhelmed.
►I didn't quite understand the magic system. Or the dreaming, at first, anyway. I will admit, in the early chapters when the dreams were being discussed, my initial reaction was "not to be rude, but who cares about other people's dreams?" It wasn't until later that I realized the dreams were of a prophetic nature, which at least made them make sense, but there was still a lot about the magic system that went over my head. I mostly just tried to ignore it and focus on the other stuff.
►Perhaps because of a mix of all of the above, I just felt emotionally underwhelmed. For example, if something happened to a side character, I just didn't care. Or maybe, wasn't even sure they were actually harmed? The stakes, for whatever reason, felt somewhat low to me, even though I can't pinpoint exactly why. I do think the sheer number of characters to keep track of in a fairly small number of pages adds to it.
Bottom Line: Amazing premise and very cool world-building, but perhaps a little overwhelming in execution despite two enjoyable main characters.
What I Enjoyed:
►The aforementioned Mesoamerican influence was on point, as was the atmosphere. The world felt so very lush, and so intricately described, I was definitely a fan. And I also loved the bits we learned about the cultures and societies that each main character grew up in, I found those really fascinating and well-done.
►The main characters were great. I liked them a lot, even if I had a hard time deciphering who was who around them or what was going on. Indir very clearly loves her family and her people, and will do whatever she must to protect them. Saya, on the other hand, is dealing with her mother who is kind of awful, and when she finally gets some autonomy, she begins to see her own strength, which is quite lovely. I enjoyed both girls' journeys.
►I really enjoyed the last quarter of the story. By this point, I was kind of picking up on what was happening a bit more, and the plots began to pick up and get more exciting. Some twists were happening, and basically, this was by far my favorite part of the book. Sadly, because it is the end, it is also the part I can say the least about, but I had been pushing on in hopes it would get better by the end, and it did indeed.
What Fell Short
►There were so many characters introduced (especially in the first few chapters) that my head was spinning. And look, maybe I ought to have worked harder to keep them all straight, perhaps that is on me. But I am just tired and I don't have that much to give, sorry. At one point, I highlighted a passage where there were 8 names of people/groups in one paragraph and I just could not remember who at least half of them were supposed to be. It was a lot.
►Speaking of being overwhelmed, there was a lot of information given in the first few chapters- even more because there are two main characters in two different places, we're getting double the info. Add that to the literal dozens of characters we meet and... yep, consider me overwhelmed.
►I didn't quite understand the magic system. Or the dreaming, at first, anyway. I will admit, in the early chapters when the dreams were being discussed, my initial reaction was "not to be rude, but who cares about other people's dreams?" It wasn't until later that I realized the dreams were of a prophetic nature, which at least made them make sense, but there was still a lot about the magic system that went over my head. I mostly just tried to ignore it and focus on the other stuff.
►Perhaps because of a mix of all of the above, I just felt emotionally underwhelmed. For example, if something happened to a side character, I just didn't care. Or maybe, wasn't even sure they were actually harmed? The stakes, for whatever reason, felt somewhat low to me, even though I can't pinpoint exactly why. I do think the sheer number of characters to keep track of in a fairly small number of pages adds to it.
Bottom Line: Amazing premise and very cool world-building, but perhaps a little overwhelming in execution despite two enjoyable main characters.