Chii

I don't  really know what to say about this book. I guess it just wasn't for me?

Narratively, I did not care for it; all the jumping back and forth between the present and the past was confusing for me. But that is me and my personal struggle to comprehend stories told in this way - most probably will have no issue.
As for the characters, the plot, the theming, I found it very flat, dull, and predictive. I'm usually not one to guess the ending of anything early on, but for this one, it just seemed glaringly obvious from the first few chapters.

I liked the author's  way of phrasing and especially descriptions, but overall I was just quite bored all the way through.

Story progression was slow, and very predictable.

This book is beautiful aesthetically, but there wasn't much there in it for me. There's little to no world building going on, despite the fact that it's so focused on maps, and that makes it really confusing. No characters really get any development, and/or (worse) die and come back with no clear explanation. The story is very inconsistent in tempo, and I honestly fell asleep several times during the slower parts.
I think the concept and the idea was definitely there, but it was just not executed well.
Maybe for quite young or inexperienced readers.

Definitely the best out of the 3. I think this was the only one that had twist that I didn't see coming from far away. Also teared up at some of the last chapters. Nice, satisfying ending.

I really don't know anymore what my issue was with this book the first time I read it.
I'm glad I re-read it. It's a fascinating concept, and as I'm about to start the sequel, I'm wishing it was a bigger series so this world could be explored further.