Sylphrena

Loved this one.

this is what i mean when I say I am a romantic... my new favorite book, my new insurmountable standard

it is deceptively hard to read in a short time by it's format, which is the very reason that it works so well and hits so hard, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment even before it gripped me for the climax.

I'm a fan of the charecter driven storylines, that's why I'm on my third book in this series, but I really suffered before I got hooked on this book. I had to set it aside for another books for a while because I really dislike split narratives, it really takes me out of the story most times... five separate POVs is a lot, especially when they don't converge for till late in the plot.

I found myself forgetting each character at every POV switch until over halfway through the book, so it was really hard for me to build momentum. I enjoyed the actual story, but this bothered me enough to sour the writing significantly.

Gods, I thought this was a trilogy, I fear I might not have it in me to see this series to the end.

I don't like first person narratives, so reading these books is a little draining, and this frustrates when combined with Darrow's as a single figurehead who can do no wrong.

I'm here for the excellently battles and dystopian, and these are well executed.

For that reason, I was having a good time before the gambit with Cassius in the final act... it was fine after the reveal, but I ended up speeding thru the rest of the book after that. It's not that I was frustrated out of care for the charecters, this is not a series in which I get attached to the individuals, but the sheer naivety and reactions to Cassius fake-betrayal were infuriating on a narrative level.

I'd much rather have been in on the plan, as it would have made me abandon the book if I was quicker to mark as DNF. It's a potentially interesting (if a bit unbelievable) play, but Cassius's redemption didn't sell me and the seeping frustration soured an otherwise well-executed ending.

I guess it's on me to assume the series would end here, and I may come back to the series after a few months. but ugh, I going to need to detox from that ending, not just my normal break to get over the first person narration.

I'm normally averse to the concept of fate, in books and in life -> this story is an exception. It's riviting from the start, and the queer themes are also excellent. Highly recommend.