It鈥檚 marketed (as far as I can tell) as a queer fantasy novel that blends magic with reality, but none of those asThis book was kind of鈥isappointing?
It鈥檚 marketed (as far as I can tell) as a queer fantasy novel that blends magic with reality, but none of those aspects are expanded upon in any substantial way. The main character, Sam (who is a little bland to begin with) has a crush on his best friend James, who is about as interesting as a sack of bricks. I finished this book a few minutes ago, and I honestly couldn鈥檛 even remember his name. The reader is supposed believe that Sam likes him, but James spends the whole book throwing his own private hissy fit and ignoring Sam.
The other characters are all equally unremarkable. Delia wants to go to magic school鈥nd that鈥檚 about all we know about her. Denver is the new kid, who鈥檚 entire character is being the new kid and the competitor for Sam鈥檚 love. And there鈥檚 Amber, the token poc and honestly the only character that intrigued me in any way shape or form, but her only role in the story is to a) be the subject of Sam鈥檚 jealousy and b) help to fix Sam and James鈥� relationship.
Aside from the lackluster characterization, the world-building is a mess. It took me until about 3/4 through the book to understand the magic system in any way shape or form. I know info-dumping is generally frowned upon, but this book could honestly have used some of it. When the entire plot hinges upon evil magic people doing evil magic and the good magic people doing good magic to stop them, understanding what on earth magic is supposed to be is pretty damn essential.
The pacing was also all over the place, and the plot jumped around and was difficult to follow at times. There was so little time spent on the overarching plot of the story that it felt both underwhelming and confusing at its climax. The developments in the relationships between the various characters was also extremely underwhelming because it was so difficult to understand and keep track of who these characters were. This book could have benefitted from choosing one or the other鈥攃onflict between friends or a big bad magic cult.
The one decent thing about this book was the writing. The style was consistent and while it wasn鈥檛 necessarily distinctive, I have no complaints. Overall, this book was simply forgettable. ...more
Loading...
