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This thing had a stick up its butt for the first 100 pages, removed it for about a hundred, and then poured a bag of saccharine all over itself and solemnly marched about to the tune of the Emperor’s New Clothes for the rest. After a hugely deceptive start with a charming intro of a language guide- yeah you heard me, super Strange & Norrell mischievous footnote vibes- it suddenly got Very Impressed with its own world building and took itself extremely seriously for way way too long. And while I am as much of a linguistics nerd as I think anyone outside the field can probably stand to be, family names and a culture using the royal we does not a compelling narrative make. I excuse a lot from exposition sections in the same way I do tv pilots, but man this was tedious. Maia’s status as poor orphaned Oliver Twist did little to touch me because it was resolved too soon and never really made to feel real. The Elfin court is not mysterious and labyrinth as I was hoping, but full of boring meetings and an endless subplot about a bridge that won’t end. This author is a classic Won’t Kill My Darlings, but given that 21st century twist where she also won’t morally compromise main characters either. You are eeeevvvillllllll or good or delusional/crazy- those are your options here. After an actually successful joke by Maia woke me up almost exactly on pg 100 he kept it up with the relatable humanity for another hundred pages or so and then got swallowed up by world building again. The last part of this draaaaaggggggeeedddddd. Not least because all suspense was taken out of everything at all times. Good People Win Because Small Acts of Kindness Karma Be Nice Kids and No Worries Maia is Perfect. I just.... fine, but also I’m bored? One of my danger signs of a failing novel is if I’d rather leave the room and follow minor characters around than stay with the MC. Oh man so many in this book! Cala, #1. Kiru the lady mage who was made a big deal of and then disappeared. That Marquess dude and his BFF the snooty but nice House of Lords stand-ins- I’d watch that sitcom. So kudos for the secondary character ideas! But no one is there long enough for me to focus on- instead I keep winding up with Maia who keeps failing upwards or being blessed with magical statesmanlike instincts after a life of abused isolation and god knows he’ll pull it out of his ass every time and I’m so booorreeeddd. Guys, I majored in European history, I devour bowls of popcorn in front of all the courtly intrigue filled biographies there are, I have been an epic fantasy fan for two decades. This should so be my jam on so many levels and it is not. What is with the high ratings on this one? I held out on it for years to see if the star average would go down and it didn’t and so I ordered it and I don’t get it. What are you guys seeing that I’m missing?