Kostas's Updates

"I know that this is a character focused story, but some kind of overarching plot would have been nice in a 500+ page book. Don't get me wrong, the characters were very well developed and everyone was interesting to read about, but just imagine how good this book could have been if these characters were actually doing something other than pitying themselves and having sex. The story is mainly about the three Wren siblings who are rich and pretty and smart but somehow all underperforming in life. Meredith is the CEO of a magic tech company but the app she developed is a scam, Arthur is a congressman who rather enjoys himself at orgies than doing any politics, and Eilidh is a former ballerina who is causing small apocalypses when she's upset. The three of them come together after the death of their father and together with some other characters (like Arthur's wife and Arthur's girlfriend and Arthur's boyfriend) they sit around until the reading of the will which doesn't happen until the 80% mark of the book. The pacing is my main issue here, because barely anything happens and everything is dragged out to the max. 20% of the book pass until everyone was informed about the father's death and it took another 20% before everyone arrived at the family home. Every time the characters went from one place to another the entire drive there was shown for some reason, and it just felt like there was never any progress in the story. It wasn't building up to anything, so the book was entirely about flawed people being mean to and / or sleeping with each other. That's a vibe for sure, but it didn't carry a 500-page book for me. I was also disappointed by the magic. It existed openly in this world and all of the siblings have some kind of magic, but it was rarely ever discussed. Eilidh can literally cause the apocalypse and Arthur keeps dying from time to time, and no one is really thinking twice about that. It was frustrating, really. Speaking of frustration: the writing style didn't do it for me either. It was very stream of consciousness, complete with every intrusive thought possible, and maybe it's me, but I am not vibing with sentences like: "Then she looked into the crowd and felt her heart cascade into her vagina." There also was this weird switch from 3rd person to 1st person narrative, and I will never understand why this one character suddenly was the narrator of the entire book. I am complaining a lot, but it wasn't a totally unenjoyable reading experience for me. There were too many interesting characters with complex problems and complicated pasts for me not to like it. (I do have to say that Philippa was randomly thrown under the bus, though.) I too liked this book a lot better than The Atlas Six, which makes me happy (because I literally own every single other Olivie Blake book under the sun).

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan / Tor for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review."