by Mary Weber
Genre: YA fantasy
My Rating: ★
Description:
Nym shouldn't even exist. She's a female Elemental, something unheard of in Faelan. And she's a monster.
For years, she's been sold from owner to owner, a path of death and destruction following in her wake. But this time is different. When she's purchased by Lady Adora, a councillor to the king himself, Nym finds out that she might be Faelan's last hope in the decades-long war that has ravaged her country.
But how can she become a hero after everything she's done? How can she save her world when she doesn't even know if it's worth saving?
Overall Thoughts
Alright. So this is possibly the lowest rating I've given to a book during my time blogging, and I feel really bad for giving it such a low score, but honestly? Trying to find something I actually liked about this book is such a struggle. I'll admit, the idea was super intriguing to me, and I do like the cover. But that's about it.
The Characters
The Characters
The characters annoyed me. Nym is probably the most developed out of all of them, but that's only because we're reading her point of view for the entire book. I honestly don't really have a very strong opinion about Nym... she was kind of whiny, and her motivations were a little weird sometimes, but I didn't really care about her a lot?
The other characters were a collection of cardboard stereotypes. You have Adora, the flirtatious, nasty, self-centered noblewoman. Colin, the obnoxious flirt (who is supposed to be a likeable character, but I kind of hated him). Breck, who could have been interesting but just ended up annoying me.
The villains were either stereotypical, tacked on, or downright cheesy. (Like the one guy, Myles, literally hisses like a snake.)
And don't get me started on the love interest, Eogan. He had way too many physical descriptions (I really don't need to hear for the fifteenth time how handsome he is, Nym! We get it!)
Plot/Pacing
Plot/Pacing
Which brings me to the romance subplot. I hated it with a burning passion. It's insta-love, definitely. Or more accurately, insta-lust, since I honestly don't know what either of them see in each other? Apart from being physically attractive, that is. Ugh.
The plot was extremely slow for the first 45% or so. It took me about a week to read that. The other 55% picked up enough that I was able to finish it in a day, but that's only because I just wanted to get it over with so I could read something else.
I think one of the main problems with the plot was the lack of urgency. We know there's a war, and people are dying -- I mean, there are even attacks in the book itself! -- but I just never felt like it was super urgent. For some reason, nothing really impacted me or made me feel tense or unsure or scared. Everything just seemed to be conquered too easily. Nym didn't really struggle to achieve many of her goals. Her character change seemed too easy considering what obstacles she was supposed to be facing.
The only thing I thought was an interesting move was a plot twist near the end. It wasn't really unexpected (none of the plot twists were, in fact, and some were down-right cringy) but this one was definitely a bold move, and I have to give the book credit for that.
Worldbuilding/Writing
Worldbuilding/Writing
The world building was basically non-existent. I didn't ever feel immersed in the world, and it felt like a very generic fantasy (with some obvious Avatar: The Last Airbender similarities.) It's never explained why Nym, who shouldn't have powers, was born with powers. There doesn't seem to be much of a world, actually. Nothing is fleshed out or developed in the least.
The writing also annoyed me. There were a lot of awkward and odd-sounding similes and metaphors that dragged down the rest of the writing. I also hated the made-up swear words. Most of the time, I don't mind if swearing is made up (actually, I prefer it in some cases) but in this case, I almost wish they'd used the actual words. It annoyed me that much. For example, one they used quite a few times was "what the kracken". I mean, really? Why?
So, I obviously didn't love this book. I wish I had more positive things to say about it, but I don't. I'm just glad that others were able to enjoy this book more than I did.
Recommended for ages 14 and up
TRIGGER WARNING: Self harm.
No real swearing, just made up words (as noted above). Violence is typical fantasy: descriptions of blood, somewhat disturbing descriptions of certain creatures and characters. Allusions to a character being beaten. A character punches another character. A character threatens to kill other characters. Explosions. Mentions of a plague (never actually shown in the book). A bar fight scene.
Sexual content includes kissing; mentions of "favor-houses"; Adora is noted to spend a lot of time with male consorts; another character flirts with Nym.
Mentions of drinking alcohol.
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