Hmmm…read this a week ago and failed to write a review immediately so now I remember hardly anything. That is a pretty good indicator that this was onHmmm…read this a week ago and failed to write a review immediately so now I remember hardly anything. That is a pretty good indicator that this was only just ok for me, which puts the rating at 3.5. Entertaining but not memorable if it can’t even stick past a week. I liked Alwyn but he never gained much depth of character over the course of the trilogy. Neither did his relationship with Evadine. I didn’t feel overly invested in their ‘love’ because Evadine never had much depth either. Being a character driven reader, that detracted from my engagement with the book. Had their characters and relationship had more depth, I’d have liked the book and the series much more. The world building was not hard to imagine. It was very close to medieval time and I rather enjoyed that aspect. The plot and political maneuvering was engaging enough and made for an improved reading experience, compared to book 2. Though I enjoyed this book of the trilogy more than the second, it didn’t quite measure up to the first for me. I enjoyed Alwyn as a young man and it had had Robin Hood vibes that were engaging and as Alwyn matures and becomes a soldier, the book, and the series, lost a lot of it’s charm for me. Nonetheless, a solid read and I’m not sorry to have spent my time with it. I’d give the overall reading experience of the series 3.5...more
4.5 This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I’m so glad it didn’t let me down. Initially, I was expecting something more in tone wit4.5 This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I’m so glad it didn’t let me down. Initially, I was expecting something more in tone with The Blacktongue Thief and so was disappointed to find that it wasn’t and that the author wasn’t narrating. So I put it on hold for a bit, reread The Blacktongue Thief and then restarted the book with my expectations shifted to read the story the author wanted to tell, rather than the one I thought I wanted to read. It was the best way to approach the book. The story is told from Galva’s pov, and so of course that changes the tone and the narrative voice and I came to love Galva very much. Buehlman has a genius for writing characters that feel fully alive and utterly beguiling to me. The world building was immersive and dark and had a feel of truthiness to it that I appreciated. I could envision this world and the march of the army, the corvids, the goblins, all of it. I loved the writing, especially in Malva’s and her brother’s narrative voices. There was a lovely formality that elevated the writing. My only quibble was that, for me, I thought the pacing suffered somewhat. Part of what made the world building so immersive and fleshed out, also caused the pacing to be slowed. Songs and stories interspersed in the narrative sometimes slowed the progress of what was happening on the page and it would be at the point where significant things were happening and then suddenly there’s a story that didn’t move things forward. Don’t get me wrong. The songs and stories were amazing but sometimes the timing seemed off in terms of plot progression. Nonetheless, this was an excellent story and I hope there will be more stories from this world by the author. Ah, who am I kidding? Whatever world Mr Beuhlman cares to write about, ima gonna read it. ...more
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