dbguide2's reviews
664 reviews

I dislike it when a book is short but takes forever to get to like anything that’s said in the synopsis. Or just slow pace in a short book in general. When I started realising this had that, I started thinking of not finishing it. Once I’d started thinking that I saw the main character wasn’t really making sense and the bit of the world-building I’d read also didn’t add up. 

For instance, the main character, Khiara, has red hair – which in this world means shes a witch. She has to hide it because that’s very dangerous and she’d likely be killed. Then her red hair gets uncovered and… those who see it are… totally fine with it. All right, granted, it was in a sexual manner. Khiara was one of those characters who’s written to be all fierce and “I’m going to do what I want” and the book showed none of that. Plus everything else was all tell, not show. 

I tried… really hard with this one. I finally just let myself tap out before 60%. I could tell I wasn’t enjoying it so much as I was reading but I hoped it would get better (it didn’t). I didn’t like the audiobook narrator or the main character but I did appreciate that Wong’s voice fit the main character. I just didn’t like either so it was difficult for me to try to enjoy. Sid (the main character’s name) was very much “I’m not like other girls. I’m plain, my hair doesn’t do this or that. No one looks at me” – please it’s halfway through 2024 ENOUGH. Since the book was in first person pov and solely hers, we got this line of thinking constantly from the start of the book

I also didn’t really care for much of the other characters. They weren’t really interesting to me, they were written okay, but other than that, nothing. Plus their dialogue, especially with Sid, was lacking. Dialogue is a big part of enjoying a book for me, especially with an audiobook and I could very much tell I wasn’t listened properly. I might’ve been interested if the book was multi-pov instead of just Sid’s. Or maybe just her pov but not first person (as I think that was one of the reasons for not finishing).

There was so much packed into the book (of what I read) and it wasn’t done well in my opinion, which was also an issue for me. There were Guardians and Guardians had the keys. Everyone outside the town didn’t believe or maybe they did and came to see if they could see anything. Only the Guardians had powers and then suddenly everyone had powers. Just too confusing. I very much don’t mind a lot of world-building in my books but I mind if they’re not done well. The book is over 400 pages, which would account for more world-building (which is fine) but at least explain it all properly? The bit I was reading (before I chose to stop reading) introduced alternative worlds? Don’t get me wrong, I love that concept, but introduce it SOONER?? 

 So good things – they changed the narrator for this (to Natalie Naudus). Ferrick and Vataea thankfully had different (better) accents. Did that mean I enjoyed this more? No, unfortunately, not. I think it’s because I had struggled with the first book that I just wanted to get this one done.

As the book went on I liked Amora less and less . Bastien was mostly ok, it was just her. I didn’t like her personality, maybe it was her storyline this time around? Who knows if I’m the only one who felt that way and I don’t really know why – she just annoyed me. So I spent a lot of my time rolling my eyes at my screen while playing Minecraft (how I best listen to audiobooks) most times after she spoke. Ferrick and Vataea continued to be my ‘favourites’ and I don’t really have anything to say about the other new characters because I… Really didn’t remember anything at all . Like I’d seen a character’s name in a review for the first book (who was also in this) and I’m trying to rack my brain if I remember seeing this charater (I did not).

I think this time around the world-building and magic system were more explained and understandable but because I’d had a hard time with the previous book, I wasn’t so much wanting to focus on understanding it. I also thought, for me, book 1 could have been a standalone. Sure, Grace would’ve had to play around with the ending quite a bit, but it’s doable. The whole book 2 just felt like a Disney sequel where they’re doing random things or the whole movie is them planning a wedding. 

I… wanted to like this one so badly but I unfortunately didn’t enjoy most of it. I could’ve even dnfed and not really thought twice about it. A lot was smushed into this one book and it’s not getting a sequel. I don’t know if the author was told and decided to push everything in because she wasn’t getting a sequel or if she pushed everything in thinking that she’d get to clear things up in the sequel.

Either way, it didn’t work for me. I had the audio and I disliked the narrator, which definitely added to my ‘reasons’. Some voices were fine but for most of them I wasn’t much of a fan. Venus’s voice (the main character) was mostly okay but I really didn’t like Janus – her voice and her character. Janus’s (and maybe Venus? I don’t remember) voice was a bit scratchy and it made it difficult to hear when she (the narrator) shouted in dialogue because it was all high-pitched.

I think if Venus were either an only child or just had a different sibling I might have liked her better but because she was so much with her sister, it was difficult. I sort of liked her but not really enough to have me fully invested in the story. I kept waiting for Janus to become more likeable, to do something where I could cheer for her but it never came. In fact I didn’t like most of the side characters. I didn’t remember much of the uncle or the cousin but I also didn’t remember much of them. I liked Presley the best of the side characters (actually of all the characters). They were the best written and I wasn’t too bothered by the voice.

The plot was decent enough but because it was so jam-packed it was difficult to keep everything straight. I think only at the end I was starting to put two and two together. And because I wasn’t so interested it was hard to actually want to put the pieces together. 

Soft DNF. Might pick this up later with a hybrid read