This was one of those deceptive kinds of books, where you're not sure how a storyline could fit into the number of pages (or digital pages, considering I read this on my Kindle app) without skimming over things and still be enjoyable.
For one, it was enjoyable.
Most of the time.
It didn't so much as skim over things, but it did have a jarring pace to it - where there were information dumps at every second corner and our main character accepted everything without much freak out. I get seeing is believing but Daniel honestly went from "I need to find one of my only friends" to "Wow Fantasia *insert googly eyes here*" and I just thought he'd have a bit more of his potential used, but apparently not yet, so that frustrated me a bit.
The only interesting component to the book, for me, was outside of Daniel's character. I wanted to learn more about the world he was being thrust into, I wanted to see more of the intricacies that threatened to tear that world apart (sure, we hear about all the cruelty of those who are under Thorn's thumb, but I was kind of hoping to see it? I feel it would have hit home a lot more.) In saying that though, I loved Daniel's family. All of his uncles and his grandfather? They were this other dynamic that really highlighted against the "normal" that was Daniel's life and family (which we see a bit later on).
The plot itself, as it is book one, was solid – though there was a lot of setup for the sequel of this, particularly with Daniel's character development (here's to hoping, because I'm really looking forward to a good and strong character arc for him!) I enjoyed the strict outline of "problem" and "need to find a solution" that went on, mostly because it complimented the world building and made sure I wasn't super confused with everything that was going on. It also meant that plot twists were quite literally out of the blue (okay, maybe some had a bit of foreshadowing) and meant that the ending picked my rating up from a 2 to a 3 – there was just enough intrigue in the way it ended, the way it was built and character arcs which really makes me think I would enjoy the next book over the first!
The post-epilogue chapter also really elevated the world building of this whole story. It gave layers to the background of Thorn, and her ancestors – I would find it really interesting just to read a short story of her childhood and how she really came to be who she is today. Her character arc would honestly be the most epic thing, I think.
I didn't really like Fantasia. I felt she was a bit one-dimensional when it really came down to it, as well as hypocritical – it leads me to start doubting her feelings for Daniel as less genuine and more as a way out of whatever "curse" her father's wife put on her? (Another thing, as I said before I wanted to see more of the world, including the Seven and their spouses and just the everyday lives of these people – I'm requesting short stories please!)
The whole story was a new take on immortal fantasy, and I think because of that unique note, it did take me a little while to really get into this book (plus the fact that I was put in a slump by an alternate current read just as I was starting this book too) but overall, I enjoyed it and would definitely pick up its sequel.
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3.5/5
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This book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.