This is a work of contradictions, on the one hand a unique novel with enchanting prose set in a very interesting fantasy world full of interesting characters and intriguing magic; on the other, a poorly-executed book whose plot is sometimes lost in the tangle of seemingly completely-unedited writing and whose unique creative concepts are only mentioned and then rushed past. It feels like we're reading the first draft of something that could be really, really good.
This book has some of the most beautiful descriptions I have ever read. Its prose is as entrancing as the magic and forces of this world can be. I know I will be referencing some of my favorite descriptions again and again for inspiration for my own writing and roleplaying games. Yet it seems as if Winters did not proofread her own work or make use of the much-needed help of an editor. Phrases are repeated sometimes four times within the same chapter, and the same statements are made again and again, sometimes verbatim, by different characters throughout the book. Occasionally we also encounter times when the author herself doesn't seem sure about what is going on, times the characters are in one place doing one thing and suddenly they're back to an earlier time or have jumped to a different location, as if the writer had been playing with two different ideas and had never deleted the one or bridged the gap between the two, or she seems to have regularly failed to realize she had already used an idea or line somewhere else, something that seems like it would have been easily noted by any readthrough of her own work (a few times would be understandable, but it happens again and again and again).
The plot is one of the most creative story concepts I've ever read. Maybe it's because I'm new to cozy fantasy and have read so much (and am so tired of) high-stakes hero-focused fantasy, but I found the plot so unique. But not only does the story have to be parsed through the repetitive writing, it is also very much in the "telling and not showing" variety. This did not really bother me, as I associate that sort of "storytelling" style with cozy tales like The Hobbit and the ones my parents would weave at bedtime, but it may be a drawback for some readers. Certainly it does the love story a disservice, as the romance feels rushed through, to the point that the romance feels like a subplot because Briar and Illyria's sudden leap from attraction to undying love feels so unbelievable -- very sweet, but unrealistic. Rather than watching it unfold, we only catch glimpses of it, and are informed by the narrator of the stages that they're at in their love story rather than watching it come together. They make such a heartwarming couple and I was so looking forward to watching their romance unfold that I was left feeling disappointed.
The characters, the magic, and the institutions are all very creative and interesting, but we are offered so little of them that I have found myself imagining my own details about them because so few were offered. I am so curious to learn more about this world -- my favorite part of reading fantasy -- that I intend to at least read the next novel in this series, when I'm willing to put up with the poor editing of a self-published work again for a cozy fantasy book, because it is very compelling.
The first-draft feeling gives the odd feeling as if one is reading a fanfiction, something full of marvelous ideas and prose but lacking in the effort, editing, attention to detail, and overall cohesiveness required to produce a proper publication. We expect these things when reading fanfic, we overlook the mistakes -- we don't expect them in the novels we buy. It delivers on what it says it is -- a cozy fantasy in an intriguing magical world with a sweet sapphic love story -- and it was a fun read, but I wish it could have been more. There was so much potential -- in the world-building, the characters, the love story, and Winters' beautiful descriptive style -- that this could have been a much longer work if Winters had really delved into any of them -- even after removing all the duplicate sentences.