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Price of a Thousand Blessings #1
Price of a Thousand Blessings Volume 1
Cymin’s final tournament representing the East Deity for Lux Temple promises to be thrilling and bittersweet. After it’s done, all his skill and power must feed a Storm Tower to protect the world from fei’lux storms. But before his conscription, he intends to put on a dazzling show and enjoy his last glorious outing.
The streets are thronged with cheering crowds, and the grand procession shimmers with spells. Film stars and government ministers claim the best seats in the stands. And most exciting of all, the legendary Wraiths of Saigrath promise to attend this Spring Exhibition after centuries of absence from the world.
Cymin can’t wait to meet them.
But when disaster strikes the celebrations, Cymin risks his own life and destroys a priceless artifact to prevent a massacre. His action not only plunge him into the battle between foreign provocateurs and his own nation’s spies, but captures the attention of the mythical Wraiths--one of whom has been searching for him in secret for hundreds of years.
The streets are thronged with cheering crowds, and the grand procession shimmers with spells. Film stars and government ministers claim the best seats in the stands. And most exciting of all, the legendary Wraiths of Saigrath promise to attend this Spring Exhibition after centuries of absence from the world.
Cymin can’t wait to meet them.
But when disaster strikes the celebrations, Cymin risks his own life and destroys a priceless artifact to prevent a massacre. His action not only plunge him into the battle between foreign provocateurs and his own nation’s spies, but captures the attention of the mythical Wraiths--one of whom has been searching for him in secret for hundreds of years.
469 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 27, 2025
14 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
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August 18, 2025
Reach for the top, she said / And the sun is gonna shine / Every winter was a war, she said / "I want to get what's mine" (Jezebel – Sade).
I've been waiting a long time for this, so let me just get this out of the way… maybe the real price of a thousand blessings were the friends we made along the way! Okay, that’s muu~uuch better! Phew, it’s like a weight that I’ve been carrying for months and four hundred pages has suddenly been lifted. The wonderful thing about physical books is that the feel of a real life book in your hand is unmatched by any other experience, and then the not so wonderful part is the fact that due to their indefinite nature, they sometimes kind of just stay there on your desk for the better part of four or five months. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything! But yeah, it’s not like it’s a competition (I say to remind myself), and there’s something nice about having a book that you have as “currently reading” for a long enough to where it becomes a constant personified companion. And hey, what better book to all parasocial over than with something by Ginn Hale! Seriously, her incredibly detailed and immersive fantasy worlds are unmatched and her stories are always grounded by resoundingly powerful emotional cores. I mean, it’s probably not normal when I tell you that a tale of nail-biting espionage, harrowing betrayal, and crushing debt somehow became my de facto comfort read, and yet here I am, telling you that this tale of nail-biting espionage, harrowing betrayal, and crushing debt totally became my main comfort read! And look, as much as I love a cozy mystery or a cozy romance manga or a cozy contemporary YA, sometimes I feel the selfish need to just read a perfect book. Is that too much to ask? The truth is that even though I love a story with detailed world-building, it's always a challenge to find authors that are able to also seamlessly blend it in with other important things like charming dialogue or a strong chemistry between characters in the same way Ginn Hale does with her writing. Tangent time, and I know this is an ironic thing to admit in a review that I'm writing, but I’ve seriously started to side-eye glowing reviews after that new Alien: Earth show bored me out of my mind. Warning, even though everyone says it's just like the original two movies, they are LYING! It’s wild because my tolerance for bad Alien movies is pretty high considering I enjoyed both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, so it's really saying something when I warn everyone to avoid that show like the plague! My biggest problem with the show is that while the first ten minutes was a faithful homage to the first Alien’s minimal exposition, it then almost immediately forgoes it in favor for a "tell-don't-show" exposition in its on screen text info-dumping and clunky dialogue explaining every little thing that's happening for the people who are watching while scrolling their phones (me). Alien: Earth is blah, but I guess my point here is that one of the main things I love about Ginn Hale’s writing is that even though every one of her books are incredibly detailed and complicated, she understands not to overload the reader with information, and rather than seeming overwhelming and frustrating, her stories instead feel fully-realized and lived-in. Every character is so meticulously crafted and rooted in a sense of realism that it kept things from flowing from plot point to plot point without the need for boring exposition dumps. And because of this naturalistic approach to the story telling, it also helped to make sure that the narrative stayed emotionally resonant and structurally sound.
The thing is, even though there’s heavy detailing in almost every paragraph of Cymin’s narration, where he's almost always explaining something to us, it never felt like he was just talking to the audience in a way that felt like a fourth-wall break. His nervousness around his increasingly dangerous circumstances kind of imply that his motor mouth only heightens with his nervousness, and I like the mental image of this serene magical monk on the outside who's secretly losing their shit on the inside. #relatable! But more importantly, Cymin was thankfully never used as a proxy for the author’s own opinions in the same way as Tyrion at the end of Game of Thrones season eight! Surely I'm not the only person who remembers that, right? It's the Ted Talk prose scene where writers D&D use him as a sock puppet so they can spell out the show’s main themes because they weren't good enough writers to let the material stand on its own. It always makes me laugh how he was all like, "And who! ...Are the most important people in the world? Let me tell you that it's the writers! Writers will save the world and are the only people who matter... even though we live in a largely medieval society where literacy is only reserved for the extremely wealthy, and it's actually a plot point for Varys's power, as the fact that he teaches his spies how to read is what gives him the advantage!" Pretty funny, huh? Yeah well, sometimes I still think about that season and the anger of a thousand burning suns starts to envelope me all over again. Another tangent aside, but what’s cool about Price of a Thousand Blessings is Ginn Hale’s ability to cleverly hide important exposition and thematic critiques of subjects surrounding religious devotion that borders on servitude, propaganda focused on dehumanizing minority groups, and exploitation of vulnerable populations, under the framework of an entertaining coming-of-age story. You could easily come out the other end of this novel without ever having analyzed the text and still have had a fun and fulfilling time reading it. There's some real nuance to it! It's kind of like how when you’re listening to music and there’s always that one guy acting as the lyric police while trying to bring down the vibe, all saying something like, “did you know that Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)' is actually about his alcohol addiction? Did you know that!?” and it’s always like, yes, we all know about the dark lyrics! It has a deeper meaning, but that doesn't change the fact that the songs slaps. Layers like an onion! Otherwise, I often say that I love stories about nothing, but I only really say that because it’s a lot easier to say than always emphatically trying to get my point across that what I really want is a story that hints at a world full of imagination but still only ever giving us information pertaining to the main plot. Sorry to throw shade, but I think their excitement, a lot of authors get a little too Christopher Paolini with their stories by throwing a bunch of information about the world at us without any care or thought given to whether or not we should even know this stuff! Sure, it's clearly important to them and their writing process, but it probably should have been set aside in a separate place or something. I'm here to read a novel, not an instruction pamphlet! That’s one of the things I love about the older Dragon Age games, because even though there’s a breadth of delicious world-building, it’s all hidden over there in the game’s codex section, so only the truly die-hard fans of the series were able to glean hints and implications for the series’ future. It was a select group… of which I was definitely not a part of. Like, I’m not trying to read all that, but it's cool that was there for those interested and I love when a writer makes their story feel like the labor of love that they no doubt are, but also has enough sense to understand the importance of concise story-telling.
Hey, you know what’s crazy? Not only am I still here talking about whatever I'm talking about, but I also haven’t given a synopsis yet! I guess that in my excitement, I kind of forgot that not everybody was as intimately aware of this story as I am. Oops! Anyway, Price of a Thousand Blessings is about a pseudo priest in training named Cymin who as a child was the sole survivor of a devastating flood, where he was found clutching a mysterious scepter and mumbling incoherently. Ominous, right? Yeah well, things calmed down shortly thereafter as he and his sister grew up fed and sheltered by a magical temple, of which they both amassed a life-long debt that would take decades to pay off. Then, after a Goldfinch-esque inciting incident where his magical prowess and quick thinking proves vital to saving hundreds of lives, he’s then given the opportunity to pay off all of his debt by gaining the loyalty and spying on a feared minority group called the Waethir. Sounds simple, no? Well, one of the members is an ethereal, “You're hot then you're cold, you're yes, then you're no, you're in, then you're out, you're up, then you're down ” sexy elf-like dude named Laithondi, so I'm sure you know where the main problem arises. I truly believe that this author's greatest strength as a writer is how deceptively smart her writing is. Now, that sounds a tad condescending, but I really, really mean it! For example, a simple flip through one of her books allows you clearly see and understand the complex world-building at work here, but if you really give it a chance, then you’d also come to see that every one of her stories are peppered with more relatable and lovely, smaller moments. I especially enjoyed how Cymin kept stumbling on “Anime tropes” situations like him falling asleep on his Laithondi's chest (“we go like up 'til I'm 'sleep on your chest, love how my face fits so good in your neck, why can't you imagine a world like that?”) or how the latter was always secretly looking after him regardless of what his standoffish nature would imply. It’s rare that I come across a truly unique fantasy, one that not only feels wholly alive, but also demands your attention with every word, and to that point I thought it was interesting how this fantasy world doesn’t take its inspiration from a medieval period, but it’s rather on a Avatar: Legend of Korra 20th century vibe, which I found to be an immense breath of fresh air. I mean, the normal tropes are always great, but want to hear something really wild? Floating islands do absolutely nothing for me. Avatar could have the most sprawling and beautiful soundtrack while the camera pans around a majestic mountain range in the sky and I would just be sitting there stone faced. Besides, maybe I have Cymin’s ability to detect traces of magic also, because I could instantly see how magical this book was just based on how easily it enraptured me with its mundane magics! Otherwise, another interesting theme throughout this novel is its use of reincarnation as a narrative tool. It’s very real in this world (or at the very least seen as a real fact), it's more used as a representation of personal growth rather than something more literal. It’s an examination in how people who have done wrong in the past are often not allowed to change based solely on who they were “in a past life.” Can we change, and even if we could, should we be allowed to? It’s the whole “artist's old bigoted tweets surfacing” thing, because on one hand, it’s cool and good that it’s never too late to want to become better, but then it's also important to consider… why is it always the victims who not only have to bear the brunt of bigotry, but are also pressured to find it in their heart to forgive? A real conundrum, that one. So yeah, I loved Price of a Thousand Blessings! I’d even scream it from the top of a floating mountain if I could… but for now I’ll settle for writing this review.
“Previously, he’d only thought of privilege in terms of how much any one person could obtain and possess–be that petty officials demanding hefty bribes or Boshyin mages clothed in gossamer silks and casually tossing around beautiful ancillaries, crafted just to suit them. What he hadn’t considered was a more subtle but greater indication of power: the freedom to refuse.”
I've been waiting a long time for this, so let me just get this out of the way… maybe the real price of a thousand blessings were the friends we made along the way! Okay, that’s muu~uuch better! Phew, it’s like a weight that I’ve been carrying for months and four hundred pages has suddenly been lifted. The wonderful thing about physical books is that the feel of a real life book in your hand is unmatched by any other experience, and then the not so wonderful part is the fact that due to their indefinite nature, they sometimes kind of just stay there on your desk for the better part of four or five months. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything! But yeah, it’s not like it’s a competition (I say to remind myself), and there’s something nice about having a book that you have as “currently reading” for a long enough to where it becomes a constant personified companion. And hey, what better book to all parasocial over than with something by Ginn Hale! Seriously, her incredibly detailed and immersive fantasy worlds are unmatched and her stories are always grounded by resoundingly powerful emotional cores. I mean, it’s probably not normal when I tell you that a tale of nail-biting espionage, harrowing betrayal, and crushing debt somehow became my de facto comfort read, and yet here I am, telling you that this tale of nail-biting espionage, harrowing betrayal, and crushing debt totally became my main comfort read! And look, as much as I love a cozy mystery or a cozy romance manga or a cozy contemporary YA, sometimes I feel the selfish need to just read a perfect book. Is that too much to ask? The truth is that even though I love a story with detailed world-building, it's always a challenge to find authors that are able to also seamlessly blend it in with other important things like charming dialogue or a strong chemistry between characters in the same way Ginn Hale does with her writing. Tangent time, and I know this is an ironic thing to admit in a review that I'm writing, but I’ve seriously started to side-eye glowing reviews after that new Alien: Earth show bored me out of my mind. Warning, even though everyone says it's just like the original two movies, they are LYING! It’s wild because my tolerance for bad Alien movies is pretty high considering I enjoyed both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, so it's really saying something when I warn everyone to avoid that show like the plague! My biggest problem with the show is that while the first ten minutes was a faithful homage to the first Alien’s minimal exposition, it then almost immediately forgoes it in favor for a "tell-don't-show" exposition in its on screen text info-dumping and clunky dialogue explaining every little thing that's happening for the people who are watching while scrolling their phones (me). Alien: Earth is blah, but I guess my point here is that one of the main things I love about Ginn Hale’s writing is that even though every one of her books are incredibly detailed and complicated, she understands not to overload the reader with information, and rather than seeming overwhelming and frustrating, her stories instead feel fully-realized and lived-in. Every character is so meticulously crafted and rooted in a sense of realism that it kept things from flowing from plot point to plot point without the need for boring exposition dumps. And because of this naturalistic approach to the story telling, it also helped to make sure that the narrative stayed emotionally resonant and structurally sound.
The thing is, even though there’s heavy detailing in almost every paragraph of Cymin’s narration, where he's almost always explaining something to us, it never felt like he was just talking to the audience in a way that felt like a fourth-wall break. His nervousness around his increasingly dangerous circumstances kind of imply that his motor mouth only heightens with his nervousness, and I like the mental image of this serene magical monk on the outside who's secretly losing their shit on the inside. #relatable! But more importantly, Cymin was thankfully never used as a proxy for the author’s own opinions in the same way as Tyrion at the end of Game of Thrones season eight! Surely I'm not the only person who remembers that, right? It's the Ted Talk prose scene where writers D&D use him as a sock puppet so they can spell out the show’s main themes because they weren't good enough writers to let the material stand on its own. It always makes me laugh how he was all like, "And who! ...Are the most important people in the world? Let me tell you that it's the writers! Writers will save the world and are the only people who matter... even though we live in a largely medieval society where literacy is only reserved for the extremely wealthy, and it's actually a plot point for Varys's power, as the fact that he teaches his spies how to read is what gives him the advantage!" Pretty funny, huh? Yeah well, sometimes I still think about that season and the anger of a thousand burning suns starts to envelope me all over again. Another tangent aside, but what’s cool about Price of a Thousand Blessings is Ginn Hale’s ability to cleverly hide important exposition and thematic critiques of subjects surrounding religious devotion that borders on servitude, propaganda focused on dehumanizing minority groups, and exploitation of vulnerable populations, under the framework of an entertaining coming-of-age story. You could easily come out the other end of this novel without ever having analyzed the text and still have had a fun and fulfilling time reading it. There's some real nuance to it! It's kind of like how when you’re listening to music and there’s always that one guy acting as the lyric police while trying to bring down the vibe, all saying something like, “did you know that Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)' is actually about his alcohol addiction? Did you know that!?” and it’s always like, yes, we all know about the dark lyrics! It has a deeper meaning, but that doesn't change the fact that the songs slaps. Layers like an onion! Otherwise, I often say that I love stories about nothing, but I only really say that because it’s a lot easier to say than always emphatically trying to get my point across that what I really want is a story that hints at a world full of imagination but still only ever giving us information pertaining to the main plot. Sorry to throw shade, but I think their excitement, a lot of authors get a little too Christopher Paolini with their stories by throwing a bunch of information about the world at us without any care or thought given to whether or not we should even know this stuff! Sure, it's clearly important to them and their writing process, but it probably should have been set aside in a separate place or something. I'm here to read a novel, not an instruction pamphlet! That’s one of the things I love about the older Dragon Age games, because even though there’s a breadth of delicious world-building, it’s all hidden over there in the game’s codex section, so only the truly die-hard fans of the series were able to glean hints and implications for the series’ future. It was a select group… of which I was definitely not a part of. Like, I’m not trying to read all that, but it's cool that was there for those interested and I love when a writer makes their story feel like the labor of love that they no doubt are, but also has enough sense to understand the importance of concise story-telling.
Hey, you know what’s crazy? Not only am I still here talking about whatever I'm talking about, but I also haven’t given a synopsis yet! I guess that in my excitement, I kind of forgot that not everybody was as intimately aware of this story as I am. Oops! Anyway, Price of a Thousand Blessings is about a pseudo priest in training named Cymin who as a child was the sole survivor of a devastating flood, where he was found clutching a mysterious scepter and mumbling incoherently. Ominous, right? Yeah well, things calmed down shortly thereafter as he and his sister grew up fed and sheltered by a magical temple, of which they both amassed a life-long debt that would take decades to pay off. Then, after a Goldfinch-esque inciting incident where his magical prowess and quick thinking proves vital to saving hundreds of lives, he’s then given the opportunity to pay off all of his debt by gaining the loyalty and spying on a feared minority group called the Waethir. Sounds simple, no? Well, one of the members is an ethereal, “You're hot then you're cold, you're yes, then you're no, you're in, then you're out, you're up, then you're down ” sexy elf-like dude named Laithondi, so I'm sure you know where the main problem arises. I truly believe that this author's greatest strength as a writer is how deceptively smart her writing is. Now, that sounds a tad condescending, but I really, really mean it! For example, a simple flip through one of her books allows you clearly see and understand the complex world-building at work here, but if you really give it a chance, then you’d also come to see that every one of her stories are peppered with more relatable and lovely, smaller moments. I especially enjoyed how Cymin kept stumbling on “Anime tropes” situations like him falling asleep on his Laithondi's chest (“we go like up 'til I'm 'sleep on your chest, love how my face fits so good in your neck, why can't you imagine a world like that?”) or how the latter was always secretly looking after him regardless of what his standoffish nature would imply. It’s rare that I come across a truly unique fantasy, one that not only feels wholly alive, but also demands your attention with every word, and to that point I thought it was interesting how this fantasy world doesn’t take its inspiration from a medieval period, but it’s rather on a Avatar: Legend of Korra 20th century vibe, which I found to be an immense breath of fresh air. I mean, the normal tropes are always great, but want to hear something really wild? Floating islands do absolutely nothing for me. Avatar could have the most sprawling and beautiful soundtrack while the camera pans around a majestic mountain range in the sky and I would just be sitting there stone faced. Besides, maybe I have Cymin’s ability to detect traces of magic also, because I could instantly see how magical this book was just based on how easily it enraptured me with its mundane magics! Otherwise, another interesting theme throughout this novel is its use of reincarnation as a narrative tool. It’s very real in this world (or at the very least seen as a real fact), it's more used as a representation of personal growth rather than something more literal. It’s an examination in how people who have done wrong in the past are often not allowed to change based solely on who they were “in a past life.” Can we change, and even if we could, should we be allowed to? It’s the whole “artist's old bigoted tweets surfacing” thing, because on one hand, it’s cool and good that it’s never too late to want to become better, but then it's also important to consider… why is it always the victims who not only have to bear the brunt of bigotry, but are also pressured to find it in their heart to forgive? A real conundrum, that one. So yeah, I loved Price of a Thousand Blessings! I’d even scream it from the top of a floating mountain if I could… but for now I’ll settle for writing this review.
“Previously, he’d only thought of privilege in terms of how much any one person could obtain and possess–be that petty officials demanding hefty bribes or Boshyin mages clothed in gossamer silks and casually tossing around beautiful ancillaries, crafted just to suit them. What he hadn’t considered was a more subtle but greater indication of power: the freedom to refuse.”
September 5, 2025
How DA FUQ is Ginn Hale just a silly lil noodle author posting pictures of plants on her insta WHILST OUT HERE JUST CASUALLY WRITING FUCKING EPIC LGBTQ FANTASY MASTERPIECES????
The fact the book 2 audio isn’t released for 19 DAYS FEELS LIKE A CRIME RN 😭✨
DID I UNDERSTAND A SECOND OF THE PLOT OF THIS BOOK???? ABSOLUTELY NOT A SINGLE SECOND OF IT but I was wholeheartedly captivated the whole damn read trying to work out the mysteries presenting in this THICCCCCC AF, detailed and intriguing plot???
I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO LIKE… invested?? Constantly guessing who is who, and who is bad and who did what!! There are so many side characters that I’m glad this was audio because it helped my stupid ass process things but DAMN.
The best parts to me:
❌No tropes in sight
❌No repetition of writing
❌Nothing feels recycled from other books
❌No longwinded explanations or boring bits
✅Feels authentic
✅Feels like this author put love (and crack) into the world building and magic system
✅Main characters and side characters with depth that isn't full explored yet. Like we are learning these characters slowly and how they are important to the story and to each other??
✅Slow burn, whilst not everyone’s cup of tea ☕️🫖 IS ALWAYS MY CUP OF TEA (when it’s done correctly)
Every little smirk, quirk of the lip, prolonged eye contact and brush of contact with our two MCs HAD ME FOAMING AT THE MOUTH?! ARE YOU SOUL MATES?! ARE YOU FRENEMIES? ARE YOU REINCARNATED LOVERS?! WHEN WILL YOU KISS???? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I hope book 2 tells me 🤭
Even with NO COMPREHENSION, of where the story is going, or what even happened in book 1, i'm hook, line and sinker deep into the theories of what is happening in this crazy ass world.
OH, and THAT CLIFFHANGER HAS ME GNAWING AT MY OWN HANGNAILS IN STRESS!!!!
Ginn Hale feels underhyped in the epic fantasy lgbtq space rn 💖
The fact the book 2 audio isn’t released for 19 DAYS FEELS LIKE A CRIME RN 😭✨
DID I UNDERSTAND A SECOND OF THE PLOT OF THIS BOOK???? ABSOLUTELY NOT A SINGLE SECOND OF IT but I was wholeheartedly captivated the whole damn read trying to work out the mysteries presenting in this THICCCCCC AF, detailed and intriguing plot???
I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO LIKE… invested?? Constantly guessing who is who, and who is bad and who did what!! There are so many side characters that I’m glad this was audio because it helped my stupid ass process things but DAMN.
The best parts to me:
❌No tropes in sight
❌No repetition of writing
❌Nothing feels recycled from other books
❌No longwinded explanations or boring bits
✅Feels authentic
✅Feels like this author put love (and crack) into the world building and magic system
✅Main characters and side characters with depth that isn't full explored yet. Like we are learning these characters slowly and how they are important to the story and to each other??
✅Slow burn, whilst not everyone’s cup of tea ☕️🫖 IS ALWAYS MY CUP OF TEA (when it’s done correctly)
Every little smirk, quirk of the lip, prolonged eye contact and brush of contact with our two MCs HAD ME FOAMING AT THE MOUTH?! ARE YOU SOUL MATES?! ARE YOU FRENEMIES? ARE YOU REINCARNATED LOVERS?! WHEN WILL YOU KISS???? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I hope book 2 tells me 🤭
Even with NO COMPREHENSION, of where the story is going, or what even happened in book 1, i'm hook, line and sinker deep into the theories of what is happening in this crazy ass world.
OH, and THAT CLIFFHANGER HAS ME GNAWING AT MY OWN HANGNAILS IN STRESS!!!!
Ginn Hale feels underhyped in the epic fantasy lgbtq space rn 💖
September 5, 2025
GINN HALE IS A CREATIVE GENIUS The world building and pure creativity in this new series of hers had me squealing ecstatically. SO MUCH TIME AND EFFORT has clearly gone into creating this world. The level of detail is amazing, the depth to the plot has boggled my mind. The cast of characters is vast but each is memorable and interesting. I am so invested!!!
There is an entire glossary, historical timeline, pages of sigils and the cutest, weirdest, extra visual art accompaniment included at the end. Again, I must stress the amazingness of Ginn Hale’s brain to think up all this stuff. This book really tickled my brain itch for an exquisitely written fantasy.
Even after finishing this I still don’t understand everything that is going on. I have MANY THEORIES and I’m not sure if I’m on the right track but I am LOVING every subtle interaction between Cymin and Laithondi (and Nyle and Xoan). This is super slow burn and I’m dying every time intense eye contact is made and subtle comments come out. I can’t even begin to explain the plot here or what is going on . I recommend just getting stuck in and going for it.
This reminds me of Ginn Hale’s The Rifter series but with more of a romance focus, which I love. I’m very much looking forward to the revelations to come in the next book as this is really just the beginning.
There is an entire glossary, historical timeline, pages of sigils and the cutest, weirdest, extra visual art accompaniment included at the end. Again, I must stress the amazingness of Ginn Hale’s brain to think up all this stuff. This book really tickled my brain itch for an exquisitely written fantasy.
Even after finishing this I still don’t understand everything that is going on. I have MANY THEORIES and I’m not sure if I’m on the right track but I am LOVING every subtle interaction between Cymin and Laithondi (and Nyle and Xoan). This is super slow burn and I’m dying every time intense eye contact is made and subtle comments come out. I can’t even begin to explain the plot here or what is going on . I recommend just getting stuck in and going for it.
This reminds me of Ginn Hale’s The Rifter series but with more of a romance focus, which I love. I’m very much looking forward to the revelations to come in the next book as this is really just the beginning.
Read
May 6, 2025Updated to remove my 4-star rating:
ARC review – no rating/rating removed for audiobook AI release (different series)
On the 28th of March Hale announced in her Patreon that The Rifter series was finally available on audiobook.
Exciting news. Except all 10 books in The Rifter series ($3.99 a pop) were done with Amazon Virtual Voice, which is an AI-generated narration.
Before anyone comes to condescend-splain the cost of audiobooks to me, I know. I know because I follow and support indie authors who break down the exact cost they pay a human voice actor (often around $300/hr) for their audiobook during crowdfunding campaigns. It's expensive. It also limits accessibility for people who need it. Authors who have less than 5 books have successfully crowdfunded the full cost of producing an audiobook.
Ginn Hale has a large following, I know we could easily back The Rifter series audiobooks. I'm holding out hope that Hale eventually goes that route instead. In the meantime, I am not comfortable giving newly read books/post AI the 4-5 stars they deserve. 😭
Review from 6 March:
His knife-sharp features and distant expression were beautiful. His out-of-date clothes, the pungent smell of sweat, bergamot and birch oil drifting from his body, his chapped lips—everything about him was perfect.
4+ stars for intricate world-building, multiple love story timelines, fascinating spells, confusing dreams, and what a cliffie!
All the things you'd expect from a Ginn Hale book. I loved it.
Slightly less complicated and time bending than The Rifter series, but not from skimping on the world-building. A ton of side characters, bit of a mystery, and as usual, social disparity between the different characters.
Can't wait to read Volume 2! (Will add more to this review after I've finished #2)
Thank you BookSirens for a free eARC, opinions are my own.
ARC review – no rating/rating removed for audiobook AI release (different series)
On the 28th of March Hale announced in her Patreon that The Rifter series was finally available on audiobook.
Also, after quite a few requests, I've made the audio version of the Rifter available. I hope this makes the story more accessible for everyone.
Exciting news. Except all 10 books in The Rifter series ($3.99 a pop) were done with Amazon Virtual Voice, which is an AI-generated narration.
Before anyone comes to condescend-splain the cost of audiobooks to me, I know. I know because I follow and support indie authors who break down the exact cost they pay a human voice actor (often around $300/hr) for their audiobook during crowdfunding campaigns. It's expensive. It also limits accessibility for people who need it. Authors who have less than 5 books have successfully crowdfunded the full cost of producing an audiobook.
Ginn Hale has a large following, I know we could easily back The Rifter series audiobooks. I'm holding out hope that Hale eventually goes that route instead. In the meantime, I am not comfortable giving newly read books/post AI the 4-5 stars they deserve. 😭
Review from 6 March:
His knife-sharp features and distant expression were beautiful. His out-of-date clothes, the pungent smell of sweat, bergamot and birch oil drifting from his body, his chapped lips—everything about him was perfect.
4+ stars for intricate world-building, multiple love story timelines, fascinating spells, confusing dreams, and what a cliffie!
All the things you'd expect from a Ginn Hale book. I loved it.
Slightly less complicated and time bending than The Rifter series, but not from skimping on the world-building. A ton of side characters, bit of a mystery, and as usual, social disparity between the different characters.
Can't wait to read Volume 2! (Will add more to this review after I've finished #2)
Thank you BookSirens for a free eARC, opinions are my own.
May 7, 2025
3.5
First things first: I loved it and it was the right book at the right time for me. I don't remember a Ginn Hale story where I didn't enjoy her skill for creating fantasy worlds.This time I imagined it as a world similar to some martial art mangas from the ancient Far East but then also not. Yes, there is magic, there are artistic techniques with flowery names and instead of natural Qi there is a volatile energy called fei'lux and the worlds history with a tyrannical emperor and benevolent but aloof deities are adding to that Far East vibe but after a revolution deities and religion are more folklore and fei'lux is mainly used to power technology but of course like so often revolutions change every day life, just not necessarily for the better. It's an odd but compelling mix for a fantasy world with steam punk elements. We see movie cameras resembling a metallic hawk, mechanical crickets chirring in restaurants for an ambient vibe but at the same time complicated spell arrangements that act like living beings and magical blessings. It took me some time to get used to it but I liked it anyway.
Of course history is never over and the shadows of a long lost past are slowly creeping in again because at the core of this tale is an eternal but doomed love and a layered legend about what happened at the end of the ancient kingdom. We only get the story from Cymin's view, so the informations about the world and what's going on are sparse and the story after the big bang at the start is going slowly for a long time. I was fine with both because I don't like info dumps and getting a bit time to get to know the characters while creating my own ideas about what's going on can't be wrong and it's not like nothing happens during that part of the book; it's just a bit more subtle sometimes. I probably have to read it again to recognize all the hints and implied tracks. Anyway, I enjoyed my time with Cymin while he carved his space into his new reality; he's too playful and genuine not to. Lathondi is a bit more difficult to get but that goes without saying when the only information we get about him is from the clueless Cymin's point of view and his recurring dreams about a shady prince from the last days of the mage kings era.
So why not go for a real 4 star rating? For one there is this discrepancy between the atmosphere Ginn Hale delivers and what I believe living under an oppressive government should feel like. Selling kids to a temple and that temple is then indebted to the revolutionary government and those debts only pile up until the grown up kids have to serve their time fending off fei'lux storm which they likely not survive. That's serfdom in the worst way but we only get short statements that this might be bad but I never felt it and that's a shame because Ginn Hale created other parts of that world so intriguingly. Then there is also that after the introduction of the main characters and the setup of the story we suddenly get a ton of support characters and I was out of my depth to remember who is who and frankly speaking, some of the magic concept I only understood better after I read the glossary (still have some difficulty to imagine fei'lux). Lastly there is the issue with Cymin's dreams. .
At the end of the book we're still away from a love story because Cymin is too oblivious for his own good and Laithondi is caught in his own past and obviously wants to protect Cymin and maybe also doesn't know what really happened that time long ago. The mystery only grew ... now I have to decide if I continue at Ginn Hales patreon or wait until the next part is published.
First things first: I loved it and it was the right book at the right time for me. I don't remember a Ginn Hale story where I didn't enjoy her skill for creating fantasy worlds.This time I imagined it as a world similar to some martial art mangas from the ancient Far East but then also not. Yes, there is magic, there are artistic techniques with flowery names and instead of natural Qi there is a volatile energy called fei'lux and the worlds history with a tyrannical emperor and benevolent but aloof deities are adding to that Far East vibe but after a revolution deities and religion are more folklore and fei'lux is mainly used to power technology but of course like so often revolutions change every day life, just not necessarily for the better. It's an odd but compelling mix for a fantasy world with steam punk elements. We see movie cameras resembling a metallic hawk, mechanical crickets chirring in restaurants for an ambient vibe but at the same time complicated spell arrangements that act like living beings and magical blessings. It took me some time to get used to it but I liked it anyway.
Of course history is never over and the shadows of a long lost past are slowly creeping in again because at the core of this tale is an eternal but doomed love and a layered legend about what happened at the end of the ancient kingdom. We only get the story from Cymin's view, so the informations about the world and what's going on are sparse and the story after the big bang at the start is going slowly for a long time. I was fine with both because I don't like info dumps and getting a bit time to get to know the characters while creating my own ideas about what's going on can't be wrong and it's not like nothing happens during that part of the book; it's just a bit more subtle sometimes. I probably have to read it again to recognize all the hints and implied tracks. Anyway, I enjoyed my time with Cymin while he carved his space into his new reality; he's too playful and genuine not to. Lathondi is a bit more difficult to get but that goes without saying when the only information we get about him is from the clueless Cymin's point of view and his recurring dreams about a shady prince from the last days of the mage kings era.
So why not go for a real 4 star rating? For one there is this discrepancy between the atmosphere Ginn Hale delivers and what I believe living under an oppressive government should feel like. Selling kids to a temple and that temple is then indebted to the revolutionary government and those debts only pile up until the grown up kids have to serve their time fending off fei'lux storm which they likely not survive. That's serfdom in the worst way but we only get short statements that this might be bad but I never felt it and that's a shame because Ginn Hale created other parts of that world so intriguingly. Then there is also that after the introduction of the main characters and the setup of the story we suddenly get a ton of support characters and I was out of my depth to remember who is who and frankly speaking, some of the magic concept I only understood better after I read the glossary (still have some difficulty to imagine fei'lux). Lastly there is the issue with Cymin's dreams. .
At the end of the book we're still away from a love story because Cymin is too oblivious for his own good and Laithondi is caught in his own past and obviously wants to protect Cymin and maybe also doesn't know what really happened that time long ago. The mystery only grew ... now I have to decide if I continue at Ginn Hales patreon or wait until the next part is published.
April 29, 2025
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.75 stars
The Price of a Thousand Blessings is a magical fantasy full of sweeping lore, friendships and rivalries that go back centuries, and a whole lot of moral challenges. Nominally set in the early 1900s, this is a whole different world from our own. There are communications towers, movie starlets, radio programs, and trains alongside a system of indentured servitude for the poor and a powerful state that has long since replaced the mage-kings of yore. With such a complex and stories setting, Cymin and the others rise to the challenge of pulling all these world elements into a compelling story quite admirably.
Regardless, if you’re a fan of Ginn Hale’s work, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this new story. Fans of high fantasy and wildly creative use of reincarnation, past lives, magic, and chosen ones will find so much to enjoy in these pages. Fans of cliffhangers will love the ending–and cliffhanger haters can take solace in the fact that volume two comes out quickly and the plethora of back material to help you wrap your head around all the people, places, sigils, and timeline for the events in the story.
Read Camille's review in its entirety here.
4.75 stars
The Price of a Thousand Blessings is a magical fantasy full of sweeping lore, friendships and rivalries that go back centuries, and a whole lot of moral challenges. Nominally set in the early 1900s, this is a whole different world from our own. There are communications towers, movie starlets, radio programs, and trains alongside a system of indentured servitude for the poor and a powerful state that has long since replaced the mage-kings of yore. With such a complex and stories setting, Cymin and the others rise to the challenge of pulling all these world elements into a compelling story quite admirably.
Regardless, if you’re a fan of Ginn Hale’s work, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this new story. Fans of high fantasy and wildly creative use of reincarnation, past lives, magic, and chosen ones will find so much to enjoy in these pages. Fans of cliffhangers will love the ending–and cliffhanger haters can take solace in the fact that volume two comes out quickly and the plethora of back material to help you wrap your head around all the people, places, sigils, and timeline for the events in the story.
Read Camille's review in its entirety here.
Read
May 26, 2025@50%: I’m struggling with this. The world building is incredibly detailed and extensive. I keep wondering if we really need to know all this. And plot progress is moving very slowly. Each percent read takes about 8 page turns so I've read approximately 400 pages at this point. If it was anyone but Hale I would've DNFed long ago. So I'm going to try putting this aside for awhile & hopefully come back to it later.
February 18, 2025
So much to say about this book! And it’s all good. The character development, the world building, the magic system, the intricate explanations of how and why it all works, is just absolutely beautifully and exquisitely well done. I haven’t read a book in a while that I immediately want to begin reading the next installment. And the humor and candor makes the characters so much more intimate and personable! This is definitely one that I will be getting a physical copy of when it’s published.
I will say to readers who want to breeze through books normally, that this book does take some time and patience to get through some of the explanations of aspects of the story building, but absolutely worth it in the end. So be prepared for that.
One of my favorite aspects is the underlying love story throughout. Though it is not fully recognized in this book, it definitely keeps you going to want to know how it continues to unfold in the next book. But such wonderful twists and turns to keep you guessing and hoping as to what will unfold next!
I will say to readers who want to breeze through books normally, that this book does take some time and patience to get through some of the explanations of aspects of the story building, but absolutely worth it in the end. So be prepared for that.
One of my favorite aspects is the underlying love story throughout. Though it is not fully recognized in this book, it definitely keeps you going to want to know how it continues to unfold in the next book. But such wonderful twists and turns to keep you guessing and hoping as to what will unfold next!
July 13, 2025
2d reread because I can: everything was in front of me....
I need the second volume right now. I can't wait one month.
Amazing read, it's a mix between The Rifter and The Spear Cut Through Water and Dark Rise, it was destined to be a five star for me. The story is engrossing, the plot is really well made and the high stakes make me unable to put the book down. (what do you mean I already finished it??).
For the characters, the entire cast was lovely. I loved Cym from the beginning and Laith was a fascinating character, though somewhat serious, i loved seeing him being witty also.
The world building is amazing, I saw some review say that there was too much of it, but I really didn't mind, it painted a believable world as Ginn Hale excel at.
Also I kinda knew where some of the plot point were going, but I loved it. I was connecting the dots like crazy, I have many theories and I can't wait for book 2 to see if I'm right.
This book scratched an itch in my brain so good, it was so satisfying it left me moaning.
I need the second volume right now. I can't wait one month.
Amazing read, it's a mix between The Rifter and The Spear Cut Through Water and Dark Rise, it was destined to be a five star for me. The story is engrossing, the plot is really well made and the high stakes make me unable to put the book down. (what do you mean I already finished it??).
For the characters, the entire cast was lovely. I loved Cym from the beginning and Laith was a fascinating character, though somewhat serious, i loved seeing him being witty also.
The world building is amazing, I saw some review say that there was too much of it, but I really didn't mind, it painted a believable world as Ginn Hale excel at.
Also I kinda knew where some of the plot point were going, but I loved it. I was connecting the dots like crazy, I have many theories and I can't wait for book 2 to see if I'm right.
July 30, 2025
Honestly, I thought this was excellent. Really interesting world-building, compelling characters, and a narrative that sucked me right in. Sloooow burn on the romance, which is to be expected. Flew through this one!
November 22, 2025
5-⭐
I have the Patreon copy which is Volumes 1 and 2 combined and I'm not completely sure where the story cuts off, and I have obviously read the second book at this point so this might not be strictly a review for Volume 1.
Anyway... This is very much what I was expecting, which is an excellent fantasy in an intriguing world. I immediately took a liking to Cymin and just ended up loving him more and more as the story progresses. He's such a kind, sweet, and funny young man, a pleasure to spend time with.
This series is not as dark Rifter is, though there is still a lot on unequality and hardship in this world. The mysteries are Ginn Hale at her best. Some things are obvious but not in a frustrating way, and the major mysteries are revealed piece by piece, creating some actual twists and a good build up for both the more obvious and the "twisty" things.
I'm giving a little minus from the full 5 stars for the first book because there are so many characters in this story and the world building and getting to know the cast takes a looong time. I enjoyed the whole book, but it was a bit slow going at some of the earlier parts. I didn't need to write down a cast list though, and I followed through the plot and the people just fine. There's less new people and an overall faster pace in the second volume.
The romance is very slow burn. Most romantic action happens with the past love story, through dreams and memories. But I can't wait for the happy endings to come. (I'm really hoping there will be several.)
I have the Patreon copy which is Volumes 1 and 2 combined and I'm not completely sure where the story cuts off, and I have obviously read the second book at this point so this might not be strictly a review for Volume 1.
Anyway... This is very much what I was expecting, which is an excellent fantasy in an intriguing world. I immediately took a liking to Cymin and just ended up loving him more and more as the story progresses. He's such a kind, sweet, and funny young man, a pleasure to spend time with.
This series is not as dark Rifter is, though there is still a lot on unequality and hardship in this world. The mysteries are Ginn Hale at her best. Some things are obvious but not in a frustrating way, and the major mysteries are revealed piece by piece, creating some actual twists and a good build up for both the more obvious and the "twisty" things.
I'm giving a little minus from the full 5 stars for the first book because there are so many characters in this story and the world building and getting to know the cast takes a looong time. I enjoyed the whole book, but it was a bit slow going at some of the earlier parts. I didn't need to write down a cast list though, and I followed through the plot and the people just fine. There's less new people and an overall faster pace in the second volume.
The romance is very slow burn. Most romantic action happens with the past love story, through dreams and memories. But I can't wait for the happy endings to come. (I'm really hoping there will be several.)
June 23, 2025
good
4 stars
I enjoyed this one. It took me on a twist and turn and every time I thought I knew what was happening it turned again or there was more information that kind of blew my ideas out of the water. It’s finished and I still don’t fully know what is going on.
The thing that saves it is the writing, it’s fabulous. The descriptions are so vivid that you feel like you are actually there with Cymin and the rest of the group. There were time the descriptiveness of the passages slowed the flow and all I wanted was the characters to do something and move the story along.
Cymin makes a good narrator. He is just as confused as the reader. I do like the connection between him and Laithondi, even if Laithondi is denying it. The students are all slowly making friendships along the way although I do think the shared memories is helping to colour those friendships.
It did finish with a great fight scene and a cliff hanger but luckily I have the next book ready to go and can continue on.
4 stars
I enjoyed this one. It took me on a twist and turn and every time I thought I knew what was happening it turned again or there was more information that kind of blew my ideas out of the water. It’s finished and I still don’t fully know what is going on.
The thing that saves it is the writing, it’s fabulous. The descriptions are so vivid that you feel like you are actually there with Cymin and the rest of the group. There were time the descriptiveness of the passages slowed the flow and all I wanted was the characters to do something and move the story along.
Cymin makes a good narrator. He is just as confused as the reader. I do like the connection between him and Laithondi, even if Laithondi is denying it. The students are all slowly making friendships along the way although I do think the shared memories is helping to colour those friendships.
It did finish with a great fight scene and a cliff hanger but luckily I have the next book ready to go and can continue on.
June 17, 2025
I did not really understand where this was going. Laithondi ignoring Cymin all the time? But I was captivated and bought book #2 in the middle of the night, because of the cliffhanger.
March 11, 2025
Ginn hale has done it again ahhhhhh first the rifter series and now this. She may be one of my most fav authors.
I have been loving the fascinating worldbuilding lore drops and character interactions. I am so worried about Cymin and waiting for the shit to hit the fan. I have been unable to put this book down and may or may not have pulled an all nighter to read the entire thing.
There's so much left to happen and the stakes are high and i am only halfway through.
Cymin is such an interesting character and it's been a pleasure to read his interactions with Laithondi. Especially since you know certain different layers over the interactions that Cymin doesn't know so far.
Cymin reminded me of shi qingxuan from TGCF or rather his east deity persona lol (from first expression only)
I love how Laithondi can just see through the facade of Cymin.
I am so extremely curious to see it all unfold, especially after that ending.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I have been loving the fascinating worldbuilding lore drops and character interactions. I am so worried about Cymin and waiting for the shit to hit the fan. I have been unable to put this book down and may or may not have pulled an all nighter to read the entire thing.
There's so much left to happen and the stakes are high and i am only halfway through.
Cymin is such an interesting character and it's been a pleasure to read his interactions with Laithondi. Especially since you know certain different layers over the interactions that Cymin doesn't know so far.
Cymin reminded me of shi qingxuan from TGCF or rather his east deity persona lol (from first expression only)
I love how Laithondi can just see through the facade of Cymin.
I am so extremely curious to see it all unfold, especially after that ending.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 27, 2025
Orphaned priest Cymin is chosen to represent the East Deity in his final, glorious tournament before sacrificing his power to protect the world. Set in a mysterious, magic-filled world, the celebration draws legends and elites alike—but quickly turns deadly. When Cymin risks everything to stop a massacre, he sets off a chain of events involving spies, ancient forces, and a mythical Wraith who’s been searching for him in secret for centuries.
This book completely blew me away with its rich, layered worldbuilding and incredibly thoughtful magic system—it’s the kind of story that rewards your full attention. I loved the multiple timelines of the slow-burn love story simmering beneath the action, the mystery, and the sharp look at social divides. While the many characters were a bit hard to keep track of at times, each one felt purposeful and real. The writing is smart, immersive, and full of heart, with just the right mix of humor, emotion, and tension. It’s not a fast read, but it’s absolutely worth it—one of those rare books that leaves you desperate for the next installment!
April 20, 2025
It's so hard to rate this book because it was such a struggle to get through.
The worldbuilding was so interesting. The deities and everything surrounding it are so mysterious and I'm so interested to see where it goes.
I'm a bit hesitant to read the sequel, but I genuinely hope there will be less filling and more action.
Overall, I'm not sure if I would recommend this book. It's not a hard no, but it's also not an enthusiastic yes either.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The worldbuilding was so interesting. The deities and everything surrounding it are so mysterious and I'm so interested to see where it goes.
I'm a bit hesitant to read the sequel, but I genuinely hope there will be less filling and more action.
Overall, I'm not sure if I would recommend this book. It's not a hard no, but it's also not an enthusiastic yes either.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 6, 2025
Three Stars
I'm SO glad I've already read all the other Ginn Hale books before this one because if this had been my initiation into the madness of her books, I'd have DNF'd it so fast and never given her another chance, and consequentially would have missed some really excellent books in her catalogue. Like, I could have never read Lord of the White Hell, Book 1 series and I loved that series, it's not even funny.
Now THIS book was a lot. Just getting through the first few pages took me WEEKS.
EDIT:
ONE THING TO KEEP IN MIND: This book is extremely well-written. It is complicated (I will elaborate on that further) and long. It requires you to pay attention to the last detail. BUT IN THE END (after having finished book 2) I think it's worth the effort. If you like a light read, stay clear and go read something else. This book will not appeal to you if you're looking for something quick and entertaining. Go read Lily Mayne. I don't mean it as an insult. I do too like Lily Mayne very much, but her world building is simple and to the point. This is a commitment.
/END OF EDIT
The system of magic is complex to say the least but most importantly, most irritatingly, the descriptions of places and things are endless and are wordy on the extreme. I swear I had to skim through entire paragraphs of descriptions of streets and buildings and food as they kept on going on and on and on, and like, I know it's important to draw out a place so readers can picture it better (this isn't my first book after all) but really, I could have done with a lot less descriptions and a lot more action.
Worst thing about that is that I actually couldn't really picture the world despite all that detailed description. Like, at first it read vaguely reminiscent of ancient civilizations, with temples and priests that go barefoot at all times and mentions of mage-kings and ruins from old battles, and they have carriages pulled by big birds like maybe ostriches? And at the same time, they've got magically powered bird-shaped automaton video cameras which means they have movies and movie theaters and movie stars? And trains? And a weird KGB-type of police force that uses fei'lux magic to blur their facial features but they don't have guns? Like, they fight with magic-imbued objects that can be anything from a sword to a paint brush?
I do NOT know what Ginn Hale was smoking when she wrote this one but she really should have cut back a little.
That said, the wordy world-building was not the only problem that made it really hard for me to engage. The narrative isn't linear enough to counter balance the wordiness and the enormous worldbuilding that Hale has going on here. Not only are these characters constantly delving into memories of their past, they SHARE memories of past lives amongst each other. Like... ugh. I don't wanna go too much into it because it might be a bit spoilery, but well, just a heads up: This book is a commitment.
I mean, it comes with a Glossary of places and terms AND a separate list of characters.
Anywhoo, expect:
- A complicated system of magic called fei'lux and otherworldly beautiful immortal fae-like people called Wraiths who are attuned to fei'lux.
- A world that is a mix of ancient and modern, where magic is normal.
- An extreeeeeemely slow burn romance between an orphaned youth who is trained in fei'lux magic and a Wraith guy, basically a powerful magic wielder GOD that looks like a fae prince.
- This book contains NO SMUT. Not a single, sad little kiss. But there are vague and generalized descriptions of past fucking, somewhere in someone's vague memory from something that happened 200 years ago. *rolls eyes*
- A big cast. As in at least 17 characters that are ALL important.
- Unique nomenclature. Get ready for names like Eijiri, Laithoni, Xoan, Vessiri, Marzilane, Chyre, Saigrath, Piiroc, Arnaith, Xondir, Ovelah, Paeth, Zevlyn... I could go on. I have to admit, maybe it's just me but some of these names are just a bit annoying, especially since there are SO MANY characters, and the geography of the entire world is described to the last detail, including names of rivers and mountains and fucking gates.
-Fated mates/past lives plotline, but very distantly explored.
- Constant back and forth between now and memories.
- This book is part of a yet unfinished series that is set to be around 5 books total. As of November 2025, only 2 books have been released.
- Audiobook was a bit slow for me. It kept putting me to sleep waaa.
I WILL SAY ONE THING THOUGH.
The last chapter made me sweat. I'm SO glad the second book is out because I would have been pissed if I'd had to wait after that CLIFFHANGER ENDING.
Also, I have a feeling once these dudes actually get together, they're gonna be FIRE. This is why I am moving on to book 2. What, did you think I put on all that fucking effort reading through 400+ pages of intense world building just to stop after book 1? Besides, that cliffhanger was delicious.
No fucking way am I stopping!
I'm just not loving it. I have high hopes for it though. Fingers crossed, we're looking into something really good in future installments.
I'm SO glad I've already read all the other Ginn Hale books before this one because if this had been my initiation into the madness of her books, I'd have DNF'd it so fast and never given her another chance, and consequentially would have missed some really excellent books in her catalogue. Like, I could have never read Lord of the White Hell, Book 1 series and I loved that series, it's not even funny.
Now THIS book was a lot. Just getting through the first few pages took me WEEKS.
EDIT:
ONE THING TO KEEP IN MIND: This book is extremely well-written. It is complicated (I will elaborate on that further) and long. It requires you to pay attention to the last detail. BUT IN THE END (after having finished book 2) I think it's worth the effort. If you like a light read, stay clear and go read something else. This book will not appeal to you if you're looking for something quick and entertaining. Go read Lily Mayne. I don't mean it as an insult. I do too like Lily Mayne very much, but her world building is simple and to the point. This is a commitment.
/END OF EDIT
The system of magic is complex to say the least but most importantly, most irritatingly, the descriptions of places and things are endless and are wordy on the extreme. I swear I had to skim through entire paragraphs of descriptions of streets and buildings and food as they kept on going on and on and on, and like, I know it's important to draw out a place so readers can picture it better (this isn't my first book after all) but really, I could have done with a lot less descriptions and a lot more action.
Worst thing about that is that I actually couldn't really picture the world despite all that detailed description. Like, at first it read vaguely reminiscent of ancient civilizations, with temples and priests that go barefoot at all times and mentions of mage-kings and ruins from old battles, and they have carriages pulled by big birds like maybe ostriches? And at the same time, they've got magically powered bird-shaped automaton video cameras which means they have movies and movie theaters and movie stars? And trains? And a weird KGB-type of police force that uses fei'lux magic to blur their facial features but they don't have guns? Like, they fight with magic-imbued objects that can be anything from a sword to a paint brush?
I do NOT know what Ginn Hale was smoking when she wrote this one but she really should have cut back a little.
That said, the wordy world-building was not the only problem that made it really hard for me to engage. The narrative isn't linear enough to counter balance the wordiness and the enormous worldbuilding that Hale has going on here. Not only are these characters constantly delving into memories of their past, they SHARE memories of past lives amongst each other. Like... ugh. I don't wanna go too much into it because it might be a bit spoilery, but well, just a heads up: This book is a commitment.
I mean, it comes with a Glossary of places and terms AND a separate list of characters.
Anywhoo, expect:
- A complicated system of magic called fei'lux and otherworldly beautiful immortal fae-like people called Wraiths who are attuned to fei'lux.
- A world that is a mix of ancient and modern, where magic is normal.
- An extreeeeeemely slow burn romance between an orphaned youth who is trained in fei'lux magic and a Wraith guy, basically a powerful magic wielder GOD that looks like a fae prince.
- This book contains NO SMUT. Not a single, sad little kiss. But there are vague and generalized descriptions of past fucking, somewhere in someone's vague memory from something that happened 200 years ago. *rolls eyes*
- A big cast. As in at least 17 characters that are ALL important.
- Unique nomenclature. Get ready for names like Eijiri, Laithoni, Xoan, Vessiri, Marzilane, Chyre, Saigrath, Piiroc, Arnaith, Xondir, Ovelah, Paeth, Zevlyn... I could go on. I have to admit, maybe it's just me but some of these names are just a bit annoying, especially since there are SO MANY characters, and the geography of the entire world is described to the last detail, including names of rivers and mountains and fucking gates.
-Fated mates/past lives plotline, but very distantly explored.
- Constant back and forth between now and memories.
- This book is part of a yet unfinished series that is set to be around 5 books total. As of November 2025, only 2 books have been released.
- Audiobook was a bit slow for me. It kept putting me to sleep waaa.
I WILL SAY ONE THING THOUGH.
The last chapter made me sweat. I'm SO glad the second book is out because I would have been pissed if I'd had to wait after that CLIFFHANGER ENDING.
Also, I have a feeling once these dudes actually get together, they're gonna be FIRE. This is why I am moving on to book 2. What, did you think I put on all that fucking effort reading through 400+ pages of intense world building just to stop after book 1? Besides, that cliffhanger was delicious.
No fucking way am I stopping!
I'm just not loving it. I have high hopes for it though. Fingers crossed, we're looking into something really good in future installments.
October 11, 2025
Price of a Thousand Blessings was one of my most anticipated books coming out this year. Fantasy with a focus of the fantastic, a gay lead who isn’t totally consumed by a romance plotline, and an appealing cover. It didn’t quite hit the heights I was hoping for, but I’ve already purchased the sequel, and this is exactly the type of story I wish traditional publishing were willing to pick up more often.
Read if Looking For: a serious take at a magitech world, reincarnation elements, epic(ish) fantasy with a m/m subplot, secret police pulling the strings
Avoid if You Dislike: slow pacing, characters in denial about their crushes, obvious twists that protagonists refuse to see
Elevator Pitch:
Cymin is a monk, orphaned at 4 years old and fostered at a religious temple that turned him into one of the most skilled mages of his generation. He now represents the East Deity, the rising sun, in this year’s festival. It’s his last year before being sent to work at the Storm Towers to repay his debts to the government. This year is special though, as the ancient immortal Wraiths have come, once more ready to select apprentices after centuries of isolation. Unfortunately, Cymin ends up sacrificing his own future to stop a bomb from killing him (and everyone else at the arena) skyrocketing his debt and placing him in the control of National Security as a spy to investigate the mysteries of the Wraiths by tagging along with their journey home.
What Worked For Me
Hale crafted one of the best Magitech settings I’ve encountered. It’s fairly common for these fantasy worlds with modern elements (trains, electricity, etc) to feel gimmicky. They’ll use pun names, tongue in cheek references to pop-culture brands, and generally give the world a lighthearted feel that can clash with a more serious storyline. Not the case here. A moving picture star plays a prominent role in the story. National Security uses magic to turn themselves into faceless slendermen, and the society’s mandatory patriotism suffices every part of their culture. I haven’t read anything quite like this blend, and I loved how the more classic fantasy elements of gods and spells mixed with modernity in a way that felt natural instead of cheap.
On the sentence level, this story is delightful to read. It’s got lush descriptions, and Cymin’s internal monologue is exactly what I’m looking for in a main character. It’s the type of story I’d turn on while doing some cleaning and sort of lose myself in the flow of the story. Escapism at its finest, without descending fully into wish fulfillment - though to be clear, a story where you get sucked up into a grand adventure and are maybe super special is at least a little bit wish fulfillment.
What Didn’t Work For Me
There were two main issues I had with this book: characters and pacing. On the character front, I liked the few characters who got development and attention. Cymin, his sister, the mysterious wraith Lathonde: all great. However, for ⅔ of the story, Cymin travels with a group of around 20 people, and Hale doesn’t do a good enough job differentiating them from each other. On the surface there are differences: a few swordsman mages who like to have their shirts off, a girl so shy it gets in the way of communication, etc. However, when one spoke, I constantly found myself forgetting whether the character was a Wraith, apprentice, or filmmaker. They just ended up blending together.
On the pacing side, this book is a slow burn: romance, plot, character arcs, etc. The prose never felt like it dragged at the sentence level, and I loved how the world unfolded naturally. However, I kept craving for more to happen. The first and last 50 pages were exciting, but the middle 300 felt like an extended narration of Cymin’s day. An enjoyable narration in a delightful world, but not one that began to lose me because I was craving for the stakes to raise. The primary culprit, I think, is the spy elements. Cymin has ostensibly been recruited by National Security, but in reality his instructions never went far beyond ‘get close to the Wraiths and get them to trust you.’ I wish Hale had been able to integrate a few small ‘missions’ to help raise the tension and stakes in the story. When I got to the end of book 1, I felt like I’d read Part 1 of a full length novel. However a Part 1 that is 450 pages long probably should have been condensed. In the end, I’d have liked a bit more tension and conflict in this book, whether it came in the form of action, intrigue, or interpersonal drama.
In Conclusion: a frustratingly slow-paced book with too large a cast, but with gorgeous writing and a setting I fell in love with.
Want More Reviews Like This? Try my blog CosmicReads
Read if Looking For: a serious take at a magitech world, reincarnation elements, epic(ish) fantasy with a m/m subplot, secret police pulling the strings
Avoid if You Dislike: slow pacing, characters in denial about their crushes, obvious twists that protagonists refuse to see
Elevator Pitch:
Cymin is a monk, orphaned at 4 years old and fostered at a religious temple that turned him into one of the most skilled mages of his generation. He now represents the East Deity, the rising sun, in this year’s festival. It’s his last year before being sent to work at the Storm Towers to repay his debts to the government. This year is special though, as the ancient immortal Wraiths have come, once more ready to select apprentices after centuries of isolation. Unfortunately, Cymin ends up sacrificing his own future to stop a bomb from killing him (and everyone else at the arena) skyrocketing his debt and placing him in the control of National Security as a spy to investigate the mysteries of the Wraiths by tagging along with their journey home.
What Worked For Me
Hale crafted one of the best Magitech settings I’ve encountered. It’s fairly common for these fantasy worlds with modern elements (trains, electricity, etc) to feel gimmicky. They’ll use pun names, tongue in cheek references to pop-culture brands, and generally give the world a lighthearted feel that can clash with a more serious storyline. Not the case here. A moving picture star plays a prominent role in the story. National Security uses magic to turn themselves into faceless slendermen, and the society’s mandatory patriotism suffices every part of their culture. I haven’t read anything quite like this blend, and I loved how the more classic fantasy elements of gods and spells mixed with modernity in a way that felt natural instead of cheap.
On the sentence level, this story is delightful to read. It’s got lush descriptions, and Cymin’s internal monologue is exactly what I’m looking for in a main character. It’s the type of story I’d turn on while doing some cleaning and sort of lose myself in the flow of the story. Escapism at its finest, without descending fully into wish fulfillment - though to be clear, a story where you get sucked up into a grand adventure and are maybe super special is at least a little bit wish fulfillment.
What Didn’t Work For Me
There were two main issues I had with this book: characters and pacing. On the character front, I liked the few characters who got development and attention. Cymin, his sister, the mysterious wraith Lathonde: all great. However, for ⅔ of the story, Cymin travels with a group of around 20 people, and Hale doesn’t do a good enough job differentiating them from each other. On the surface there are differences: a few swordsman mages who like to have their shirts off, a girl so shy it gets in the way of communication, etc. However, when one spoke, I constantly found myself forgetting whether the character was a Wraith, apprentice, or filmmaker. They just ended up blending together.
On the pacing side, this book is a slow burn: romance, plot, character arcs, etc. The prose never felt like it dragged at the sentence level, and I loved how the world unfolded naturally. However, I kept craving for more to happen. The first and last 50 pages were exciting, but the middle 300 felt like an extended narration of Cymin’s day. An enjoyable narration in a delightful world, but not one that began to lose me because I was craving for the stakes to raise. The primary culprit, I think, is the spy elements. Cymin has ostensibly been recruited by National Security, but in reality his instructions never went far beyond ‘get close to the Wraiths and get them to trust you.’ I wish Hale had been able to integrate a few small ‘missions’ to help raise the tension and stakes in the story. When I got to the end of book 1, I felt like I’d read Part 1 of a full length novel. However a Part 1 that is 450 pages long probably should have been condensed. In the end, I’d have liked a bit more tension and conflict in this book, whether it came in the form of action, intrigue, or interpersonal drama.
In Conclusion: a frustratingly slow-paced book with too large a cast, but with gorgeous writing and a setting I fell in love with.
Want More Reviews Like This? Try my blog CosmicReads
June 24, 2025
Review:
Dear Ginn Hale,
I was really happy and excited to see an announcement of the new book from you and with such a gorgeous cover no less. I then delayed reading it a little bit because a second volume was announced to be published just a month later. I cannot remember that the blurb of the book made me so excited for quite some time actually. I mean I knew that the book would have at least some romantic story line obviously, but this writer's books usually contain a lot more than just a romantic storyline and I just had no idea where this blurb will lead me. I have to say that in some ways I was really surprised. I really enjoyed this book, and at the same time at least some parts of the story exhausted me. Basically I think the comparison can be drawn here ( not with a story itself but strictly with the writing style) with the series "Grandmaster of a Demonic cultivation". In fact when our reading group was doing a buddy read of this book I seriously wondered if "Grandmaster" was one of the inspiration sources.
The book moves slow and when I say slow I mean *painfully slow* in places. This writer usually builds a great world in her books and this was no exception for me. The descriptions of magic alone made me stop and savor them, it was so beautifully done and I could see how much care and work was put in the worlds described in this story.
"Cymin held the flow of fei’lux steady as he swung the broom handle around. The instant he closed the circle, the smoky haze coalesced into dozens of large translucent lotus blossoms. They hung in the air, shimmering for a moment before bursting apart in a shower of fragrant raindrops. Cymin grinned as the perfumed water pelted his bare chest and shoulders and dribbled down his body. Yes! Did it!”
And this paragraph is by far not the most lush one and there were many of them
I loved it and at the same time I felt that at times ( let me emphasize - at times, not all the time), I felt that the world was overly described. At times I wished the story would moved faster, just a little bit, but because I loved the narrator so much and because the writer made sure I was utterly confused and wanted to know the answer to the puzzles she was setting up, I kept reading and reading till I finally finished.
Grandmaster series proved to be too much for me, but because I hoped that I will be rewarded for staying with the first volume, I am already reading for me ( and it does move somewhat faster :)). Maybe the chess figures were set up here and we won't need to spend so much time describing what the characters saw and ate, etc etc?
So, I probably need to add at least a little more to the set up described in the blurb. The story starts ( or at least reader is supposed to think that the story starts there ) in the "modern Chyrese Republic" in the year 1919. Whether the Chyrese republic is supposed to made the reader think about ancient China, I will leave it up to the reader to decide. I thought there was definitely at least a homage paid there, based on the some descriptions, but it is definitely a unique fantastic world with so many interesting magical things happening and I don't think we know nearly all of it after the first book ends. Cymin and his sister Yinni were both brought up as tuteli in the Lux temple. I thought they were basically brought up as monks of the sorts that were taught magical arts and they are supposed to participate in the Magical Arts exhibition and students from other schools come to participate too.
Wraiths of the country Saigrath also come to observe and participate and they bring plenty of secrets with them. Actually every character appearing on the pages so far seemed to have the secret of their own which they barely started sharing in the volume two :-). Wraiths also would offer some of the Mage Students from other schools to come and Wraiths will teach them in their country.
Cymin and Yinni end up coming along for the trip even if they do not come as students exactly and the adventure begins. A really slow moving adventure till the last two or three chapters in the first volume, but the world was so interesting and Cymin was such an engaging narrator kind and gentle who teased himself a lot and who has plenty of his own discoveries to make about who he is and who he was .
Please beware that the book three is not out yet, but yes, I checked the ending of book two it does not have a cliffhanger at least. This is also just one huge story split up in several books. The volume two literally starts from chapter twenty two.
Grade: A
Dear Ginn Hale,
I was really happy and excited to see an announcement of the new book from you and with such a gorgeous cover no less. I then delayed reading it a little bit because a second volume was announced to be published just a month later. I cannot remember that the blurb of the book made me so excited for quite some time actually. I mean I knew that the book would have at least some romantic story line obviously, but this writer's books usually contain a lot more than just a romantic storyline and I just had no idea where this blurb will lead me. I have to say that in some ways I was really surprised. I really enjoyed this book, and at the same time at least some parts of the story exhausted me. Basically I think the comparison can be drawn here ( not with a story itself but strictly with the writing style) with the series "Grandmaster of a Demonic cultivation". In fact when our reading group was doing a buddy read of this book I seriously wondered if "Grandmaster" was one of the inspiration sources.
The book moves slow and when I say slow I mean *painfully slow* in places. This writer usually builds a great world in her books and this was no exception for me. The descriptions of magic alone made me stop and savor them, it was so beautifully done and I could see how much care and work was put in the worlds described in this story.
"Cymin held the flow of fei’lux steady as he swung the broom handle around. The instant he closed the circle, the smoky haze coalesced into dozens of large translucent lotus blossoms. They hung in the air, shimmering for a moment before bursting apart in a shower of fragrant raindrops. Cymin grinned as the perfumed water pelted his bare chest and shoulders and dribbled down his body. Yes! Did it!”
And this paragraph is by far not the most lush one and there were many of them
I loved it and at the same time I felt that at times ( let me emphasize - at times, not all the time), I felt that the world was overly described. At times I wished the story would moved faster, just a little bit, but because I loved the narrator so much and because the writer made sure I was utterly confused and wanted to know the answer to the puzzles she was setting up, I kept reading and reading till I finally finished.
Grandmaster series proved to be too much for me, but because I hoped that I will be rewarded for staying with the first volume, I am already reading for me ( and it does move somewhat faster :)). Maybe the chess figures were set up here and we won't need to spend so much time describing what the characters saw and ate, etc etc?
So, I probably need to add at least a little more to the set up described in the blurb. The story starts ( or at least reader is supposed to think that the story starts there ) in the "modern Chyrese Republic" in the year 1919. Whether the Chyrese republic is supposed to made the reader think about ancient China, I will leave it up to the reader to decide. I thought there was definitely at least a homage paid there, based on the some descriptions, but it is definitely a unique fantastic world with so many interesting magical things happening and I don't think we know nearly all of it after the first book ends. Cymin and his sister Yinni were both brought up as tuteli in the Lux temple. I thought they were basically brought up as monks of the sorts that were taught magical arts and they are supposed to participate in the Magical Arts exhibition and students from other schools come to participate too.
Wraiths of the country Saigrath also come to observe and participate and they bring plenty of secrets with them. Actually every character appearing on the pages so far seemed to have the secret of their own which they barely started sharing in the volume two :-). Wraiths also would offer some of the Mage Students from other schools to come and Wraiths will teach them in their country.
Cymin and Yinni end up coming along for the trip even if they do not come as students exactly and the adventure begins. A really slow moving adventure till the last two or three chapters in the first volume, but the world was so interesting and Cymin was such an engaging narrator kind and gentle who teased himself a lot and who has plenty of his own discoveries to make about who he is and who he was .
Please beware that the book three is not out yet, but yes, I checked the ending of book two it does not have a cliffhanger at least. This is also just one huge story split up in several books. The volume two literally starts from chapter twenty two.
Grade: A
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2025
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Cymin and his sister Yinni are tuteli mages - taken in as orphans and trained in magic, but now required to pay the state back. They're representing the temple when the legendary Waethir arrive for the first time in 200 years and everything goes off the rails.
Review
It’s unclear exactly how big Price of a Thousand Blessings is meant to be. Volume One ends with a literal cliffhanger. Volume Two has slightly more resolution, but with much more story clearly intended. Volumes Three and Four are projected for next year. Still, since each volume is presented as its own book, I’ll review them that way.
First, there’s a lot of great worldbuilding here. This is a technological fantasy world with a complex backstory. While it does stumble a little into the trap that foils similar books – facile replacement of modern technology with a magical equipment – it doesn’t fall too far. There are a lot of interesting things happening here, and I enjoyed learning about them.
On the flipside, the magic system is very much on the vague side. While presented as a somewhat scientific system based on microorganisms, there’s a whole lot of handwaving going on, with magic sigils sometimes physical, sometimes not, sometimes one thing, sometimes another. Magic is only possible if gold filaments are implanted with surgery; but if you take them out, turns out magic also works. That gets handwaved away a bit in volume two, but was a weakness here. It wasn’t irritating, but after a while I stopped looking forward to these elements, because the author herself didn’t seem too interest; they’re a means to an end, which is a story about memory and identity.
The characters are intended as the core of the story, and they started well. Unfortunately, after some time, they begin to fall apart. It’s not that they aren’t nuanced, but they’re also somehow simplistic. There are lots in the chief cohort, and they sometimes act more as sketches or even caricatures than full-fledged characters. The inconsistency is apparent in Cymin, the protagonist, who veers wildly between repressed, obedient, humble recipient of charity and brash, aggressive, even cocky sarcast. Part of that’s from a flaw in the worldbuilding: the Waethir – defendants of the world, possibly gods, certainly highly powerful and likely immortal representatives of a mythical island – are treated like disregarded third-world merchants. I just didn’t find it at all credible – especially when humble Cymin immediately starts talking back to one of them.
It doesn’t help that the supporting cast reminded me of manga-inspired video games – the kind where they all carry ridiculously huge weapons – probably because many of them have ridiculously huge weapons. They’re also really concerned with sex. On one hand, it’s great that sexual attraction is woven into the story as a normal thing. On the other hand, I just wasn’t interested in what felt like lightly erotic interludes popping up every chapter, possibly because they seemed to inspire the characters to act in unrealistic ways. And they’re all attracted to Cymin, who’s incredibly good looking, but somehow hasn’t noticed it until now.
There are some places where the prose could use polish and additional proofreading, but overall, the writing standard is pretty high. Going just by prose and world, I’d have scored this higher. It’s the characters – initially a strength – that eventually got on my nerves. The pace of the book didn’t help; it’s slow – I think that Cymin is literally hungry for lunch for half of this volume, as more and more farcical elements intrude to prevent him eating, except that it’s not really played as funny. Overall, it’s an interesting world let down by thin characters.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
Summary
Cymin and his sister Yinni are tuteli mages - taken in as orphans and trained in magic, but now required to pay the state back. They're representing the temple when the legendary Waethir arrive for the first time in 200 years and everything goes off the rails.
Review
It’s unclear exactly how big Price of a Thousand Blessings is meant to be. Volume One ends with a literal cliffhanger. Volume Two has slightly more resolution, but with much more story clearly intended. Volumes Three and Four are projected for next year. Still, since each volume is presented as its own book, I’ll review them that way.
First, there’s a lot of great worldbuilding here. This is a technological fantasy world with a complex backstory. While it does stumble a little into the trap that foils similar books – facile replacement of modern technology with a magical equipment – it doesn’t fall too far. There are a lot of interesting things happening here, and I enjoyed learning about them.
On the flipside, the magic system is very much on the vague side. While presented as a somewhat scientific system based on microorganisms, there’s a whole lot of handwaving going on, with magic sigils sometimes physical, sometimes not, sometimes one thing, sometimes another. Magic is only possible if gold filaments are implanted with surgery; but if you take them out, turns out magic also works. That gets handwaved away a bit in volume two, but was a weakness here. It wasn’t irritating, but after a while I stopped looking forward to these elements, because the author herself didn’t seem too interest; they’re a means to an end, which is a story about memory and identity.
The characters are intended as the core of the story, and they started well. Unfortunately, after some time, they begin to fall apart. It’s not that they aren’t nuanced, but they’re also somehow simplistic. There are lots in the chief cohort, and they sometimes act more as sketches or even caricatures than full-fledged characters. The inconsistency is apparent in Cymin, the protagonist, who veers wildly between repressed, obedient, humble recipient of charity and brash, aggressive, even cocky sarcast. Part of that’s from a flaw in the worldbuilding: the Waethir – defendants of the world, possibly gods, certainly highly powerful and likely immortal representatives of a mythical island – are treated like disregarded third-world merchants. I just didn’t find it at all credible – especially when humble Cymin immediately starts talking back to one of them.
It doesn’t help that the supporting cast reminded me of manga-inspired video games – the kind where they all carry ridiculously huge weapons – probably because many of them have ridiculously huge weapons. They’re also really concerned with sex. On one hand, it’s great that sexual attraction is woven into the story as a normal thing. On the other hand, I just wasn’t interested in what felt like lightly erotic interludes popping up every chapter, possibly because they seemed to inspire the characters to act in unrealistic ways. And they’re all attracted to Cymin, who’s incredibly good looking, but somehow hasn’t noticed it until now.
There are some places where the prose could use polish and additional proofreading, but overall, the writing standard is pretty high. Going just by prose and world, I’d have scored this higher. It’s the characters – initially a strength – that eventually got on my nerves. The pace of the book didn’t help; it’s slow – I think that Cymin is literally hungry for lunch for half of this volume, as more and more farcical elements intrude to prevent him eating, except that it’s not really played as funny. Overall, it’s an interesting world let down by thin characters.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
April 23, 2025
Let me start off by saying I've never read anything by Ginn Hale that I didn't love. Even in shared worlds like the Hell Cop collections her work has stood out to me as having a depth of thought and emotion that are simply on a different level to its admittedly excellent companions. That said, the thing that is truly admirable to me is the world building, especially in her longer series. There is at the same time a sense of familiarity emerging from an engamement with historical and cultural realities of our own world and the wonderment of discovering whole new worlds with their own rules, histories and wealth of human experience.
Price of a thousand blessings is another great example of this kind of worldbuilding. The land of Chyre reminded me of Republican China during the 1920s with a possible mix of early communist era elements. But then there's magic, a theological system complete with divine beings dead and alive, a world threatening natural cycle and political and societal forces complicating an already precarious situation. You immediately get the sense of a complex and rich history informing the land's internal structure and external relations and as the story unfolds more and more layers are revealed.
The plot itself and the position of each character within it is a grand puzzle where pieces fall slowly into place revealing the brilliant composition bit by bit. I can't wait to see the finished image once all is unveiled. (I am currently on a second read and it is a thing of beauty how little details, previously unnoticed, shine so brightly under the light of future knowledge.)
This is a book with a lot of intrigue and many twists and turns where the present is locked in a dance both tender and deadly with the past (and which it may eventually have to leave behind - but not bury - in order for there to be a future).
There are a lot of characters here, some with more screentime than others but all of them well drawn and defined and I am eager to see how each of them will progress. There's a lot of humour, notwithstanding an underlying sadness at times, and a lot of hope even when the characters are faced with situations that seem less than hopeful. And Cymin, whose point of view we actually follow, is funny and clever and brings an equal measure of lightness and gravity to the narrative.
This short and by no means comprehensive review is based on the advance copy I received in exchange for my honest opinion and I can very honestly say that from the very first chapter I have been recommending this book to everyone I know.
Price of a thousand blessings is another great example of this kind of worldbuilding. The land of Chyre reminded me of Republican China during the 1920s with a possible mix of early communist era elements. But then there's magic, a theological system complete with divine beings dead and alive, a world threatening natural cycle and political and societal forces complicating an already precarious situation. You immediately get the sense of a complex and rich history informing the land's internal structure and external relations and as the story unfolds more and more layers are revealed.
The plot itself and the position of each character within it is a grand puzzle where pieces fall slowly into place revealing the brilliant composition bit by bit. I can't wait to see the finished image once all is unveiled. (I am currently on a second read and it is a thing of beauty how little details, previously unnoticed, shine so brightly under the light of future knowledge.)
This is a book with a lot of intrigue and many twists and turns where the present is locked in a dance both tender and deadly with the past (and which it may eventually have to leave behind - but not bury - in order for there to be a future).
There are a lot of characters here, some with more screentime than others but all of them well drawn and defined and I am eager to see how each of them will progress. There's a lot of humour, notwithstanding an underlying sadness at times, and a lot of hope even when the characters are faced with situations that seem less than hopeful. And Cymin, whose point of view we actually follow, is funny and clever and brings an equal measure of lightness and gravity to the narrative.
This short and by no means comprehensive review is based on the advance copy I received in exchange for my honest opinion and I can very honestly say that from the very first chapter I have been recommending this book to everyone I know.
July 5, 2025
Ginn Hale is one of my favorite queer indie romance writers, and I was surprised and delighted when my library bought this ebook on Libby, as I hadn't realized Hale had a new series out. In Price of a Thousand Blessings, young indentured temple servant Cymin's life is shattered when he destroys a bomb set to kill powerful emissaries to his country. Unwillingly conscripted as a spy, Cymin is sent back with the emissaries, as memories he ought not to have begin to stir...
With so many books set in a medievalish pastiche, it's refreshing to read a fantasy novel set firmly in the twentieth century. The secret police of the People's Republic, the mandatory patriotic songs, and the video cameras mesh intriguingly with old gods, forgotten magic, and prophetic dreams. Cymin himself is eighteen, impetuous, prickly, and a bit dense. I don't always get along with more youthful protagonists, but Cymin is charming, although a bit slow to catch on to things that are obvious to the reader. As an orphan, he and his sister were bought by the temple, and they're legally bound to spend years or decades repaying the money the temple spent raising them. Which makes him even more vulnerable to the demands of his country's paranoid secret police...
Price of a Thousand Blessings is also a book about what if you had prophetic dreams, but were the type of person who forgets them instantly on waking. It's obvious that some of Cymin's memories are not his own. As the book progresses, Hale slowly doles out information on whose memories they are, and how they link Cymin to the emissaries and a particularly tumultuous period in history two hundred years ago. It's a great trope for injecting complex undercurrents into Cyril's relationship with the foreigners, who would otherwise be strangers he just met.
A leisurely paced fantasy romance by one of my favorite indie authors. Recommended for fans of AJ Demas or Foz Meadows. The one criticism I have is that Hale will arbitarily split one thousand page megabook into two volumes with the same title. This one is especially egregious, ending as it does in a battle right as their train is literally falling over a cliff. Best to have volume 2 in hand before starting...
With so many books set in a medievalish pastiche, it's refreshing to read a fantasy novel set firmly in the twentieth century. The secret police of the People's Republic, the mandatory patriotic songs, and the video cameras mesh intriguingly with old gods, forgotten magic, and prophetic dreams. Cymin himself is eighteen, impetuous, prickly, and a bit dense. I don't always get along with more youthful protagonists, but Cymin is charming, although a bit slow to catch on to things that are obvious to the reader. As an orphan, he and his sister were bought by the temple, and they're legally bound to spend years or decades repaying the money the temple spent raising them. Which makes him even more vulnerable to the demands of his country's paranoid secret police...
Price of a Thousand Blessings is also a book about what if you had prophetic dreams, but were the type of person who forgets them instantly on waking. It's obvious that some of Cymin's memories are not his own. As the book progresses, Hale slowly doles out information on whose memories they are, and how they link Cymin to the emissaries and a particularly tumultuous period in history two hundred years ago. It's a great trope for injecting complex undercurrents into Cyril's relationship with the foreigners, who would otherwise be strangers he just met.
A leisurely paced fantasy romance by one of my favorite indie authors. Recommended for fans of AJ Demas or Foz Meadows. The one criticism I have is that Hale will arbitarily split one thousand page megabook into two volumes with the same title. This one is especially egregious, ending as it does in a battle right as their train is literally falling over a cliff. Best to have volume 2 in hand before starting...
April 27, 2025
I genuinely loved this book so so much!
Cymin is such a charming and compelling point of view for the reader, he's so smart and capable but at times can be impulsive and insecure, and the way he views the world has a real impact in how ee experience this book, which is all I can ask for from a pov character!
The secondary characters are also well fleshed out and complex. At first I was afraid the sheer amount of secondary characters introduced at once might make them difficult to remember or impossible to tell them apart but I'm glad to say that wasn't a problem for me, since their personalities, appearances and voices are so unique!
Ginn Hale truly is a master in making me care about the characters she writes not by simply making them relatable, but because they're complex and interesting and so, so human. It is truly an amazing skill.
The worldbuilding is great, as I've come to expect. The magic system is new and well thought out and the setting is a breath of fresh air. I loved the ways we're shown magic being used for mundane reasons, like a silencing spell to muffle industrial equipment, etc. (The epic uses of magic are also extremely cool, I'm not gonna lie, i loved them too)
I had a hard time with the names because my brain kept trying to find a common linguistic thread between all of them, but this is a personal quirk, so I don't think it's an actual problem.
The pacing starts out slow, as we're being introduced to the world, but picks up as we go along (though I wouldn't call it particularly fast-paced at any point) and the story is definitely not finished, there's so much mystery still to be solved, which makes me extremely glad the next book comes out in a month!
There is also (almost) no romance in this book, but this didn't bother me at all. The interactions between multiple characters are great and the way all the different relationships change and evolve felt natural and unhurried.
All in all an amazing read if you enjoy fantasy, new and exciting worldbuilding, and complex, compelling characters.
I have received a free copy of this book and this is a fair review based on my opinion of it.
Cymin is such a charming and compelling point of view for the reader, he's so smart and capable but at times can be impulsive and insecure, and the way he views the world has a real impact in how ee experience this book, which is all I can ask for from a pov character!
The secondary characters are also well fleshed out and complex. At first I was afraid the sheer amount of secondary characters introduced at once might make them difficult to remember or impossible to tell them apart but I'm glad to say that wasn't a problem for me, since their personalities, appearances and voices are so unique!
Ginn Hale truly is a master in making me care about the characters she writes not by simply making them relatable, but because they're complex and interesting and so, so human. It is truly an amazing skill.
The worldbuilding is great, as I've come to expect. The magic system is new and well thought out and the setting is a breath of fresh air. I loved the ways we're shown magic being used for mundane reasons, like a silencing spell to muffle industrial equipment, etc. (The epic uses of magic are also extremely cool, I'm not gonna lie, i loved them too)
I had a hard time with the names because my brain kept trying to find a common linguistic thread between all of them, but this is a personal quirk, so I don't think it's an actual problem.
The pacing starts out slow, as we're being introduced to the world, but picks up as we go along (though I wouldn't call it particularly fast-paced at any point) and the story is definitely not finished, there's so much mystery still to be solved, which makes me extremely glad the next book comes out in a month!
There is also (almost) no romance in this book, but this didn't bother me at all. The interactions between multiple characters are great and the way all the different relationships change and evolve felt natural and unhurried.
All in all an amazing read if you enjoy fantasy, new and exciting worldbuilding, and complex, compelling characters.
I have received a free copy of this book and this is a fair review based on my opinion of it.
July 28, 2025
Another interesting and well developed world from Ginn Hale- this time full of complex past lives, a slow burn romance, a main character who is powerful, hilarious, and intelligent, but also has a tendency to completely misread everything his love interest does, mysteries that will leave you guessing at every turn, and themes on the complexities and limitations of perspective particularly when exploring history.
It feels a little more in the vein of the Rifter series than her Caledonian series- a mixture of fantasy and the early 1900s that brings together magic and moving pictures, however, I do think Cymin would get along well with Kiram. Like Kiram, Cymin is very skilled in his area of expertise, he is funny (similar to Shen Yuan in SVSSS actually), kind, friendly, and willing to take on any danger to protect others even from the get-go. I also really appreciate that the suffering he goes through from his heroic actions isn't just immediately forgotten either, it does leave him with realistic trauma and fear.
This book pulls you in with a new and interesting magic system, a really memorable meet cute, and a slow burn that is perfectly frustrating. (The amount of times I was screaming for the main character to even have a scene with his love interest was not insignificant, but every scene they did have together was amazing.) So why not 5 stars? Towards the end, we also get a sudden massive amount of new characters that are hard to keep track of despite having very distinct situations and personalities- there are just too many. Sometimes we get caught in a reaction-spiral of seeing what all these different people are doing, and because we just met so many all at once it is hard to really care about them. This is improved a lot in the second book, but it was a little overwhelming here.
That being said, I am so excited to see where this series goes, there are so many possibilities, and I am always so happy to have more from Ginn Hale!
It feels a little more in the vein of the Rifter series than her Caledonian series- a mixture of fantasy and the early 1900s that brings together magic and moving pictures, however, I do think Cymin would get along well with Kiram. Like Kiram, Cymin is very skilled in his area of expertise, he is funny (similar to Shen Yuan in SVSSS actually), kind, friendly, and willing to take on any danger to protect others even from the get-go. I also really appreciate that the suffering he goes through from his heroic actions isn't just immediately forgotten either, it does leave him with realistic trauma and fear.
This book pulls you in with a new and interesting magic system, a really memorable meet cute, and a slow burn that is perfectly frustrating. (The amount of times I was screaming for the main character to even have a scene with his love interest was not insignificant, but every scene they did have together was amazing.) So why not 5 stars? Towards the end, we also get a sudden massive amount of new characters that are hard to keep track of despite having very distinct situations and personalities- there are just too many. Sometimes we get caught in a reaction-spiral of seeing what all these different people are doing, and because we just met so many all at once it is hard to really care about them. This is improved a lot in the second book, but it was a little overwhelming here.
That being said, I am so excited to see where this series goes, there are so many possibilities, and I am always so happy to have more from Ginn Hale!
April 25, 2025
I would like to thank BookSirens for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
For my very first Ginn Hale i thought Price of a Thousand Blessings Volume 1 was marvelous! The world building was stunning, and i loved that there were modernish tech elements thrown in that made me work a bit to metabolize the fantasy with the familiar. I was completely entranced, though. I felt hypnotized at times, as parts of the narrative were so lush and evocative and dreamy. I really love this kind of storytelling, with bold and provocative cultivation energy, sass, banter and all the vibes i straight up want to marinate in!
The characters were all enchanting, but especially Cymin, who i found endearing and playful. As an aside, i found the amount of characters a bit excessive, but i'll reserve judgement on that sprawl till after i'm finished Volume 2!
The plot was an interesting take on "immortal soul" epic in "Master-Apprentice" clothing, but where this work shone was in the lore and the planes of action. Whether in the dream realm or an impromptu attack on mortals, all of it read dynamic and complex, and i was awestruck by the scope of the wild and ferocious, supernatural vigor of Ginn Hale's imagination.
I found those parts the most thrilling for obvious reasons, and alongside more of that xianxia deliciousness i'm really hoping that Laithondi and Cymin will share more meaningful moments in the next Volume as well!
Can't wait to dive into Price of a Thousand Blessings Volume 2 because there are still lots of exciting and magical and a fascinating things to look forward to! And if this volume was just the foundation of what's to come, i'm sure it's gonna be an amazing adventure that'll leave me wanting more and i am here for all of it!
For my very first Ginn Hale i thought Price of a Thousand Blessings Volume 1 was marvelous! The world building was stunning, and i loved that there were modernish tech elements thrown in that made me work a bit to metabolize the fantasy with the familiar. I was completely entranced, though. I felt hypnotized at times, as parts of the narrative were so lush and evocative and dreamy. I really love this kind of storytelling, with bold and provocative cultivation energy, sass, banter and all the vibes i straight up want to marinate in!
The characters were all enchanting, but especially Cymin, who i found endearing and playful. As an aside, i found the amount of characters a bit excessive, but i'll reserve judgement on that sprawl till after i'm finished Volume 2!
The plot was an interesting take on "immortal soul" epic in "Master-Apprentice" clothing, but where this work shone was in the lore and the planes of action. Whether in the dream realm or an impromptu attack on mortals, all of it read dynamic and complex, and i was awestruck by the scope of the wild and ferocious, supernatural vigor of Ginn Hale's imagination.
I found those parts the most thrilling for obvious reasons, and alongside more of that xianxia deliciousness i'm really hoping that Laithondi and Cymin will share more meaningful moments in the next Volume as well!
Can't wait to dive into Price of a Thousand Blessings Volume 2 because there are still lots of exciting and magical and a fascinating things to look forward to! And if this volume was just the foundation of what's to come, i'm sure it's gonna be an amazing adventure that'll leave me wanting more and i am here for all of it!
June 24, 2025
It took me a little time after finishing this book to write a review — because I was too busy wolfing down the sequel. I couldn’t put this one down, nor could I stop myself from jumping straight into volume 2. So, you can imagine how much I loved it.
It’s a fantastic story set in a rich and complex world, full of magic and layered politics. The setting is beautifully described, the characters are deep, and each one has their own personality and distinct traits. Even better, as the story progresses, they evolve at a natural and believable pace.
The main plot might seem simple at first: a long-lost magical scepter needs to be returned to its homeland, and some chosen apprentices are assigned to escort it. But that’s just the surface — beneath it lies a much more intricate story that unfolds page after page.
The main character, Cymin, is excellent, and I really appreciated that there’s no instant eternal love or explicit scenes. At most, there’s a subtle attraction toward Laithoding, which he barely dares to acknowledge. Their relationship is nuanced and well-written.
That said, the book isn’t without flaws. Cymin is forced into an agreement with the national security service, which feels a bit ridiculous and unrealistic. There are also a few loose threads and some plot elements that seem forced just to sustain the main storyline. Normally, things like that bother me a lot — but the overall experience was so good that I made myself let it go and just enjoyed the ride.
To sum it up: this is a great fantasy novel — absolutely captivating, full of magic, complex politics, great characters, and outstanding worldbuilding. I totally recommend it!
It’s a fantastic story set in a rich and complex world, full of magic and layered politics. The setting is beautifully described, the characters are deep, and each one has their own personality and distinct traits. Even better, as the story progresses, they evolve at a natural and believable pace.
The main plot might seem simple at first: a long-lost magical scepter needs to be returned to its homeland, and some chosen apprentices are assigned to escort it. But that’s just the surface — beneath it lies a much more intricate story that unfolds page after page.
The main character, Cymin, is excellent, and I really appreciated that there’s no instant eternal love or explicit scenes. At most, there’s a subtle attraction toward Laithoding, which he barely dares to acknowledge. Their relationship is nuanced and well-written.
That said, the book isn’t without flaws. Cymin is forced into an agreement with the national security service, which feels a bit ridiculous and unrealistic. There are also a few loose threads and some plot elements that seem forced just to sustain the main storyline. Normally, things like that bother me a lot — but the overall experience was so good that I made myself let it go and just enjoyed the ride.
To sum it up: this is a great fantasy novel — absolutely captivating, full of magic, complex politics, great characters, and outstanding worldbuilding. I totally recommend it!
April 28, 2025
I have been a long-time fan of Ginn Hale, just bemoaning their often long time between publications. I do appreciate this when it means releasing books in a series relatively quickly because they are mostly written before the first book is released. In this instance the first book in the series is Price of a Thousand Blessings Volume One (a giveaway that there will be at least volume two). Volume One has the trademark finely-drawn characters and great world building that characterize their books. Another Hale feature is borrowing from Earth culture in their epic fantasies. We meet about a dozen important characters in the first few chapters, with the focus on the students, which makes sense since the beginning of the book takes place at a student competition The other important group are the so-called Wraiths who deem themselves the Waethir. Their role in the story is made clear fairly early on. As with any group this large, there are subtle politics and coalitions formed and unformed. And as is true of students everywhere, most of them think they know the answer with only part of the necessary information.This leads to needless complications that make the reader want to shake the character or shout “Don’t do it!” Given that the reader knows this is only the first book in the series, they cannot complain that most plotlines remain unresolved at the end. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
December 12, 2025
I expected fantastic world-building, complex magical constructs and drawn out romance arcs ... and these were delivered these in spades. Amongst my quibbles with some of her more more recent books is my struggle with an over-abundance of characters - most of whom featuring as almost main characters in and of themselves! Result = I struggled to attach names to half or more of these characters even by the end of what can be considered a rather long read. I feel this might have been ameliorated by not trying to represent every personality type (nerd, flirt, shy, machismo etc etc)amongst the mage-students . Most of the characters fall between the late teenage to early adult grouping but I felt I was reading 14-15 year olds a lot of the time in character bantering/squabbles/snarking/gossip.
My other struggle to rate this beyond 3.5 stars would be the pacing. The action/drama started off with a literal big bang but my anticipation/excitement for more fell off by chapter 7 and didn't really re-engage until the train/battle sequences nearer the end. A couple of malevolent attacks in between these would have the avoided strong temptation to fast-forward several times over! The lack of an obvious 'baddie' or enemy also didn't help methinks. I really hope the next book would improve on the action pacing.
My other struggle to rate this beyond 3.5 stars would be the pacing. The action/drama started off with a literal big bang but my anticipation/excitement for more fell off by chapter 7 and didn't really re-engage until the train/battle sequences nearer the end. A couple of malevolent attacks in between these would have the avoided strong temptation to fast-forward several times over! The lack of an obvious 'baddie' or enemy also didn't help methinks. I really hope the next book would improve on the action pacing.
February 15, 2025
I was immediately captivated by the worldbuilding, with immersive descriptions that drew me into a world like Maoist-era China, with a martial arts-based magic system.
The main character, Cymin, is optimistic and playful, which is a nice change from all the haunted and moody fantasy heroes around! Cymin is haunted, quite literally, by his past self, but he doesn't let it get him down.
The plot is interesting and layered, with lots of breadcrumb trails to follow.
The only issue I had - which lost the book at least one star if not more - is that it's way, way too long. The immersive detail is great at first, but there comes a point where I really want to know what happens next, not what Cymin ate for every single meal or where each of the extensive cast of secondary characters is in every scene. If it were 50% shorter, it would be 100% better.
It dragged to the point where I wasn't sure if I'd read the second book, but it has such a cliffhanger ending that I'm going to have to. I will probably resort to skim-reading some of it, though.
The main character, Cymin, is optimistic and playful, which is a nice change from all the haunted and moody fantasy heroes around! Cymin is haunted, quite literally, by his past self, but he doesn't let it get him down.
The plot is interesting and layered, with lots of breadcrumb trails to follow.
The only issue I had - which lost the book at least one star if not more - is that it's way, way too long. The immersive detail is great at first, but there comes a point where I really want to know what happens next, not what Cymin ate for every single meal or where each of the extensive cast of secondary characters is in every scene. If it were 50% shorter, it would be 100% better.
It dragged to the point where I wasn't sure if I'd read the second book, but it has such a cliffhanger ending that I'm going to have to. I will probably resort to skim-reading some of it, though.
April 27, 2025
In her previous stories, Ginn Hale consistently introduced her lead character in such an enticing way that I was hooked from the outset, and I'm delighted to report she continues her winning streak with Price of a Thousand Blessings. We meet Cymin as he prepares for a festival. The venue sets the stage for the marvelous journey we're about to embark on. Cymin's freshness, youth, charm, and innocent self-confidence are all so very appealing.
His world is a feast for all the senses, including delicious, exotic foods and nose-tickling scents. Vivid depictions of city life, landscapes, and wildlife abound. Cymin's world is also filled with magic. Streams of magical energy called fei'lux permeate the atmosphere for the adept to harness. Objects can be imbued with spells and then charged with fei'lux to the point of seemingly coming alive with hints of personalities. Cameras soar through the air like falcons as they record the scenes below and then alight on their owner's shoulder. Arrays of spells can also create magical—and sometimes—ferocious creatures.
The heart of the story revolves around Cymin and a mage he's inexplicably drawn to, named Laithondi. Cymin's past has several mysterious aspects. As the plot advances, those mysteries compound and are reshaped. Ginn gives a new definition to the word backstory, where past figures and events play key roles in the present. Revelations force Cymin to reevaluate many of his core beliefs. Friends turn into enemies while foes deliver unexpected aid. The clues to the mysteries are there for the careful reader to solve or we can simply puzzle over them with Cymin until the "ah-ha" moment arrives.
Throughout the story, his relationship with Laithondi gradually evolves into something much more profound. You'll need to be very patient for that slow-simmering romance to catch fire, but it's so worth the wait!
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
His world is a feast for all the senses, including delicious, exotic foods and nose-tickling scents. Vivid depictions of city life, landscapes, and wildlife abound. Cymin's world is also filled with magic. Streams of magical energy called fei'lux permeate the atmosphere for the adept to harness. Objects can be imbued with spells and then charged with fei'lux to the point of seemingly coming alive with hints of personalities. Cameras soar through the air like falcons as they record the scenes below and then alight on their owner's shoulder. Arrays of spells can also create magical—and sometimes—ferocious creatures.
The heart of the story revolves around Cymin and a mage he's inexplicably drawn to, named Laithondi. Cymin's past has several mysterious aspects. As the plot advances, those mysteries compound and are reshaped. Ginn gives a new definition to the word backstory, where past figures and events play key roles in the present. Revelations force Cymin to reevaluate many of his core beliefs. Friends turn into enemies while foes deliver unexpected aid. The clues to the mysteries are there for the careful reader to solve or we can simply puzzle over them with Cymin until the "ah-ha" moment arrives.
Throughout the story, his relationship with Laithondi gradually evolves into something much more profound. You'll need to be very patient for that slow-simmering romance to catch fire, but it's so worth the wait!
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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