CB12’s Reviews > Witch Queen Rising > Status Update

Random transient character doing something demonstrably evil to women/children for shock value so the mc looks like a just person in punishing them ✔️

Also who the hell is her alleged best friend who has not been introduced on page yet, but she texts her back and forth like 2 times - why should the reader care, I’m so serious

Also you can tell so many authors are millennials living their tumblr moodboard days via character’s makeup descriptions, because even though she’s a witch …who is wearing a smokey eye and deep plump lip in 2026 lmao

For ex, Katie Daniels also famously stress bakes but those scenes don’t drag on and feel more of a prescience in the urban fantasy series than, you know… the magical world building elements of the story??

What is this long ass irrelevant scene about this bbq where they introduce half a dozen+ new characters, including this random family thats like we will be your full time domestic help, dw

I hate contemporary/post-booktok cozy books so much

And it’s well documented I can’t stand books with too many descriptions of clothes my god.

I think with setting descriptions, there’s a balance of “I have no idea what anything looks like” ie in a book like daggermouth— with overly describing every single room the characters enter even if it’s for an irrelevant scene in the narrative like this book

I just am not a cozy fantasy reader and the pacing in this leans way way more low stakes than it’s marketed or presented

Another problem I have with this book is there is so much potential for action, adventure and suspense …but so much of it is written like the scenes are inspired by a collection of organized Pinterest sub boards vs the main tension of the magical blight driving the story

And if I really wanna get into a critique mode, the mc is a little shallow and just acts as a conduit for explaining the world (which again, for the most part is really interesting). I love reluctant chosen one stories but Phine feels like a bystander in her own narrative (except for when she fires the butler guy).

And sometimes the food taste analogies with her powers are a little weird. Like the part I just read said she tasted dill as a negative emotion

I mean some people like the taste of dill idk