Tasha’s Reviews > The Poet Empress > Status Update

The writing is the same style as that in The Strength of the Few, all telling and no showing. What’s-her-face (the MC, I keep forgetting her name) is incredibly dull and tends to know how everyone’s feeling. I also cannot believe that she can tell everyone and her grandma what she’s up to without consequence. I am curious about Terren and Maro’s past, but I don’t like that it’s told in expositions.

And the writing’s not very good. It’s bare bones with little descriptions and there’s zero tension in scenes that are supposed to have tension because of the telling instead of showing. Also, I don’t even know the main character’s name! I had to look it up just now in the blurb! Oh I see it’s mentioned on page 41. Chapters are short and the story seems to be fast-paced. That’s the upside.

I swore off romantasy, but then petrik messed around and gave this five stars and I got curious. I regretted this decision before I even read the first page. There’s a content warning in the front and I only see those in romantasies and they always prove to be unnecessary. It’s like the author is saying, “I am Dark and Serious! So take me seriously!” Please. Joe Abercrombie doesn’t have content warnings!