I received this novella from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“14-year old Darian was raised in an isolated village, resisting the King and his army. When his life takes a tragic turn, he ends up in the castle, closer to his former enemies than he has ever imagined. His only solace is Cayla, a girl who helps him smile again, for whom he slowly falls in love. But the castle has more dangers than he imagined.”
I wanted to like this book – the cover is pretty, and I’m always down for some YA fantasy. The magic of the world and a few of the characters piqued my interest at times, but could not overcome the novella’s numerous problems.
The worldbuilding was almost entirely done by the narrator, or by characters ostensibly talking to each other in a way that’s obviously for the sole benefit of the reader. A scene like the latter comprises the entire discussion of the magic promised in the title, spell-speaking. Magic in general is forbidden, but the few times it’s used are hand-waved away with little difficulty. I was very bored by this – if magic is forbidden, practicing it in secret should be exciting! This was not exciting.
I found Darian almost entirely unsympathetic and unbelievable for a few reasons. First, all of the characters in the story sound the same. The lack of tone and voice differences between the characters makes it read very flat, and Darian is the flattest. We’re constantly reading about Darian’s feelings in terms of “Darian felt sad” – I wanted so badly for Darian’s tone to tell me that, or his actions.
Darian regularly “knows” things the author wants the reader to know, like how the castle is lit by strange daylight panels – Darian knows all about them, even though this is his first time in the castle. He knows all about his people’s nature-worshipping beliefs and the nuances of why they personify abstract concepts into gods and goddesses, and about how best to hide after the army finds a secret site…which wouldn’t be such a problem, if he wasn’t missing out on ridiculously basic social cues in the next scene, and repeatedly after that.
This leads into my other major problem with the story: most of the conflict is generated via Darian not understanding something someone else is trying to tell him, and the other character refusing to speak plainly. This is a perfectly fine trope, but when it happens three or four times in one story – and when every one of those reveals is glaringly obvious to the reader – it gets very stale, very quickly.
One of the bright spots in the story was Sian, an important character whose voice is perhaps the most distinct of all the characters. His tragic past and sarcasm are his most interesting traits, and the inevitable future standoff between his goals and Darian’s is perhaps the only thing I’d like to see more of in the coming series.
On the whole, I think this story would benefit from a serious rework – better character voice, more emphasis on demonstrating the world and characters rather than describing them, and a whole lot of higher stakes.
Rating: 1.5/5 stars
Be First to Comment