my rating: 3.75
c/w: violence, child abuse, scarification, drug use, blood/gore, and more
Writing this review showed me that sometimes, it honestly does good to leave off writing a book review for a couple of months. When I finished this book, I had conflicting feelings because everyone really loved it and I felt like I liked it but I didn’t love it enough as the raving reviews I read about this one before picking it up. I’ll get more into it later on in my review, but I felt like the plot was too centered around setting up things and that the action I thought would be prominent throughout this book, only came through in the last hundred pages.
What I liked.
This book, wowza. This book is rich with so many things yet at the same time, the writing in a huge chunk of the book fell a bit flat for me.
This book follows a huge cast of characters, three main ones, Xiala, Serapio, and Naranpa, as they race towards a cataclysmic event branded with the potential of mass destruction. Xiala, a foul mouthed, sailor/pirate with a dark past, is tasked to set sail through dangerous waters to deliver an asset as fast as possible, taking any risk she wishes to. Serapio, is the epitome of darkness. His whole life has been dedicated to following through on a promise, and fulfill his destiny and has unimaginably dark powers that no one else has or can possess. After years of brutal training, trauma, and horror, he’s on his way to get the job done. And then there’s the Naranpa who’s position is being threatened by everyone. As an outsider and a commoner in such a highly esteemed role, she’s navigating her rule with a multitude of problems, both inside her clan with people trying to usurp her, as well as maintaining peace and a good outward presence in a society that’s no longer flourishing them with the respect and glory they once had.
The prologue of this book was chilling, gripping, and gloriously gory. If you’re squeamish, you’re probably going to be wriggling in your seat while you read the introduction to this story. Half the time, you’re confused as to what’s happening and when everything comes together, your heart just drops as we read about this little boy being forced to take on this fate that’s so much bigger than him. We see the birth of a life that’ll forever be tinged in darkness and it sets up the thematic elements of the plot perfectly.
Ironically, the prologue being so good is why I had trouble with the writing style of the book in later parts of the book.
Serapio, Serapio, Serapio. I don’t think that there’s a book out there that will make you feel the feelings you’ll feel for this character. We watch his fall, rise, and total consumption into darkness. It was horrifying, tragic saddening, chilling, amazing, magical, interesting, and then, terrifying. Serapio’s story line is like no other’s because it really plays into the duality of his innocence and inherit darkness so well. He’s someone who’s so exteriorly terrifying but internally, he’s a cinnamon roll. I don’t want to go too much into what his character is like or what his role in the book is because I went in knowing nothing and that definitely was the best thing to do. I can’t stop going on how the author made his character feel both ominous and terrifying but also someone who you’d pity, love, and swoop in to hug, knowing well early into the book what his purpose is going to be.
The romance in this book was tragically magnificent. It’s hard to remain vague but also explain how much I loved the perfect balance between the contrast of these two characters as well as the shared similarities that made them so understanding towards each other. The way the relationship developed as well as how it left off in the book is peaked with tension and I need to know more.
This book had plenty of badass female characters who are at the forefront of whatever institution they belong to or in their skill of trades.
The representation in this book is so flawlessly woven in that this book shows that representation doesn’t need to be a tick mark to check off, it’s just there. It doesn’t need to be made into such a big deal because it should be something that’s normalized. Whether it be having a cast of characters in which many of them are badass female characters or a bunch of queer characters who are simply being themselves without being questioned. While it’s important to dive into the emotional and physical journey of people who are underrepresented in society, it’s equally as important to read a book with them in it and not necessarily about them if that makes sense?
I also loved the exploration in Pre-Columbian civilizations and cultures as well. As someone who isn’t very versed in that side of history or the world, it felt so atmospheric to read and immerse myself into the world the author stitched together in honor of this rich era of Pre-Columbian civilizations. We could see the essence of this time period and its people in everything from the culture, economical aspects such as trade, to the architecture and lifestyle.The writing didn’t shy away from making you feel like you’re right there in the middle of this bustling society that’s rich with such magical and beautiful history and culture. I loved reading about the different groups of people and the different terrains they lived in.
On to what I didn’t like.
I don’t know whether to say that this book had a lot of set up and feels like it was solely stuck in act 1 of the story arc or if it had second book syndrome lol. I recognize they’re two different problems but I can’t put my finger on it.
Simply put, certain aspects of the story telling fell flat for me. As mentioned before, we’re following four characters but we don’t meet the fourth one till much further not the book. The most frequent character we read form is Naranpa. Her story line was the one that made me think that the book felt like a second book in the series.
The jump from her prologue/introduction to where the story starts is so vast and so much is left unsaid that it’s a bit interesting to see things unravel and see what happened to all the people introduced in the prologue/introduction. When we reach the first chapter with her in present time, we’re again introduced to another set of characters. There’s many things in her storyline that we’re constantly being introduced to and I couldn’t connect with her or care for her like I did the other characters. I feel like a lot was happening around her. A lot of the action was happening around her rather than to her or because of her decisions and her character as an individual.
In other words, in her storyline, it felt like in terms of action, she was the side character of her own story. I understand why this may have been a choice, to showcase a character who really doesn’t know how to handle what’s happening around them, or it simply played out this way because Naranpa herself, didn’t know what was happening around her. Honestly, it felt like her chapters felt a lot more like telling rather than showing.
I will say that towards the end of the book, her story became so much more interesting. I think the perfect way to explain why I didn’t really mesh with her storyline and why it dragged a bit is because compared to other POV’s, Naranpa’s felt very stagnant. There was not much change of scenery, we’re dropped right into her storyline and her struggles to hold her position without any prior context that was substantial enough or me to connect to. We didn’t get the same kind of background or explosive introduction to her as the other characters, which is fair, we can’t all start off with terrifying beginnings or wild drunken mistakes that lead to a job that not many would take.
I think I just had higher expectations of her storyline because I was getting three other story lines that really gripped me from the get go.
While this book had really nice world building and the starting of the book was so explosive and gripping, the rest of the story didn’t carry that same action packed pacing. In contrast to Naranpa’s story arc for the majority of the book, there was a lot more action in the other storylines but I still wish there was a bit more. There was a lot of build up in this book for this one event and boy oh by, when that event did happen, I felt my soul leave my body.
The ending was amazing. I want to say that so much of this book was left unresolved but honestly, I think the better way to phrase that would be so much has begun and I’m not sure I’m ready for it. The ending of this book sets up a whole new word and a whole new sequence of cataclysmic events that the characters will have no idea how to navigate.
My final thoughts.
As someone who doesn’t read adult fantasy very much, this book was amazing. It wasn’t hard to read and it flew by pretty fast. It’s full of amazing fantasy settings inspired by Pre-Columbian civilizations and the magic and lore in this story is so interesting and gripping. I can’t wait to see how all these characters will come together in the next book and what they will do. There’s so much left unanswered and the story’s just started.
As always, be aware of content warnings before going into this book and let me know you’re thoughts on this book if you’ve read it!