It's hard to know where to start with this one. I was definitely very excited when my copy showed up on my doorstep! In the end, though, it turned out the story just wasn't for me. And, as always, that's okay.
More than anything, this felt a little bit like reading fanfiction without knowing anything about the canon material. I sensed the characters all had quite vivid personalities and personal histories, but they just weren't on the page. Similarly, no doubt the world had nuance and complexity as all fantasy worlds do. It just wasn't on the page.
Arek is the point of view character, and I really wouldn't know what to say about him, other than that he's a tad unlikable and really, really crass! (But then again, he's a 17 year old boy.) He's in love with his best friend Matt—and I think it's really hard to start a story off where two characters are already in love. Or it could be that this just isn't the type of love story I can easily connect with. But I could never really see why Arek loves Matt, or even why Matt loves Arek, and that was a bit of a deal-breaker for me. I love romance, but what I love most about romance is see what it is the two people admire in one another, seeing their respect for and devotion for one another. As for Matt, he likes books and... probably lots of other stuff, but we never learn what any of that is.
It also doesn't help that they look like mirror images of one another on the cover! 😅 Nevertheless, the cover art is certainly gorgeous.
The supporting cast feel a little bit like D&D characters that had just been constructed before the "campaign" (story) started. We've got one person of each class, and their personalities align with that class. So we've got the sneaky thief, the noble knight, the saucy bard, and the stalwart fighter. But what does Bethany want more than anything in the world? What keeps Rion up at night? What's Lila's greatest fear? I found it impossible to answer any of these questions, and sadly, it's impossible to answer them for Arek and Matt, too. (I say sadly because these kinds of deeper connections for characters are what I tend to look for in a book.)
The voice is certainly very strong, but it's kind of annoying, too? Arek is kind of a jerk at times, but I think that just might be his natural teenager-ness. He also constantly lusts after his friends while also being in love with Matt. Which is normal, I'm sure, it was just... disconcerting. I really didn't need to read about the tenth time his friend Sionna gave him a boner. (Yes, he uses the word "boner.")
I spent most of the book wanting desperately to be emotionally invested in these characters, and it just never happened.
That said, it's light-hearted and low stakes, which is usually just my cup of tea. If you don't mind Shrek-like fairytale world and the D&D-style characters, this would likely be a very enjoyable read. The book has high scores on Storygraph, and I can see why.
There was only one character of color, which was a bit odd. Everyone seemed to be bisexual? (Or maybe Arek just assumed everyone was?) And there was one non-binary character towards the end. It feels like the author was conscious with regards to diversity, though it felt a bit awkward to me.
To some degree, I felt like I was reading a middle-grade book with the words "boner" and "fuck" tossed in randomly on every other page. And that's not to insult middle-grade books—Shannon Hale and Gail Carson Levine are two of my all-time favorites. But I would personally just rather spend time with the thoughtful Dashti (from Book of a Thousand Days) or adorably awkward Aza (from Fairest) than boner-having Arek.
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