My Review
The City of Dusk is my first book by Tara Sim, and I am pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I've even added a few of her other reads to my tbr list, and I am looking forward to reading them.
In The City of Dusk, the world-building is fantastic, the characters are all vastly different yet in-depth and relatable, and the world-building is immersive and creative. I especially love the use of Sim's fantasy version of religion and gods in this story, which shape the fantasy touches spectacularly.
On top of the story being great, the author is a skilled writer, and the book has very few noticeable grammatical errors and flows well.


The Good Things
1. The story is well-written and devoid of grammatical errors.
2. The fantasy world Sim creates is terrific, and I found myself entirely immersed in it.
3. The four noble houses are diverse and exciting.
4. Angelica and Taeisia are my favorite characters. They both came alive on the page. 

The Bad Things
1. The first 15% of the book was hard to push through, but once I got at around chapter VI, I found myself starting to get more and more interested.
2. This was a much more intense read than I thought it would be! Not necessarily a bad thing, but I was NOT prepared for it. Add it to your tbr list right now, and be prepared! :) 

My Final Rating:
☆☆☆☆ (Goodreads) - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4451010584
☆☆☆☆ (Amazon- will leave this review once the book is released)
☆☆☆☆ (Blog) - https://kayssecretlibrary.wixsite.com/bookreviews (down for maintenance - will be live within 24 hours)

My god is this book a serious shot of adrenaline.
There are so many things about this book that appealed to me. Firstly, the characters. The City of Dusk is centered around four(ish) main characters: Taesia, Risha, Angelica, and Nik. Each character has their own level of power, faults, strengths, personality, and motivations. They are entirely unique and undoubtedly likeable, as well as consistent. There is a serious progression of character development throughout this novel but it is never shifty or messy. Sim put a great deal of thought into each character, who they were, and what they wanted. Which is impressive considering how chaotic this book seemed to get at times.
Secondly, there is no lack of secrets, schemes, or mystery in almost every scene. Sim can successfully keep you guessing and you might manage to discover one or two things for yourself, but in reality you haven't even begun to scratch the surface. Largely, this plot is so intricate. In most books, one or two groundbreaking scenes keep you invested but The City of Dusk is action-packed from cover to cover. Now I understand that can always raise concern, but no worry, the delicacy with which each scene, character, and situation is created prevents readers from getting confused or overwhelmed.
Now for a personal rant: Taesia. Taesia is a character you see more often then others, especially in the beginning. I'd also add that she seemed to have the most gradual, but intense, character development throughout this book. I also may be in love with her. If you are a sucker for strong female characters, Sim has mastered that angle entirely. Additionally, romance is in there! If you're scared of all fight and no love, do not worry. But on the opposing side understand it is nowhere near being vital to the plotline, or does it come around all that often. This book is largely fantasy, not romance. Sim incorporated just enough sexual tension between the characters to make things a tad more exciting. Personally, I loved it.
For the last time, I know I've said this book is crazy with action time and time again but the last 100 pages! Entirely a finale at a firework show. You know when it's nearing the end and fireworks are exploding so consistently and loudly that you just watch with a glaze of, ecstasy and disbelief? That is how I felt before I finished the last page of this book. Just buckle up, dive in, and you'll be fine.
But seriously, The City of Dusk was wonderful.

Thank you Netgalley once again for this book!
I actually don't know what to say about this one, truthfully. I liked it, the characters were really good, so was the pacing, it had some twists I didn't see coming, and yet....I don't know. Maybe I'm reading to much fantasy lately or this was like to many other fantasy books. Maybe I'm just in the wrong mood for it? All I know is that I enjoyed reading it, but I know I won't remember it.

Billed as epic fantasy with necromancy, “The City of Dusk” checked many boxes of my favorite elements in novels. The premise, paired with an elegantly designed cover, had me excited to dig in.

The good:

—Unique story world

—Interesting premise

—Positive LGBTQ+ rep

—Positive BIPOC rep

—Great descriptions of clothing that will probably inspire fun fan art

—Ending leaves our characters in the type of WTF situation that leaves me intrigued about the followup, even though this one was not my cup of tea.

The not so good:

It’s nearing midnight and you’ve had one of those terrible sort of days that’s left you run ragged and you’ve barely had anything to eat—so you’re not at your best when you open the fridge to make something to eat. There’s pizza, tacos, chicken lo mein, and peach cobbler. So many options and they’re all your favorite foods. Why not? You think. If one tastes good on its own, then certainly they’d taste even better mixed together. So you slap tacos and lo main onto a slice of pizza and chow down. The flavors compete with each other instead of complimenting each other. Two bites in, you realize that you can in fact have too much of a good thing.

Reading “The City of Dusk” is a bit like that.

There are four different types of magic presented within the main character’s storylines and an additional form of magic performed by an enemy. This means that there is a lot of explaining that needs to be done in order to set up what’s going on. In addition to that, there’s not standardization of magic with each of the Houses portrayed, which means there’s additional explanation within those.

Examples:

* The Deia worshipping House of Mardova are elementalists— people who can control the elements. Regular elementalists can control a maximum of three elements, but the Mardova family are like the Avatar in the animated series, and can control all four elements. Except Angelica, the heir to the Mardovas, is weak in her control of her powers and has to rely on the use of musical instruments in order to focus her use, which makes her a bit freakish and a bit of a failure in the eyes of other elementalists and her parents.
*
* The Nyx worshipping House of Lastrider are attuned to control of shadows and have shadow shaped familiars that they carry on their bodies. Each Lastrider has a different way they can control shadows and their mother specifically works with memories— which are apparently made of shadows in this world. In addition, the Lastrider house cares for non-human people from another realm who’ve been refugees in the story’s realm for 500 years. (Sidenote: It seemed completely strange to me that the nocturnal and solaras were still categorized as refugees after 500 years had transpired. 500 years is a long time.)

The other two Houses and POVs aligned with them are equally complicated. Each one of them could be the focus of one fantastic book— combined together, the promise of the premise offered here is mostly lost. So much explaining has to be done that other elements are unfortunately sacrificed. You can tell a simple story with complex characters or you can tell a complex story with simple characters— the latter is what occurs here from the combination of numerous magic systems explained and numerous POVs. There is irony here, as the complicated individuation of characters was probably intended to make compelling characters. But so much time is spent explaining things that the reader doesn’t actually get to spend much time hanging out with each character— getting to know them through their thoughts and actions. (As soon as a parcel of information is spun out, the book takes the reader to the next POV.)

The Lastrider family is given two POVs and gets the most page time— so is the one that I found most compelling at the start of the book and attached myself to. Each time that something truly compelling happened and I got excited to find out what would happen next, the book would jump to a different POV. After one hundred or so pages of this I started to lose my investment and reading became more of a chore than a joy.

The juggling of so many POVs and exposition also meant that quite often action happens off the page and is reported to characters in order to spur action. So much of what happens with the Conjureres is reported within the first several hundred pages that the upshot is that they do not present as threatening an ominous as they could be.

But all of that may just be me. Other readers may not face the same issues.

I do think that though this book is presented as epic fantasy, the characters (and their interactions and their angst oh the angst) read more as YA and if I’d gone into the reading experience expecting as such, my expectations might have been managed.

Thank you Net Galley and the Publisher for a free ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Unfortunately I DNF this book. It was just too much information dumping for me while also leaving me in confusion as to what was going on at the same time. Also I found the world building to be very lackluster.
I will be giving this book another try come the release date however at this time I just was not able to get into it.

I really struggled with this book, which is such a shame because it was one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2022. It wasn't that this book was bad, necessarily, but rather that it lacked polish. It read as very YA to me, which is not a bad thing in and of itself, except that I personally wanted something that leaned more adult. I found the writing to be clunky and chopped, with some of the descriptions of the world not really working and/or actively distracting from the narrative. I also found that there wasn't a good balance between plot and character: it felt like the character "development" that we got was more just archetypal sketches of the characters rather than a really solid or substantial understanding of who they actually were. Mostly, I found that the plot overwhelmed the story, and the plot itself felt very sequential to me: the characters have to go do A, then they go do B, then they do C. I wanted a little more variety, or some quieter moments, but I didn't quite get that. Overall, I think this book might really appeal to you if you tend to enjoy YA fantasy books more. As it was, it wasn't quite the fantasy for me.

Thank you so much to Orbit for the e-review copy!

This is Tara Sim's first adult fantasy, and it met every one of my expectations. The City of Dusk is absolutely one of the more complicated fantasies I've read, with seven POV characters. Even the side characters have very significant roles to play. Combined with the world itself, made up of four different realms, multiple countries and cities, and very different magic systems, there was a lot to get used to. It did take me awhile before I felt like I knew what was going on, but once I did, I was completely engrossed.
I liked all the characters, especially Risha and Brailee (who I'm hoping will get her own POV in the next book). I'm also really interested in what's going on with Julian and where he will end up in the next book.
I'd highly recommend this to any fantasy reader. I loved this book and I think it has some of the best world-building and magic systems. 4.5/5 stars rounded to 5.

If you asked me at 20% of the book how I felt I'd have said "this is a no for me"
But! I kept on and ended up enjoying it. It's an extremely complicated story, with a lot of moving parts and world building that could have been a lot more expansive. I think the lack of the world building made some of the reveals and action fall slightly flat because I literally had to go back a few times to understand (and Im someone who can name each lineage and person in A Song of Ice and Fire and Grishaverse with no issues). However, once things started moving and characters stopped just having conversations, the book picked up and became a decent YA fantasy action novel. If you're ready to invest the time, this one is for you.

a lot, and i mean a LOT, of thought was put into the creation of this story and it is very evident in the way it is told. i personally really enjoyed it! the book overall is very much plot driven, but each main character or "heir" does have their own individual story that is developed pretty evenly from beginning to end. risha was my personal fav, and while creating unique powers is hard and certain abilities are often times reused throughout book genres, i found that her power of necromancy was very cool and i loved the way it was written. the amount of badass women in this book was awesome and there was also plenty of lgbtq rep!

while each heir did have detailed and unique individual stories, they don't really all come together for a long period of time until the very end. it was great that their own traumas and issues were being worked out in their own povs, but i wish they would've had more time together and i wish they would've actually been on the same page during the times they were together instead of the constant push and pull they were giving each other. that may just be a personal preference, but considering how long the story was i feel like that idea of the main character connections could have been written in more.

overall i still really loved reading this and WOW that ending!! can't wait for others to get their hands on this and i especially can't wait for the next book in the series.

I got wrapped up in the magic and world building. I loved the dialogue, descriptions and characters. Very intense.

The City of Dusk follows the story of four heirs to Houses obtained with magical powers, bestowed upon them by their Gods. Upon knowing their land is dying, the heirs end up delving into a risky task to save themselves, but more importantly, their people.

This took me FOREVER, but this isn’t strange of me to do so considering this is a high fantasy novel. Some of terminology is very confusing and I recommend a glossary in the final version. Besides that, let’s get into my actual review.

I found myself enjoying the setting of the world and the characters. Though as I’ve stated terminology was confusing, the world building I felt was pretty straightforward and I could follow along easily with what our characters were doing and their schemes.

Characters for me personally are a strong driving point, and I really liked the majority of them, even with their flaws. Dante is a character I wish I got to know more about, so I can’t wait to read about him in the sequel. Julian, another (hot) character, I might add is someone I found myself intrigued with. However his whole ordeal was really predictable, though I’m not sure if Sim had it set up that way on purpose.

I find it relishing to see another story where Gods are always selfish, which I actually quite enjoy in comparison to what I know. We worship Gods and people with abilities with the mindset they love us just as equally, but what if it’s the exact opposite? They want power for themselves and will do all it takes to get there? Are people inherently selfish? Do we learn to love and let go? The City of Dusk is a perfect read to find out what exactly occurs within these walls.

Something I found myself comparing back to reality was the wealth gap between the very rich and very poor, as Taesia herself stated. I didn’t fancy her character too much due to her rash choices, but in the end, I began to understand her character more and why she reacted the way she did. I think I found myself liking all of these characters, which is rare considering the fact there’s always one who gets under my skin, so I applaud Sim for that.

Despite the slow pacing of the book for me, I found myself enjoying it and will definitely be purchasing a copy when I can. Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit, and Tara Sim for an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 4.5/5

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the e-arc!

This book was wonderful, though I do see a new common theme arising in books and that is characters either related to a god/goddess or bestowed powers by them. In my opinion this is a great thing, I love a good book that involves the world's religion.

The book does begin with some heavy handed plot laying that discusses how the City of Dusk and the four other realms are cut off from each other due to the Sealing. I felt like the author was a little too heavy handed in this aspect, as a reader you're constantly beat over the head with how the Sealing has cut everyone off and what that means in the long run. I know it was meant to build a sense of urgency, but to me it was just irritating.

We have our four main families (which I love the family breakdown at the beginning of the book) and each family is tied to a god/goddess. Each of the families is tied to that god/goddess by blood and has powers that reflect that god's realm. For example, Tae is related to the God Nyx and has powers related to shadows. As the book develops you learn more about the political standing of each family, even though the families are descended from literal Gods the land is ruled by a King. I loved that the book spoke freely of the refugees that the Sealing left behind and how the families either protected or abandoned those refugees. Each family felt quite selfish to me, each only operating within their realm of influence, unwilling to interfere or assist each other. The parents in particular felt so insular to me, not a single adult figure ever really encouraged working together to solve the realms issues.

As the book develops we have fourish main characters with a few other POVs sprinkled throughout the story. The book focuses on two main plots: breaking down the barriers and stopping conjuration. Conjuration is essentially witchcraft believed to be used to summon demons. As the book develops, conjuration and breaking the barrier are tied together with a true understanding of conjuration coming to light.

The descriptions Tara Sim has in this book are lovely, you can really imagine yourself immersed in this world and picture the characters so well. I honestly was hooked and the last half of the book had me staying up until midnight to finish it. I'm looking forward to further plot development in the next books and will definitely be purchasing the sequels!

*Spoiler free*

I knew I wanted to read this book when I heard it was a multi realm dark fantasy, with each realm having a god, and each god having an heir. And the realms are now sealed from each other, because the gods have withdrawn their favor. It sounded freaking incredible, and I was very eager to read it! Trigger warnings: mentions of parental abuse, grief, self-harm, blood, gore

Everything about this book boils down to the fact that Tara Sim is a genius.

The world, the realms, dear gosh, there is so much packed into them. It's something beyond sweeping. It's a whole universe. It digs into the existential questions, and it does not leave anything unturned. AND THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK IN A TRILOGY. Just, the way this world was able to present such an intricate world, with a plot that has just as many tiny cogs working to move it forward, is brilliant. It never felt like the information was dumped to be dumped, and I was able to immerse myself in the world and understand everything that was being thrown at me. The way it is crafted, it left me breathless. So, so brilliant.

I feel similarly about the plot. It's one that spans many characters, many realms. There's political intrigue, along with darkness beginning to seep out of corners. There is so much of, and there are so many tiny pieces at play. And all of it makes sense and works AND THERE'S EVEN TWISTS THAT LITERALLY MADE MY JAW DROP. It's incredible.

I fell in love with all of the characters a lot more than I thought I was going to. I grew to love them because they truly emerged throughout the book. It felt like the book gave me space to become invested with them. This book is a slow burn in terms of characters, but it completely works, because I ended up completely in love with all of them.

There is also a creepiness that seems to hang in the air, waiting. It comes out at certain times, in scenes that are completely terrifying, oh my gosh, they made me hold my breath and the way they were written was just spectacular. And so much of it builds on dread, on things that are made of myths and legends of times long passed, with glimpses of powers that are truly frightening. It does this so well, and it makes everything about the darker aspects of this book just brilliant.

AND THERE'S A SCENE LIKE THE FIGHT SCENE FROM THE FIRST SEASON OF THE WITCHER EXPECT IT'S ROMANTICALLY TINGED AND THERE'S A BONE DRESS.

I really, really loved this book. It's downright stunning in everything that it does, and it is just brilliant all around. It's so, so incredible.

This book was interesting, but not my favorite I have read this year, There were some diverse characters and representation, and the world was unique. I feel like there were some details/explanations missing and I’m the type of reader who likes to have an exact picture in my head while reading!

Four houses, heirs steeped in power, politics, romance, magic, and gods...In a world in which there are four realms- the realms of life, death, light and darkness, which all converge on the city of dusk, that each have a god and with each god comes a heir and house of their own. The story follows Risha a necromancer trying to maintain peace, Angelica an elementalist wanting to find acceptance and validation from her family with her eyes on the throne, Taesia a shadow-wielding rogue who wants nothing more than to protect her kingdom and family...except there’s a darkness lurking to break free in her, and Nik a soldier who is dealing with the grief of killing his brother and being shunned by his own god and dealing with the family tension. Each of the heirs is dealing with their own family issues, with their own power complications, and the threat of turning on one another. Complicated relationships and betrayals come to a head as the realms are dying and the gods withdraw their favor. There is more at play than the heirs could ever imagine and with the lives of their loved ones at stake and the entire realm on the line they’ll each have to figure out how if they can trust one another and what they are willing to do and sacrifice in order to save their realms. Risha is struggling to come to terms with her powers, particularly with how her mother would rather her marry herself off to build an alliance rather than focus on using her powers, it also doesn’t help that dead bodies have been going missing and showing up a few days later mysteriously. Angelica is struggling with finding her place, proving she deserves to be recognized when her powers require her to use methods that bring shame to her family and the fact that the only way she’ll ever be worthy in her mothers eyes is if she seats herself on the throne. Taesia just wants to be free of the politics, of the duties, of the leash that keeps her trapped in her family, yet when she finds herself going along with her brother’s plan to stop the king and commit treason and possibly unleash demons things go from bad to worse and the lies and secrets she keeps grow to the point where she has pushed everyone out of her life except for the hunter who she can’t help but come back to. Julian is a hunter who just wants to save his mother from her sickness and provide medical care for her, but he is struggling with keeping his powers in check, particularly keeping the beasts locked inside from coming out. Nik is the son that shouldn’t have lived and is struggling to live with the guilt that he feels after his brother has died, it doesn’t help that his god has shunned him and that his family wishes his brother had lived instead. This was a great start to a trilogy, despite the slow buildup at certain parts and decisions of some characters it was a great read, I am intrigued to see where the story goes next and how it all plays out. While it’s a lot to keep track of since there are a lot of POVs and so much world-building and plot happening, its a fun fantasy read and I would definitely recommend it. I would have to say my favorites would be as follows: Risha, Julian, Angelica, Taesia and Nik.

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books, Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The City of Dusk is a 2022 release that I am very interested in! The magic system developed by Tara Sim is quite present and I loved having four different houses and each character holding a power. At just 33%, I am continuously observing more information


The premise of the book is very promising, and while I am DNFing at 33% I look forward to emerging myself into the story on release day. I simply have too much going on in my life to commit to reading such a heavy information filled beginning

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the e-gally! Four out of five stars, very much enjoyed.

Though I am endlessly grateful to the book for having the cast of characters and lineages in the front, which helped set the mood and a fair amount of exposition dump which also helped center the universe. I'm usually a fan of that, especially when it's worked in well, as I feel City of Dusk has!

Though there was a cast of roughly five main characters, there seemed to be a *Main* Main, which I'm not too sure how I felt about. I can understand how she got the ball rolling, and why she seemed to be the focus, but I do hope this is something that changes within the next books of the series! Particularly, there's one specific character I hope is more the focus, as it felt like she got the least screentime (but that could be my own viewing).

I think too, the handful of POVs were juggled, and not always well. While not fully overwhelming, I feel as if maybe some of the more minor POVs could have gotten a little less chapter time? The book also felt like it took some time to be drawn into, but I do also like Tara Sim's quiet, building style of slowly winding tension tighter and tighter.
I feel as if Tara Sim too, was also great at characterization-- I could understand and see which characters meant to be charismatic and compelling, as it came across fairly well. I definitely think this is a good start to the series, and I look forward to the fallout of the second!

I did not like it for a number of reasons others may not share, or indeed even care about. This is going to be very pedantic.

[Worldbuilding?]

We are told the names of the garments worn, but not what they look like. I know what ghagra choli and salwar are, but how many other readers do? Does it even mean the same thing in this universe? Why are characters in this world wearing Punjabi garments? Stuff like that comes with history and tradition attached to it, it isn't a generic term like "pants" or "shirt". The lack of description forces readers to stop and look up all of these undescribed items, or just ignore them.

I think referring to the study of various realms as "planar" is interesting, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Planar doesn't refer to planes of existence. It refers to things that are two-dimensional, on mathematical planes. Squares, triangles, Cartesian coordinates i.e. the xy-plane. The idea of co-existing realms being laid out on a circle is kind of silly. Reality isn't flat. Why wouldn't the realms overlay each other, like in His Dark Materials or Wheel of Time? Is this just a heuristic tool for students in the universe to understand how the realms relate, or is this how they are literally constructed? (We later learn that yes, the realms are actually constructed like that, when Dante and Taesia are shown a "veritable map of the universe")
"Miko was lovely…she still wore traditional Azunese clothing of a wrap dress with a silken waist sash and long, trailing sleeves." So, she's Japanese? Wearing a kimono? Why use "ghagra choli" but not "kimono"?

I have no idea what kind of climate they live in. There are bay laurels, palm trees, thyme, lavender, lemon trees, plum trees, all in the same area. The lemons and plums are ripe during autumn, which is the season for neither fruit (we have them year round because produce is shipped worldwide). It's very incoherent.

The abundance of paper bothered me. Particularly since one of the issues this world is experiencing is widespread degradation of plant life. At one point a character gets tired of counting all of the dead trees he sees.

Why is the king attending to so many matters personally? It's really claustrophobic. The government has no apparent structure or function. The Houses appear to have little to no political power, or anything in particular to do other than indulge their own neuroses. Who actually runs the city?
The people have a lot of luxuries which are products of our own modernization. For example, having breakfast at a cafe. Cafes are ubiquitous in part due to globalization. Ease of access to products, fast transportation, mass production and agricultural advancements (automation driving down the price of things like flour, coffee, nuts). Going to a cafe isn't something a person in a pre-industrial society would do. Someone who is wealthy would have someone cooking for them at home. Someone who is poor would do their own cooking, if they ate in the morning at all. The existence of restaurants and cafes assumes a sufficient customer base for such establishments. You cannot have modern luxuries without attendant modern technology. It doesn't make any sense. Where, by the way, is coffee coming from in this world? Where is it being grown, who is importing it?
Overall, the impression is that the author took things from our world and mashed them together without rhyme or reason. There is no sense of Vitae's unique cultures or histories when so much of our own world is being co-opted.



[Wording/phrasing issues; anachronisms; similes]

There are many. If I cataloged them all I would never have finished the book.

"Angelica Mardova, stuck in a meeting she’d long tuned out of, wanted badly to play her violin." - Why do violins exist in this world? Is this Earth? Some kind of alternate Earth? And "tuned out of"? That saying comes from radio, tuning out of a station. Do radios exist in Vitae? Do people in this universe even know what a radio wave is, or has their magic stagnated technology and science for centuries?

"fang-like thorns" - A thorn doesn't need to be described using something else that is sharp and pointy.
"We will have the full force of the militia at our beck and call." - The dude saying this is their king. Why doesn't he have a standing army? Militias are typically formed out of civilians pressed into immediate service by necessity, it isn't your regular military force. Their military is constantly referred to as a militia.
"...his dark hair and beard liberally seasoned with salt." - At first I thought he rubbed salt into his hair as a cultural thing, which would have been neat. But, no, his hair is just turning gray.

"...[a] building austere yet beautiful in its flowing lines and repeating detailing." - An "austere" building wouldn't have any detailing. It's austere.

"A small torus spun around her, knocking away a nearby piece of bone." - A torus is a donut. So a donut of air was spinning around her? Strange image. "Torus" is used multiple times throughout the book. Like, what does "within the cold torus of her power" mean? Magic comes in the shape of donuts? She's standing in the hole of her magic donut?. Like, use cyclone, whirlwind, vortex; air moves in plenty of cyclical ways which have their own terms.


"The scent of marigolds and lilies permeated the air, thick and cloying." - Yeah, lilies can have a strong perfume, but marigolds? Marigolds smell like wet grass, they aren't a particularly fragrant flower. If you're going to use things from our world to populate this fantasy world, they are going to carry the same traits unless you state otherwise.

"Crystal-colored eyes" - what color is this? What kind of crystal are you referring to? Do you mean clear colored eyes?

"One woman had a domesticated beast perched on a shoulder, a monkey-like creature with talons and folded wings, which she continuously fed bites of canapé to." Giving something talons and wings renders it very un-monkey-like. Besides that, how exactly do you feed bits of a canapé? It's a cracker with things stacked on top of it, not really easy to turn into bits. You're supposed to eat it in one bite. Why do they even have canapés? It's a French hors d'oeuvre. Does France exist here? Why don't they have their own name for this food?


Various items are reinforced with a vague "metal alloy," but steel (an alloy) is specifically named elsewhere.
"Camilla…put a hand on the prelate’s arm as if for balance. Nikolas raised an eyebrow… was she setting her sights on Lezzaro?" - She clearly did not put her hand on his arm "as if for balance". The readers know it's a flirtatious move. Nikolas explains it in the next line. Why is there a simile here? It serves no purpose at all, it's just misinformation.
"This was about more than survival; it was about protecting the others, making sure they all got out of this alive." - Says it isn't about survival, then explains how it is about survival.
"ruin this man’s whole career", "If it brings you joy" - Please, don't include memes in your fantasy novel.

[Telling]

"Risha was helpless against a small smile." - No mention of anyone smiling before or after this. No mention of how this "helplessness" manifests. Is it only Taesia's "small smile" that affects her? It feels like a placeholder line.

"...the ceiling was lacquered blue with a golden setting for the chandelier, as if to mirror the sun in the sky." Lines like this really give away the YA-ness of the entire book. There are ways of saying something like without directly comparing it to the sun. We all know what the sky looks like. People don't need everything spelled out for them.
"Somehow her mother made even the act of sipping tea a wry gesture." - What does this actually look like? Did she raise her eyebrows as she took a sip? Was her voice mocking? Did she smirk?

The naming of things is super on the nose. Their main city is called Nexus. Light-based sun worshippers are Solaran from Solara. Night-dwellers are Noctans from Noctus, who have blue-black skin. (Kind of a strange coloration for a people that exist in darkness, not exactly the ideal environment for melanin production. Wouldn't they be pale?) Light and shadow familiars are called Lux and Nox (very few familiars are named, because there aren't enough Latin synonyms).

[Plot]

The story is broken up into four parts for no discernible reason. No theme, timeshift, or perspective differentiates the parts at all. I guess it's because there are four realms and four houses? I don't know, it seems a pointless division. (in part IV, a character continues the lack of subtlety present throughout the book and makes this comparison for the reader)
Nothing really happens in the first part. We are introduced to the cast. That's basically it. Like, maybe show them doing something dangerous, or interesting? Consequential? The scenes themselves are dull, lacking tension, unsurprising. Like, I've seen all of this before. Full Metal Alchemist has a failed summoning, the Chronicles of Amber has Random walking the Pattern, Naruto has shadow manipulation and music-induced magic. There's nothing original, not even in the food, clothing, or names.

I don't understand the king giving Nikolas a leadership role. He's never had one before, he's not part of the military, he has no known relevant skills, his father didn't endeavor to position him so. There is no basis for it whatsoever. An unknown enemy is wreaking havoc in your city, and you choose a whiny, untested 20-something to head the investigation? Why exactly is this inept king in power? Moreover, investigators had already gone over the first site he visits. So, what was the point of him and some soldiers going there? (Nothing ever comes of this investigation subplot. All they ever do is go look at things for the reader's sake, and introduce a fifth protagonist)

The sealing of the realms occurred 500 years prior, and only now their world is seeing consequences? I don't really understand, and the way it's talked about makes it seem like a recent event. Like this line: "The inter-realm import [corona sails] had once been common enough, but after the Sealing five hundred years ago, the precious little left now drove ever-increasing prices on the market." How much of it had been imported so that the world is only experiencing privation five hundred years later? How are these sails even functional after centuries? We know how immediately supplies vanish once the source is cut off, we all have first hand experience from COVID. There are other indicators that the five hundred year time span is faulty. One character says her great-great-grandmother was alive before the Sealing. Unless their family has unusual longevity, the great-great-grandmother was born at most two hundred years in the past.

The Noctan and Solaran refugees have also been trapped in their realm for five hundred years. So the racism and xenophobia has persisted for that long? Skeptical. Not saying such things can't persist for long periods of time, but we know the status quo does eventually change, that attitudes change with each passing generation. At some point they stop being refugees and simply are regular citizens.

The story becomes incredibly repetitive by the end. The characters cycle through the same thoughts chapter after chapter. Everything is bogged down by the same exact issues the characters had at the beginning of the book. Subplots fall apart after a chapter or or totally forgotten by the end. It's just like, this thing is inevitably going to happen and no one can or will do anything about it, and we get to watch everyone spin their wheels for 500 pages.

The finale is a no-holds-barred melee which you could see coming from the very beginning (because we are told from the beginning what's going to happen at the end). Twists are heavily foreshadowed, at no point is any revelation surprising. It strongly reminded me of Bleach, particularly the end of the save Rukia arc.

[Characters]

The characters sound and act like teenagers, though they are all in their 20s.

Taesia chases after a thief in a market, like the opening scene from Aladdin. She uses a shadow like it is a physical object with substance. I never understood that about shadow magic. Shadows aren't tangible things. A shadow is an obstruction of light. Shadows being portrayed as physically manipulable isn't unique to this story, but a general gripe I have.

"Burial wreaths blessed by the Vakara family will give them some comfort." Not to mention line our pockets. To the Vakaras, death was a business."
Does Risha think others are entitled to her mother's free labor? It isn't cruel or nefarious to pay people for handling the various things that go into funerals. Apparently Risha is 21. What an incredibly immature thought for someone that age.
Angelica loses her temper during a voluntary lesson she is paying for. I have a hard time sympathizing with her when her behavior is embarrassing. There is some explanation given for this, familial expectations for her to not use instruments as a crutch for her powers, but it's all told in a few lines. There is no shown build up of frustration to justify her childish outburst.

There's a lack of growth for all the characters. They do change, but not emotionally. Their ignorance and unearned confidence persists, with new powers arising as needed for plot reasons.

I really didn't like any of them. A few of the side characters are okay, like Miko, Brailee, and Cosima, but the POV characters by and large suck. They are all childish, selfish, short-sighted, petty, cruel, and have no positive characteristics to balance them out. Of course it's through no fault of their own because they're godspawn (or "gods' pawns", actual wordplay within the novel).


[Conclusion]

This offers nothing new or interesting to the genre. It continues the "new adult" tradition of banal YA plus sex scenes. The worldbuilding is poorly contrived, the magic unsystematic, the characters basic, and the plot predictable. And it was boring.
It doesn't hold up to the epic, doorstopper fantasies the author aspired to. It doesn't build on or add anything to the genre. The whole time I just kept thinking that I've seen it all before and I wanted it to end.

I think I was expecting something a bit more like Scavenge the Stars. A little too much info dumping in the beginning of this book for me. Unfortunately I didn't finish it.

Do you like gay high fantasy with unlikely allies, enemies to lovers, found family, and a kickass pov character who puts the romance in necromance? Of course you do!