Naruto meets ATLA in this new fantasy series where Toranic Law decides your fate. Will you rise to the upper realms or fall lower? Three unlikely allies join the rebel group called the Balancers: Aina, a girl who rose to an upper realm but wants to fall again to find her mother; Mezian, a lower who wants nothing but to save his Clan; and Aranel, a privileged upper spy.

I really enjoyed this book! Like I said, I had no idea what to expect going into it but I was pleasantly surprised! I think the Toranic Law world building was unique and I really liked the idea of it. I also really liked our cast of three characters and enjoyed their interactions with each other. There was the absolute slightest amount of romance nuance between them, but I can’t wait to see what that blossoms into in future books.

The ending of this book was earth shattering and it was interesting to see how the characters ended up despite their motivations at the beginning of the novel. I can’t wait for the next one!

Thanks to Penguin House for giving me the opportunity to access the ARC of Spin of Fate, and NetGalley for providing the platform to request it.

For clarity, I received the ARC for free in return for my honest review.

Spin of Fate is the start of a brand-new series known as The Fifth Realm and is written by A. A. Vora. Setting wise it blends flavors of Hindu mythos with Cultivation Novels (think the works of Priest, MXTX, and Meat Bun Don’t Eat Meat) and personally I feel the likening it to the Cosmosphere, Full Metal Alchemist, and more oversimplifies it and does it no service in terms of marketing. Then again, how many people have read Chinese cultivation books or indulged in Webtoons with similar themes?

Probably not many.

Just know I’m not in the camp of using pre-existing media as a comparison tool, thus why I used a collective genre example. Because otherwise you’ll get people expecting Avatar the Last Airbender from something like The Dragon Republic or saying “You liked Dragon Riders of Pern? Read Fourth Wing!”

Sorry, need a moment to recover from that flashback.

Now let’s get back from that side quest, friends.

Spin of Fate features a setting across separate planes of existence in which karma Toranic Law dictates where you are born and end up all based on the ‘spin of one’s soul’ hence the book title. Each plane is different from the other with lower levels being worse off than higher levels where things practically go perfectly. It took a lot of the book to grasp what was going on, the magical system, and more thanks to how it does little to explain the world building exclusively through story telling up until where I am now.

Right now, my progress as I’m writing this is 30%. We are just now getting a training montage with our three protagonists Aranel, Aina and…I forgot his name because we were introduced to him so late into the first third of the read, and so fast, I still can’t remember it. In fact, there’s so much I forgot happened or had to read over a second time to catch the events of thanks to the fast pacing. It’s almost like I don’t get time to soak in the information before a new deluge of things are going on to flood out what came before. So, I really feel like it’s moving too fast in terms of pacing.

We learn about this one group, and the very next scene is the main character (Aina) meeting the HEAD OF THAT GROUP. Never mind there has been no real explanation of the magic system yet (until said training montage). So much stuff happens so fast, I can’t even recall pertinent details but now it suddenly skidded to a halt to explain aspects of Toranic Law, Chitrons, and more for the main trio’s plot. Like, couldn’t we have got a small bubble of a scene in the opening of the book when Aina is with her mother? It would have gone miles to better characterize the mother and set the reader up for success in understanding the setting. Could we have built out characters just a bit more before flinging them into shit going on?

That being said, my main beef with Spin of Fate is the pacing. Aside from that, there is the heart of a cool setting here and a moving plot. I just feel like the book hasn’t done well in the ARC version to flesh that out in the first third. I even find it hard to sympathize with Aina? Maybe because she isn’t the kind of character I jive with.

So, I honestly have DNF’d the ARC at that point. It’s just not for me.

Plus, the sudden skidding halt for the training arc of all things. I still can’t tell you any character’s names or summarize things effectively, which by the first third of the book you should at least be able to do. Maybe even the first quarter of it.

Oh, that’s his name! Meizan! I knew it’d randomly pop back up in my head.

Could I recommend the book? No. If I DNF something, I find it hard to reason how it might work for someone else. Maybe pick it up if you want a unique magic system steeped in eastern inspirations? Other than that, not something can recommend.

If I gave it a star rating? Maybe 2 out of 5. Not a 3, but not a 1. Like I said there’s the bones of something good here. It’s my hope when I pick up the published copy my rating will change because I genuinely enjoy some of the themes and discussions in the book.

This book had such incredible world building from the different realms to the magic system, and all of the various creatures.

It had flawed, interesting characters which kept me hooked the whole way through. I loved seeing all of their training and appreciated that things weren’t instantly easy for them.

My only complaint is the amount of time that I have to wait for the next book 😭 In the meantime, I definitely want to reread an annotate the heck out of this because I feel like I’ll get even more out of it on the second go.

If you’re looking for a layered, immersive fantasy that you can lose yourself in, I cannot recommend this enough!

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Penguin Teen for an eARC of this book. This is a debut author and is a YA high fantasy.

Tropes: Enemies to Friends, Found Family, Betrayal, Rebel Group, Topple the Government

This is a high fantasy with a very complex world and magic system. For where I am at mentally - this is not what I needed at the time. It took a lot for me to get into, but the author did a good job of explaining it- for the most part.

I didn't feel much for the characters which could have been because I never really got into the book. I love supporting authors especially on their debut and this one has a lot of potential. It is kind of Six of Crows but with more magic and higher stakes.

The three main characters all come from different backgrounds. The world is set up where you live in different realms based on your soul but some people are born into the lower levels-which means their soul is already tainted- due to their parents. The main theme of the book is to overthrow the government and magic system that makes people be born into lower realms. I love the concept- it just didn't do it for me in this book.

Thanks to Penguin for providing this free ARC.

This book was amazing: the magic system was intense and detailed; the world building was done in a great way, not too info-dumpy and not too minimal; the characters were complex and behaved exactly like you'd expect teenagers in their situations to behave. The world sounded beautiful, the four realms based on how much good you do in your life - the spin of your soul - and the reward of a good karmic life. I loved how the moral questions and ideals of the people based on their realm differed because of their circumstances - so few people moved up from the lower realms to the upper realms. And of course the idea that even those born with a blank slate in each realm are influenced by their surroundings and affecting the spin of their soul - for example, when Aina saved that fox, which ultimately led to her ascending, even though she was raised by her mother, who puts survival first and that Aina hadn't eaten in a while.

The plot twists were still punches to the gut and reading was so easy, almost like sitting down with a Sanderson book; I had a great time and I can't to see what else A. A. Vora puts out.

Spin of Fate is an incredible debut novel. While some parts of the story did feel a little bit slow, it was still incredibly interesting, original, and fun to follow. The world building and magic system were well fleshed out, as were the characters. This was an overall great book and great read. Thank you for the ARC

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!! Happy Publishing Day!!

A trio of teens have to confront the reality of their stratified world and the systemic inequality it stems from. In a world split into four separate realms, the direction of one's soul and subsequent morality dictate the location and life one lives. The first novel in a new YA fantasy series where karma rules supreme and drastic inequality runs rampant, fantasy lovers shouldn't miss out!

Full of magical battles and intense action, this novel does an excellent job of hooking the reader's attention and never letting go. I actually had to make myself slow down to fully process the world-building and magic system created in this universe... and ensure I didn't miss anything. Those who enjoy training montages with a payoff and blossoming friendships in the face of adversity will love this!!

I really appreciate how this novel presents toxic positivity. The guilt that can stem from people raised in demanding religions for even <i>thinking</i> something negative can be utterly debilitating. Frequent discussions of how intent matters more than dogma or preconceived moral judgments really hammer this home.

Spin of Fate is an astonishing debut novel, and an explosive start to the Fifth Realm Series. This story is told through the POV’s of three teenagers, Aina, Aranel, and Meizan. Their converging storylines weave together into a complex , mysterious, and utterly gripping plot.

From the very first pages you can see the amount of work Vora put in to developing this world and magic system, and while they are incredibly complex, Vora’s vivid writing makes them easily understandable. The three main characters are also beautiful developed over the course of the story. They each come from unique backgrounds and I really loved that you could see how that shapes their perspective, morals, and motives throughout the story.

If you like morally gray characters, found family, unique magic systems, rich world building, and epic battles, then you should absolutely pick up this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC for an honest review.
4⭐️
Okay, hear me out.. this book is good, but it’s for an audience that’s not me. I’m not gonna rate it low because of that though.
I guess I just have a hard time keeping up with the magic system. It’s like a YA for ✨intellectuals✨ that don’t necessarily have to keep referring to the glossary or maps. Unfortunately, I do..
I enjoy the multi-POV, as it gives different perspectives on all that is happening. And the characters are memorable, I really think everything that’s going on with magic, characters, and plot had my brain in overdrive. Again, this is not a bad thing, I believe it’s good to challenge ourselves every now and then.

When I was approved for this title on NetGalley less than a week before publication, I initially panicked about finishing it in time. That was a needless worry because this book flew by for me!

The world is rich and complex with its religious system that doubles as its class system and governance. The magical creatures were new and wonderfully thought out. The magic system of chitrons was a new concept to me, but presented in a way that just made sense. The lore behind the world as it stands for this story is also layered, so overall the world building is a solid win.

The characters were wonderful, each with their unique backstory and motivation. Aina, Meizan, and Aranel were all interesting in their own right and developed perfectly. As a reader, I came to love all of them.

The pacing was quick, and the plot engaging. It was a classic case of how far is too far in overthrowing a corrupt system. It makes you think as a reader and wonder if there is even a right way forward. It’s so fun when you can see everyone’s pov and realize that they’re all wrong and all correct at the same time. Even at the conclusion, I’m not sure what the “right” side would have been. That is a win by the author for me.

Please read this book. If the cover is not enough to convince you (and it should be, since it’s stunning), let me tell you that you don’t want to miss this one.

I wanted to love this one, but the dialogue felt really stilted and the pacing was really slow. The chapters were so long that it took me out of the story because I kept thinking about how long they were. The magic system seemed interesting, but there was a lot of info dumping. I also didn’t really like any of the main characters. I found them to be slightly frustrating.

I will say the world building of this book was excellent even if I didn’t enjoy the theme of the world. It felt like we were looking at layers of limbo/heaven/hell with the focus on descending and ascending to different realms and no one able to die. I think I was ok with that, especially since it is a creative idea, but I wanted more from the story and that theme was the whole book and there was little to nothing else. I thought the bits of romance were poorly done and I would have liked the story more without them. I also struggled in that there were no characters in this book that I liked or wanted to succeed. Even when one of the characters appeared to have grown or learned they fell right back into their assigned archetype role and had to start over with the trying to learn and grow. That being said the book wasn’t bad, and I am curious what happens in the next book,, but if I find the sequel I’ll read it, but it won’t be one I’ll be desperately searching for.

The world was once all one. After a war that threatened to destroy the world, it was split into four realms two for evil and negativity that are full of suffering and violence and two for good that are full of abundance and joy. It is impossible to leave your realm to go up to a better one unless your soul starts to spin another way. Aina and her mother have always been alone and while her mother isn’t kind she is all that she has and she keeps her safe. Until a monster attacks and a flash of white appears and Aina is being pulled up and ascending realms. Despite her reluctance her mother pushes her to go and once she is there she is determined to tarnish her soul so she can return and find her mother.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. When my request was accepted to read the ARC, I quickly read. I finished SOF a lot faster than I normally would in comparison to other books. I did make sure to take lots of notes down, because one, I’m not the best at reviews, and two, I believe a book of this caliber and attempted ambition deserves a lengthy review. So buckle up, this is going to be a long review. Be warned, I do have many critiques but also positives to say. This is one book that has left me very conflicted. I wasn’t even sure what rating to settle on, so I deviated between 3 and 2.5 stars before finally deciding on 3 stars. I’ve decided to split this review into a multitude of sections. The plot section and first 100 pages will have the heaviest spoilers contained. I do discuss some things in detail, but not everything.


Prologue:


I am one of those readers who once thought prologues aren’t necessary, but I’ve been made a fool by SOF and recently The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. The prologue in SOF was excellent. This one starts with a bang, introducing Aina and her mother in a precarious situation where they’ve been hiding and Aina is having some friction with her mother. Without getting entirely into the prologue, we have the perfect ingredients here that made me immediately care. We get to experience Aina’s hardships of living a life in Malin (Malin is the second to worst Realm in this world), the abuse she suffers from her mother, and we get to see her compassion when she releases a fox from a trap because the fox had a baby fox. I’m a sucker for anything involving saving animals. Oh, and then we get hints of the magic system, and to top it all off we get the Nagamor. The Nagamor is the bad bitch featured on the cover art. This magical creature is conceptually amazing, the lore surrounding the creature is also very well thought out. There is so much tension in the prologue. A.A. Vora seriously knocks everything out of the park here. I really enjoyed how Toranic Law was introduced, like yes, it was expositional but necessary for what happens next to make sense. The ending to the prologue was very heartbreaking in a good way: when Aina’s mother cruelly slaps her, and then shoves her into the Torana because she needs to ascend into Mayana for her own safety. If I could just rate the prologue, it would easily be 4/5 stars.


The First 100 Pages:


Chapter 1 and onwards is when a lot of problems began surfacing. The first 100 pages (not including the prologue of course) was really difficult to get through due to the nonstop exposition dumps. Aina’s introduction into Mayana was fun, yet too much telling in places. There were mentions of her committing previous crimes in an attempt to descend. An understandable goal of course because she wants to reunite with her mother. In SOF, only certain individuals are allowed to ascend and descend into Realms based off your soul spin. The soul spin is supposedly dictated by the morals/values of one’s true character. I just thought it would’ve been more affective if we got to see Aina’s initial impression of Mayana, and to see various time skips for her as she does her petty crimes. Maybe something that went like, “One Month Later, Three Months Later”, and then we get to see Aina doing these petty crimes as time progresses It wouldn’t even need to be the longest page-wise, just something to show us Aina struggle through the motions.

Through these first 100 pages, we are introduced to Aranel who later on becomes my favorite character in SOF. His introduction wasn’t doing him any favors. It was very underwhelming and bogged down by too much information at once. There was A LOT of worldbuilding that sadly wasn’t sprinkled in, but instead presented all together which made it hard to decipher what I should be focusing on. There was also lore dumps and exposition when we should’ve been focusing on Aranel’s character. I think the introduction chapters could’ve benefited from another round of editing. I didn’t feel like I understood Aranel at first or his motivations (the exposition distracted me here). I understood from a distance he wanted to reunite with Samarel and his parents in Paramos, but there was this heavy disconnect from his character. I wasn’t sure if it was a writing issue going on here, the exposition, dialogue, telling and not showing. I kept thinking it was a missed opportunity not to introduce Aranel by showing him visiting the volcano that erupts flowers. We kept hearing about this volcano through the text, but alas we didn’t get to experience it. It would’ve showed readers what Mayana is about instead of telling us relentlessly.
Meizan’s introduction was also rough. Once again there was a lot of exposition here when the focus should’ve been on Meizan either reacting to his environment or making an interesting choice to show who he is. I’m only being very critical of Meizan and Aranel’s character introductions because I enjoyed their characters immensely later on, and thought they deserved justice. I’m also of the belief that if you are writing a narrative where three main characters each have their own POV, it is critical to show who they are as fast as you can and why we are following them.

Here’s also more of my grievances within the first 100 pages (note: some of these problems do extend into the rest of the book).The dialogue was very wooden, except for when the three main characters were interacting. I’m happy to report the three main characters had amazing chemistry. Sadly, I had difficulty getting a sense of place for the different Realms. Yes, we had information on locations in the Realms and even got to visit a few, but the bones of the places felt bare. In Malin, there was this disorganized feeling and it was difficult to understand what life was like there except for survival. Even when the characters ended up captured by an enemy later in the book, I still didn’t get a sense of place. For example, in Mad Max: Fury Road, we do have characters just trying to survive. But then we get to encounter the citadel and get to experience briefly the cult of Immortan Joe. I wasn’t expecting that level of creativity, however, just something that felt more organized. Maybe like organized crime or a town or city? All we had was Kaldrav pillaging through villages. That was the extent of Malin’s exploration other than the Balancer hideout.

This same problem also affected Mayana. We didn’t get a sense of what life is like there other than peaceful. But what exactly constitutes as peaceful in this world? I would guess there would be an explosion of the arts as people have the time and peace of mind to express themselves. We see briefly and hear about cloudsurfing, but it would’ve been awesome to see Aranel explain in detail or show Meizan the art of cloudsurfing. Another thing that bothered me was Aranel’s brother, Samarel’s, immediate ascension. It was very anti-climatic when this should’ve been a very important moment. Aranel did mention that Samarel didn’t want a party, but it still felt off that nobody else had arrived to say goodbye to him, especially since he is supposed to be such a beloved person in Mayana. It made ascending sound like a bigger deal than it actually is.



Characters:


I’m going to start with the positive here! I absolutely adored the connection Aina, Aranel and Meizan had. Not to call out other books, but when multiple main characters are introduced that eventually become “found family”, it’s usually underwhelming when it comes to the actual relationship part. I’ve found myself disappointed because, for example, there will be a larger focus given to a romance between characters in this “found family”, and characters will exposition more about how close they are to their new family instead of given appropriate page time to show us they’ve developed close bonds.

Now for SOF, from the moment Meizan and Aranel met, it felt like things immediately took a turn for the better. Their chemistry was instantly there, and then you add in Aina, and I appreciated that each main character had a different relationship to each other. In my notes, I wrote “I don’t know what happened, but there was a huge shift after Aranel, Meizan, and Aina all met up. The story has become so much more enjoyable!” I also wrote “yowie wowie” when Aranel and Meizan were flirting/bantering/courting (don’t ask why). Anyway, I am unofficial captain of the Meizan and Aranel ship, and I’m reading book two to see if these loveable idiots get together. Shipping aside, Aina’s crush on the insufferable Aranel was adorable. Pssst: I know other reviewers have been saying they get a love triangle vibe, but I just see an unrequited crush from Aina to Aranel while Meizan and Aranel like each other and love Aina as a little sister. Maybe I’m wrong?
I loved the whole action piece they shared when the three mains were trying to escape the volcanic eruption. The banter that followed was hilarious. I liked Aina’s emotional intelligence shining when she saw Meizan was devastated when he thought his clan was dead, which was followed up by her telling him he was welcome to the Balancer village. To think these characters met up because Meizan was holding Aranel hostage to retrieve medical supplies from the Balancers. It was, put simply, glorious.
Next, I wanted to delve into a brief look at each of the main three by order of my enjoyment.

Aranel: Oh, Aranel, you insufferable, annoying, righteous, brave, everything I love in a character. He is best boy here, and for me his character stood head and shoulders above the rest. Upon his introduction, I really struggled to connect with him, but once he started interacting with the others I was an Aranel ride or die. Aranel is one of those characters that really comes alive interacting with others. It’s a shame we didn’t see him interact with someone right away who challenged his morality, beliefs, preconceived notions about what’s correct and incorrect. We waited, and boy the payoff for his character was great. Aranel is heavily flawed in a myriad of contradictions: always complaining yet expects things to be orderly, selfish and selfless, courageous yet afraid, terrified to question his beliefs but does question what he previously believed to be true. In a world of literary works where I fear authors are beginning to tread lightly when it comes to making main characters that are too flawed and unlikeable, we need more Aranels. We need nuance main characters who make terrible mistakes for all the wrong reasons or for the right reasons. In my opinion, his character arc was rushed too quickly and could’ve easily been extended into the sequel to really get a better payoff. Despite my criticisms, Aranel is a breath of fresh air for a main character in young adult novels. He’s an echo of what you get in anime/manga. Usually, from my perspective, main characters in anime/manga tend to be more complex than in novels. Of course, this isn’t the rule for all novels just like not all anime/manga protagonists are masterfully written. It just happens that the ones I’ve read or watched tend to have more complex main characters.

Meizan: I admit, at first, I was unresponsive to Meizan’s antics. It wasn’t until he was truly in his element of teasing Aranel while covered in someone else’s blood and guts that his character began to shine. He’s such a tsundere, those type of characters who will tell you how much they wanna kill you as they protect you from danger. I love tsuns tsuns, from Harrowhark Nonagesimus to Killua Zoldyck. Meizan is always talking about how he detests Aranel yet pays a lot of attention to him, and would protect him in a moment’s notice. Meizan still has some complexity to him though. He’s suffered from a great deal of loss, so much so he constantly considers the Balancer hideout he later calls home to be just a fleeting thing. Unfortunately it is fleeting. But for Meizan, it doesn’t mean the bonds he’s forged with Aina and Aranel are fleeting as well. Meizan is a concoction of what happens when you experience repeated trauma at such a young age, and never fully heal as you anticipate another round of terrible luck. Here’s hoping Meizan gets some happiness in the sequel, our boy deserves a vacation away from all the drama.

Aina: She actually had the more memorable introduction. From her initial chapters, I was convinced Aina would end up my favorite out of the trio. She started out as a very angry character, one who was childishly funny. Aina actually felt like she was fifteen, which is something I don’t always see with characters in young adult books. Sometimes, we get characters who are supposed to be 15-18 but feel like adults cosplaying as children. I very much appreciated A.A. Vora’s approach to molding Aina into the kind of character who’s allowed to wallow in her immaturity. I absolutely adored Aina’s relationship with Meizan and Aranel. She very much felt like Meizan’s adopted little sister. And then Aranel annoyed her yet Aina fell for his undeniable charm. It was very cute. Unfortunately, I feel like somewhere along the way, Aina began to feel more akin to a plot device for Zenyra’s character/motivations. Zenyra is the leader of the Balancers, the rebel group who wants to bring equal opportunity to the lower Realms in the hopes they can ascend into the upper Realms. I did find Zenyra and Aina’s relationship interesting at first. It was obvious she was using Aina. It’s not about the predictability of the betrayal, it’s more about the execution and the how. This is where I felt Aina’s character arc fizzled out. It was difficult to care about Zenyra, and by the end since Aina was so enmeshed with Zenyra’s character it became harder to care about her. I just hope in the sequel Aina has the opportunity to truly come into her own.

I wanted to get into the supporting characters, which sadly I’m going to briefly summarize since I didn’t think there was enough to them. None of them stood out to me, and they felt like placeholders for plot ideas and thinly imagined. I really hope A.A. Vora does work moving forward on the supporting cast. I don’t think only Aina, Aranel, and Meizan can hold up this vast world by themselves, not without more complex and nuance characters that can foil them.



Setting:

When I first read the premise for this book, the setting is something that really appealed to me. Four Realms, based off the direction that your soul spins. The lower Realms house the souls steeped in sin while the upper Realms are where the supposed sinless souls dwell in their utopic paradises. I was ready to delve into what could be a deconstruction of what constitutes as hell on earth versus heaven on earth depictions. I knew it wouldn’t be as simple as that, right? Well, it turns out the idea of what the Realms could’ve been was more enticing than what happened on page. There was a lacking in description, structure of the civilizations, and the cultural differences only extended to characters perception of either being in the lower and upper Realms and what it meant solely to them. I had a difficult time picturing Mayana and Malin other than the golden trees and the dead vegetation. There was a lot of sparse descriptions of cliffs, it seemed anything important happened on cliffs. Action scenes, plot twists, hiding from enemies, it all took place on a cliff or near cliffs and rocks. I was disappointed when I got to the glossary, and saw there were various amazing locations that we never got to visit. The volcano that erupts flowers in Mayana is one example I really wanted to see.



Worldbuilding:

SOF offers a massive amount of worldbuilding, therefore it’s a lot to discuss, too much for me to cover here. If you love heavy worldbuilding in your media, Brandon Sanderson, One Piece, this might be up your alley. Personally, I loved the lore about how the chitrons people use for their own channeling comes from the planetary beasts. I loved the creation of the Nagamor, a peacock snake. If you look into ones eyes you will suffer I think it was three years of pain in a short amount of time (sorry if the details aren’t completely correct here). I was actually sad by the end that we never got to see this in play. I was anticipating Meizan or Aranel forced into a situation where they would have to stare into a Nagamor’s eyes. Toranic Law and the toranas themselves were very original concepts. It’s not everyday you see such unique ideas in fantasy, not that including tropes is a bad thing. The soul spins is something else that somewhat baffles me. By the ending, I was left wondering if there is any truth in the soul spins at all or if Toranic Law just follows specifically what the seitarius dictates. I assume we will get more answers in the next two books. But considering the likely inspiration from Psycho Pass (SPOILERS if you haven’t seen this anime), I’m guessing the seitarius is a completely bunk system. I wonder if A.A Vora will follow a similar path with any of her characters where they decide they prefer to keep the system in place. I wanted to end this part of the review by bringing up the delivery of the worldbuilding. I think the constant exposition, the repeated exposition, the overexplaining in a lot of places, the telling and not showing the world, all of that impacted the worldbuilding negatively. I could see the exposition dumps turning off potential readers in the beginning and middle sections. I just think if you value complex relationships between characters you might be able to get through the rougher patches. I feel bad, since you can feel the love the author has for their world. For the sequel, I’m crossing my fingers there’s some restraint taken, along with meticulously crafted delivery.




Pacing:

I wanted to make quick note here that I found the pacing strangely odd. Things were happening, yes, but the pacing felt slow regardless. I can’t pinpoint if it was a writing issue or what was the cause. There were many scenes that felt rushed, like before I could fully invest myself into what was happening, it was already onto the next scene.




Magic System:

The magic here was very similar to what you would find in anime/manga. It reminded me somewhat of Nen from Hunter X Hunter, which I think was unintentional on A.A. Vora’s part since they seem to be heavily inspired by Naruto. I haven’t checked out Naruto yet, but fun fact here, Masashi Kishimoto, the mangaka of Naruto, drew a lot of inspiration from Yoshihiro Togashi, the mangaka of Hunter X Hunter and Yu Yu Hakusho. It didn’t surprise me then to find the fun relation here. In SOF, the magic system is referred to as chitrons, also referenced as subatomic particles in the glossary. I really loved the attention to detail A.A. Vora gave the chitrons, especially the part where the characters were training to channel the chitrons on a particular body part. I also loved the reveal that the characters were channeling the chitrons from each planetary beast’s soul to produce their magic. The planetary beasts appear to be the most powerful souls in each Realm, and they come in the forms of separate creatures per different Realm. Another cool edition to the chitrons is that you can separate the soul from the body. Some really great stuff. My main criticism though is that I didn’t think there were enough limitations for the channeling. Once the training arc was in full swing, the characters were accomplishing all kinds of feats. Only Aina was limited due to her irregular soul spin. I would’ve preferred to see a lot more limitations on what you can and can’t do. Others will likely feel different than I do.


Plot:

Warning, this section will contain the heaviest spoilers. Okay, now that’s out of the way, I want to get into specifics. I loved the conception of the Balancers, what they stood for, how they seemed to be an allegory for when the privileged attempt to help the less fortunate and unintentionally make things worse. I loved how organically Aina, Meizan, and Aranel’s different subplots were woven into the Balancers plot line. There was so much potential to slow cook this plot, and I kept thinking it was a shame this couldn’t have been an adult novel instead of young adult. I think young adult novels of yesteryear had an easier time discussing nuance topics without angering a certain group of people, but now with the constant book banning I’m beginning to suspect publishers are encouraging their authors to place it safer. It’s hard to imagine The Hunger Games being published today without being defanged for the masses. In SOF, we have so much turmoil happening to the characters, so many ulterior motives occurring simultaneously in the political institutions of Paramos. Two out of the three main characters are being obviously manipulated for political purposes. There’s so much boiling under the surface, and instead a big chunk of the middle section is dedicated to the training arc. By the way, I love training arcs when they don’t overstay their welcome. I think for SOF, some of it should’ve been cut down in favor of a potential alternative. The Balancer missions. We kept hearing about these Balancer missions, yet we only had one happen for the three leads before everything went kaboom. These missions could’ve been used as a plot vehicle for Aranel to uncover truths about Zenyra and possibly Paramos. Afterwards, we could’ve seen Aranel conflicted over telling Aina and Meizan the truth. It just felt like a big missed opportunity. Instead, what happened felt like two books worth of material crammed into one. Aranel ended up having a lot of information just given to him through dialogue. He was frustrated, demanded the information, and they ended up just giving it to him? By both sides of the conflict: Zenyra and Seirem. It didn’t feel earned, and at first, I assumed they were just lying. But not really? I just kept wondering why didn’t we get to this sooner if the two characters with all the secrets were just going to come clean like that? Once this happened, Incaraz (the Balancer hideout) ended up decimated by the antagonist’s military. This all leads to Aranel and Meizan finding Zenyra’s experiments. Basically, Zenyra is using blood from one of the planetary beasts, a winged dolphin, to experiment on others with. She’s trying to get the people of Malin to ascend to Mayana. Because it turns out, this blood causes the soul to spin forward, and souls must spin forward to be able to enter the upper Realms. All this eventually leads to more reveals, and then the characters head into this white space (a secret fifth Realm) where the seitarius is supposedly located, so Zenyra can break Toranic Law. It’s just too much for one book. Anyway, these ideas were well thought out, just rushed with little to no payoff and written in a way where nothing felt earned. By the end, we have characters on opposite sides of the conflict now. Aina wants to avenge her mother, since Zenyra caused her erasure. Aranel wants Toranic Law destroyed and now realizes war is headed to the peaceful upper Realms. Meizan wants to keep Toranic Law in place, knowing war would destroy the upper Realms. The final scene between the three main characters felt very forced for drama’s sake. I hated to see what happened to them when they had such an organic bond, something very precious, and then by the end they simply felt like placeholders in the plot for different ideas. Many times, readers complain about nonexistent character arcs, but what happened in SOF was the opposite of that: rushed character arcs.



Themes:

The themes in SOF have the potential to transcend cultures and religious beliefs. I think people from a plethora of backgrounds will find something to relate to here. Personally, I loved what SOF was trying to say. How ultimately there isn’t any true measurement to a person’s morality, how all we have are choices and what those choices will lead to. How the Realms shouldn’t necessarily be separated, yet keeping up this pretense of judgment from Toranic Law might be the only thing stopping some people from making horrific decisions. They fear they might be sentenced to Narakh, the lowest of the Realms, a Realm I’m hoping we visit in the next book. Please, please, let it be as horrible as it sounds and even worse than that. Not that I want people to suffer in Narakh, but it’s so fascinating to theorize about, and I’m looking forward to seeing what thematic importance the lowest Realm will add.



Story Structure:

I don’t have too much to say about the story structure. SOF mostly stuck to a linear story structure, however, I did find the time jump from the prologue to chapter one somewhat jarring. It was a year later if I’m not mistaken. I wanted to mention that whenever there was a scene change, there was this sense of detachment. It was difficult feeling very present in the moment, and perhaps the pacing also had to do with this. Otherwise, the linear story structure worked well for SOF.




I didn’t want to necessarily end on a sour note, but I did want include more of my notes here. These complaints might sound nitpicky, however, I’m nitpicking because I really cared about what I was reading and want the next book to rock the publishing world. This is the kind of book that doesn’t come around all the time, so I really do hope SOF succeeds. Publishing, we are dying to see more anime/manga inspired books. Publishing, anime is so successful for a reason, you know. Okay, I’ll stop now before I go on an annoying tangent. Anyway, to finish off the review, here are my nitpicks.

-Kaldrav’s army felt like nothing more than a plot device. Their motivations were convenient, and I kept scratching my head thinking…but why? Also, I remember it was mentioned they didn’t have any channelers, and I didn’t understand why not? If Kaldrav really wanted to do damage to Malin, and eventually break the Torana into an upper Realm, you’d think he would’ve specifically been capturing people who already had knowledge of chitrons, so he could force them to train a regiment of proficient channelers. This made Kaldrav seem incompetent.
-Zenyra also didn’t seem as smart as she thinks she is. She told Aina what appears to be the truth unless the second book deviates on her true motives. I didn’t understand why she didn’t just lie her ass off to Aina and Aranel. Was she searching for other people with fractured soul spins? Everything seemed to depend on Aina’s choice at the end. What if Aina had said no, died, etcetera? Zenyra didn’t seem to have a plan b. And I’m sorry, but her manipulation skills weren’t good enough to bank on. Zenyra wasn’t the smoothest talker or charming. She was too obvious.

I know I had a lot of complaints. Keep in mind I’m a picky reader who has read too many books/mangas in too many genres. I still would highly recommend SOF, for the relationships between the three main characters was very beautifully written, the worldbuilding intricate, the magic system very detailed, and the themes crucial to our perception of ourselves. How that perception can be wielded to dehumanize others or humanize them, depending on the wielders own biases and morality.

Not many books make just sit and think about them for a while after I finish, yet here I am and Spin of Fate is likely not leaving my brain for a while. Everything about this book is so good. I LOVE the magic system and the world-building in this story. This is Sanderson-tier in terms of the hard magic system. The idea of the world being divided into 4 realms based on the spin of someones soul and essentially their goodness is a cool concept that of course brings up some moral questions in the story for those born into the realm who should have a blank slate to start with.

The main characters Aina, Aranel, and Meizan were all so loveable in their own ways and I found myself rooting for all of them even when they were sometimes working in opposition of each other. I had suspicions of some of the big plot-twisty reveals, but they still hit me in the gut. And one of the final scenes will absolutely rip your heart out and that’s something I’m still dealing with right now. I’ll let you know when it is back.

For this book to be a debut is absolutely astonishing. It’s brilliant, it’s impressive and I am so excited to read more books by A. A. Vora, especially the sequel to Spin of Fate!

Thanks go to NetGalley and Penguin Group for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

THE TL;DR: This is a solid read that struggles from some book one blues before picking up like a rollercoaster at the halfway mark and not letting up until the end. 3.75* Recommended.

THE SPOILER FREE REVIEW

First things first: Forget the "Avatar" comp title. I don't know who picked it, but the only thing that reminded me of it is in the spoiler section of this review. "Naruto" is a better comp, if only for the training sequences. Now, on to the meat of the review.

A. A. Vora credits her editor in the acknowledgements for the focus on the character relationships, and that paid off. Those relationships and interactions are what carry the book through some significant pacing issues and what I can only call major "book one of a trilogy" vibes. It's thanks to the characters that the book doesn't feel like it's moving only via Idiot Plot even when the characters make objectively stupid decisions; the characters make those decisions because they've already shown they're people who would make those decisions. Each terrible choice is so perfectly consistent with the character's actions up to that point that you believe it even as you want to throttle them for it.

The characters are the reason to keep reading despite a quality to the book that I can't quite nail down other than it feels "off." That feeling isn't due to the quality of the prose, because the prose is good. I'm not sure I can fully articulate what does cause it. The pacing is part of it, both the slower first half and the breakneck second. Part of it is certain pieces of the plot that don't quite feel right in their places. But stick with the book through the first half, let it scoop you up and run you through the second half, and the payoff is worth it.

SPOILER FILLED (skip to CONCLUSIONS if you don't want spoilers)

That thing that reminded me of "Avatar"? That's the weird sheltering that both the Preservation and the Balancers do, that led me to write in my notes "There is no war in Ba Sing Se." There aren't benders, there is no Avatar figure, and everything I expected because the synopsis referenced "Avatar" was wrong. I do not know why it is a comp title here.

This book had *serious* "book one" vibes that honestly weighed it down. I believe if this had been written as a standalone, or even as book one of a duology, it would have been forced to be tighter and I don't think anything would have been lost by giving up chunks of the training. Ah, the training. The entire third or so of the book that takes place in Incaraz led me to wonder if this would be a DNF review. I really don't know if I would have gotten through that part if I hadn't committed to the review when I put in my request for the eARC.

This pacing struggle may have been compounded by the fact that it is difficult to keep up with the passage of time in this book. It sometimes took a page into a chapter to learn that there had been a jump of several weeks since the previous one, something that was not clear for me and that really mattered to my understanding of the scene. At one point we get a chapter from Aina's head, then one from Aranel's that starts two days prior, and if you aren't paying attention you may miss it. I'm glad I caught it, because I would have been very confused how this was all happening without someone dying before someone else got there.

My last major note (as I get all my negatives out of the way up front) is that I wanted one more scene in the ending. It did not feel satisfying to me. Some of that is my own heartache (shocker, at the end of book one of a trilogy the main trio is not all on good terms with one another), but the last scene before the epilogue just did not feel like a last scene to me. It didn't feel like the ending.

And one nitpicking note: Aina feels much younger than she's supposed to be. She's frequently described as "small" and her POV feels like she's maybe twelve years old. It's hard to remember she's about sixteen, because she feels four or five years younger than that.

And on to the positives!

The world building in this book is EXCEPTIONAL. The magic system as well. There is so much that you don't get to find out in the main book that was tucked away in the linguistic notes at the back, and I'm glad I read them because there are some absolute gems in there. One of the locations mentioned a lot is literally floating around on a gigantic lotus. How is that not awesome?

My last review was for LITTLE THIEVES, and I called Margaret Owen a magician. A. A. Vora is more of a will-o'-the-wisp or a siren, leading you along with the promise of answers to all the questions she's led you to ask, dropping enough breadcrumbs that you can tell there's a cake up there as a reward. She makes you guess and second-guess everyone, and then rewards you for all the guessing by revealing the answers in a dramatic and delightful fashion. I was convinced that Kaldrav was the actual force destroying Toranic Law. I was sure that Agakor was being made to force people to such misery that they would choose erasure, and that was the source of the disturbances. I thought Zenyra had to be good because we already had Seirem and Kaldrav as the villains, and surely if Seirem was a villain that meant Zenyra was a heroine. Oh, how very wrong I was. (But just about Zenyra. Seirem and Kaldrav can go deep throat a cactus.) (PS can Aina catch a break? Her mom got erased by her surrogate mom, her surrogate mom is either an omnicidal maniac or the ultimate Pollyanna with a god complex, and the boy she has a crush on is gay for her clanmate. (That last one is a joke. I mean, it's true, but it's a joke about it being part of why Aina needs a break.))

The fact that this is book one of a trilogy weakens it, in my opinion. The pacing and the problems I have with the ending can both be attributed to the two books that haven't yet been announced. This book feels weighed down by what's to come after it. It's a testament to A. A. Vora's skill that it shoulders that weight as well as it does. I expect the next book to be better, and the third I expect to be frankly stellar, if the writer and her team keep at it.

CONCLUSION

This book has a strong beginning, lags for a third of it up to the midpoint, picks up for a very strong second half, then has a half-step stumble at the very end. This summary of it feels somewhat unfair, because there is so much that the book does very well. The rating also feels unfair. To be frank, I agonized over where on the 3.5*-4* range this fell. I asked a fellow bookworm and she asked me where it ranked next to my other 4* reviews. I had to admit it fell a little short, so it gets 3.75* from me.

All that said, regardless of any problems I have with the book, this is a very good book, and I recommend it without reservation to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy. I wish I could afford to preorder it instead of buying it later, because I want this book to succeed. This is a wildly creative and very good book, better than my star rating might suggest on its face, and it absolutely deserves to succeed.

I was so excited to start reading this fantasy; based on the premise, the world building and plot sounded so unique. The prologue and first few chapters ended up being the best part of the book for me.

The novel is told from three different characters' points of view and with the exception of Aina, I felt I was never given any reason to care about these characters, and eventually even Aina lacked my empathy. Each character came from a different level of society and had made stereotyping decisions about the others parts of society based only on what their leaders told them. This led to political, heavy themes that just aren't for me.

The world building as far as the setting goes was wonderful and vivid, but the magic system always felt out of my reach of understanding. I wish more had been done to explain how it worked.

The pacing for a fantasy novel, even if it is the first in a duology or series, plodded. So much training! Months of repetitive sparring. I needed more diverse action that pushed the plot along.

At first, the world building felt like a lot and felt a bit hard to follow. However, the storyline and the world is actually super interesting. Basically, this world has 4 realms that are separate. The only way to get to another realm than the one you’re born in is if your souls starts to spin differently. This happens based on your good intentions or bad intentions and how you act on those. The lowest realm is a horrible place to live but we don’t learn too much about it. The next lowest is where a majority of the book takes place and we come to learn a lot about it throughout the book. It is a hard place to live, where there exists a lot of fighting, not enough food, and lots of hardships. The 2nd highest is a wonderful place to live with no violence, plenty of food, and a beautiful setting. The highest realm is basically a paradise. The story follows 3 main characters and how they feel about the system that keeps the worlds separate and its unfairness and things they tether to do to either keep it the same, fight against it, or get from one realm to the other.

What a fun and adventurous YA high fantasy. I'm older than the intended audience but still found it whimsical and enthralling with some serious tones and messages that I think are important for teens to read. The magic system was original and intriguing. Characters had great personality and banter.

Looking forward to the next book in the series. Tysm for the ARC!

Reading this novel felt like watching an anime. I need a graphic novelization!

4.75/5 stars

Spin of Fate constructs an expansive world and magic system, with vivid prose and mesmerizing characterizations. The world-building is so intricate that I was taking notes to keep up. The characters are endearing and devilishly morally ambiguous. This book's history and magic system take inspiration from Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist doctrines, and the characters debate philosophy and ethics even as they fight shonen style. I had to force myself to remember this is YA a few times to avoid rolling my eyes. A lot of the core themes are lifted from the concepts of karma and dharma in Indian mythology and from fantasy staples, and a lot of the character storylines from popular shonen anime/manga. Yet, the story doesn't seem unoriginal in the slightest sense. There are too many plot twists, in my opinion, but 80% of them really had my jaw hanging. The character arcs are unpredictable: no tropes are being followed, and that's truly refreshing in this genre. I especially loved the appendix at the end. It really showed the amount of thought and effort the author put into this magnificent beast of a book. If I'm appreciating an appendix in an unformatted eARC, it should be an automatic 5 stars from me. The final factor cementing my rating is the fact that this book hasn't even been published and I need the finished series in my life today.

And now, character rankings:
Aranel > Aina > Meizan
I SAID WHAT I SAID.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. I loved reading Spin of Fate. This book is literally so amazing, easily the best fantasy novel I have read this year. I love the world building so much, it is so clever and I love the inspiration from karma. The concept of Toranic Law and soul spinning is so cool and I love the magic system. The world building and the plot go together so well, making this such a fun read. I loved the influence of Indian philosophy and Japanese manga. I also loved the characters - Aina, Meizan, and Aranel are amazing and I don't know who to ship. I'm tied between shipping Aina and Aranel or Meizan and Aranel. All the character dynamics were just so good!! Each of their character journeys is so compelling so I never felt bored during any of the POVs, I loved them all. Each POV also brought a lot to the story and the world. The book is fast and I was surprised by how much the pace increased at the 50% mark for an already fast paced book. I literally zipped through this book, one of the comps I saw was Brandon Sanderson, so I wonder if I should say the last 50% was like a Voralanche. I literally can't wait for the next book - I need to find out what happens. This was so good!!