I don't read a lot of arena/tournament books, so I don't have a lot to compare to. I enjoyed how the story wasn't only the fighting, but had a fair amount of intrigue and excitement outside the tournament itself. For a standalone, I think this was a solid read overall, and I liked how the character arcs wrapped up in the end. There is some worldbuilding in this fantasy land, but it's not the focus. With my basic knowledge of D&D-esque fantasy creatures such as the bugbear, I felt I could follow along pretty well. I definitely recommend if you enjoy a straightforward tournament story with a major focus on the characters and their development! A huge thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my thoughts!

Some content notes to be aware of: animal cruelty, animal death, violence, gore, blood, murder, classism.

THE SERPENT CALLED MERCY is an ambitious fantasy debut novel that, while not without its weaknesses, I nevertheless enjoyed. It’s billed as “The Witcher meets Squid Game with Chinese Malaysian inspiration,” which is what caught my eye. I haven’t seen either of those things so I can’t speak to how accurate it is, and I didn’t get as much of the “Asian” influence as I had hoped for. Nevertheless, I could see it being an enjoyable next read to recommend for those who love the action and political intrigue of the Hunger Games series.

Lythlet and her best friend since childhood, Desil, eke out a desperate and miserable existence in the most destitute section of their city-state, hounded by abusive employers and unforgiving debt collectors. A chance to pay their debts and perhaps ascend to a more comfortable way of life comes in the form of illegal underground fights against magical creatures. When Lythlet and Desil win bout after bout, it is not Desil’s brute strength, but Lythlet’s cunning mind that captures the attention of the match-master, who fans Lythlet’s ambitions even as she finds herself dangerously entangled in shady city politics…

What worked for me:

- Lythlet’s mind is truly formidable, with a natural talent at spotting patterns that reminds me of Yelena in Maria Snyder’s Poison Study (an old fave) or if Katniss Everdeen were brainy instead of merely gutsy.

- Because Lythlet was so convincingly cunning, I enjoyed reading her and Desil’s arena bouts.

- The friendship between Lythlet and Desil is GOALS. True ride-or-die, getaway car soulmates.

- NO. ROMANCE. A breath of fresh air for those of us who tire of everything speculative being turned into a romantasy these days.

What didn’t quite work for me:

- The writing was, at times, too much. Take the following passage for example:

“At that moment, the map scrolled itself tightly within her mind, the cosmoscape regressing back into an ineffable mystery, the otherworldly sensation of transcending mortal limitations into one of the invisible pathways of the universe vanishing entirely from her soul. The thrumming, divine ostinato quietened, fading into silence.”

Ummm… what? Truly overwritten. Fortunately the floridness calms down as the book progresses, but oof.

- Similarly, the dialogue can also feel artificial, clunky, and borderline corny at times. At other times, the writing was heavy-handed with its use of conversations to give readers information about the politics of the world, etc. I got used to it, and it wasn’t enough to make me DNF, but it is there.

- I did wish for some more world-building, particularly with regards to the political storyline and the presence of “ Malaysian Chinese” influences. The political information is sprinkled in throughout SERPENT, but doesn’t really come into the forefront until near the end of the story, where it surfaces in an almost dramatic fashion. I would have appreciated some more even-handed world-building to build up to that point.

- Likewise, despite SERPENT being marketed as “Malaysian Chinese-inspired,” I didn’t really get that sense in the story. Nothing really gave me the impression of the story and world being based off of any locations or cultures that I know of. I’m not sure if the influence was just too subtle for me to notice, or if I simply don’t know Malaysian Chinese culture well enough to find the relevant details, but overall, SERPENT felt like a traditional gladiatorial tale that could have been set anywhere.

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Despite its weaknesses, overall I would say that I enjoyed my time with THE SERPENT CALLED MERCY, particularly for its strong female main character, lack of romance, and completeness as a standalone fantasy novel. I would be keen to see what Roanne Lau offers us next!

This was a wonderful Malaysian Chinese-inspired urban fantasy debut that had the vibes of The Hunger Games and The Witcher set in a Southeast Asian world. 👹

The story follows Lythlet, a slumdog in huge debt and struggling to survive. I really liked how clever she was and her character growth throughout the plot. I adored her platonic relationship with Desil and wish there was more representation like this in fantasy books. ❤️

The side characters were a ruckus bunch and I really liked how supportive they were of each other. My favorite would have to be Ilden and Shunvi after Desil simply because of how goofy they were. ⚔️

My main concern for the book would be its pacing. I think this book would’ve benefitted from being a duology instead of a standalone simply because I felt like the plot rushed a bit too quickly through so points. Again, this is a personal opinion, so take this with a grain of salt if you are interested in reading this. 🔥

I’d still recommend this to readers looking for a Southeast Asian inspired urban fantasy that has a fantastic mythology of its own making and a menagerie of weird creatures. Thank you to DAW Books and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review (and waiting almost a week after its publication 😅) and to Lau for such a fun urban fantasy! 🫶🏼

Publication day: March 25! So go get it!!

Overall: 4.25/5 ⭐️

BOOK: THE SERPENT CALLED MERCY
AUTHOR: ROANNE LAU
PUB DATE: MARCH 2025
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REVIEW
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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When I finished this book, i read the author's info and girl was I surprised that this book is her debut! This book had an amazing storyline, word building and characters rhat were beautifully done and you could see that there was a lot of work put into the world building. An anazing work by the author.
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This book was set in the fictional corrupt classist town of Setgad where the rich and powerful have the best lives and trod on the poorest of the poor. Anyway, I liked the author's different approach to this genre. Our FMC, Lythlet was a poor,malnourished, abused, debt ridden young woman whose only thought is how to escape her dreary life. She didnt really have the opportunity to care for the whole of Setgad nor did she set out to entangle herself in the governance. I like that she was able to achieve all she did with her ingenuity and talent, no discovery of hidden powers or family. She was admirable.
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The FMC and her best friend, Desil got involved in Conquessors challenges to fight sun-cursed beasts and get lots and lots of money. From there she met Master Dosthilos who got her involved in unsavory acts and she met amazing friends too along the way. I totally understood why she made the decision she made, she found a way to change her life and she grabbed it
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Another thing i liked about this book, was how imperfect the characters were, they made peace with their mistakes and made efforts to become a better person.
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The book went on for a year with a challenge in each month, we see huge character development in our characters especially the FMC and the situation in Setgad was also intertwined with her. I don't want to say much, but this book exolored important themes and I loved reading it. The only thing I didn't like was that there was no index for the fictional world and its elements. It was kinda confusing at some point and I would have appreciated it.
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I would totally recommend it though. I can't wait to read more from this author!
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In the slums of the city, best friends Lythet and Desil are barely eking out an existence while trying to pay off a massive debt. They are recruited by a shady game-master to participate as conquessors in the arenas of the underworld and fight fantastical beasts from outside the city. With very few options left, they willing sign up to compete for the chance at winning the prize money in spite of the risk of bodily harm. What starts as a straightforward against beasts in the arena transforms into a complex war against the politics and corruption of the city and Lythet finds herself needing to choose which side she will be on.

This book had a fantastic concept but was trying to do entirely too much with one book. Instead of a one-shot, Lau should have expanded this to a duology if not trilogy. Not only is there an exploration of the world of the conquessors but we also tack on: a magic system based upon prayer, a crime lord and his various schemes, a building developer abusing his workers and the minority party in Setgad seeking to oust the majority party in order to reform the city. That is A LOT to cram into one book and as a result, nothing was satisfactorily developed. I found myself comparing this book to the Hunger Games Trilogy as it tried to tackle many of the same themes but without the level of nuance or skill that Suzanne Collins did. Lythet is the only character who feels fully realized which is a shame because there was so much potential. (I adored the Poet and the Ruffian. They had such good Rosencrantz and Guildenstern energy!) I also found it weird that Lythet barely interacted with any female characters. She had no female friends or role models throughout the book which was odd as Setgad society didn't seem overtly misogynistic. I'm also confused about why magic was even introduced into the book. The events of the story could have proceeded without any magic with just rewriting a couple of the arena fight scenes. The overall story wouldn't have been affected much, and more page time could have spent developing other things.

The prose and dialogue also needed to be heavily edited prior to publication. Characters go on extended diatribes about certain themes or subjects that I can only describe as monologuing. These walls of text were clunky and repetitive. You don't need a giant paragraph to get across what a character is thinking or feeling. This can be inferred from brief conversations and a character's body language if the prose is written well. Additionally, it seems that Lau didn't trust her readers to pick up a character's motivations or thought processes. It would be explicitly spelled out either in dialogue or scene descriptions that were again: walls of text. This book was the author's debut novel, and I hate to say it, it really does show.

That being said, the world itself was really interesting, and Lau threw in enough details that it almost felt fully realized. I appreciate the inclusion of various aspects of culture, particularly books, as that is a part of world building that some authors may ignore. The religion was also well constructed and unique.

I hate to give this book such a low rating but unfortunately, I feel that not enough time was spent refining or editing this story.

Reviews will be posted on Goodreads, Fable, Storygraph, Amazon and Tiktok on 3/27.

I requested this book because I am a sucker for any kind of deadly trials in an arena, but this book ended up being about SO much more than the conquessorial battles. There were political secrets, oppression of the lower classes, and large scale conspiracies that Lythlet and Desil found themselves caught up in. The individual battles themselves actually became more about revealing some kind of detail, secret, or character development than defeating the monsters themselves.

I really liked how the theme of mercy wove through the entire story and really became the central theme for Lythlet's character arc. She had an interesting progression; gaining and then losing confidence, being steered by the strong personalities of others until finally finding her own voice. Her upbringing really fueled her motivations, and it was interesting to see how that even contrasted with others who had similar pasts but made different choices.

Overall, this book has an epic fantasy feel to it, while also being very emotional and character-driven. I really loved Lythlet and Desil's friendship and how it grew and changed and went through struggles, but always remained a sort of north star, something they could always cling to even when things went wrong. I feel like nowadays with the world of romantasy (which don't get me wrong, I am 100% a fan of) every boy/girl pairing in a book ends up romantic, so it was really sweet to see a deep, soul mate level of friendship that was absolutely content to be exactly that. There is also a sweet, found-family-eqsue ensemble that you'll definitely end up falling in love with.

(I gave this one a 3.75 but rounded up to a 4 for Netgalley.)

I still cannot believe that this was a debut book. I loved everything about it - from the intriguing capitalistic fantasy city, to the monsters brought into the arena for fighting, to some of my new favorite characters in Lythlet and Desil - but also so many of the side characters, including Master Dothilos, because I love a character that has ambiguous morality and you never really know whose side he’s on.

“Anyone who buys into the concept of a meritocracy is someone naive to the workings of the world. What option have you ever had but poverty, Lythlet?”

The fights in the arena were definitely my favorite moments from the story because we get to see just how clever and smart Lythlet can be. These were the moments with so much tension because I was certain something tragic would have to happen in these battles. No spoilers as to if that happens or not, but every battle had me on the edge of my seat.

The mythology and religious world-building employed in this story was *chef’s kiss* - just so phenomenal. I would love to see more of this world explored and see more of the magical aspects introduced because what we got was fantastic, but I want more!

The way the characters deal with trauma and overcome their lot in life is too real and tragic. I think this is a book that a lot of people can connect with feel for these characters because of it. Even Lythlet’s reason for wanting to join the arena is rooted in this:

“I want to be happier!” she exploded. “I want what my parents never had, nor my ancestors – to survive and prosper.”

There is some commentary on capitalism woven into the story in such a satisfying way, leading me to root for the downfall of the governor even before you really know him.

“She was no more than a commodity stripped naked before a hungry market, a racehorse they would ruthlessly beat to the finish line if it meant they’d win.”

And because I feel like I never see this in this type of fantasy book much anymore, I was excited that Lythlet and Desil are not romantic interests, but are truly best friends and the platonic love that they share for each other is so beautiful. Even through their worst moments in the books, something brings them back together time and time again.

“Flowers fade quickly, but a well-bound book will last you decades.”

5 Sun-Cursed Beasts out of 5

Thank you to @dawbooks for the ARC and finished copies 🙏 All thoughts are my own.

2.75 ⭐

With a cover that gorgeous (😍), it's sad to say that I didn't enjoy this one as much as I wanted to. The cover drew me in initially to this one but once I read the blurb, I was excited to read it! It sounded like a great premise.

Ultimately, it did fall short for me. I found it to be fairly repetitive (one point I thought my kindle messed up and bounced back because I swore I read that already). The plot also got VERY political heavy (politic games, corruption, etc.), which I usually don't mind, but it just seemed like a lot in this one. Especially with everything else that is going on. I felt like I had a million things thrown at me but none of them stuck.

I was sooo upset that the magic system in this world was just a blip in the plot. Why?! I wanted more of it! It sounded cool. When it was first introduced I thought "Ohh, okay they can probably do some cool things with that!" but alas, it barely gets an entire page and the execution is... well, lame. And never explained again.

Lythlet and Desil's friendship and bond was everything. I found myself actually relieved that it didn't turn into something more.

Overall, it was entertaining but just a bit drawn out and repetitive.

This book pulled me in and wouldn't let me go. Giving this a 4 out of 5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Been on a dystopian kick lately, and this book delivered. Imagine the Gladiator games of Rome reimagined but with a Hunger Games twist. I don't think the comparison to The Witcher and Squid Games is quite accurate other than the inclusion of mythical beasts and the crippling debt, so folks might feel misled. However, specifically the concept of sun-blessed or sun-cursed beasts left me wanting to know more about the world outside the immediate walls of the city. There is a lot of description but into the architecture of the city and under-city and the social structure of the world, but there are definitely aspects that I wish were more fleshed out like the religion and beasts.

Lythet and Desial make a really interesting pair of protagonists, and in a lot of ways remind me of a black cat-golden retriever dynamic with a large heaping of friends-to-lovers. Lythet is the morally grey character, and as a reader I honestly cannot blame her for the decisions she made because at the end of the day she is just trying to survive. Desial makes a great character foil for her, as he is her moral compass and is what ultimately brings her back to her morals. Though in a world of violent debt collectors and economic stratification, it can be hard to really believe that at the end of the day morals will win when you know you will be beat up and starved.

Overall interesting read and I am curious to see if more stories in this world make an appearance (I'd love to see a prequel!)

The Serpent Called Mercy is about friendship and survival. Together with Lithlet and Desil we go through the slums, and fight monsters inside arenas. The action scenes were decent, yet seemed to be over quickly. I could never fully connect with this book. I must admit, I didn't care much for our main characters. Weirdly enough, despite me not caring that much for them, I thought the relationship between Lithlet and Desil was actually well done. It felt believable.

I went into this expecting more monster fighting, and while we get that, I'd say it's a smaller part of the book. I hoped for more worldbuilding. Go big into the detail of the monsters. Expand the story by working with its content.

Respectfully, I believe calling the book a mixture of The Witcher (not much similarities here, except for some monster fighting, which is also not a big part in The Witcher) and Squid Game (not many "games" here) does not help. I understand that publishers do the marketing, so this is not a knock against the author.

I'd give this book three stars. I may still check out what Roanne Lau is going to write in the future, because idea of the book was not bad at all. Should you give this book a try? I think you should give it a chance, just go into it expecting more friendship and relationship, than tons of monsters. I do I'd also love to mention the cover, this is seriously one of the best looking covers I have seen.

I want to thank you for the ARC, and I hope the issues I had can be ironed out in future books by the author.

Thank you Daw and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this incredible epic fantasy! The world building in The Serpent Called Mercy was flawless, Lau painted an extraordinary picture for the reader and spared no detail in terms of the culture, mythology, religion, everything. Fantasy authors world wide, take note; This was everything i could have wanted and more. The main character was relatable and fierce, you cant help but cheer her on throughout this epic tail. The relationship between Lythlet and Desil was eloquent and sweet. 10/10 would reccommend this book to everyone!

This is an action-packed novel where the main characters enter into gladiator-style battles against monsters (not other people, in the way that Squid Games is). Lythlet and Desil have been friends for their entire lives and enter into the sport out of desperation, as they both need to clear their debt and start new lives. Each match is against a different type of beast, and each beast has its own strengths and powers, which made for an interesting cataloging of monsters + a bit of a puzzle in figuring out how to defeat them.

My favorite parts: the relationship between Lythlet and Desil and the fact that it never turned romantic! I love romantasy but it's so nice to have an option to recommend that is non-romantic. To me, the vibe felt queerplatonic which I always enjoy. I also liked the development of Lythlet as a character; it's complex and not necessarily linear/morally simplistic. I also liked the magic/creatures/world building that we got!

What I would have liked more of: world building outside of the immediate city, what the deal is with the gods' blessings and related magic, the rebellion plot.

What I would have liked less of: the gladiator style fights were very cool but did get a little repetitive.

Big thanks to DAW Books and Roanne Lau for this ARC!

🗡️ A high-stakes fantasy novel with mythical monsters, brutal arena battles, and an underground fighting ring—how could I say no to that? If you love action-packed fantasy books, this one delivers tense survival challenges, intriguing magical creatures, and a world inspired by Malaysian Chinese mythology.

🤩What I Loved:
💖 A platonic duo in fantasy is so rare, and I absolutely loved that our two main characters never develop romance! Lythlet and Desil’s partnership is built on trust and strategy, making their dynamic feel fresh in a genre often dominated by love interests.

🐉 The creatures and mythical monsters were the highlight! Each one felt unique, with intense, Squid Game-style battles that made every fight thrilling. If you enjoy fantasy books with magical beasts, this story will keep you hooked.

🖤What to Expect:
⚔️ A fantasy death game arena
👹 Deadly mythical creatures & monsters
🇲🇾 A Malaysian Chinese-inspired fantasy world
🤝 A rare platonic relationship in fantasy
🔥 Survival, action, and high-stakes battles

🗺️ Pacing & Worldbuilding:
The pacing is steady but slows down at times. I also wished for more worldbuilding beyond the arena—especially about where the creatures originate. If you love fantasy novels with rich lore, you might find this aspect lacking.

🗡️ Final Thoughts:
This is a standalone fantasy debut that blends dark tournament-style games, magical creatures, and survival fantasy in a unique way. While I craved deeper worldbuilding, the action and character dynamics kept me engaged. If you love books like The Hunger Games, Squid Game-inspired fantasy, or battle royale-style fantasy novels, this is worth checking out!

I'm obsessed. The writing and narrative style of this book was really compelling and I loved it. I found the dialogue and the humor to be really tight and well-done. The world-building and descriptions were thought out and did a great job drawing me into the world. This is also a story where, unlike some stories which feature trials or games, they actually factor into the plot and are action-packed and kept me on the edge of my seat. This was just a great book and I cannot wait for more from this author--I also cannot wait to get our physical copies in at my branch because I want to see this cover in person.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Serpent Called Mercy by Roanne Lau is a third person-POV Malaysian-inspired fantasy. Lythlet and Disel are two impoverished youths who find a way to pay off their debts through becoming conquessors, gladiator-esque fighters who battle monsters in increasingly dangerous battles. But match-master Dothilos has his own agenda and is very interested in Disel’s previous history as a brawler before turning his attention to Lythlet.

Lythlet and Disel have a Queer Platonic-coded relationship. They view each other as soul mates and they are deeply important to each other and are, for all intents and purposes, partners. Lythlet never expresses romantic feelings for anyone and there’s even a scene that implies she is Aspec, possibly AroAce. There is no label stated outright and all of the coding is my own interpretation, but regardless of whether or not someone reads QPR into their relationship, it’s still very cool to see a strong female-male friendship that stays platonic and very tight-knit.

There is a nice variety of monsters and all of the monsters that appear on the cover do appear in the book. Lythlet means more about them from a bestiary that is gifted to her and she retains the information, helping her and Desil win their matches as she hones in on the weaknesses in the most efficient way possible. The two-headed horse was my favorite of all the monsters because the details of the match were very interesting and the twist was a nice surprise. It’s action-packed but requires a lot of wit and strategy on Lythlet and Desil’s part.

A major theme is trauma. Lythlet is triggered by one of the monsters pulling her hair and we go into one of her memories with her of being bullied in a very humiliating way followed by a peer seeing her being bullied and doing nothing. This deeply affects Lythlet in the ring and we learn a lot more about her as a character and her history. Disel and Dothilos also have trauma that is explored later and the trauma of poverty does come up throughout the story.

Content warning for violence and mentions of CSA

I would recommend this to fans of fantasy with strong platonic friendships and readers looking for a monster fighting fantasy with a smaller cast of characters

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

If you are looking for your next thrilling fantasy read with amazing character exploration look no further, you have just found it.

The Serpent Called Mercy follows Lythlet and her best friend Desil while they try to navigate life and their life consuming debt in a incredibly corrupt city. That leads them into joining a crazy fight to the death against fantastical beasts.

I throughly enjoyed these fight scenes and all the development and hindsight that they allowed us to glimpse specially form Lythlet. These characters felt so real in their flaws, desires and the trauma they had dealt with that shaped them into the people they are, I think Roanne Lau's writing really shines in that aspect.

I will literally just complain a little bit over the pacing of the story — I wanted a little bit more of the slower moments between the fights (totally just something I wanted — and the world building, because we focused so much on these trials I felt like the world didn't feel as fleshed out as it could have been, especially because we were just focused on this one city and the political aspect only came into play a lot later in the book.

Overall this was a fantastic debut and I cannot wait to see what this author comes out with in the future.

Lythlet and her only friend Desil are desperate for money, so they sign up as conquessors. Those are combatants who fight sun-cursed beasts in the seedy underworld of the city. While the match master Dothilos initially likes Desil’s brawling, he quickly takes Lythlet under his wing. Lythlet is ambitious, but she isn’t the only one. She will have to decide if sacrificing her honor and only friend is worth a fortune.

This is a Malaysian Chinese-inspired novel. We see the poor in the city, and how unscrupulous usurers are able to keep the citizens in debt. While it drives Lythlet and Desil to the games, it also keeps the different classes starkly separate. The touches of religion and myth behind the city dwelling and the monsters are dismissed by most, but not Lythlet. She's determined to learn more about the monsters and the world her. She relies on herself for the most part, which is partly what gets her drawn into the arena to fight, and also into the deceit under Dothilos. They have similar origins, and she's so starved for recognition that even his will do.

I enjoyed the little world-building details. The lightning bees provide light for the poor, the crafted bulbs for the rich, the city built over the bones of the old one, and the monsters themselves. Lythlet has difficulty with speaking, with crowds, and with dealing with people in general. At the same time, she's clever with numbers and money, reasons things out quickly, and remembers details without effort. She grew up with Desil, and we'd likely classify her as autistic if we had to label her. She has drive, and the early admission that she wants to be happy is at first brushed off as idiotic. But it's what drives people all the time, and the only difference between them is what makes them happy. For someone as poor as Lythlet, of course, she thinks it's coin in the beginning. She thinks she's alone, that she's a burden, and that no one cares for her unless she gives them something to like her for. This doesn't give away the ending, but I grew teary-eyed with the sequence of visits to friends and her parents. Each value and love her for herself, not what she could do for them. I loved that she heard that and saw it was true. We all need that.

The Serpent Called Mercy is a beautifully written story about friendship and the perils of living in poverty. There are so many important messages hidden in plain sight within this story. I really do recommend it to anyone who wants a fantasy read filled with political injustices, and a main character who is fighting against them.

This story gave me huge Hunger Games vibes, as well as really any other sort of dystopian fantasy where our main character is struggling through life, while the rich are prosperous at the expense of the poor. Our main character is forced to journey through a humbling growth in mind, to learn that riches aren’t the fix to all of her problems.

One of my favourite things about this read is that we have 2 very unique features revolving around the main character: 1) She is “ugly”, as quoted several times in the book. I loved this because we got to see the rough and strong personality of a character without constantly being reminded of how good they look. 2) There is no romantic connection between the two main characters, but they have a beautiful friendship and call each other “soulmates”.

The world building was great, and although the world in itself was nothing specifically unique (the usual downtrodden slums vs the wealthy areas), the environment and the things in it, like the lightning bee hives that light the streets, the tea houses and the homes in the trees, were really charming.

My reason for not rating this book 5 stars is because, although the dialogue was written extremely well, it sometimes became really overwhelming and dragged out when some characters went on a bit of a rant/monologue for pages on end. I also thought there were some perfect spots to end the story after the 90% mark, leaving the reader with resounding questions and thoughts after finishing. However it did just continue on for, what I personally believe, was too long.

I’m also a huge animal lover, so any book that has animals dying or suffering is difficult for me to read.

Please read the trigger warnings before picking up this book, as some uncomfortable topics are talked about, but not heavily focused on.

I’ve tried so many times to pick this up, seeing some really brilliant reviews absolutely raving about this book… but I just can’t get into it. I’m not sure if it’s the way it’s written, or edited for the ARC, but I’m about 20% through and struggling. This unfortunately will be a DNF for me, but thank you for the opportunity to read the ARC.

this book had a very interesting premise: a society in which the unregistered and the poor struggle to make ends meet everyday whilst the highborn enjoy luxury and comfort. where i feel it fails most is in part due to not showing this contrast enough. we have the spectators of the fighting matches versus those who are fighting, which lets us see it for a while. we see some previous fighters who have gotten further up in the hierarchy which was an interesting pov to explore, but those characters are painfully underdeveloped and the story suffers for it. the story felt far too dragged out and the second half in particular was often boring.
most of the characters we see are underdeveloped, or one-note. i wasn't able to form a connection with any of them, and following the FMC around for 400 pages got very grating as she erred on the side of annoying oftentimes. the match-master was the most interesting by far, and his dialogue and backstory was genuinely very good.
the plot involving fighting beasts could have been quite compelling, but the world-building could be confusing or absent altogether. they are sun-cursed but we never dive into what that really means, and we don't see the wealthier parts of the city at all. it all felt very compressed, and if the characters had been compelling at all I would have found it easier to forgive some of this.
the beasts themselves were inventive and imaginative, but we don't see too much of them.
overall, a bit of a letdown, and i found myself skimming from about 60% onwards.