I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

POV: 3rd, multi POV
Star rating: ★★★★★

HOLY COW! It cannot end there!

Thank God this is a bundle, because I'd go stir crazy if I had to end the story there and wait for the next book to be released or to go buy it. I barely have the patience to write this review, before I move on to read the next part.

Okay...

First off, I love the POV. Multi-POV's used is a tricky thing to pull off, but it works perfectly in this story. We get to see events unfold from the POV of: Malick and Jacin, who are the two main characters; Samin, Umeia and Yori, who are all part of Malick's “team”. Then we get Qiri's POV for the flashbacks, to show us the birth of the twins, as well as Joori's POV to show us Jacin's childhood through the eyes of someone who wants to take care of him. We also get the POV of Asai, who becomes Jacin's mentor and puppet-master, and his servant Vonshi, as well as a brief POV for Xari. Shig is another part of Malick's team, but we never get her POV in this story, perhaps because she's the biggest fruit loop out of all of them.

The characterisation is genius. Right from the start, I loved Malick's smartass, worldly wise and devious nature, knowing that there was a big secret about him but never quite sure what it was until the big reveal. Jacin was adorable, to begin with, such a great kid and with a beautiful brotherly relationship with Joori. Their childhood flashbacks made me love them both so much. For me, Shig is the next best thing, in the list of who I loved most, because she is a total nutcase, but a deviously genius one and she just knows how to push all of Jacin's buttons.

I loved the way that we were slowly eased into the complexity of each character, even those who were supposedly 'minor' like Yori and Umeia. Their stories all weave into each other, all having a bigger part to play in the overall picture and the supremely clever storytelling, world building and characterisation all compound together to make sure that we're told their story in the perfect way. Not only does it have balance between detail, showing and telling, but it gives us what we need to know when we need to know it and not a minute sooner. In this way, the flashbacks are perfectly placed.

Almost from the end of Chapter 1, I knew that I'd be stuck to this story like glue. I couldn't put it down to even go get a drink or something to eat, without turning over everything I knew so far, trying to figure out who the Mage was, why Asai set off my Spider senses and wondering just how much more adorable Joori and Jacin could be. Not to mention the seriously lip-biting-good chemistry between Malick and Jacin, or Fen as he's known in Malick's POV.

Most importantly, I loved getting to see Jacin growing up, both as an innocent kid and then again as Asai's student, learning and questioning, slowly beginning to see the light and find his own voice. His journey is just so beautiful that it's unbelievable.

And, of course, the final revelation of who the Mage really was and who Malick really is was mind-blowingly great and everything I'd hoped for.

Overall, I loved every word. I cried, I laughed, I snorted, I melted and I nearly fainted over the best parts. And I'll be coming back to read it again and again, in the future.

~

Favourite Quote

Okay, I had so many. Literally, I marked off nearly ten quotes, so I really had to work hard to choose my favourites.

“He'd never known anything could hurt so badly, so deeply, could raze the core of him and leave it scraped raw and burned to cinders. Like every step he took formed a scar between himself and Joori, wide and malformed, and ugly as the bare, scrubby earth over which he trod.”

“Now d'you feel wooed?”