Spoilers ahead!
Justice was a god, and Ayla didn't believe in such childish things. She believed in blood.
After the War of Kinds between humans and Automae, the Made took control of the Kingdom of Rabu and deemed the humans to be lesser. They have ruled with an iron fist for nearly 50 years, burning human villages and subjecting them to lives as servants.
Dreaming only of avenging her dead family, human Ayla climbs the serving ranks to become the personal handmaiden to the daughter of the Sovereign--in order to kill her. But when Lady Crier isn't quite what Ayla had expected, and even intends to help humans when she gains power, Ayla learns there are far more layers to the human rebellion than she ever expected. And her ancestors might be at the very heart of it.
"Killing Crier wouldn't be true revenge. Not the way I've always wanted it. If I want to destroy Hesod, really destroy him... I have to kill everything he cares about."
I... have no idea where to begin. I had the world's highest expectations for this book, and I think that's where I went wrong. I have only ever heard five star reviews for it, so I really expected it would be a new all-time favorite. I love enemies to lovers, I love futuristic/fantasy/scifi type novels, and I am always looking for more queer rep on my bookshelf. So why didn't I love it? I liked it, I certainly didn't hate it, and I will read the sequel to see how I feel about it a few months from now, but why didn't I love it?
Her heart was lit up with something quick and hot. A lightning storm inside her. Somewhere along the line, she'd forgotten how it felt to begin.
First thing: if you've read this blog, you know how important characters are to me. I think well written, strong characters absolutely make or break a book, no matter the plot. I found all of the characters in this book to be... well, quite one dimensional. The main reason I want to read the sequel is to see if they grow and change with the series. I want to see them develop over time, because right now I'm just not totally convinced that I should get behind them. (By that I don't mean: Why should I ally with humans who have been treated like slaves and criminals for no reason? I simply mean, This is a good cause that I would rally behind, but why am I following Ayla's story? Why not a different person in the rebellion? Why not Rowan? Why not Queen Junn? They are more compelling to me. Know what I mean?). Ayla just seems angry to me. She has every right to be angry, for sure! But I don't believe that there are people who are singularly angry. I never really felt like I saw another side to her, and in the tiniest moments when I thought I did, it disappeared just as quickly. I do like to think that it was a choice the author made, which, again, is why I'll keep moving forward with the series. Crier I thought was a bit more dynamic; Though she seemed just sort of confused and soft (not necessarily in a bad way) through most of the book, I think the ending changed her. When she learned that Kinok had lied about her Design, THAT was a glimpse of a woman I would read a whole series about. And I hope hope hope I get more of her.
"So Kinok is the fox," Crier said. "Clever and deceiving." The queen smiled. "No, my dear. Kinok is the wolf." She paused and stared at Crier for a moment. Then she said, "I want you to be the fox."
As for the plot, I wasn't super invested in it because I, for some reason unknown to me, have never cared at all about robots or anything of a similar concept. I really don't know why, they just make me go meh. And I know that the Automae are less robotic and more magically crafted, but I still couldn't get my head in the game. That's obviously 100% a personal thing and therefore this paragraph should really have little to no effect on anyone else's interest in these books. Other than that aspect, I found the plot to get much more exciting over time. Loved the whole evil fiance bit, genuinely dug that, especially because he seemed to be a pretty interesting villain. Towards the end, I really didn't expect the layers and twists to come about like they did, so I found myself much more invested in the last few chapters.
"If a spider weaves her web to catch flies and catches a butterfly instead, what does the spider do?" Benjy stayed silent. "She eats the butterfly," said Ayla.
The world-building is usually the first thing I notice in novels, because its one of the first aspects you're exposed to. I have personally found the most effective ways to create your world, at least in my opinion and experience, to be piece by piece as you move forward through the novel. With Crier's War, I felt thrown into the deep end a little bit. All of the chapters before Crier and Ayla met just felt like exposition and I couldn't totally grasp what was going on. It was weird, I could tell that the author knew everything about how this world worked, how the war happened, how her plot was going to function, but for some reason it didn't really translate for me. I do think I am particularly picky about world-building, though, as I read SO many different series with some worlds completely different, and some extremely similar. I have come to understand my own brain better as I read more, though, which is really cool! For me, I find things to be easier to grasp and comprehend more when they're happening in the moment. For example, rather than looking at a drawn out map or reading a history blurb/timeline, I prefer to have it explained to me when a character is actually dealing with it. Tell me about a country when a character is in that country, or explain a law the second it becomes essential information. For some reason, when I see a map or a timeline my brain turns to mush. If it's at the very beginning of the book, I'm not interested enough yet to memorize the info I need, so it just doesn't work for me. I've said it roughly a hundred times by now, but that's just my opinion.
Crier wanted to point to her chest, this is the hurting part, this is the bleeding part, fix it or take it out.
Now we're all wondering about the romance, yeah? It's tough, because part of me enjoyed it and part of me didn't. I love pining-- listen-- I'm a HUGE fan of two characters secretly liking each other and refusing to admit their feelings. And I guess that kinda happened here? Crier liked Ayla. But what about Ayla's side? I know it was complicated for her because Crier's dad is the one who killed her family, and that's a totally valid point. And for 90% of the time it didn't seem like she was interested in Crier. Was she? I guess she was? But I'm wondering why... what did Crier do that spoke to Ayla? Ugh, I know I'm not making any sense, and this will not make any more sense when I say: it seems like the only reason they liked each other was because it was written in the book. By that, I think I mean that I see no reason why they would have been interested in each other. Crier only seemed to like Ayla because she saved her life. Is that a good enough reason? I like to think that my favorite ships would love each other no matter what their situation/scenario was, and I don't know that I believe that would be true for these two. I also know I'm being way picky. WAY picky. I just didn't feel a connection between them. Does that mean I didn't want them to be together? No, I do want them to be together-- but I can't tell if I only want it because the book is telling me I want it and because I don't see much f/f queer rep in fantasy/adventure novels. I'M CONFLICTED. But wait, also, something to take into account: sometimes I miss stuff on my first read. Perhaps on a reread I could go in with a clear head and understand/see better. Maybe?
Love was what made you invite death, wish for it, crave it, just so that you could be freed from your own pain.
All in all, I know I've stated all the reasons this book didn't work for me. I really hate writing anything negative about authors or books, especially when I know they were written with lovely intentions in mind. That's why I always want people to know that whatever someone else believes about a book should not inhibit your love for it. Who cares if Ellen on twitter didn't enjoy your favorite book? Keep liking it because it is important to YOU! My thoughts are mine alone, and also often very jumbled and confused. I try my best to go into all books with an open mind, and sometimes things work for me and sometimes they don't. But at least I tried! Here's to hoping the sequel suits my fancy.
"Humanity is how you act, my lady," said Jezen. "Not how you were Made."
NEXT READ: Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
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