Genre: Adult Fantasy
Release Date: July 25th, 2023
Pages: 384
Publisher: Gallery Books / Saga Press
My Rating: DNF
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“Every year, thousands in the kingdom of Talin will flock to its capital twin cities, San-Er, where the palace hosts a set of games. For those confident enough in their ability to jump between bodies, competitors across San-Er fight to the death to win unimaginable riches.
Princess Calla Tuoleimi lurks in hiding. Five years ago, a massacre killed her parents and left the palace of Er empty…and she was the one who did it. Before King Kasa’s forces in San can catch her, she plans to finish the job and bring down the monarchy. Her reclusive uncle always greets the victor of the games, so if she wins, she gets her opportunity at last to kill him.
Enter Anton Makusa, an exiled aristocrat. His childhood love has lain in a coma since they were both ousted from the palace, and he’s deep in debt trying to keep her alive. Thankfully, he’s one of the best jumpers in the kingdom, flitting from body to body at will. His last chance at saving her is entering the games and winning.
Calla finds both an unexpected alliance with Anton and help from King Kasa’s adopted son, August, who wants to mend Talin’s ills. But the three of them have very different goals, even as Calla and Anton’s partnership spirals into something all-consuming. Before the games close, Calla must decide what she’s playing for—her lover or her kingdom.”
My Review:
I’m not sure if this author just isn’t for me or what, because I didn’t like her previous series and I didn’t like this either. I was interested in seeing what her adult debut would be like and I did expect that it would be much better, but for me this just didn’t work.
At first I was into the interesting dystopian world but that was about the only thing I liked. The magic system was super basic, the characters were blandly surface-level, the romance lacked conviction, the plot was just Hunger Games all over again (geez, enough already, this is so overdone at this point), and the tone feels very young adult. I just don’t think this book achieved what it was trying to. I needed more from every aspect of it.
All of the narrative elements of this story felt like they had the potential to really shine but just fell short. Maybe it was trying to do too many things and ended up being only a little of everything, instead of fully developed in any one area enough to be remarkable.
I wasn’t convinced to care about anyone or anything that was happening. I didn’t feel any sense of urgency or the high-stakes. There was no complexity or intensity to anything. I wasn’t immersed into the story like I wanted to be. It just wasn’t enough to hold my interest.
I know I’m in the minority here, but I just really don’t see what other people see. I’ll probably be ostracized by all the Gong fans out there but this was subjectively my experience with this book and possibly my last try for this author. I think that people who liked Gong’s other books will probably like this one too. But I don’t think that avid adult fantasy readers will – it won’t have the depth that they are looking for.
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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