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3.5 stars! This review will be spoiler free!
Synopsis:
Sora and Daemon are in their final year of apprenticeship in the Society of Taigas, ninjas with exceptional magic and experience in weaponry. Within their final year, they are expected to meet out missions and make their impressions to prove that they are ready to graduate to the elite status, but it is difficult given the current calm climate years after the Blood Rift Rebellion (battle between twin Emperor’s for the throne) has taken place. However, on a routine mission, Sore and Daemon come across a suspicious camp and following their gut feelings, choose to pursue them. This choice leads them on a journey full of new powerful magic, high stakes, and unraveling secrets that may put their kingdom, families, and friends in danger.
Thoughts:
I liked it! I thought it was a great first book to introduce you to a new world and new characters. The plot was interesting and I was engrossed from the beginning. No info dumps. Great backstories and history. Some short, but still edge-of-your-seat kind of action scenes. And grand displays of magic throughout. I very much enjoyed the audiobook for this one too, the narrator does an amazing job of bringing the characters to life which definitely adds to my overall enjoyment of the book. The ending had a really cool twist I didn’t see coming, but am HELLA excited to see where it is taken.
I liked the League of Rogues concept, the whole band of mischiefs really makes me happy because it reminds me of the famous HP trio and all the trouble they get into, but all the GOOD that comes out of it. BUT I want to know them MORE, so I hope I get that in the sequel. We have a good insight into Daemon/Wolf and Sora/Spirit, we know their back stories. However, I want to get to know Fairy and Broomstick some more. Also guys, these names just really crack me up sometimes, but they actually do fit well into the story, so don’t be turned off by them! These characters actually have two names, birth name and a given name, but within the Taigas they use their given names, so that is how I’ll refer to them. I liked all of them to be completely honest, none of them really annoyed me. I had moments with Spirit where I wanted to strangle her for a second (but they weren’t her fault!) you’ll understand when you read! I also had moments with Spirit’s sister where I definitely wanted to strangle her, I just couldn’t fathom why she couldn’t see Spirit’s POV and it was irritating to me (probably on purpose for the point of the plot though).
The romance was a little weird for me towards the end. I was definitely on board with the whole “not supposed to love your Gemini” thing and I was hurting right alongside Wolf. Towards the end though, there were some developments that seemed rather rushed and even a little unexpected. I don’t really know how to feel about the whole romance aspect of this duology now, I just know it’s not my fave, and that is part of the reason my star rating was lower.
With the writing, I love how legends were intertwined with the story, then were brought to life in it. Evelyn Skye is one of my fave writers when it comes to creating a new world with specific cultural elements you don’t often see in YA fantasy and she has this amazing way of creating the perfect ambiance for the story she is trying to tell.
I only wish the dialogue was a little less forced sounding, or that the main character wouldn’t say/talk what she was going to do but rather have the narrator tell us what the main character is doing. That might be a small personal preference or nag, but that’s just me. And the odd moments in the writing is also a part of why I brought down my star rating.
Overall:
Altogether, I liked it! Not quite my fave, compared to the Crowns Game, but a cool take on the Asian inspired books that have been coming out. I definitely will read the sequel because it’s only a duology, so I obviously need to read the next and final book. Plus I do love Evelyn Skye as a writer, she does a great job of transporting you into her books.