Disgraced by her father's rebellion against The One City, Emi and her mother have been banished to the impoverished Red Quarter. Here they are subjected to nightly raids by ruthless Cadet's in search for anything magical - outlawed since the fall of the cities outside the walls of The One City. But Emi has a secret. She's magic. When her secret is exposed, she must leave everyone she loves behind in search of the truth that could save her family. But can Emi really live up to her destiny beyond the walls?
This started off really well. The world building is good - early on we get a story explaining a little of the history and backstory of the world in which the characters inhibit, and it's detailed and well described. It also helps set up Emi's predicament, and the harsh reality in which she lives. I really enjoyed the opening chapters as they were filled with an overlying tension and a strong sense of danger as Emi really struggles to get her magic under control. I was also fond of the characters, and relationships that were formed between Emi and the other Red Quarter inhabitants, especially Hedge.
The execution scene we see early on is also great. It almost felt like there was a gradual build up of emotion among the witnesses that leads to the inevitable outcome. I had high hopes at this point that this would be a really good novel.
However. I felt after this point everything started to unravel. I know it's a fantasy novel, but the story started to take a really unbelievable turn. The 'friend' of Emi's from the Gold Quarter, Tsam, has a rushed and rather far-fetched back story that Emi just believes and accepts blindly. He's woefully underdeveloped at the point of his reveal, and because of this I wasn't interested or surprised. Emi's past is also hurriedly explained, and again, accepted without question even though it's slightly ridiculous.
Then the author takes this moment to remove Emi from this wonderfully described city and plonk her into the unknown, with a bunch of new characters. I was desperate for more time within the city walls, and further develop the relationships established here. Unfortunately, these new characters are really annoying and one dimensional. All of them.
I lost interest after about 60%. I was so disappointed after such a promising start, but Cara Thurlbourn has proven she's more than capable of building a wonderful fantasy world. I'll look out for future novels.
- 3 stars for the promising start, 2 stars for the rest
No comments:
Post a Comment