Review #512
I loved this book and gave a 4.8/5 stars. It’s a mix between The Hunger Games and that movie ‘In Time’ with Justin Timberlake. The prose were breathtaking. The action reminded me of trials like Fourth Wing & the cliffhanger about killed me.
The author, A.C. Guess so sweetly provided swag bags for our bookclub!
Here’s my random ramblings while reading:
After the first chapter I’m unsure how old Rae is but … let’s just say she’s having a hard time in life. It seems like currency is time and she had to give a year away from disturbing and upsetting a male customer (who was in the wrong). It does give me empathy for the main heroine.
Questions after the opener:
Why can’t she tell anyone about her healing powers?
She can also feel others’ emotions?
Does Retirement mean death?
Why did Rydar help Rae?
I don’t have a good grasp of the rules of how second person narrative works in sentences like this: “ I turned toward him, noticing the way his stormy eyes darkened with his emotions, dampening the light around him, and yet drawing you in with the subtle promise of soulfulness, as though the whole sky and celestial realms twinkled from within.”
I’m jealous of this authors smooth vocabulary and sentence structure.
Jeez! It seems almost too cruel that both the king and prince are so terrible. Their power seems unbeatable. If I’m understanding correctly, the prince can go through minds to see their memories. And the king can control minds to take control of others’ own bodies so their movements are no longer voluntary. How can anything beat those?
The ball parry feels very much like The Hunger Games and the threats of holding her sister’s safety hostage is like Katniss and Prim.
It’s weird that the “trials” seem all up to luck. No skill or talent needed so far.
If the clock waltz scene was random how did Rydar know which to avoid?
At the halfway mark I’m impressed by how legit angry I’m getting rom her unfair predicament. The power balance is sooo offset.
Chapter 29 was everything. I love that she stood up for herself
I flew through the last 100 pages!
Ugh when I finished I immediately messaged the author and excitedly yelled at her for not having the next book available immediately because I need it- comes out early 2025.
Check out a different book by this author… Sky Stitcher.