Jorden Darrett

This review is for the first edition and therefore the mentioned issues might have been addressed in the updated second edition.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am supposed to be honest and in this case, I really want to be because I can see this story has some potential, it just lacks in execution.

I really liked the historical Japan atmosphere of this world. It was well balanced so that it had just enough borrowed, with plenty of originality. What I was most interested in was the supernatural powers the assassins gain when they connect to their deity. There seemed to be some mysteries behind it. Especially since Aiya, our MC, for some reason, can't stay in contact. I was really curious about how it would develop.

Unfortunately, here came the first disappointment. This problem with the connection just resolved itself. I don't even consider this spoiler, as I feel this is something that is unnecessarily brought up in the synopsis. If I wasn't expecting it to be an important part of the story, it wouldn't have been that disappointing.

One of the biggest problems for me was the characters. We get quite a few POVs despite the shortness of the book and there is just not enough time to build a connection with them, even with Aiya. I didn't really feel much for her. Most of the time, she is reduced to being an observer. We see what she sees, but we don't really feel what she feels.

I found the story a bit confusing, the motivations of the characters a bit unclear. The prose is somewhat heavy-handed. Sometimes I had to re-read sentences and a few times I didn't really get what was being said even after re-reading them.

There is this buildup of stakes, but when we get to the final tense situation, it gets resolved in a really disappointing manner.

Now, I didn't necessarily dislike the book, I just couldn't really care much. On the other hand, the supernatural aspects and the setting were interesting. I believe that this book has potential. With more experience and a good editor, this could have been a more enjoyable read. I might actually pick up the sequel despite giving just an OK rating, to give the author another chance.… (meer)