I adore books and basically anything else that involves witches, and this book delivers exactly the kind of content I’m looking for.
There are unique kinds of magic, and covens that revolve around the type of magic witches and warlocks have and I was super sucked in by the magic system and covens immediately. Something else that immediately intrigued me about this book, and was the initial reason (besides it involving witches) behind picking it up, was that there is a lottery system of sorts that acts as a way to select a group of individuals with magic to compete to the death against one another and act as sacrifices to the Gods.
Azkiel hooked my interest right away. With his lack of memories from before his long sleep, I needed the backstory that brought him to the present day when he plans to kill the prophesied individual who will wake his siblings. I wanted all the story on why he didn’t want his fellow Gods to be awoken as it seemed like there was so much history and strife lurking behind this character. And with his power of death and as a result inability to touch others, his tough, but lonely persona made for all kinds of intrigue.
First off I want to start by saying I do genuinely think this book/world has a lot of potential. I am so enthralled by the world, the magic, the covens, etc. But the book itself could use a bit of work to really get it there. It’s at times very redundant with characters thinking and saying the same things repeatedly. Azkiel being obsessed with Calista and her possession of his power, as well as his siblings and what he has done to them, without bringing any real new information to these ideas. It’s just reiterated time and again without providing more to the reader in the way of details. For Calista it is constantly about how unfair the ritual to induct a new elder into their numbers through the trials. I get that it’s awful but her endless repetition of it becomes so single minded and at times seems like her entire personality. It’s to the point that it’s hard to focus on the admirable parts of her character that might otherwise make her a really compelling person to read about.
Beyond that I felt like there was a whole lot telling rather than showing happening in this book. It felt at times like entire chapters were just inner monologue, particularly with Azkiel which plays into the redundancy as well, as it was often about his siblings, what he had done to them putting them into a slumber, and his focus on Calista and the prophecy she is meant to fulfill. It also made it so the plot felt rather slow because nothing seemed to be happening to further the plot for long periods with so much time being spent on inner dialogue essentially telling the reader what characters were thinking rather than actually furthering the plot through action and events. It’s not even a long book but this made it feel too long because the progression was so halted.
However there are so many things that have me hooked into this world and have me eager for the sequel to see how much better it might get. I am so enthralled by the mystery of the Gods, I want more of their background and information on their powers, why certain magics are so taboo, as well as the connection each different power has to one of the Gods. All this to say I definitely plan on picking up the next book in the series because so much is left up in the air and I really do want to see this world reach its full potential.
