This book has been highly reviewed butI felt the only thing that has been uprooted is my interest. The hype hooked me: a fairytale retelling with a spooky forest and a mysterious castle and an enigmatic wizard and a village with a creepy tradition of gifting a young woman to said enigmatic wizard every ten years. I don’t know if it’s the incessant foul weather or stay-at-home tedium, but I am struggling to appreciate the books I’m reading during this pandemic hiatus, and this one failed to live up to its hype. I really love the idea, but it almost feels like a rough draft that I would better appreciate when a final copy is polished.
The heroine, Agnieszka, a perpetually filthy klutz, the epitome of the overused clumsy heroine trope, has no explored personality or depth and never becomes more interesting than her flaws. So when this character transitions from “Who, me?” to “I know all the magics!” her triumphs seem sudden and unearned and out of character. All other characters were equally undeveloped and reduced to one dimensional stereotypes.
I’m hesitant to mention the ‘romance’ element, if that’s what it can even be called. There was no emotional undercurrent, no physical attraction, no sexual tension. The Dragon’s role as a romantic interest can only be described as classic Stockholm Syndrome; verbal and emotional abuse is not alluring, no matter how it is delivered or for what reasons. It’s as if the author was putting in scenes to check off a prescribed formula of story requirements: awkward heroine ✔, mysterious wizard ✔, evil archetype ✔, capricious romance ✔.
Overall, I really like the premise of the story, but it almost feels like a rough draft that I would better appreciate when a final copy is polished. Maybe fantasy lovers can overlook the mediocre writing, but it’s not a book I would recommend above others.
Posted By: Regina C.
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