Originally Written: December 10, 2024
I was debating between 2 and 3 stars and settled on 3 so here is why.
First star off for the pacing. I admit, I skimmed a bit of Aspeth's internal thoughts. They dragged me down and I just wanted to move along in the story. As a result of the pacing, I didn't really like Aspeth as a character. She waxed on about saving her home, or hold, rather, and really didn't consider the consequences of her actions. Then when she started to regret what she was doing or going to do, her friends would convince her that what she was doing was better than what others would do and yep, did not like how they held her hand so much. Which leads me to my next point.
Second star off for the fact that all of Aspeth's friends ended up with punishments I didn't think were truly necessary considering their circumstances. They are literally given the punishment they were each determined to avoid and we don't see them again because book just ends. The pacing did not allow for more with them so I guess we're just waiting for book 2 to make sure they land on their feet. I'm sure they won't resent Aspeth either because they constantly worked to make sure she felt okay without much regard for themselves. It just didn't fit with the story to have them be ever truly angry with her. But just because they aren't angry does not mean that I don't get angry at how unfair it was that they are left with the short end of the stick when they already started with so many disadvantages to begin with.
And finally, I am not a fan of the fact that Aspeth essentially gets a dream job that she didn't know she wanted and then the book ends. All we know about her "five", the characters that put themselves on the line for her, her first true friends, is that they are drinking their sorrows away and we'll see them eventually and I just think it's all very unfair. Aspeth gets her happily ever after and it does not sit well with me comparing that ending to the character struggle we slogged through because the reward she got seems off balanced compared to everything else.
But I want to see books focused on the secondary characters so fine, 3 stars.
Came back to declare foul because of the fact that Bad Moon Rising has been stuck in my head for the last 5 days because of this book title. And damn, looking at all my complaints, maybe this is more of a 2 start book to me. Either way, definitely relieved I did not buy a copy of this after all.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Looking Back: I've seen the synopsis for book 2, and I liked that character, so I'll be borrowing it from my library when it is released. But I still look at this one and thing blegh, Aspeth was horrible.
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