Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review.
This was a really interesting debut fantasy, but it didn’t quiiiite do it for me. I thought it was more intellectually interesting than emotionally, but I am going to read the rest of the series because I’m super curious to see where this is going.
We start out strong with the titular Anji killing the king and then going on the run. We don’t know who she is or why she did it, just that she’s on the run, and there are bounty hunters after her. The story continues on like this, giving us bits and pieces of backstory as the book goes on; but where I think this was trying to create curiosity in me the reader, I think what it actually did was help to emotionally divorce me from the story. I needed more, sooner.
The other thing that lessened my emotional investment was that the main relationship between Anji and the Hawk (bounty hunter) that forms the structure of the novel was extremely frustrating. It’s essentially a road trip novel, where these two characters are traveling together (one being taken to be turned in for a bounty, and to be executed) and they encounter different peoples and situations along the way. I admire the author’s commitment to character here, as both Anji and the Hawk had consistent personalities the whole way through. It’s just, their consistent personalities really hindered the story, in my opinion. Anji was always going off half-cocked, not thinking, and asking tons of questions (and doing very impulsive, stupid things) and the Hawk instead of explaining literally *anything* to her, just keeps telling her variations of “shut up” for like, 80% of the novel. Their dynamic makes sense, but it was SO FRUSTRATING to read.
I feel like this barely got going by the time it ended.
I am rounding up from 3.5 stars, though, because this has a ton of potential to be a really good series. I hope the author can build on what he’s started here, and hopefully the pacing and character issues I had here won’t be a problem in the next one.
Moira Quirk narrates the audiobook, and she does a fantastic job, as always.
[3.5 stars, rounded up]
r/Fantasy BINGO: Published in 2025 (Hard Mode: a debut)