2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Tell us what you thought of the book! You can leave your review here. Even if you read the book outside of the group, please feel free to let us know what you thought of it.

Please make sure to mark your spoilers by typing "[spoiler]" at the start and [/spoiler] at the end but replacing the []s with <>s.

I really really enjoyed this book! The imagery and world-building were incredible. I was so engrossed in the story! In a way this really hit the Harry Potter nerve in my body with the magic. While some of it was predictable, I still thoroughly enjoyed the journey!

I enjoyed this book very much and am excited for the sequel!

(view spoiler)[ It started out slow for me and I had a hard time wanting to get through it at first. I was really happy when it started picking up when Lazlo arrived in Weep and Sarai started entering into his dreams. I enjoyed the character dynamics between the godspawn. The whole situation was so frustrating. I get why Minya is so hateful towards all humans because of how scarred she was to see children slaughtered at age 6. But I totally understood why the humans acted the way they did in slaughtering the gods and godspawn because of the horrors they were put through as slaves. I am so curious to see where the story goes in the next book about what happened to other godspawn and what will happen to Sarai now that she is a ghost. (hide spoiler)]

An enjoyable read, but I found it a little rough around the edges. Sometimes the writing style worked well for me, sometimes it tripped me up - got too entangled in its own mysteries and metaphors and I started to lose interest or lose track of the plot. I agree with others that the book hits its stride when (view spoiler)[ Lazlo arrives at Weep and encounters Sarai (hide spoiler)]. I really liked the plot, but thought there were some pacing issues - the story takes a while to get up to speed, then cuts off abruptly at the end of the book. I'm of the opinion that even in a series, every novel should stand alone to some extent, and this one just ends too suddenly to do so. I feel robbed of a denouement - even just a few more pages to process the end would have helped the pacing, I think.

I really liked this book and have already ordered the sequel.

Wow. As the quote on the cover on my edition said- Laini Taylor is so damn good!! I would never have bought this on my own but I am so grateful to those of you who voted for it for the February group read- THANK YOU! I plan to read the sequel later this year. The world and characters created in this novel are superb. The storyline took my a while to get into but I would now count this book as one of my favourites