Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for providing this book as a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.
One-Sentence Summary:
The heirs of four Houses descended from the gods must unite to bring down the barriers between worlds and prevent users of dark magic from wreaking havoc on the world.
My Review:
I've actually only read two Tara Sim books so far, but I'd definitely consider myself a fan. I've been looking forward to this book since the announcement, and I'm so glad I get to review it! Some background: This book is about the realm of Vitae which houses a monarchy and four Houses whose members are descended from the gods. The Lastriders are descended from Nyx, god of darkness, the Mardovas from Deia, goddess of life, the Cyrs from Phos, god of light, and the Vakaras from Thana, goddess of death. All of the heirs of these houses want to pierce the veil between the four realms, each ruled by a god, but the gods themselves have sealed the doors. First of all, characters! Because the houses are such a big focus, this story is very character-driven with seven POVs and a lot going on in each. My personal favorites were Dante and Taesia, the older siblings of House Lastrider. However, everyone was either really likeable or really purposefully unlikable. It's easy to see everyone's motivations, but only once they're really realized by the characters themselves. I thought it was a bit hard to keep track of what was going on with Angelica, but otherwise, every character was full fleshed out and had so many dimensions. Next, the world! This world seemed like it would be incredibly confusing, but I got the hang of it quickly. Four gods, four realms, four Houses, and a lot to keep track of, but Sim is really good at worldbuilding and makes it not quite EASY, but not a pain, to figure everything out. I really loved all of the magic going on here, especially that of the Lastriders and Cyrs. I didn't really see any plot holes or inconsistencies, and I was definitely happy to be reading the entire time. Relationships aren't really a priority in this installment, but I sense that romantic ones will be very relevant in the next few books. Here, it's mainly about familial bonds and loyalties, but also friendships the heirs of the Houses have made with each other and what tugs on those bonds. It was a tad hard to figure out who was mad at who and why, but I loved the intricacies and drama. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book to fans of Sim's writing and the dark fantasy genre. This does come with a warning, though, that the book isn't YA like her others: there's explicit content, some pretty dark rituals, mutilation, suicide ideation, and cannibalism amongst other triggers. If none of those are deal-breakers for you, though, this book is amazing and fully worth the read. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM!!!
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The Fiction Feature 