It has now been a little bit over four weeks that I have finished reading this book and I’m trying to remember as much as I can to review it adequately. It wasn’t great, it was good, it was…okay. Yeah, I’ve got mixed feelings about this one.
First of all, I started reading it in the middle of July and got in about maybe 60 pages, before taking a break and then picking it up again in October and finishing it. To be clear, I didn’t take a break from reading because I didn’t like it, I just wasn’t really in the mood for reading. The book was unlucky that I stumbled upon it when I wasn’t in my best reading shape. But the cover caught my attention and the plot sounded like fun.
Anyhow, what I loved about the book was that it pushed you straight into the magic system, the author doesn’t think we are stupid, we get mostly shown how the magic works and are not told in lengthy detail stuff we don’t need to know, so we get to use our head a little bit. But sometimes I was still unsure what the limits and conditions for this magic system are, maybe it’s just a soft magic system, that’s good as well. Anyhow, magic is an important facet of this world. While the state of Seolla is governed by a queen and the women can perform magic, the men cannot or if they could their magic is sealed off. On the other hand, there is the neighbouring state of Josan which is governed by a king and where magic is forbidden.
The book is heavily inspired by Korean history and folklore, you cannot miss it and I really liked this aspect. Just pay attention to the vocabulary, some people might have difficulty with it, but a quick Google search will help you understand if the context isn’t clear enough. If you’ve watched some Korean historical dramas, you won’t have any problems with the mentioning of chimas, halmoni, shinbal, orabeoni etc.
It was an entertaining read for in between. It had some twists and turns. I loved that there was a twist where I expected one, I just didn’t know what it would exactly be (yeah, looking at you, Siwon).
The ending felt rushed, and I would have loved to get a few more explanation, but what can you do? Except for waiting for the next volume. For there will be a second part coming out in autumn 2024.
If you feel like my review was a little bit all over the place, well, that’s what I was while reading this book. Maybe if I wasn’t in my twenties already, I would have given the book a higher rating? And if I picked up the book in a better reading mood… I don’t know. Anyhow, I think there are lots of people who will be greatly entertained by this book.
