Synopsis:
Mia Corvere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Destined to destroy empires, the child raised in shadows made a promise on the day she lost everything: to avenge herself on those that shattered her world.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, and Mia must become a weapon without equal. Before she seeks vengeance, she must seek training among the infamous assassins of the Red Church of Itreya.
Inside the Church’s halls, Mia must prove herself against the deadliest of opponents and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and daemons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Church is no ordinary school. But Mia is no ordinary student.
The Red Church is no ordinary school, but Mia is no ordinary student.
The shadows love her.
And they drink her fear
My Thoughts:
When I first started this, I was like what the hell is this? Why are there footnotes? Why is everything so slow? It took me a LONG time to get into this, but I really wanted to see why everyone loved this book/series so much. I’m going to be honest: I almost DNF’d this book because of its slow start. BUT I am so glad I didn’t. I ended up really enjoying this book, despite it being a slower pace to my taste. Side note – I was also in a reading slump, which could’ve hindered my enjoyment a little.
The writing style is quite overwhelming – There’s A LOT of flowery, long sentences and repetition. One of the reasons I found this book to be slow was because it was dragged out a lot. I feel like it could’ve been said in literally half the words. That being said, it isn’t a bad thing per se, it completely depends on personal taste. At first, I thought I hated it, but it grew on me and bothered me less and less as time went on.
The footnotes on the other hand: annoyed the hell out of me. I honestly don’t see the point. I feel like they’re there for worldbuilding purposes only, but it feels kind of lazy to put them in footnotes rather than the story itself? This is the first time I’ve ever read a fantasy with footnotes and it is kind of jarring. The only books I’ve really read with footnotes are classics/books for uni – it’s not something I enjoy in reading. I’m not sure I can get used to the footnotes, I read them, but I’m not a fan. I’m not even sure the information was that important in the footnotes of Nevernight, I honestly don’t remember them.
I do really love assassins – this is kind of like the adult, graphic extreme version of Throne of Glass. Or at least I hoped ToG would have more assassin qualities, I still loved that series, but it sold as a completely different story to what it is. Anyways… Most of this story follows an assassin school/trial/competition setting – which is cool. I know a lot of people love a school setting in fantasy, it’s not one of my favourite settings but I did like it in this instance.
Characters:
Mia: I loved Mia. I loved her character, her development, her everything. She was a great main character, she had such great development and story. It took me a while to get attached but by the end of the book I was fully invested in her character and story arc, I knew I’d be finishing this series! I NEED to know what happens. I’m loving her journey and cannot wait to get to Godsgrave.
Tric: MY LOVE TRIC!! God, I love him. He’s such a great character and him + Mia are just amazing. I loved their interactions with each other (+others).
Tric was seriously the highlight of this novel, especially through the slow parts. I instantly took to his character; he is one of the main reasons I kept reading.
Mr Kindly: Shadow cat thing. I love an animal sidekick/companion and he didn’t disappoint. I cannot wait to learn more about Mr Kindly. He’s super intriguing!
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Literary Leisha 