Empire of Exiles: A Book Review

This book started off not super great. The writing felt unnatural and confusing, the world building was complicated, and there was tons of info dumping. Lots of characters introduced right at the beginning too. Basically, I was expecting to DNF this by 100 pages. 

But then the murder mystery plot began, and I was somewhat intrigued. I was able to settle into the characters' points of view and suspend my confusion about the magic system and world. And then, basically nothing happened for 200 pages. It was such a SLOW mystery with nothing happening to ramp up the tension. When I read fantasy, I expect there to be some action. But the action didn't come until the last 100 pages with the climax. 

I will say that the climax was good. It had some plot twists and hidden identities. It clarified a few things. But after the ending, I was left with an underwhelming feeling of meh. I don't really care about the characters. I still have so many questions about the magic and the world and the history. (And also I was very confused why two of the characters had either tentacles and horns and no one else did. Did I miss an explanation of a different race?) Anyways, this just wasn't my thing.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 2
Plot/Movement: 3
Character Development: 3
Overall: 3

Thank you, Orbit Books, for the ARC!

Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, suicide, kidnapping, poisoning

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