What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fifth Realm #1
Spin of Fate
Magnificent Beasts. Buried Gods. Unforgiving Magic. Epic Battles.
Perfect for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Naruto, this propulsive high fantasy debut features intricate world-building, and a scientific hard magic system inspired loosely by the law of karma.
The world is governed by Toranic Law, an ancient magical force that segregates people into upper and lower realms based on their morality. It’s said that if the sinful lowers commit themselves to kindness, their souls will lighten, allowing them into the blissful upper realms.
But Aina, one of the few lowers to ever ascend, just wants to go back. Desperate to reunite with her mother, who remains stuck in their horror-infested homeland, Aina joins the Balancers—a group that defies Toranic Law by bringing aid to those condemned to a life of suffering in the lower realms.
Alongside Aina are two new recruits: Aranel, a spoiled noble spying for the upper authorities; and Meizan, a ruthless fighter trying to save his clan from extinction.
Before long, Aina, Aranel, and Meizan find themselves in the midst of a brewing war. On one side, a violent lower king is bent on destroying Toranic Law; on the other, the upper authorities will do anything to stay on top.
The trio must face both sides head-on if they want to stop a conflict that could break not only Toranic Law... but the universe itself.
"An exhilarating series opener." - Kirkus (Starred Review)
Perfect for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Naruto, this propulsive high fantasy debut features intricate world-building, and a scientific hard magic system inspired loosely by the law of karma.
The world is governed by Toranic Law, an ancient magical force that segregates people into upper and lower realms based on their morality. It’s said that if the sinful lowers commit themselves to kindness, their souls will lighten, allowing them into the blissful upper realms.
But Aina, one of the few lowers to ever ascend, just wants to go back. Desperate to reunite with her mother, who remains stuck in their horror-infested homeland, Aina joins the Balancers—a group that defies Toranic Law by bringing aid to those condemned to a life of suffering in the lower realms.
Alongside Aina are two new recruits: Aranel, a spoiled noble spying for the upper authorities; and Meizan, a ruthless fighter trying to save his clan from extinction.
Before long, Aina, Aranel, and Meizan find themselves in the midst of a brewing war. On one side, a violent lower king is bent on destroying Toranic Law; on the other, the upper authorities will do anything to stay on top.
The trio must face both sides head-on if they want to stop a conflict that could break not only Toranic Law... but the universe itself.
"An exhilarating series opener." - Kirkus (Starred Review)
448 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 2024
About the author
A.A. Vora
1 book115 followersI'm Ambika Vora-Nagino, an Indian-Japanese author living in Tokyo with my husband, our newborn, and our fiery-spirited dog Fëanor. You can find me on Instagram @a2vora.
SPIN OF FATE, first of a YA fantasy trilogy, is my debut novel. If you'd like to learn more about the book from my perspective, please check my "review" or this blog post:
https://www.a2vora.com/post/an-attemp...
SPIN OF FATE, first of a YA fantasy trilogy, is my debut novel. If you'd like to learn more about the book from my perspective, please check my "review" or this blog post:
https://www.a2vora.com/post/an-attemp...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
February 4, 2024
This one is for the ex Christian deconstruction girlies even though it’s completely unintentional. But it’s also for the Naruto fans. 4.5.
Video: https://youtu.be/IYzkZ33KzFY?si=1w2aO...
Video: https://youtu.be/IYzkZ33KzFY?si=1w2aO...
Read
April 17, 2024I'd like to include a bit more about my inspirations and what you can find in this book, after which I will take my leave of this space. While I've provided a fairly transparent summary below, please see my blog for further details if you are interested:
https://www.a2vora.com/post/an-attemp...
SPIN OF FATE (pitched to my agent as NARUTO x THE GOLDEN COMPASS) features...
- A scientific hard magic system, whose mechanics drive much of the world-building and plot, inspired loosely by the law of karma (twisted and simplified for narrative purposes). You can read more on my blog:
https://www.a2vora.com/post/the-inspi...
- 3 POV characters with converging storylines and an equal chapter count.
- Dense world-building featuring an original mythology with unique magical creatures. While I have taken inspiration from India and Japan, this is neither an entirely India- nor Japan-adjacent world (also, there is a glossary at the back of the book!).
- A secret rebel group, a fairly substantial training arc, found families, enemies-to-friends (I should mention there are fledglings of romance, but it's very minimal and mostly subtext for book 1—setting the scene for what may or may not come to fruition in latter books).
- Moral ambiguity all around, including the main characters. There's a heavy focus on themes, and quite a bit of introspection interspersed with the action; the pace might read slow for a YA fantasy, though I'd say its medium to fast by adult SFF standards.
*I'd also like to add here that while SPIN OF FATE features an original religion that is polytheistic (like Hinduism), the deities were purely imagined and are meant to bear no resemblance to Hinduism's many gods and goddesses. On the contrary, they were inspired by Naruto's bijū and several legendary Pokémon.
**You might see my publisher marketing this using different comparative titles, including Ember in the Ashes and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Full disclosure—while it's an honor to be comp'ed to such beloved titles, I am not too familiar with their contents myself and thus cannot attest to how well they represent the book.
Thank you for your time and happy reading!
https://www.a2vora.com/post/an-attemp...
SPIN OF FATE (pitched to my agent as NARUTO x THE GOLDEN COMPASS) features...
- A scientific hard magic system, whose mechanics drive much of the world-building and plot, inspired loosely by the law of karma (twisted and simplified for narrative purposes). You can read more on my blog:
https://www.a2vora.com/post/the-inspi...
- 3 POV characters with converging storylines and an equal chapter count.
- Dense world-building featuring an original mythology with unique magical creatures. While I have taken inspiration from India and Japan, this is neither an entirely India- nor Japan-adjacent world (also, there is a glossary at the back of the book!).
- A secret rebel group, a fairly substantial training arc, found families, enemies-to-friends (I should mention there are fledglings of romance, but it's very minimal and mostly subtext for book 1—setting the scene for what may or may not come to fruition in latter books).
- Moral ambiguity all around, including the main characters. There's a heavy focus on themes, and quite a bit of introspection interspersed with the action; the pace might read slow for a YA fantasy, though I'd say its medium to fast by adult SFF standards.
*I'd also like to add here that while SPIN OF FATE features an original religion that is polytheistic (like Hinduism), the deities were purely imagined and are meant to bear no resemblance to Hinduism's many gods and goddesses. On the contrary, they were inspired by Naruto's bijū and several legendary Pokémon.
**You might see my publisher marketing this using different comparative titles, including Ember in the Ashes and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Full disclosure—while it's an honor to be comp'ed to such beloved titles, I am not too familiar with their contents myself and thus cannot attest to how well they represent the book.
Thank you for your time and happy reading!
May 27, 2024
STUNNING and MASTERFULLY crafted book with ABYSMAL marketing. This is NOTHING like Ember in the Ashes. I enjoy Ember but let's not pretend it's anything but a lasagna of tropes layered over one another and very little originality. On the other hand this book EXCELS in VIVID WORLDBUILDING and originality and also creating WELLROUNDED CHARACTERS with FANTASTIC MORAL and PHILOSOPHICAL motivations. The MAGIC SYSTEM was also WELL DEVELOPED AND EXPLAINED and the plot had SOME UNEXPECTED TWISTS at the end. EXCELLENTLY done Vora. Full review updated to include spoilers below.
(And the publisher has done the book dirty with this cover, there was so much beautiful, enchanting imagery in the book and they had to go with the most terrifying monster instead. WHY?)
(ETA: this is now being compared to Six of Crows? What are the marketers doing??! This ain't like SoC either unless you count the fact that it is multiple characters and some are queer)
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
PROSE: 4/5
No egregious metaphors and overall very good. I enjoyed that Arenel and Meizan had VERY DIFFERENT VOICES in their chapters which is rare in YA since all characters usually sound the same. Aina was great too but not as differentiated as the other two. There were some descriptions that positively SANG and the inscription on Meizan's sword was badass.
Minus one star for the poetry because POETRY IS PRETENTIOUS in fantasy and I WISH AUTHORS WOULD STOP. At least it was skippable.
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
WORLDBUILDING: 5/5
Vora introduces us to a VIVID and UNIQUELY REALIZED WORLD with kingdoms inside lotuses and dead wastelands and energy waterfalls and secret craters. It was SO DETAILED and BEAUTIFULLY DESCRIBED. And all the magical creatures were great too from the flying dolphins to the peacock snake to the grass wolves! I LOVED it all and have never read anything like it. The MAP was also a BEAUTY to behold.
The religion was something I had my doubts on before (see note at bottom for context) but it was VERY WELL INTEGRATED into the world and its culture and made a lot of sense. I am not familiar with Asian religions so it was PRETTY DAMN UNIQUE to me if not A BIT PEDANTIC in parts. But what are religions if not pedantic?
The complex science-magic system with its rules and principles was also great and I appreciate that it was taught to us WITHOUT OVERWHELMING EXPOSITION which is rare. There was some explanation but it was kept short enough or put in dialogue form that it read naturally and flowed rather than ruining my immersion. I did find it hard to follow along in the beginning but by the end I had a great understanding of how chitrons and their equilibriums worked! Sometimes it felt like I was in a science class (I mean this as a compliment, it was cool) and I love how much thought was put into the particles interacting with one another depending on the realm, the person's magic and soul, etc.
Overall this is the section Vora absolutely MASTERED. It was nothing like I have read before!
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
PLOT: 5/5
It had a slow start but around the 20% mark when Arenel entered the forest I was GLUED TO THE PAGE. And the ENDING was GRIPPING and SHOCKING and has me THIRSTY FOR BOOK 2.
There were quite a few fight and training scenes in part 2. They were well written but I don't care about fight sequences or training montages so I skimmed them. During a reread I enjoyed them more because I realized there was quite a bit of fun foreshadowing and clues during those scenes that I missed. Even if it was not my cup of tea it all seemed very deliberate and intentional.
There was also a lot of relationship development in those 'unnecessary' scenes that I loved! I am a sucker for hanging around with characters and I am glad that after some fast paced sequences we got to see them unwind and chill (and fight and banter lol). There were small parts of this that had an almost cozy fantasy vibe amidst all the danger and action and intensity. My favorite scene was the Aina and Arenel rock scene because the thematic messaging and foreshadowing was just brilliant in that one.
Coming to themes, this book EXCELLED THEMATICALLY. It melded together so many themes about religious brainwashing, societal oppression, privilege, nurture versus nature but without being literal or in your face about it.
My main complaint is a COUPLE STUPID DECISIONMAKING moments by a couple characters in the last part. But it did feel justifiable and very in character for them, only that I was mad at them for doing what they did. At least it was not without dire consequence...
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
CHARACTERS: 5/5
LIKEABLE and WELL MOTIVATED characters. Some of them read a bit tropey at first but Vora QUICKLY OVERTURNS THE TROPES to give unique characters with strong motivations and STRONG and UNEXPECTED CHARACTER arcs. Also the VILLAINS WERE DOWNRIGHT AMAZING and you could both root for them and understand them while finding them loathsome in some ways.
My favorite character was by and large Zenyra who was SO CHARISMATIC each time she was on the page. I need to know more about her motivations and backstory because her conversation with a certain man in the last section made me think there is a lot more history the author is hinting at that is yet to be explored!
From the 3 POV characters I liked Meizan the best (I am a simple girl and I love bad boys). I loved how no nonsense he was especially as a foil to Aranel.
Aina was good too. I enjoyed that she did not go your typical YA heroine route of getting super strong super fast and destroying everything in her path. She almost had a reverse arc where she started out strong and sassy but ended an absolute wreck which was unexpected for me but also made sense in the context of the chain of trauma and betrayals she endured. I think I will be mad if she does not go all out vengeance-is-mine in a sequal but I also think she is being set up for that so I am hopeful. I need her to get her mojo back and wreck some bitches in book 2.
Lastly we come to Arenel. Ah, Arenel. I hate him but simultaneously empathize with him. I thought he was excellently written and probably very deliberate the author made him the one white main character whereas the other two seemed coded as some kind of fantasy Asian. I read him as someone who is part brainwashed religious extremist and part privileged kid who wants to improve the world but has no sense or idea how to do it. He also did try to get better and ultimately he failed, and ended up doing more harm than he ever intended. I appreciated how weak and gullible he was and how he always needed another person to latch onto and follow. I loved how much Aina and Meizan called him out for his constant bullshit. I loved every scene in which he whined and cried and suffered. I wonder if he is being set up as a secondary villain because that is an arc I would like to see his story take instead of a redemption arc.
I want to add here that I think there is a difference between badly written characters and those written to be unlikeable on purpose. I have seen reviewers call these characters badly written which seems like a disservice because on both my readings everything seemed well thought out, and their motivations made sense given their backgrounds and upbringings (Aina and Meizan were orphans both of whom likely underwent some abuse while Arenal was privileged and sheltered but also a victim of religious brainwashing). Their perspectives and actions serve as foils to one another and offer realistic insight in how different people might deal with the same situation in a different way.
I guess if you prefer simple and straightforward characters with more forward and positive arcs, this book might not suit you because there is a lot of moral ambiguity and I feel at least one of these three are being set up as potential villains.
(On another note I have also seen reviewers say they love Arenal which baffles me because he is not lovable and I do not think he was written to be. But what do I know? Maybe insecure whiny brainwashed boys are their type?)
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
ROMANCE: ?????
There really is not much of this. The author focused a lot more on friendship. And the FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE MAIN CAST was WONDERFUL to observe and my favorite part of the novel because underneath their banter and insults you can see they clearly grow to care for each other and IT DID NOT FEEL UNEARNED OR RUSHED like many YA relationships.
I also enjoyed that the fights and conflict were caused by beliefs so close to their heart which made it even more poignant.
EDIT TO ADD that some reviewers are picking up on gay vibes here and think that there is going to be some enemies-to-lovers romance between Arenel and Meizan?! I feel so stupid because I love sapphic and gay fantasy but I did not pick up the gay at all during my first reading! But during a second read I was paying more attention and saw all the hints (at least from Arenel who was SO obvious all along) and now I am SO conflicted!
Because at first I thought we were getting an icky unbalanced rich boy meets poor girl romance situation with Arenel and Aina. And then I was relieved that at the end she quickly got over him after realizing he was a manipulative dick and it did not even progress beyond a crush. (I wish we had more of that in YA fantasy where girl likes toxic boy but soon realizes she deserves better and moves on BEFORE getting into a relationship or letting him take advantage of her. It could send a good message to teenagers).
At this point I did sort of ship Aina with Meizan. It felt like we would have a tame ACOTAR type situation of naive Aina going for golden-haired, gentle-mannered Tamlin-adjacent Arenel first and then realizing that dark-haired, assholish Rhysand-adjacent Meizan was the one for her.
But I was way off with that reading because apparently Arenel is gay (perhaps bi but he reads gay) and I am an absolute ghoul for somehow missing it?! It is almost comical now when I think of Aina pining after a guy she has no chances with, but thankfully she found other reasons to get over him.
So now I am confused because Arenel and Meizan could be the ship? Which is hot and everything my queer heart wants BUT also I hope it's not queerbait or people overanalyzing things. I kind of doubt the latter because the author has been so deliberate in the worldbuilding and other elements that I can't help but feel it was intentional.
But none of the marketing mentions a romance so what if the author is being ambiguous on purpose? Maybe she will end this with no couples and I would hate that so much but I guess I have to wait for the sequal to find out. Anyways at this point I am putting N/A for romance because there wasn't much of it and it's extremely unclear what the intended pairings are going to be. I could come back and change this to a 5 or a 1 depending on the sequal.
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
Saw Rosaria Munda talking about this book a couple times on her IG and it made me VERY CURIOUS. I read a first impression online and was PLEASANTLY surprised by the RICH world building, a UNIQUE magic system, and characters with interesting motivations. I am 100% HERE for the underlying philosophical themes. HOWEVER it features a made up religion with many gods and ways of thinking and I struggle to buy into that. Fantasy religions are a HIT OR MISS and it remains to be seen whether Vora has the writing chops to pull this one off. Mixing religions is also problematic and I worry this book will stray into offensive territory if the author has not done proper research.
EDIT TO ADD that the author wrote a post about the inspirations behind the magic system and religion and it all seems rooted in Hinduism. I honestly had no idea there were polytheistic religions with multiple spiritual paths but apparently that is a real thing and Vora isn't just pulling it out of her ass. APOLOGIES for my ignorance. I have just been burned by under researched YA with authors doing what they want just for the sake of so-called creativity.
(And the publisher has done the book dirty with this cover, there was so much beautiful, enchanting imagery in the book and they had to go with the most terrifying monster instead. WHY?)
(ETA: this is now being compared to Six of Crows? What are the marketers doing??! This ain't like SoC either unless you count the fact that it is multiple characters and some are queer)
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
PROSE: 4/5
No egregious metaphors and overall very good. I enjoyed that Arenel and Meizan had VERY DIFFERENT VOICES in their chapters which is rare in YA since all characters usually sound the same. Aina was great too but not as differentiated as the other two. There were some descriptions that positively SANG and the inscription on Meizan's sword was badass.
Minus one star for the poetry because POETRY IS PRETENTIOUS in fantasy and I WISH AUTHORS WOULD STOP. At least it was skippable.
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
WORLDBUILDING: 5/5
Vora introduces us to a VIVID and UNIQUELY REALIZED WORLD with kingdoms inside lotuses and dead wastelands and energy waterfalls and secret craters. It was SO DETAILED and BEAUTIFULLY DESCRIBED. And all the magical creatures were great too from the flying dolphins to the peacock snake to the grass wolves! I LOVED it all and have never read anything like it. The MAP was also a BEAUTY to behold.
The religion was something I had my doubts on before (see note at bottom for context) but it was VERY WELL INTEGRATED into the world and its culture and made a lot of sense. I am not familiar with Asian religions so it was PRETTY DAMN UNIQUE to me if not A BIT PEDANTIC in parts. But what are religions if not pedantic?
The complex science-magic system with its rules and principles was also great and I appreciate that it was taught to us WITHOUT OVERWHELMING EXPOSITION which is rare. There was some explanation but it was kept short enough or put in dialogue form that it read naturally and flowed rather than ruining my immersion. I did find it hard to follow along in the beginning but by the end I had a great understanding of how chitrons and their equilibriums worked! Sometimes it felt like I was in a science class (I mean this as a compliment, it was cool) and I love how much thought was put into the particles interacting with one another depending on the realm, the person's magic and soul, etc.
Overall this is the section Vora absolutely MASTERED. It was nothing like I have read before!
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
PLOT: 5/5
It had a slow start but around the 20% mark when Arenel entered the forest I was GLUED TO THE PAGE. And the ENDING was GRIPPING and SHOCKING and has me THIRSTY FOR BOOK 2.
There were quite a few fight and training scenes in part 2. They were well written but I don't care about fight sequences or training montages so I skimmed them. During a reread I enjoyed them more because I realized there was quite a bit of fun foreshadowing and clues during those scenes that I missed. Even if it was not my cup of tea it all seemed very deliberate and intentional.
There was also a lot of relationship development in those 'unnecessary' scenes that I loved! I am a sucker for hanging around with characters and I am glad that after some fast paced sequences we got to see them unwind and chill (and fight and banter lol). There were small parts of this that had an almost cozy fantasy vibe amidst all the danger and action and intensity. My favorite scene was the Aina and Arenel rock scene because the thematic messaging and foreshadowing was just brilliant in that one.
Coming to themes, this book EXCELLED THEMATICALLY. It melded together so many themes about religious brainwashing, societal oppression, privilege, nurture versus nature but without being literal or in your face about it.
My main complaint is a COUPLE STUPID DECISIONMAKING moments by a couple characters in the last part. But it did feel justifiable and very in character for them, only that I was mad at them for doing what they did. At least it was not without dire consequence...
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
CHARACTERS: 5/5
LIKEABLE and WELL MOTIVATED characters. Some of them read a bit tropey at first but Vora QUICKLY OVERTURNS THE TROPES to give unique characters with strong motivations and STRONG and UNEXPECTED CHARACTER arcs. Also the VILLAINS WERE DOWNRIGHT AMAZING and you could both root for them and understand them while finding them loathsome in some ways.
My favorite character was by and large Zenyra who was SO CHARISMATIC each time she was on the page. I need to know more about her motivations and backstory because her conversation with a certain man in the last section made me think there is a lot more history the author is hinting at that is yet to be explored!
From the 3 POV characters I liked Meizan the best (I am a simple girl and I love bad boys). I loved how no nonsense he was especially as a foil to Aranel.
Aina was good too. I enjoyed that she did not go your typical YA heroine route of getting super strong super fast and destroying everything in her path. She almost had a reverse arc where she started out strong and sassy but ended an absolute wreck which was unexpected for me but also made sense in the context of the chain of trauma and betrayals she endured. I think I will be mad if she does not go all out vengeance-is-mine in a sequal but I also think she is being set up for that so I am hopeful. I need her to get her mojo back and wreck some bitches in book 2.
Lastly we come to Arenel. Ah, Arenel. I hate him but simultaneously empathize with him. I thought he was excellently written and probably very deliberate the author made him the one white main character whereas the other two seemed coded as some kind of fantasy Asian. I read him as someone who is part brainwashed religious extremist and part privileged kid who wants to improve the world but has no sense or idea how to do it. He also did try to get better and ultimately he failed, and ended up doing more harm than he ever intended. I appreciated how weak and gullible he was and how he always needed another person to latch onto and follow. I loved how much Aina and Meizan called him out for his constant bullshit. I loved every scene in which he whined and cried and suffered. I wonder if he is being set up as a secondary villain because that is an arc I would like to see his story take instead of a redemption arc.
I want to add here that I think there is a difference between badly written characters and those written to be unlikeable on purpose. I have seen reviewers call these characters badly written which seems like a disservice because on both my readings everything seemed well thought out, and their motivations made sense given their backgrounds and upbringings (Aina and Meizan were orphans both of whom likely underwent some abuse while Arenal was privileged and sheltered but also a victim of religious brainwashing). Their perspectives and actions serve as foils to one another and offer realistic insight in how different people might deal with the same situation in a different way.
I guess if you prefer simple and straightforward characters with more forward and positive arcs, this book might not suit you because there is a lot of moral ambiguity and I feel at least one of these three are being set up as potential villains.
(On another note I have also seen reviewers say they love Arenal which baffles me because he is not lovable and I do not think he was written to be. But what do I know? Maybe insecure whiny brainwashed boys are their type?)
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
ROMANCE: ?????
There really is not much of this. The author focused a lot more on friendship. And the FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE MAIN CAST was WONDERFUL to observe and my favorite part of the novel because underneath their banter and insults you can see they clearly grow to care for each other and IT DID NOT FEEL UNEARNED OR RUSHED like many YA relationships.
I also enjoyed that the fights and conflict were caused by beliefs so close to their heart which made it even more poignant.
EDIT TO ADD that some reviewers are picking up on gay vibes here and think that there is going to be some enemies-to-lovers romance between Arenel and Meizan?! I feel so stupid because I love sapphic and gay fantasy but I did not pick up the gay at all during my first reading! But during a second read I was paying more attention and saw all the hints (at least from Arenel who was SO obvious all along) and now I am SO conflicted!
Because at first I thought we were getting an icky unbalanced rich boy meets poor girl romance situation with Arenel and Aina. And then I was relieved that at the end she quickly got over him after realizing he was a manipulative dick and it did not even progress beyond a crush. (I wish we had more of that in YA fantasy where girl likes toxic boy but soon realizes she deserves better and moves on BEFORE getting into a relationship or letting him take advantage of her. It could send a good message to teenagers).
At this point I did sort of ship Aina with Meizan. It felt like we would have a tame ACOTAR type situation of naive Aina going for golden-haired, gentle-mannered Tamlin-adjacent Arenel first and then realizing that dark-haired, assholish Rhysand-adjacent Meizan was the one for her.
But I was way off with that reading because apparently Arenel is gay (perhaps bi but he reads gay) and I am an absolute ghoul for somehow missing it?! It is almost comical now when I think of Aina pining after a guy she has no chances with, but thankfully she found other reasons to get over him.
So now I am confused because Arenel and Meizan could be the ship? Which is hot and everything my queer heart wants BUT also I hope it's not queerbait or people overanalyzing things. I kind of doubt the latter because the author has been so deliberate in the worldbuilding and other elements that I can't help but feel it was intentional.
But none of the marketing mentions a romance so what if the author is being ambiguous on purpose? Maybe she will end this with no couples and I would hate that so much but I guess I have to wait for the sequal to find out. Anyways at this point I am putting N/A for romance because there wasn't much of it and it's extremely unclear what the intended pairings are going to be. I could come back and change this to a 5 or a 1 depending on the sequal.
⛩️🌀🪷🦚
Saw Rosaria Munda talking about this book a couple times on her IG and it made me VERY CURIOUS. I read a first impression online and was PLEASANTLY surprised by the RICH world building, a UNIQUE magic system, and characters with interesting motivations. I am 100% HERE for the underlying philosophical themes. HOWEVER it features a made up religion with many gods and ways of thinking and I struggle to buy into that. Fantasy religions are a HIT OR MISS and it remains to be seen whether Vora has the writing chops to pull this one off. Mixing religions is also problematic and I worry this book will stray into offensive territory if the author has not done proper research.
EDIT TO ADD that the author wrote a post about the inspirations behind the magic system and religion and it all seems rooted in Hinduism. I honestly had no idea there were polytheistic religions with multiple spiritual paths but apparently that is a real thing and Vora isn't just pulling it out of her ass. APOLOGIES for my ignorance. I have just been burned by under researched YA with authors doing what they want just for the sake of so-called creativity.
May 10, 2024
Something unusual for a YA fantasy novel- Spin of Fate has a hard magic system with complex world-building, and focuses heavily on philosophical ideas about morality.
Based loosely on the law of karma, the world is separated into four segments based on the "spin" of a persons soul and how moral they are. We spend most of the book in the two middle spaces with a cast of morally gray, well-developed characters. There are rebels, corruption, mythical beasts, and a girl who is trying to reverse the spin of her soul to descend back to her mother.
What's interesting about this is how it explores big philosophical questions. Like should children be held accountable for the sins of their parents? How much are they impacted by the circumstances they are born into? Do good intentions justify questionable actions? Is it okay to do immoral things for the greater good? Do we follow the letter of the law or the spirit of the law? Is violence ever justified? Can pacifism become its own sort of violence? I don't know that we get clear answers to any of this, but the interplay of the characters and the plot hold them in tension. Which is cool for a YA fantasy book.
I will say, as someone who is less of an action-driven reader, there were times that this dragged for me. And sometimes the details of the magic system were over-explained. But overall, it's an impressive debut and I'm interested to see what happens next. I received a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own.
Based loosely on the law of karma, the world is separated into four segments based on the "spin" of a persons soul and how moral they are. We spend most of the book in the two middle spaces with a cast of morally gray, well-developed characters. There are rebels, corruption, mythical beasts, and a girl who is trying to reverse the spin of her soul to descend back to her mother.
What's interesting about this is how it explores big philosophical questions. Like should children be held accountable for the sins of their parents? How much are they impacted by the circumstances they are born into? Do good intentions justify questionable actions? Is it okay to do immoral things for the greater good? Do we follow the letter of the law or the spirit of the law? Is violence ever justified? Can pacifism become its own sort of violence? I don't know that we get clear answers to any of this, but the interplay of the characters and the plot hold them in tension. Which is cool for a YA fantasy book.
I will say, as someone who is less of an action-driven reader, there were times that this dragged for me. And sometimes the details of the magic system were over-explained. But overall, it's an impressive debut and I'm interested to see what happens next. I received a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own.
May 6, 2024
I will say the world building of this book was excellent even if I didn’t enjoy the theme of the world. It felt like we were looking at layers of limbo/heaven/hell with the focus on descending and ascending to different realms and no one able to die. I think I was ok with that, especially since it is a creative idea, but I wanted more from the story and that theme was the whole book and there was little to nothing else. I thought the bits of romance were poorly done and I would have liked the story more without them. I also struggled in that there were no characters in this book that I liked or wanted to succeed. Even when one of the characters appeared to have grown or learned they fell right back into their assigned archetype role and had to start over with the trying to learn and grow. That being said the book wasn’t bad, and I am curious what happens in the next book,, but if I find the sequel I’ll read it, but it won’t be one I’ll be desperately searching for.
The world was once all one. After a war that threatened to destroy the world, it was split into four realms two for evil and negativity that are full of suffering and violence and two for good that are full of abundance and joy. It is impossible to leave your realm to go up to a better one unless your soul starts to spin another way. Aina and her mother have always been alone and while her mother isn’t kind she is all that she has and she keeps her safe. Until a monster attacks and a flash of white appears and Aina is being pulled up and ascending realms. Despite her reluctance her mother pushes her to go and once she is there she is determined to tarnish her soul so she can return and find her mother.
The world was once all one. After a war that threatened to destroy the world, it was split into four realms two for evil and negativity that are full of suffering and violence and two for good that are full of abundance and joy. It is impossible to leave your realm to go up to a better one unless your soul starts to spin another way. Aina and her mother have always been alone and while her mother isn’t kind she is all that she has and she keeps her safe. Until a monster attacks and a flash of white appears and Aina is being pulled up and ascending realms. Despite her reluctance her mother pushes her to go and once she is there she is determined to tarnish her soul so she can return and find her mother.
May 23, 2024
Spin of Fate
by A.A. Vora
The Fifth Realm #1
YA Fantasy
NetGalley eARC
Penguin Group
Pub Date: May 7, 2024
Ages: 16+
Toranic Law decides who lives in which realm, who suffers war and pain, and who lives in luxury, but if one commits a sin they can fall down to the next realm and even down to the last, but those who are sinful, but begin to do good deeds can, but rarely, ascend to one of the upper realms.
Aina, who lives in the lower realm ascends but she wants to go back to find her mother and commits petty crimes hoping one of them will send her back down. Finding the Balancers, rebels who are trying to make the lives of those in the lower realms better, she descends with them.
Aranel, who lives in the shadow of his perfect older brother has crossed paths with Aina and is puzzled why she wants to descend. But in his attempt to ascend to the high realm after his brother ascends to be with their parents, Aranel accepts a mission to spy on the lower realm.
And there's Meizan, a young man of the lower realm, second of his clan who he is trying to save.
This book started off decent, but I got bored. There's a lot of 'religion/rich vs poor' in this book, heaven, hell, and the in between, and how the struggles of the lower realms reflect the real world. And while the book was good, I don't feel as if there was enough about the magic, which I thought was an interesting take, but lacked detail.
What made the book disappointing was a mix between the blurb and the book cover. The magnificent beasts were only mentioned, and those that were centered were similar to monkeys and/or lacked the description needed to make them grab my attention. The buried gods were also only mentioned, and the magic needs more depth. Yes, there were battles but they were hidden under the teenage drama of the three MCs.
More world/magic/creature building is needed as is some maturity to these characters except for Aranel, he's spoiled upper so his characterization fits.
Doubtful I'll continue the series.
2 Stars
by A.A. Vora
The Fifth Realm #1
YA Fantasy
NetGalley eARC
Penguin Group
Pub Date: May 7, 2024
Ages: 16+
Toranic Law decides who lives in which realm, who suffers war and pain, and who lives in luxury, but if one commits a sin they can fall down to the next realm and even down to the last, but those who are sinful, but begin to do good deeds can, but rarely, ascend to one of the upper realms.
Aina, who lives in the lower realm ascends but she wants to go back to find her mother and commits petty crimes hoping one of them will send her back down. Finding the Balancers, rebels who are trying to make the lives of those in the lower realms better, she descends with them.
Aranel, who lives in the shadow of his perfect older brother has crossed paths with Aina and is puzzled why she wants to descend. But in his attempt to ascend to the high realm after his brother ascends to be with their parents, Aranel accepts a mission to spy on the lower realm.
And there's Meizan, a young man of the lower realm, second of his clan who he is trying to save.
This book started off decent, but I got bored. There's a lot of 'religion/rich vs poor' in this book, heaven, hell, and the in between, and how the struggles of the lower realms reflect the real world. And while the book was good, I don't feel as if there was enough about the magic, which I thought was an interesting take, but lacked detail.
What made the book disappointing was a mix between the blurb and the book cover. The magnificent beasts were only mentioned, and those that were centered were similar to monkeys and/or lacked the description needed to make them grab my attention. The buried gods were also only mentioned, and the magic needs more depth. Yes, there were battles but they were hidden under the teenage drama of the three MCs.
More world/magic/creature building is needed as is some maturity to these characters except for Aranel, he's spoiled upper so his characterization fits.
Doubtful I'll continue the series.
2 Stars
January 6, 2024
What a breath of fresh air it is to find a fantasy series that doesn’t rely on all the booktok tropes to carry its plot 😭 DON’T get me wrong, I love a trope filled story as much as the next person but it’s nice to find these gems that don’t feel like they’re just ticking a checklist of plot points for TT.
Minor Spoilers ahead
Meizan was my absolute fave character with his loyalty to his crew and his inner monologue about his own morality, but I suspect come book 2 I might be swayed to care more for Aranel… 👀
Overall you can expect:
✅ complex and unique magic system. It definitely took me a minute to wrap my head around toranic law and the chitronic system and once I did things became much easier to follow!
✅ complex and unique WORLD, four realms separated from one another seemingly based on people’s morality and “goodness”
✅ well developed morally grey characters who each have very different voices and who have such questionable motives and actions you will be umming and ahhing about who you should or shouldn’t side with.
✅ training arcs and rebellion groups
✅ magical beasts that I’m hoping we learn more about in the next books!
This would be perfect for fans of Brandon Sanderson or Christopher Paolini.
Minor Spoilers ahead
Meizan was my absolute fave character with his loyalty to his crew and his inner monologue about his own morality, but I suspect come book 2 I might be swayed to care more for Aranel… 👀
Overall you can expect:
✅ complex and unique magic system. It definitely took me a minute to wrap my head around toranic law and the chitronic system and once I did things became much easier to follow!
✅ complex and unique WORLD, four realms separated from one another seemingly based on people’s morality and “goodness”
✅ well developed morally grey characters who each have very different voices and who have such questionable motives and actions you will be umming and ahhing about who you should or shouldn’t side with.
✅ training arcs and rebellion groups
✅ magical beasts that I’m hoping we learn more about in the next books!
This would be perfect for fans of Brandon Sanderson or Christopher Paolini.
June 23, 2024
2.5 stars
non-spoiler: this was a 5-star read until those last 30 pages because wtf??? that pissed me off. all of that build-up only to end back at square one!? these characters have so much depth and complexity to them, yet they still manage to be one-dimensional and gullible at the same time. they had very specific upbringings that would get called into question and they'd repeatedly get duped into believing something else which was fine because it made sense in the moment but there was nothing to account for when it happened in the last 30 pages. don't get me wrong: i love this world, i love the magic system, and i enjoyed the team dynamics. i even used the website explaining the magic system to read more about the world and help me understand it better during my reading journey because i was so invested. the book reads more like a 'new adult' novel with how violent and gory it is but the characters themselves read like 'young adult'. when she said she took inspiration from naruto, i definitely see the similarities. the character development was so good until the last stretch that hit “undo” on much of the progress that was made. everyone has mommy issues that never get resolved and the only main character who made the most sense was meizan; i really liked him. at certain points, i liked the other two main characters more than i liked him but by the end of the novel they hadn’t matured in a meaningful way. anyway, it's 1am and i have more coherent thoughts than this. i might update this again when i'm not sleepy and angry.
spoiler review:
audiobook rating: negative stars
i gave up on the audiobook at 30%. simon vance is talented in his own right, but this white british man was not the one to narrate spin of fate and he shouldn't have been asked to perform this. my guy was struggling through every pronunciation; he'd pronounce a name one way and then change it the next chapter or page. one of the main character's names is "aina" and he couldn't decide whether to say "ehh-na" or "eye-nuh." it was like that the whole time. i laughed in horror because the dude sounded like he was speaking simlish at times. he gave one of the main characters his idea of an indian accent, and vance and i aren’t south asian, but it rubbed me the wrong way. it got me thinking, "did someone tell him to do that? is he doing it on purpose?" because it sounded like he was making fun of asian names and accents. growing up asian in america, that shit was hurtful and it was "nails on a chalkboard"-bad hearing this white man put that kind of negative energy into this indian-japanese high fantasy novel. it's the lack of care that makes me cringe because this project could have propelled the career of a south asian or east asian talent, especially given that the author is an indian-japanese woman (her nationality is japanese) who based her world in both cultures. severely missed opportunity to give this project to an asian performer who would have done this justice. the narration is awful. please read it physically or on ebook if possible.
----
this is a novel i'm most stoked for this year and it's coming just in time for the asian readathon. i've been following this author for quite some time and just wanted to make future readers aware that the first edition hardcover does contain errors. sentences were accidentally deleted from a pivotal fight scene in chapter 27 that confuses the hard magic system vora painstakingly put together. click here for her post about it; it contains non-spoiler and blocked out spoilery descriptions as well as the sentences omitted. if you want to know what to expect or want to watch it after you read the book, a.a. vora also did an interview with rachel and lou here that gives readers more insight into her thoughts and background.
non-spoiler: this was a 5-star read until those last 30 pages because wtf??? that pissed me off. all of that build-up only to end back at square one!? these characters have so much depth and complexity to them, yet they still manage to be one-dimensional and gullible at the same time. they had very specific upbringings that would get called into question and they'd repeatedly get duped into believing something else which was fine because it made sense in the moment but there was nothing to account for when it happened in the last 30 pages. don't get me wrong: i love this world, i love the magic system, and i enjoyed the team dynamics. i even used the website explaining the magic system to read more about the world and help me understand it better during my reading journey because i was so invested. the book reads more like a 'new adult' novel with how violent and gory it is but the characters themselves read like 'young adult'. when she said she took inspiration from naruto, i definitely see the similarities. the character development was so good until the last stretch that hit “undo” on much of the progress that was made. everyone has mommy issues that never get resolved and the only main character who made the most sense was meizan; i really liked him. at certain points, i liked the other two main characters more than i liked him but by the end of the novel they hadn’t matured in a meaningful way. anyway, it's 1am and i have more coherent thoughts than this. i might update this again when i'm not sleepy and angry.
spoiler review:
audiobook rating: negative stars
i gave up on the audiobook at 30%. simon vance is talented in his own right, but this white british man was not the one to narrate spin of fate and he shouldn't have been asked to perform this. my guy was struggling through every pronunciation; he'd pronounce a name one way and then change it the next chapter or page. one of the main character's names is "aina" and he couldn't decide whether to say "ehh-na" or "eye-nuh." it was like that the whole time. i laughed in horror because the dude sounded like he was speaking simlish at times. he gave one of the main characters his idea of an indian accent, and vance and i aren’t south asian, but it rubbed me the wrong way. it got me thinking, "did someone tell him to do that? is he doing it on purpose?" because it sounded like he was making fun of asian names and accents. growing up asian in america, that shit was hurtful and it was "nails on a chalkboard"-bad hearing this white man put that kind of negative energy into this indian-japanese high fantasy novel. it's the lack of care that makes me cringe because this project could have propelled the career of a south asian or east asian talent, especially given that the author is an indian-japanese woman (her nationality is japanese) who based her world in both cultures. severely missed opportunity to give this project to an asian performer who would have done this justice. the narration is awful. please read it physically or on ebook if possible.
----
this is a novel i'm most stoked for this year and it's coming just in time for the asian readathon. i've been following this author for quite some time and just wanted to make future readers aware that the first edition hardcover does contain errors. sentences were accidentally deleted from a pivotal fight scene in chapter 27 that confuses the hard magic system vora painstakingly put together. click here for her post about it; it contains non-spoiler and blocked out spoilery descriptions as well as the sentences omitted. if you want to know what to expect or want to watch it after you read the book, a.a. vora also did an interview with rachel and lou here that gives readers more insight into her thoughts and background.
October 23, 2023
Now this is a book that kind of broke my brain wide open.
The character dynamics are beyond excellent, with each of their worldviews clashing to create the examination of the effects of oppression that runs throughout the book. It also makes for some wonderful tension and banter, because while this book delves deeply into its themes in a very philosophical way, it is also such a blast to read with its completely realized characters and starkly beautiful worldbuulding. There are giant, stunning creatures such a snake like peacocks and winged dolphins, with a few evil monkeys thrown in there too.
There is also a deep emotional core, one where there is such a yearning for love, and goodness, to prevail, but the result of violence and imperial forces unlock such an anger.
All of it, it is truly magnificent to behold.
The character dynamics are beyond excellent, with each of their worldviews clashing to create the examination of the effects of oppression that runs throughout the book. It also makes for some wonderful tension and banter, because while this book delves deeply into its themes in a very philosophical way, it is also such a blast to read with its completely realized characters and starkly beautiful worldbuulding. There are giant, stunning creatures such a snake like peacocks and winged dolphins, with a few evil monkeys thrown in there too.
There is also a deep emotional core, one where there is such a yearning for love, and goodness, to prevail, but the result of violence and imperial forces unlock such an anger.
All of it, it is truly magnificent to behold.
May 20, 2024
**Thank you to the author and Penguin Teen for the ARC of this title. This in no way changed my rating. I also want to thank ReadsWithRachel because she recommended I try this one out**
This book needs more hype and I will not shut up about it. The book follows three characters who are from different realms that are separated by how "good" or "sinful" you are: Paramos, the top realm for the best of the best; Mayana, the middle "good" realm; Malin, the middle "bad" realm; and Narakh, the bottom realm for the worst of the worst. The characters are named Aina, a Malini girl who ascends to Mayana, but wants to go back to Malin to save her mother; Aranel, a Mayana boy who ends up in Malin as a spy; and Meizan, a Malini boy who is separated from his clan. They all end up in a group called the Balancers, who want to equalize all the realms. But who can be trusted and who is telling the truth?
I LOVED this book. The book asks a lot of questions about whether people are born or made "good" or "sinful", what truly is "equal", and what's best for society vs. the individual. The characters are complex and have ever-shifting alliances. There's an implied polyamorous love triangle, as well. The Fantasy elements are well done and thought out. I can't wait for book 2! I am so excited to share this book with my library patrons.
5/5 stars
This book needs more hype and I will not shut up about it. The book follows three characters who are from different realms that are separated by how "good" or "sinful" you are: Paramos, the top realm for the best of the best; Mayana, the middle "good" realm; Malin, the middle "bad" realm; and Narakh, the bottom realm for the worst of the worst. The characters are named Aina, a Malini girl who ascends to Mayana, but wants to go back to Malin to save her mother; Aranel, a Mayana boy who ends up in Malin as a spy; and Meizan, a Malini boy who is separated from his clan. They all end up in a group called the Balancers, who want to equalize all the realms. But who can be trusted and who is telling the truth?
I LOVED this book. The book asks a lot of questions about whether people are born or made "good" or "sinful", what truly is "equal", and what's best for society vs. the individual. The characters are complex and have ever-shifting alliances. There's an implied polyamorous love triangle, as well. The Fantasy elements are well done and thought out. I can't wait for book 2! I am so excited to share this book with my library patrons.
5/5 stars
Want to read
January 5, 2024
An Ember in the Ashes meets The Last Airbender
... SHUT UP IM SOLD TAKE MY MONEY
and to make it even better, the author also pitched it as NARUTO x THE GOLDEN COMPASS--i mean, NARUTO???? how did i not hear abt this until now omg😭
and to make it even better, the author also pitched it as NARUTO x THE GOLDEN COMPASS--i mean, NARUTO???? how did i not hear abt this until now omg😭
July 2, 2024
4.5*
this book deserves WAYYYY more attention, this was PHENOMENAL
this book deserves WAYYYY more attention, this was PHENOMENAL
April 3, 2024
2.75 Stars
Review:
I received this book from NetGalley for review.
It's always a bummer when a book you were looking forward to reading doesn't live up to the hype.
I went into this book with very high expectations. And I wish I hadn't. The themes of this book were very heavy-handed, which makes sense for the target demographic. Kids are less likely to notice nuance. This book also read closer to middle grade than YA in my opinion.
I didn't care for any of the characters. It might have to do with the heavy-handed themes. This is the issue I have with three protagonist books that are set up this way. They are often placed in the archetype roles, and there's not much to expand on: the mouthy one, the rule follower, the angry one.
The setting was the part of this book that I was most interested in, but that can only keep me interested for so long. Neither the plot nor the characters held my interest long enough for this book to become a new favorite. This book deserved better marketing, that's for sure. I think this book does have an audience, it's just not me.
Review:
I received this book from NetGalley for review.
It's always a bummer when a book you were looking forward to reading doesn't live up to the hype.
I went into this book with very high expectations. And I wish I hadn't. The themes of this book were very heavy-handed, which makes sense for the target demographic. Kids are less likely to notice nuance. This book also read closer to middle grade than YA in my opinion.
I didn't care for any of the characters. It might have to do with the heavy-handed themes. This is the issue I have with three protagonist books that are set up this way. They are often placed in the archetype roles, and there's not much to expand on: the mouthy one, the rule follower, the angry one.
The setting was the part of this book that I was most interested in, but that can only keep me interested for so long. Neither the plot nor the characters held my interest long enough for this book to become a new favorite. This book deserved better marketing, that's for sure. I think this book does have an audience, it's just not me.
August 15, 2024
this story has:
- an incredibly interesting setting with well-crafted world-building
- diverse and fully-fleshed out characters that feel unique and realistic
- a layered plot that reflects real life with a digestible and enchanting magic system
- a complex, nuanced discussion of 'religion/faith', good vs. bad, and the many ways those perceptions can be twisted to manipulate and control people
- a budding slow-burn romance that could go in multiple directions, but currently leans toward an m/m pairing between two social opposites that can barely stand each other in the beginning (dying to see how they develop tbh)
- important discussions on loyalty, family, oppression, and love
I was hooked from the first chapter - there was no question on whether or not I was going to read and finish this book from the second I was introduced to it. admittedly for me the momentum slowed down a bit around pg.100-150, but the magic system and world exploration kept me intrigued and was the strongest driving force for the first half of the book. characters and their (relatable) arcs picked up a lot more around the halfway point, then both elements carried equally through to the end. I blew through the last 200 pages within a couple days despite being in a slump.
my favorite part was how I grew to love the characters. there was a distinct moment where I noticed I wasn't invested in the slightest, then it flipped and I felt the complete opposite. While I'd been enthralled with the world from the very beginning, watching that morph into a devotion and care for every other moving piece felt like falling in love. each character faced their shit and changed in varying ways, despite often falling back into comfortable habits (again, extremely realistic) which just endeared me to them more.
the plot wasn't necessarily too surprising, but it brought up a lot of important questions about good & evil & the overlap, about how a 'religion' can be both real and crafted in nuanced ways, the way violence and "sin" don't always equal malevolence, how someone fighting for change may still teeter the balance between good & bad depending on the perspective, and how the 'bad' shouldn't always be considered bad. for a YA book, it tackled a lot of important worldly discussions in a very grounded way. it even evaluated motherhood, and that specific point of discussion and what it conveyed really resonated with me. everything was well-written too, omitting a couple repeated phrases or small typos, but overall the world was strikingly vivid and the word choice always hammered that in.
it wasn't a perfect book, few can be, but it was worth the time and attention, and worth getting deeply invested in a series that has barely even started. can't wait for the next installment. 🙌
- an incredibly interesting setting with well-crafted world-building
- diverse and fully-fleshed out characters that feel unique and realistic
- a layered plot that reflects real life with a digestible and enchanting magic system
- a complex, nuanced discussion of 'religion/faith', good vs. bad, and the many ways those perceptions can be twisted to manipulate and control people
- a budding slow-burn romance that could go in multiple directions, but currently leans toward an m/m pairing between two social opposites that can barely stand each other in the beginning (dying to see how they develop tbh)
- important discussions on loyalty, family, oppression, and love
I was hooked from the first chapter - there was no question on whether or not I was going to read and finish this book from the second I was introduced to it. admittedly for me the momentum slowed down a bit around pg.100-150, but the magic system and world exploration kept me intrigued and was the strongest driving force for the first half of the book. characters and their (relatable) arcs picked up a lot more around the halfway point, then both elements carried equally through to the end. I blew through the last 200 pages within a couple days despite being in a slump.
my favorite part was how I grew to love the characters. there was a distinct moment where I noticed I wasn't invested in the slightest, then it flipped and I felt the complete opposite. While I'd been enthralled with the world from the very beginning, watching that morph into a devotion and care for every other moving piece felt like falling in love. each character faced their shit and changed in varying ways, despite often falling back into comfortable habits (again, extremely realistic) which just endeared me to them more.
the plot wasn't necessarily too surprising, but it brought up a lot of important questions about good & evil & the overlap, about how a 'religion' can be both real and crafted in nuanced ways, the way violence and "sin" don't always equal malevolence, how someone fighting for change may still teeter the balance between good & bad depending on the perspective, and how the 'bad' shouldn't always be considered bad. for a YA book, it tackled a lot of important worldly discussions in a very grounded way. it even evaluated motherhood, and that specific point of discussion and what it conveyed really resonated with me. everything was well-written too, omitting a couple repeated phrases or small typos, but overall the world was strikingly vivid and the word choice always hammered that in.
it wasn't a perfect book, few can be, but it was worth the time and attention, and worth getting deeply invested in a series that has barely even started. can't wait for the next installment. 🙌
June 5, 2024
"You don't respect Toranic Law, Aranel. You fear it. You live your life in fear of how it will judge your soul and let that fear control your every action."
TW: abandonment, abuse, animal cruelty, animal death, assault , blood, body horror, child abuse, child death, classism, cursing, death, death of a loved one, emotional abuse, excrement, fire/fire injury, gore, grief, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content, medical trauma, murder, physical abuse, religious bigotry, torture, violence, vomit.
In this house we love books with overtones of religious deconstruction, moral ambiguity, and unique world-building.
I've been really struggling to read lately so the fact this book held my attention (especially with the sometimes wordy descriptions and training sequences) is a feat all on its own. It's been awhile since I've read a YA book with a world this unique or a magic system that's so developed. You could really feel the author's care and the time she put into this book on every page, which was definitely special.
I will say: if you're someone that struggles to read YA due to predictability and immature characters, this is probably not for you. I didn't mind the predictability much because I find a lot of books predictable, but even as someone that reads a lot of YA and doesn't mind the characters reading younger... I was struggling.
Some of this comes from the attempts to show their divided loyalties and how feelings can change with new information, but it often just left the characters feeling extremely gullible, dramatic, and fickle. Which is fair, as one of them is fifteen throughout most of the book. That still might be a struggle for some readers, which is why I'm mentioning it. It got to the point where I got irritated at every decision the characters made, instead of empathizing with them. (I do think this will improve as the series progresses!)
Other than that, I really did have a great time with this. I love the discussions of morality and the implications of trying to reshape a system that's so intrinsically flawed, as well as the consequences of dismantling it. I loved the creatures and I hope to see them more as the series continues. I enjoyed the discussions on nurture vs. nature, evil as a concept, and what it means to be 'good'.
I also really look forward to seeing where the story goes after that ending.
Overall, even with its flaws (which were honestly minimal, especially for a debut) I would recommend this. Especially to people looking for something familiar and entirely unique at once, but maybe not to people that expect YA books to read like adult fantasy lol.
TW: abandonment, abuse, animal cruelty, animal death, assault , blood, body horror, child abuse, child death, classism, cursing, death, death of a loved one, emotional abuse, excrement, fire/fire injury, gore, grief, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, medical content, medical trauma, murder, physical abuse, religious bigotry, torture, violence, vomit.
In this house we love books with overtones of religious deconstruction, moral ambiguity, and unique world-building.
I've been really struggling to read lately so the fact this book held my attention (especially with the sometimes wordy descriptions and training sequences) is a feat all on its own. It's been awhile since I've read a YA book with a world this unique or a magic system that's so developed. You could really feel the author's care and the time she put into this book on every page, which was definitely special.
I will say: if you're someone that struggles to read YA due to predictability and immature characters, this is probably not for you. I didn't mind the predictability much because I find a lot of books predictable, but even as someone that reads a lot of YA and doesn't mind the characters reading younger... I was struggling.
Some of this comes from the attempts to show their divided loyalties and how feelings can change with new information, but it often just left the characters feeling extremely gullible, dramatic, and fickle. Which is fair, as one of them is fifteen throughout most of the book. That still might be a struggle for some readers, which is why I'm mentioning it. It got to the point where I got irritated at every decision the characters made, instead of empathizing with them. (I do think this will improve as the series progresses!)
Other than that, I really did have a great time with this. I love the discussions of morality and the implications of trying to reshape a system that's so intrinsically flawed, as well as the consequences of dismantling it. I loved the creatures and I hope to see them more as the series continues. I enjoyed the discussions on nurture vs. nature, evil as a concept, and what it means to be 'good'.
I also really look forward to seeing where the story goes after that ending.
Overall, even with its flaws (which were honestly minimal, especially for a debut) I would recommend this. Especially to people looking for something familiar and entirely unique at once, but maybe not to people that expect YA books to read like adult fantasy lol.
August 18, 2024
4 stars.
This is a very thought-provoking and imaginative YA novel. It tackles themes such as are people born evil? How can one support a society that is structured around the innate goodness or badness of people from the moment they are born? It takes the familiar trope of rising against the empire, but in this case the empire is the very foundation of society as a whole. It has a fun almost chi-based magic system, and a breakneck pace. The one thing that held this one back slightly for me is I never really connected with any of the characters, they remained just fine through out for me.
Thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a very thought-provoking and imaginative YA novel. It tackles themes such as are people born evil? How can one support a society that is structured around the innate goodness or badness of people from the moment they are born? It takes the familiar trope of rising against the empire, but in this case the empire is the very foundation of society as a whole. It has a fun almost chi-based magic system, and a breakneck pace. The one thing that held this one back slightly for me is I never really connected with any of the characters, they remained just fine through out for me.
Thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 28, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up.
This was a great start to a new YA fantasy series!
I would've loved to bump this up to 4 stars, but the really long training sequence lost me. As an RPG player, I wasn't really blown away by the hard magic system. (Maybe it's a lot more impressive for casual fantasy readers and non-gamers?)
But I did appreciate how much thought was put into the magic system. Unlike your typical fantasy books, the characters did have limits to their powers and they felt human (or as realistic as you can portray magic) without being overpowered to all hell. Which is definitely a thing I hate with Chosen One tropes in YA fantasy.
I really liked the concept of realms/worlds, the magic/religion and the how each realm had their ideas of being a "good" person vs. "bad" person. I'm interested to see how the author plays this out.
This was one of those novels where I ended up liking all three MCs. They all brought different viewpoints and personalities to their shared quest. Strangely, I didn't outright hate Aranel. And I usually dislike poor little rich kid characters.
I'll be sure to keep an eye on this author's journey!
Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this arc.
This was a great start to a new YA fantasy series!
I would've loved to bump this up to 4 stars, but the really long training sequence lost me. As an RPG player, I wasn't really blown away by the hard magic system. (Maybe it's a lot more impressive for casual fantasy readers and non-gamers?)
But I did appreciate how much thought was put into the magic system. Unlike your typical fantasy books, the characters did have limits to their powers and they felt human (or as realistic as you can portray magic) without being overpowered to all hell. Which is definitely a thing I hate with Chosen One tropes in YA fantasy.
I really liked the concept of realms/worlds, the magic/religion and the how each realm had their ideas of being a "good" person vs. "bad" person. I'm interested to see how the author plays this out.
This was one of those novels where I ended up liking all three MCs. They all brought different viewpoints and personalities to their shared quest. Strangely, I didn't outright hate Aranel. And I usually dislike poor little rich kid characters.
I'll be sure to keep an eye on this author's journey!
Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this arc.
Shelved as 'tbr-fantasy-slash-adventure'
March 31, 2023If Rosaria Munda tells me to read something, then I will 100% read it no questions asked
February 4, 2024
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
This book was unlike any other fantasy book I’ve ever read, and that sucked me in immediately. It was a breath of fresh air from the plots I feel like I often read over and over. There was a ton of really technical fantasy language that got lost on me after a while, but I was able to keep up with the story for the most part. It was fun and engaging! If you think you would enjoy Buddhist undertones in a fantasy book, I highly recommend this one!
This book was unlike any other fantasy book I’ve ever read, and that sucked me in immediately. It was a breath of fresh air from the plots I feel like I often read over and over. There was a ton of really technical fantasy language that got lost on me after a while, but I was able to keep up with the story for the most part. It was fun and engaging! If you think you would enjoy Buddhist undertones in a fantasy book, I highly recommend this one!
May 8, 2024
I genuinely can't remember the time I enjoyed reading a new fantasy book this much. I had so much fun with it, especially with trying (and partially failing) to predict what was going to happen both with the plot and the characters. I guessed right about some of the relationships and I was so happy about that hehe.
I will try my best not to spoil anything in the rest of the text, BUT YALL this is my favorite read this year so far. It was so incredibly good and I need, NEED you to give it a chance! And I need more people to fangirl with about it!
The worldbuilding is rich, but we're never given too much information and it doesn't suffocate the story. It shapes it exactly the way it should.
What's also as rich as worldbuilding is the language and author's writing style. The language is archaic but very arriculate and clear, and perfectly conveys both emotions and descriptions. There is also a part, at the very end of the book, where you can learn more about the language and nomenclature, which is an absolutely amazing idea and adds up to both character depth and worldbuilding.
Our three main characters have such distinct voices, we can immediately tell whose point of view we're reading about without seeing any names. PoV's are also very thoughtfully placed to further the story and reveal information in the best way possible. I loved the ways Aina's, Azarel's and Meizan's fates intertwined and how their relationships developed throughout the book. Honestly can't wait to see what happens with all of them in the next installments.
When I first started reading and saw the character art, I was convinced that Meizan would be my favorite. Now that I finished the book I definitely love him, but I couldn't pick just one of our main characters. Each of them has such interesting and different life stories, traits, flaws, and each of them definitely deserves a long nice hug for everything they've been through.
What I also loved were the many moral dilemmas characters had to face because of their upbringing, beliefs and Toranic Law, how they responded to them and acted on them. How they faced the consequences, both good and bad.
Even though the book ended in a kind of a cliffhanger and raised new questions, it still felt as though almost every question we had from page one was answered by the last page. A full circle.
The whole book felt very polished and it's obvious that a lot of work and love and care were put into it. I'm so happy and grateful to have been able to read it before it's date of publication.
I was so lucky to be contacted and gifted an early copy of the book by the author herself a few moon's ago (😁), and I can't thank her enough for introducing me to her world and characters.
I'm definitely a new fan and I'm so, so looking forward to seeing what comes next in this series.
Disclaimer: Even though this book was gifted to me, my opinion was not in any way influenced by that. My thoughts and opinions are my own and I stand by them.
I will try my best not to spoil anything in the rest of the text, BUT YALL this is my favorite read this year so far. It was so incredibly good and I need, NEED you to give it a chance! And I need more people to fangirl with about it!
The worldbuilding is rich, but we're never given too much information and it doesn't suffocate the story. It shapes it exactly the way it should.
What's also as rich as worldbuilding is the language and author's writing style. The language is archaic but very arriculate and clear, and perfectly conveys both emotions and descriptions. There is also a part, at the very end of the book, where you can learn more about the language and nomenclature, which is an absolutely amazing idea and adds up to both character depth and worldbuilding.
Our three main characters have such distinct voices, we can immediately tell whose point of view we're reading about without seeing any names. PoV's are also very thoughtfully placed to further the story and reveal information in the best way possible. I loved the ways Aina's, Azarel's and Meizan's fates intertwined and how their relationships developed throughout the book. Honestly can't wait to see what happens with all of them in the next installments.
When I first started reading and saw the character art, I was convinced that Meizan would be my favorite. Now that I finished the book I definitely love him, but I couldn't pick just one of our main characters. Each of them has such interesting and different life stories, traits, flaws, and each of them definitely deserves a long nice hug for everything they've been through.
What I also loved were the many moral dilemmas characters had to face because of their upbringing, beliefs and Toranic Law, how they responded to them and acted on them. How they faced the consequences, both good and bad.
Even though the book ended in a kind of a cliffhanger and raised new questions, it still felt as though almost every question we had from page one was answered by the last page. A full circle.
The whole book felt very polished and it's obvious that a lot of work and love and care were put into it. I'm so happy and grateful to have been able to read it before it's date of publication.
I was so lucky to be contacted and gifted an early copy of the book by the author herself a few moon's ago (😁), and I can't thank her enough for introducing me to her world and characters.
I'm definitely a new fan and I'm so, so looking forward to seeing what comes next in this series.
Disclaimer: Even though this book was gifted to me, my opinion was not in any way influenced by that. My thoughts and opinions are my own and I stand by them.
April 15, 2024
Det här är en lite annorlunda fantasybok. Världsbygget är intressant uppbyggt, världen består av fyra olika dimensioner som bara har kontakt via olika portaler. Dock begränsas man att ta sig mellan dem beroende på vilket håll och hur snabbt ens själ snurrar. I den översta dimensionen är de vars själ är godast och ljusast, i den understa de som har de mörkaste själarna. Beroende på hur man lever så kan man ändra hastighet och håll på själen och på så vis få komma högre upp eller falla längre ner.
Vi får följa tre olika perspektiv, det är tre unga människor med helt olika förutsättningar och levnadsvillkor. De hamnar alla i Malin som är den näst lägsta dimensionen. Där får de kämpa för sin överlevnad och utmanas i sina tankar kring vad som är rätt och fel, vad som är rättvist eller orättvist. Det är inte helt tydligt vem eller vad som är fienden och om det goda alltid är gott. Karaktärerna förändras och utvecklas genom boken.
Jag tyckte mycket om den här boken, speciellt att vi fick följa olika karaktärer och idén om att bygga världen på fyra separata dimensioner med så olika livsvillkor. Ser fram emot att läsa nästa del i den här serien!
Vi får följa tre olika perspektiv, det är tre unga människor med helt olika förutsättningar och levnadsvillkor. De hamnar alla i Malin som är den näst lägsta dimensionen. Där får de kämpa för sin överlevnad och utmanas i sina tankar kring vad som är rätt och fel, vad som är rättvist eller orättvist. Det är inte helt tydligt vem eller vad som är fienden och om det goda alltid är gott. Karaktärerna förändras och utvecklas genom boken.
Jag tyckte mycket om den här boken, speciellt att vi fick följa olika karaktärer och idén om att bygga världen på fyra separata dimensioner med så olika livsvillkor. Ser fram emot att läsa nästa del i den här serien!
Shelved as 'dnf'
June 14, 2024dnf at 30%, kind of boring but i will try again soon
July 3, 2024
Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I was drawn in by the author’s Naruto comp, and honestly I’m glad I picked this up because it was very fun and well crafted. The world building was very thought out and, in combination with the characters and philosophical tensions, made for an extremely compelling read. I will admit that it did require more brain power than I had been expecting, but that’s fine. Vora has written a wonderfully complex story and it was a delight to read. I do think I could’ve gone for more information on the magical beasts, but I’ll just hope that that aspect of the world gets developed in the next book. Regardless, I’m eager to continue the series and I definitely think I’ll have a blast rereading this one.
I was drawn in by the author’s Naruto comp, and honestly I’m glad I picked this up because it was very fun and well crafted. The world building was very thought out and, in combination with the characters and philosophical tensions, made for an extremely compelling read. I will admit that it did require more brain power than I had been expecting, but that’s fine. Vora has written a wonderfully complex story and it was a delight to read. I do think I could’ve gone for more information on the magical beasts, but I’ll just hope that that aspect of the world gets developed in the next book. Regardless, I’m eager to continue the series and I definitely think I’ll have a blast rereading this one.
May 15, 2024
Thanks for the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was...just okay. I wish I liked it more because the world-building is really intricate and well put together. The unfortunate part is that I didn't really care for any of the characters. I was really enraged with all of them, mostly Aina. I struggled to understand how she could have such strong feelings for her mother when the latter basically verbally and physically abused her. Her mother said she "loved" her daughter, but it was hard to believe that. At one point Aina said it was better to have that type of mother than no mother at all and I-- Um, no. Sorry, girlie, but we're not doing that in this day and age even in a fantasy world.
As for Meizan and Aranel... They were...fine. Meizan has a lot of anger and he really channels that (often literally), but he's really blinded by the loyalty he has for his clan and his hatred for Aranel. Aranel has his own prejudices and a "goody two shoes" attitude, but his eyes are really opened over the course of the novel, and I feel his pain when he realizes those he thought he could trust, he can no longer trust because they lied to him.
I wish we had focused on one or two characters. I understand the author's desire for the reader to have a perspective from everyone within the different "levels" but I felt like it really bogged the story down. I didn't think we spent enough with each character individually before we were whiplashed into the POV of another one.
Ultimately, a bit of a disappointment.
This was...just okay. I wish I liked it more because the world-building is really intricate and well put together. The unfortunate part is that I didn't really care for any of the characters. I was really enraged with all of them, mostly Aina. I struggled to understand how she could have such strong feelings for her mother when the latter basically verbally and physically abused her. Her mother said she "loved" her daughter, but it was hard to believe that. At one point Aina said it was better to have that type of mother than no mother at all and I-- Um, no. Sorry, girlie, but we're not doing that in this day and age even in a fantasy world.
As for Meizan and Aranel... They were...fine. Meizan has a lot of anger and he really channels that (often literally), but he's really blinded by the loyalty he has for his clan and his hatred for Aranel. Aranel has his own prejudices and a "goody two shoes" attitude, but his eyes are really opened over the course of the novel, and I feel his pain when he realizes those he thought he could trust, he can no longer trust because they lied to him.
I wish we had focused on one or two characters. I understand the author's desire for the reader to have a perspective from everyone within the different "levels" but I felt like it really bogged the story down. I didn't think we spent enough with each character individually before we were whiplashed into the POV of another one.
Ultimately, a bit of a disappointment.
January 16, 2024
I wanted to love this, but there were some execution problems that made it just okay.
It had all the pieces of an incredible story. I actually loved the story itself. The plot is what kept me going. I loved the worldbuilding, the four realms, the magic system, and the legendary beasts. The chitrionic magic and how it changed based on the realm you were in was really interesting. How toranic law worked was definitely confusing at first, but I think I understood it by the end. It almost felt like scifi on how technical the magic system felt.
The big miss on this book was in character development. I really didn't connect with the characters. I wasn't rooting for anyone. Arenal in particular was difficult. I thought he was going to have some sort of redemption arc or just become less annoying, but my opinion is him didn't change the entire book. The dialogue was clunky. There was a whole lot of telling not showing. I was very thrown off by the angsty love triangle (?) in this book, though I'm not actually sure that's what I was supposed to pick up. I'm sure it will be explored further in book 2 but I kind of wish the romance was left out.
It was disappointing, but i still enjoyed it and would read the next novel.
Thanks to bookish first and the publisher for a copy of this book for an honest review.
It had all the pieces of an incredible story. I actually loved the story itself. The plot is what kept me going. I loved the worldbuilding, the four realms, the magic system, and the legendary beasts. The chitrionic magic and how it changed based on the realm you were in was really interesting. How toranic law worked was definitely confusing at first, but I think I understood it by the end. It almost felt like scifi on how technical the magic system felt.
The big miss on this book was in character development. I really didn't connect with the characters. I wasn't rooting for anyone. Arenal in particular was difficult. I thought he was going to have some sort of redemption arc or just become less annoying, but my opinion is him didn't change the entire book. The dialogue was clunky. There was a whole lot of telling not showing. I was very thrown off by the angsty love triangle (?) in this book, though I'm not actually sure that's what I was supposed to pick up. I'm sure it will be explored further in book 2 but I kind of wish the romance was left out.
It was disappointing, but i still enjoyed it and would read the next novel.
Thanks to bookish first and the publisher for a copy of this book for an honest review.
June 16, 2024
I really like the world building and what this novel is exploring. It's also a very quick engaging read. But the author hasn't found her writing voice yet, and as a result the novel is full of cliches, characters always magically finding each other across two worlds, and plain illogical character actions. I don't usually read YA, but from the few novels I did read I still remember that dumbing 16-18 year olds down like that is not necessarily the norm.
Overall: I found the spinning fate system fairly easy to follow and the parallels with real life religious manipulation and societal injustice were clear from the start. At times the magic did cause me to scratch my head: on the one hand the chitron's spin is very mathematical, but at times it seems to behave like mater and anti-matter. Why do chitrons of different spin interact without explosions when channeling, but cause explosive annihilation when injected in a keiza of a different spin? Not yet sure, this may be explained in a future installment. The world is overall interesting but delivered through so much exposition. I would love a bit more show in the second novel, the story just needed to breathe. And the characters need to be making sense. Take Meizan who knows Aranel is spying for the Mayani; why is he shocked in the second half that Aranel betrayed their actions to the Preservation? Dude, what did you expect him to do when he reported, talk about the baths he was taking daily? And then Zenyra tells Aranel the secrets of those baths but asks him to keep the secret? Why are people trusting each other like this, other than for plot reasons? Some of the actions are explained later in the novel, but some remain illogical. Perhaps the novel was rushed to publication, because there were more than a few instances where I wondered how did the characters know that information, and most importantly, why weren't they challenged when they revealed it? Take Seiran: Aranel tells him there is a girl Zenyra is taking great interest in, never revealing Aina's name; then Seiran just calls her Aina, and Aranel never asks, "Hey, how did you know who I was talking about?" He doesn't even wonder how his 'mentor' deduced it. If the point was to show us that Aranel was dumb, then it was well shown. Otherwise, it was one of those mistakes that maybe needed another pass through. The dialogue was also far from great: cliche, predictable, flat. It didn't make any of the characters stand out yet. There were moments when great attention was taken in the writing, and others when I wanted to know how we ended up having 4 "but"-s in 4 subsequent paragraphs in under a page. These are the first sentences of each paragraph I'm referring to (see pages 230-231): "But for every soldier they stunned or cut down..." Followed by: "But as the battle dragged on...", followed by: "Meizan had all but discarded...", followed by: "But Meizan lacked her mother's chitronic reserves."
I hope the author doesn't hurry to write the next novel. I liked the world, but I need to start caring for the characters if I'm to finish this series. She has unique ideas and she does touch on poignant themes: unlearning programing from religion, cycles that entrench social injustice and make it impossible for people who were born in the wrong place to ever rise from the social and economic status of their birth, the way an idealistic person will continue to fall in love for aspirational promises even after they've unlearned the first ones that blinded them, and also the nuanced discussion that "breaking" a system comes with great responsibilities otherwise chaos will ensue. But the author now needs to find a unique voice that can match this unique world. I'm hoping the second novel will be a step in the right direction.
Overall: I found the spinning fate system fairly easy to follow and the parallels with real life religious manipulation and societal injustice were clear from the start. At times the magic did cause me to scratch my head: on the one hand the chitron's spin is very mathematical, but at times it seems to behave like mater and anti-matter. Why do chitrons of different spin interact without explosions when channeling, but cause explosive annihilation when injected in a keiza of a different spin? Not yet sure, this may be explained in a future installment. The world is overall interesting but delivered through so much exposition. I would love a bit more show in the second novel, the story just needed to breathe. And the characters need to be making sense. Take Meizan who knows Aranel is spying for the Mayani; why is he shocked in the second half that Aranel betrayed their actions to the Preservation? Dude, what did you expect him to do when he reported, talk about the baths he was taking daily? And then Zenyra tells Aranel the secrets of those baths but asks him to keep the secret? Why are people trusting each other like this, other than for plot reasons? Some of the actions are explained later in the novel, but some remain illogical. Perhaps the novel was rushed to publication, because there were more than a few instances where I wondered how did the characters know that information, and most importantly, why weren't they challenged when they revealed it? Take Seiran: Aranel tells him there is a girl Zenyra is taking great interest in, never revealing Aina's name; then Seiran just calls her Aina, and Aranel never asks, "Hey, how did you know who I was talking about?" He doesn't even wonder how his 'mentor' deduced it. If the point was to show us that Aranel was dumb, then it was well shown. Otherwise, it was one of those mistakes that maybe needed another pass through. The dialogue was also far from great: cliche, predictable, flat. It didn't make any of the characters stand out yet. There were moments when great attention was taken in the writing, and others when I wanted to know how we ended up having 4 "but"-s in 4 subsequent paragraphs in under a page. These are the first sentences of each paragraph I'm referring to (see pages 230-231): "But for every soldier they stunned or cut down..." Followed by: "But as the battle dragged on...", followed by: "Meizan had all but discarded...", followed by: "But Meizan lacked her mother's chitronic reserves."
I hope the author doesn't hurry to write the next novel. I liked the world, but I need to start caring for the characters if I'm to finish this series. She has unique ideas and she does touch on poignant themes: unlearning programing from religion, cycles that entrench social injustice and make it impossible for people who were born in the wrong place to ever rise from the social and economic status of their birth, the way an idealistic person will continue to fall in love for aspirational promises even after they've unlearned the first ones that blinded them, and also the nuanced discussion that "breaking" a system comes with great responsibilities otherwise chaos will ensue. But the author now needs to find a unique voice that can match this unique world. I'm hoping the second novel will be a step in the right direction.
April 26, 2024
Man this is going to be a tough review to make, but like in the best way possible. Coherent thoughts to come! 😬
(FINAL REVIEW:)
This was a fascinating YA high fantasy influenced by Indian philosophy and Japanese manga. While I haven’t really read any manga before, I could see the elements of it through the characters’ iteractions and decisions. 🪷
I found the magic system amd world building intericate and at times daunting, but in the best way. It’s been a while since I had to think and visulize this hard in a YA novel, and I was so happy that it was done this well. The element bending did remind me of my favorite childhood show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it still felt unique in its casting and workings. I also found the creatures in the story to be so different from everything that I ever seen; I saw another reviewer mention that they felt Pokémon like, and I couldn’t agree more on this observation.🐬
The story follows three POVs: Aina, Aranel, and Meizan. Aina is from the world of Malin, the land where suffering is rather endless for its inhabitants and war seems to be a constant. She was a complex character for me as I could understand her desire to return to the mother that she was so viciously separated from in the beginning of the book, but the way that she is so easily manipulated by those around her was rather alarming for me. Towards the end of the book, I felt so bad for her, and I liked the rather dark turn she took.🌀
Aranel is a wonderful example of devout religious practioners slowly finding out their beliefs are not as solid and righteous as they previously believed. He reminded me of a goodie-two-shoes that is so far out of his depth that he has no choice but to adapt. I liked his slow realization that his faith isn’t as good as he thought it was, and how he tried numerous times to right this via his newfound friends. He also is a bit gullible, but not as much as Aina to me, so his ending is rather up in the air for me, and I find that I rather like that. ✨
Meizan was probably my favorite of the bunch. Sulky, moody, and standoffish, he is the perfet image of a boy who really hates being the leader. I really liked his story of trying to find the remnants of his clan after being separated from his chief. I loved the revelation that Aina and Meizan had in the middle of the book, and I like the idea that there might be a weird kind of love triangle going on with the three.🗡️
In general, I had a great time reading this book, and I'm so excited to see what the next book has in store for these crazy teenagers. Big thank you goes to Penguin Young Readers and NetGalley for accepting my request in exchange for an honest review, and to the author for creating such a fascinating world and magic system! 💮
Publication date: May 7!
Overall: 4.25/5 ⭐️
(FINAL REVIEW:)
This was a fascinating YA high fantasy influenced by Indian philosophy and Japanese manga. While I haven’t really read any manga before, I could see the elements of it through the characters’ iteractions and decisions. 🪷
I found the magic system amd world building intericate and at times daunting, but in the best way. It’s been a while since I had to think and visulize this hard in a YA novel, and I was so happy that it was done this well. The element bending did remind me of my favorite childhood show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it still felt unique in its casting and workings. I also found the creatures in the story to be so different from everything that I ever seen; I saw another reviewer mention that they felt Pokémon like, and I couldn’t agree more on this observation.🐬
The story follows three POVs: Aina, Aranel, and Meizan. Aina is from the world of Malin, the land where suffering is rather endless for its inhabitants and war seems to be a constant. She was a complex character for me as I could understand her desire to return to the mother that she was so viciously separated from in the beginning of the book, but the way that she is so easily manipulated by those around her was rather alarming for me. Towards the end of the book, I felt so bad for her, and I liked the rather dark turn she took.🌀
Aranel is a wonderful example of devout religious practioners slowly finding out their beliefs are not as solid and righteous as they previously believed. He reminded me of a goodie-two-shoes that is so far out of his depth that he has no choice but to adapt. I liked his slow realization that his faith isn’t as good as he thought it was, and how he tried numerous times to right this via his newfound friends. He also is a bit gullible, but not as much as Aina to me, so his ending is rather up in the air for me, and I find that I rather like that. ✨
Meizan was probably my favorite of the bunch. Sulky, moody, and standoffish, he is the perfet image of a boy who really hates being the leader. I really liked his story of trying to find the remnants of his clan after being separated from his chief. I loved the revelation that Aina and Meizan had in the middle of the book, and I like the idea that there might be a weird kind of love triangle going on with the three.🗡️
In general, I had a great time reading this book, and I'm so excited to see what the next book has in store for these crazy teenagers. Big thank you goes to Penguin Young Readers and NetGalley for accepting my request in exchange for an honest review, and to the author for creating such a fascinating world and magic system! 💮
Publication date: May 7!
Overall: 4.25/5 ⭐️
May 1, 2024
i loved loved loved this book !! i got this book while i was in asheville from a cute little bookshop handing out free arcs so this started out as just a random book i chose because it was free ahaha.
this book quickly became a favorite of mine and i absolutely adored the three main characters and getting to switch between their POVs. one thing that’s very hard for authors is making clear distinctions in male characters and their POVs but A.A. Vora did it perfectly. if im being honest, the two male characters were my favorite chapters to read aha.
i loved the premise of the book and definitely agree with the avatar the last airbender and naruto comparisons that people have given this book. i constantly found myself unable to put this book down and the ending has me soooo excited for the second book!!!
this book officially releases in may so please go buy a copy!! you won’t regret it!
this book quickly became a favorite of mine and i absolutely adored the three main characters and getting to switch between their POVs. one thing that’s very hard for authors is making clear distinctions in male characters and their POVs but A.A. Vora did it perfectly. if im being honest, the two male characters were my favorite chapters to read aha.
i loved the premise of the book and definitely agree with the avatar the last airbender and naruto comparisons that people have given this book. i constantly found myself unable to put this book down and the ending has me soooo excited for the second book!!!
this book officially releases in may so please go buy a copy!! you won’t regret it!
May 2, 2024
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. I loved reading Spin of Fate. This book is literally so amazing, easily the best fantasy novel I have read this year. I love the world building so much, it is so clever and I love the inspiration from karma. The concept of Toranic Law and soul spinning is so cool and I love the magic system. The world building and the plot go together so well, making this such a fun read. I loved the influence of Indian philosophy and Japanese manga. I also loved the characters - Aina, Meizan, and Aranel are amazing and I don't know who to ship. I'm tied between shipping Aina and Aranel or Meizan and Aranel. All the character dynamics were just so good!! Each of their character journeys is so compelling so I never felt bored during any of the POVs, I loved them all. Each POV also brought a lot to the story and the world. The book is fast and I was surprised by how much the pace increased at the 50% mark for an already fast paced book. I literally zipped through this book, one of the comps I saw was Brandon Sanderson, so I wonder if I should say the last 50% was like a Voralanche. I literally can't wait for the next book - I need to find out what happens. This was so good!!
June 22, 2024
"Spin of Fate" is a debut fantasy by A.A. Vora, following the lives of 3 characters in a world separated into multiple realms; 2 good, 2 bad. The realm you're allowed to live in is based on the spin of your soul, and the story is heavy handed in its theme that just because you are born in one realm due to poor/good luck, doesn't mean that's where you belong, but there is no way to change the system. The story follows Aina, Aranel, and Meizan as they join up with a clan called the "balancers", who claim to want equality for realms. They all join for very different reason; Aina, to find her mother, Aranel, as a spy, and Meizan, who has just lost his entire clan.
Pros:
I was very excited to read this book, as I have seen a couple people on booktube promote this recently. I loved the rich world building, with 4 separate realms that allowed people to live in them based on the amount of "good" in them. The balancers are trying to change the unjust nature to the realm separation, but some things aren't as they seem. There was a very interesting magic system involving chitrons, which allowed the characters to change the environment around them. The plot was fast paced and extremely unique and interesting. This is great for YA readers, as it was clean, had age appropriate content, and focused on characters that were aged 16-18.
Cons:
Unfortunately the characters fell flat for me. Aina was supposed to be 16 and acted like she was 12. She was so immature it was hard to believe she was a teenager. Aranel was obsessed with being good and never really made much progression, and Meizan was only concerned with the possibility of finding his clan. There was a love triangle that was very poorly done and really didn't need to be included. I wish the story was about the characters friendships instead of the characters suddenly being like "I all of a sudden have feelings for this other character". I also continued to dislike both Aina and Aranel through to the end of the story. They are just SO STUPID and neither of them make choices that make sense. It's like they both understand the antagonist's actions and still trust them to do the right thing, even though they witnessed what the antagonist's actions have done to others. Meizan was the only character that was likable and stuck to his morals.
This story was promoted as similar to "Avatar the Last Airbender". This is entirely untrue; as a huge avatar fan, I see no similarities. Please go into this book knowing it is entirely unique!
Overall, I think this is a great fantasy debut with rich world building, great for YA readers. I suspect adults might find the characters a bit young and insufferable. You will like this book if you are interested in books where characters have to fight to change the system, where there is fast paced plot progression, and an interesting magic system. I'd give this a 3.5/5 stars and would definitely like to continue reading the series to find out what happens next.
Thank you so much to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Pros:
I was very excited to read this book, as I have seen a couple people on booktube promote this recently. I loved the rich world building, with 4 separate realms that allowed people to live in them based on the amount of "good" in them. The balancers are trying to change the unjust nature to the realm separation, but some things aren't as they seem. There was a very interesting magic system involving chitrons, which allowed the characters to change the environment around them. The plot was fast paced and extremely unique and interesting. This is great for YA readers, as it was clean, had age appropriate content, and focused on characters that were aged 16-18.
Cons:
Unfortunately the characters fell flat for me. Aina was supposed to be 16 and acted like she was 12. She was so immature it was hard to believe she was a teenager. Aranel was obsessed with being good and never really made much progression, and Meizan was only concerned with the possibility of finding his clan. There was a love triangle that was very poorly done and really didn't need to be included. I wish the story was about the characters friendships instead of the characters suddenly being like "I all of a sudden have feelings for this other character". I also continued to dislike both Aina and Aranel through to the end of the story. They are just SO STUPID and neither of them make choices that make sense. It's like they both understand the antagonist's actions and still trust them to do the right thing, even though they witnessed what the antagonist's actions have done to others. Meizan was the only character that was likable and stuck to his morals.
This story was promoted as similar to "Avatar the Last Airbender". This is entirely untrue; as a huge avatar fan, I see no similarities. Please go into this book knowing it is entirely unique!
Overall, I think this is a great fantasy debut with rich world building, great for YA readers. I suspect adults might find the characters a bit young and insufferable. You will like this book if you are interested in books where characters have to fight to change the system, where there is fast paced plot progression, and an interesting magic system. I'd give this a 3.5/5 stars and would definitely like to continue reading the series to find out what happens next.
Thank you so much to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews