hiba's Reviews > Fevered Star

just like with black sun, i have extremely mixed feelings for fevered star - some things i liked and others...not so much.

pros:
- the worldbuilding is as incredible as ever and i like the way it expands in this book - we get more insight into places outside of tova, namely cuecola and hokaia, and a more detailed history of what ties them all together, which i found fascinating. i'm especially intrigued by the spearmaidens of hokaia and i hope we get to see more of them in the future.
- the political schemes are well done - i enjoyed the power struggles, the clan meetings and betrayals, all the different moving pieces, and the set up for some explosive upcoming conflicts.
- naranpa's development was excellent here and propelled her from being my most disliked character to my favorite. the fact that she literally had to claw her way up from rock bottom, her sheer will and determination to survive, making tough choices that would change her life forever - i loved it all.
- the ending was badass!! i can see some people being let down by it since it's not the big dramatic action climax that the book was seemingly building up to - but i liked that the author did something unusual and different. it made me love serapio even more and got me excited for the third book.

cons:
- not a fan of xiala's character arc - just like in black sun, she's simply going with the flow of the plot and being dragged along by different characters. her goals/motivations almost completely revolve around serapio and it's so frustrating to see. i really enjoyed their relationship in black sun but now seeing serapio take control of his destiny while xiala's role is reduced to being a spectator has soured me on their romance. i'm desperate for the author to give xiala more agency and something to connect her with the main plot outside of serapio.
- similarly, okoa's character is mostly being an observer as well and i found him pretty boring. even though he's one of the main members of carrion crow, it felt like he was on the fringes of the plot and barely had anything to do. honestly, the only characters with depth and meaningful development are naranpa and serapio.
- lack of strong character relationships - i love political intrigue but the fact that there isn't a single genuine well-developed relationship in this book is so irritating to me. the one interesting relationship with emotional depth gets cut off before it could develop to its full potential and i'm bitter about it. there are a couple of potentially compelling dynamics being set up towards the end but as of now, it's not enough for me.
- once again, this book is pure build-up with barely anything significant happening in the plot. it's a surprisingly quick read but two entire books of just build-up is too much for me; i need some actual drama and major events and resolutions to feel fully invested. also, with such a massive amount of build-up, the expectations for book 3 are too high and i'm really hoping it can live up to them.