Subject: Okay, I just abandoned it.
Author:
Posted on: 2017-03-02 22:16:00 UTC
I'm only a few chapters in, but she's very irritating. I would keep giving it a chance and hope for substantial character development, but based on what you said, I don't have a lot of hope.
I'm not going to call her a Sue, but I feel like the author is using sexism in a way typical of Suethors. The main character is Extra-Special Cool for being in the army and being allowed to do important things when usually women can't, but there's no sense that this was something she had to struggle to overcome -- it just gets mentioned in passing to highlight how unique her abilities are/the importance of her job/how privileged she is as the king's niece (?). Maybe this changes later in the book. . . but all the rising action suggests that the book's focus will be on the intrigue surrounding a kidnapping and the main character's love life. I suspect it will only be ever treated as another feather in the cap of this bratty superpowered princess.
Heh, you know it's badly done when I'm thinking it's ridiculous for having a magical power to be so painful. Magical oppression is one of my favorite tropes. And technically speaking, I can find nothing wrong with its portrayal here -- it's not like it doesn't affect her and only exists to give her a tragic backstory -- but for some reason it falls quite flat. Maybe I'm just spoiled because Six of Crows does it so well. . .
Or maybe I just don't like this book. Maybe I just don't care about any of the characters. Yeah, that's probably it.
--Key