This book is for the reviews of the stories submitted to via the now-obsolete Pink Alpaca Reads. Beware: honest opinions ahead.
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The Three Kings found their ancient mystical weapons and defeated the Lord of Shadows.
For four friends, the effects of the victory force them to become fugitives, hunted by the very people they once fought beside. To protect one of their own, they take the opportunity of being on the run to take the road less travelled and to fulfil a dying enemy's final wish.
But the hunters are never far behind.
Review Proper A. Blurb
I love how the blurb shoves us straight into the situation that the characters in the book find themselves in. The war is done and the Kings won. Then the blurb goes, wait, there's more to this story! And tells us about the MCs.
Now, in retrospect, it is good but not good enough to reel the reader in. Most people will blink once at your blurb and move on. We do not know who these four friends are so there is no way to connect with them. There is no concrete connection from "protecting one's own" to "fulfilling a dying enemy's final wish". If I go over the blurb I would think that they are fulfilling the enemy's dying wish to protect one of their own and having read the whole book, that certainly wasn't the case.
So...what I would suggest is that you connect your blurb straight at the meat of your story, like focus on the world, on the journey, on what your characters have to learn and realize in that journey! This is a gorg story and that needs to be highlighted in the blurb! ^-^
B. Setting
What more can I say?
I LOVE THE WORLDBUILDING. It speaks to my own worldbuilding heart (I am actually worldbuilding as I am writing this review, so that helped. xD) and how you incorporated the fine details of the world you created is just magnificent. A gorgeous, gorgeous world and wonderful execution! No info-dumps and certainly no dialogue exposition. That's just marvelous. (That's not something I see in most fantasy worlds I read)
Scene painting is also on point. We see the world through the characters' eyes and not from the author's. Which is amazing since I was able to fully immerse myself into the story and yeah. This story is just gorgeous. I love it!
C. Plot
The plot is somewhat okay, I guess. There is a balance of action, travel, and character development. I love, love, love the messy jumble of them to create this intricate story of friendship, adventure, and discovering new worlds.
The beginning scenes/chapters take us straight into the conflict and I was immediately able to connect to the world because of the wonderful descriptions and character development. The middle scenes take us into dazzling (and sometimes spooky) worlds that pose threat to the characters.
The ending is...a little bit anti-climactic. For someone who spent all the time doing what they do, the way they ended failed to connect with me. It was...too quick? I don't know. I certainly got justice with Witherall, though. So thank you for that. lol.
Either way, I think one is in for a ride (literally and figuratively) in this story. I love it how the worldbuilding has a connection with how characters decide their courses.
D. Pacing
Pacing was alright, I guess. It drags and picks up at all the right places. I have no more to say since this story is very, very well done.
E. Characters
I JUST LOVE HOW YOU BUILD YOUR CHARACTERS. They are so dynamic, round, and I love all the interactions. I looooooove all four of them. The way their flaws, their fears, and their dreams is introduced is such wow. I am definitely taking notes on how to build dimensional characters like how you did it! WOW. Just...whoa.
Even the secondary characters have depth and their own verbal ticks. THE CULTURE, my gosh, THE CULTURE IS AMAZING. AAAAAAAAAA.
Either way, I love everything that you've done that I am just fanbying at your writing at this point. lol.
F. Technicalities
Nothing too major. Wrong adverb usage (check them -ly's), typos, consistently misspelled words, missing words, and wrong past tenses sometimes at minimal points. That is it.
Grammar and sentence flow are divine. Everything is simply done well. I don't have more words. xD
Overall Impression
Can I give it a 1000/10? xD
This is a solid 10/10 on my scale. If you are looking for an adventure story that talks about the wonder of friendship, kindness, and fresh, new worlds, this story is for you. I am in awe of both your writing technique and worldbuilding execution (something I wished I had for my own fantasy series ;-;). Amazing, amazing job. Keep writing and keep shining! You have earned a fan in me, Jan. <3
