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Eight Will Fall
In a land where magic is outlawed, eight criminals led by seventeen-year-old Larkin are sent on a mission to kill an ancient evil that plagues their kingdom. Descending into an underground realm full of unspeakable horrors, Larkin and her party must use their forbidden magic to survive what lies in wait, teeth sharp and jaws deadly.
As she fights for her life, Larkin finds a light in Amias, a fellow outlaw with a notorious past. Soon Larkin and Amias realize their fates are entwined. The eight of them were chosen for a reason.
But as the dangers multiply and her band of felons are picked off one by one, Larkin must confront a terrible truth: They were never meant to return.
As she fights for her life, Larkin finds a light in Amias, a fellow outlaw with a notorious past. Soon Larkin and Amias realize their fates are entwined. The eight of them were chosen for a reason.
But as the dangers multiply and her band of felons are picked off one by one, Larkin must confront a terrible truth: They were never meant to return.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published November 26, 2019
About the author
Sarah Harian
4 books226 followersSarah Harian grew up in the foothills of Yosemite and received her B.A. and M.F.A. from Fresno State University. She spends her free time listening to movie scores and dreaming up monsters, and lives with her husband in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 522 reviews
January 7, 2020
Every YA fantasy ever: Yes, we know you are here for the action...but first...here’s 50 pages of info-dumping...and 100 pages of our protagonist’s boring everyday life...and 50 pages of the action creeping ever closer but not quite arriving...and then 100 pages of some action and then it’s done. Read the second book, coward.
This book: NO THANKS.
Turns out the only solution I needed for 100% of my issues with boring fantasy beginnings is...standalones.
Except unfortunately, that apparently introduces all kinds of pacing issues in the second half.
This story follows this girl, Larkin (a name that reminds me of 17-year-old boys with floppy hair on teen TV shows who fall in love with the nerd girl who is beautiful when she takes her glasses off), who commits A Crime. A magic-y crime. And she and seven other teen magic criminals are by the queen as punishment to...wait for it… an “underground realm full of unspeakable horrors.”
I know.
Exciting.
I LOVED the first half of this book. I’m talking ACTION. I’m talking HORROR. I’m talking GORE. I’m talking CREATIVE WORLDS and MAGIC. I’m talking SEVERAL MOMENTS when I found myself ACTUALLY SPOOKED and it was LATE AT NIGHT and I had TROUBLE SLEEPING.
But unfortunately, the part that I thought would be the whole book - you know, the fantastic action creepy underground world part - was actually only like half. And the second half consisted of lots of repetitive waiting scenes and a romance subplot I did not care about.
In short, a major bummer.
GIVE ME THE GORE AND SPOOKINESS AND ACTION. LEAVE THE ROMANCE AND WAITING AND HAPPILY EVER AFTERS FOR EXACTLY NEVER HUNDRED HOURS, SIR.
But I digress.
The other downside of the jumping-straight-into-the-action thing is that there was little to no world-building at all. And don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand the boring forcefully inserted conversations/internal monologues about made-up history at the beginning of fantasy books. But I still need it, like, a little bit.
Because I spent the whole book ranging between mildly and severely confused but I was never not confused.
It’s really a cool world but I...still don’t really understand how the magic works. I admire worldbuilding that doesn’t include info dumping (SO MUCH), but at the same time there were approximately 88 moments in this story when I really would’ve loved if someone sat me down and talked at me for 5 pages or so.
Also, eight characters is too many characters. There’s only one perspective, which I thought would make it better (yay no switching around) but it somehow makes it feel like even more? Like there are dozens of people wandering around with single lines of dialogue and I’m expected to know their names and personalities and favorite color.
Which, no.
Possibly this is why I did not care about any of the characters, but it does not explain why I hate Larkin. She is very annoying to be honest. Very I Am The Leader (and for the most part everyone accepts it?). Priorities firmly not in order. 10/10 not interested.
The ending is so super duper rushed and extra confusing. A lot of motivations (which have been semi-consistent throughout the book) fall completely apart and it drove me CRAZY. I had to read all of this book at a snail’s pace, because it was always confusing who was speaking and there were a crazy number of spacing and typing errors, but when I got to the end there were truly more pages I read twice than once.
It broke my brain and made me cry.
But still. That first half, though.
Bottom line: I’d be really curious to read a finished copy of this and see which of the issues I had with it feeling unfinished are due to it...actually being unfinished.
However I’m not going to do that. I may have rereading issues, but they haven’t gotten that bad yet.
----------
okay so yeah maybe this book genuinely scared me on multiple occasions.
and what about it???
it's spooky season after all.
review to come / 3 stars subject to change b/c i'm a flaky gal
----------
omg...finally a YA fantasy where the action starts in the first hundred pages...
----------
my head: i KNOW this isn't six of crows.
my heart: eight teenage criminals sent on a mission...forbidden magic...entwined fates...multiplying dangers...THEY WERE NEVER MEANT TO RETURN...
SO I WANT THIS TO BE SIX OF CROWS. SUE ME.
thanks to the publisher for the ARC
This book: NO THANKS.
Turns out the only solution I needed for 100% of my issues with boring fantasy beginnings is...standalones.
Except unfortunately, that apparently introduces all kinds of pacing issues in the second half.
This story follows this girl, Larkin (a name that reminds me of 17-year-old boys with floppy hair on teen TV shows who fall in love with the nerd girl who is beautiful when she takes her glasses off), who commits A Crime. A magic-y crime. And she and seven other teen magic criminals are by the queen as punishment to...wait for it… an “underground realm full of unspeakable horrors.”
I know.
Exciting.
I LOVED the first half of this book. I’m talking ACTION. I’m talking HORROR. I’m talking GORE. I’m talking CREATIVE WORLDS and MAGIC. I’m talking SEVERAL MOMENTS when I found myself ACTUALLY SPOOKED and it was LATE AT NIGHT and I had TROUBLE SLEEPING.
But unfortunately, the part that I thought would be the whole book - you know, the fantastic action creepy underground world part - was actually only like half. And the second half consisted of lots of repetitive waiting scenes and a romance subplot I did not care about.
In short, a major bummer.
GIVE ME THE GORE AND SPOOKINESS AND ACTION. LEAVE THE ROMANCE AND WAITING AND HAPPILY EVER AFTERS FOR EXACTLY NEVER HUNDRED HOURS, SIR.
But I digress.
The other downside of the jumping-straight-into-the-action thing is that there was little to no world-building at all. And don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand the boring forcefully inserted conversations/internal monologues about made-up history at the beginning of fantasy books. But I still need it, like, a little bit.
Because I spent the whole book ranging between mildly and severely confused but I was never not confused.
It’s really a cool world but I...still don’t really understand how the magic works. I admire worldbuilding that doesn’t include info dumping (SO MUCH), but at the same time there were approximately 88 moments in this story when I really would’ve loved if someone sat me down and talked at me for 5 pages or so.
Also, eight characters is too many characters. There’s only one perspective, which I thought would make it better (yay no switching around) but it somehow makes it feel like even more? Like there are dozens of people wandering around with single lines of dialogue and I’m expected to know their names and personalities and favorite color.
Which, no.
Possibly this is why I did not care about any of the characters, but it does not explain why I hate Larkin. She is very annoying to be honest. Very I Am The Leader (and for the most part everyone accepts it?). Priorities firmly not in order. 10/10 not interested.
The ending is so super duper rushed and extra confusing. A lot of motivations (which have been semi-consistent throughout the book) fall completely apart and it drove me CRAZY. I had to read all of this book at a snail’s pace, because it was always confusing who was speaking and there were a crazy number of spacing and typing errors, but when I got to the end there were truly more pages I read twice than once.
It broke my brain and made me cry.
But still. That first half, though.
Bottom line: I’d be really curious to read a finished copy of this and see which of the issues I had with it feeling unfinished are due to it...actually being unfinished.
However I’m not going to do that. I may have rereading issues, but they haven’t gotten that bad yet.
----------
okay so yeah maybe this book genuinely scared me on multiple occasions.
and what about it???
it's spooky season after all.
review to come / 3 stars subject to change b/c i'm a flaky gal
----------
omg...finally a YA fantasy where the action starts in the first hundred pages...
----------
my head: i KNOW this isn't six of crows.
my heart: eight teenage criminals sent on a mission...forbidden magic...entwined fates...multiplying dangers...THEY WERE NEVER MEANT TO RETURN...
SO I WANT THIS TO BE SIX OF CROWS. SUE ME.
thanks to the publisher for the ARC
January 1, 2020
December Fairyloot, We got this book and an advanced readers copy of another book. Click on the GOODIES LINK to see the goodies. This will be my last posting of book unboxings as I'm tired of doing it as well as reviews. Thank you guys for looking! Love, Mel
GOODIES LINK
GOODIES LINK
April 3, 2020
pitched as six of crows meets suicide squad. magic system based off emotions. large cast of characters. high stakes.
I. Should. Have. Loved. This.
but alas, no.
firstly, I haven't read six of crows but please don't go into this with those expectations. There isn't a heist, and while there are 8 characters- none of them have actual personalities.
Eight Will Fall is set in a magical land where magic has been outlawed. We begin with Larkin, who is arrested when she used her magic to steal food for her family. Eight teenagers have been sent by the queen to venture underground to fight an ancient evil. Full of horror, gore and magic, who will come out alive?
I really liked the concept of the magic system. The ability to siphon emotions into powers sounds amazing! I wish it was explained or explored more, because it was such an interesting premise.
my main problem with the book was its lack of character development. We follow eight characters, told by one point of view. I was instantly confused with who was who, as we were meant to discern everyone's personalities by a few lines. I had to write myself a note to remind myself of who everyone was.
➽ Larkin- the main character, and apparently the leader? I don't know how that happened but sure.
➽ Amias- the dark, dangerous, broody one
➽ Tamsyn- the scholar, the only non-empath out of the group and a giant know-it-all
➽ Jacque- the empath soldier
➽ Elfin- the storyteller/dancer/friend?
➽ Casseem- who?
➽ Brielle-who?
➽ Devan- the pessimistic one
I read this less than a month ago, but I have already forgotten so many of the details (and two whole characters apparently)
We know from the beginning that not all of them will come out of it alive, but instead of using that fact to increase intensity and tension, I couldn't care about the characters because it was pretty evident who was going to die. The character deaths were done so suddenly and unemotionally that it left me with a feeling of 'that's it?'
I swear I called at least 75% of what happened. There was one plot point in particular that was so glaringly obvious to me as soon as it was introduced that I thought it was a red herring, but no. It was so obvious it hurts.
I was so tempted to DNF this book, but after pushing through so much of it I figured I at least should know the ending, as it is a standalone and should wrap up nicely. How naive I was. The ending was confusing, and significantly rushed.
Overall, my thoughts in word is: disappointing, but if this seems like something you will like, please don't let my review put you off! If you are a fan of horror and don't need to be connected to characters, you may really enjoy this.
I. Should. Have. Loved. This.
but alas, no.
firstly, I haven't read six of crows but please don't go into this with those expectations. There isn't a heist, and while there are 8 characters- none of them have actual personalities.
Eight Will Fall is set in a magical land where magic has been outlawed. We begin with Larkin, who is arrested when she used her magic to steal food for her family. Eight teenagers have been sent by the queen to venture underground to fight an ancient evil. Full of horror, gore and magic, who will come out alive?
I really liked the concept of the magic system. The ability to siphon emotions into powers sounds amazing! I wish it was explained or explored more, because it was such an interesting premise.
my main problem with the book was its lack of character development. We follow eight characters, told by one point of view. I was instantly confused with who was who, as we were meant to discern everyone's personalities by a few lines. I had to write myself a note to remind myself of who everyone was.
➽ Larkin- the main character, and apparently the leader? I don't know how that happened but sure.
➽ Amias- the dark, dangerous, broody one
➽ Tamsyn- the scholar, the only non-empath out of the group and a giant know-it-all
➽ Jacque- the empath soldier
➽ Elfin- the storyteller/dancer/friend?
➽ Casseem- who?
➽ Brielle-who?
➽ Devan- the pessimistic one
I read this less than a month ago, but I have already forgotten so many of the details (and two whole characters apparently)
We know from the beginning that not all of them will come out of it alive, but instead of using that fact to increase intensity and tension, I couldn't care about the characters because it was pretty evident who was going to die. The character deaths were done so suddenly and unemotionally that it left me with a feeling of 'that's it?'
I swear I called at least 75% of what happened. There was one plot point in particular that was so glaringly obvious to me as soon as it was introduced that I thought it was a red herring, but no. It was so obvious it hurts.
I was so tempted to DNF this book, but after pushing through so much of it I figured I at least should know the ending, as it is a standalone and should wrap up nicely. How naive I was. The ending was confusing, and significantly rushed.
Overall, my thoughts in word is: disappointing, but if this seems like something you will like, please don't let my review put you off! If you are a fan of horror and don't need to be connected to characters, you may really enjoy this.
Read
April 14, 2019*UPDATED 4/13/2019*
Please click here for content warnings.
Find on IndieBound.
EIGHT WILL FALL now available to pre-order on Amazon!
Release Date: November 26, 2019
Fun Facts:
Eight Will Fall is about eight teens traversing a subterranean realm in search of a god they've been ordered to kill. They must quickly learn to use their inherent (and illegal) magic in order to get the job done.
The magic system is based off of emotions, and magic users--Empaths--can channel emotions to conjure or destroy.
Eight Will Fall is a high fantasy stand-alone novel with a healthy dose of cosmic horror. It is a single-POV mission/survival book (not a heist :) ).
If you're a gaming nerd, think Dead Space set in a Skyrim cave.
For movie geeks, The Descent meets a high-fantasy version of The Goonies.
Initially, I came up with the magic system for this book based on a whim, ignoring what subconsciously drove me to choose emotions. As I began therapy for general anxiety disorder, I realized that I've been driven or coerced into suppressing my emotions my entire life, because the degree that I experience emotions makes me look weak. I'm a crier, and I'm often easily frustrated and panicked. I wear my heart on my sleeve and my feelings are always displayed clearly on my face and in my body language. In a way, writing this book was a continuation of therapy as I developed a world where emotions are fuel for magic, and magic is feared.
I'm very excited to share EIGHT WILL FALL with the world, and I hope you love it as much as I do.
-Sarah
Please click here for content warnings.
Find on IndieBound.
EIGHT WILL FALL now available to pre-order on Amazon!
Release Date: November 26, 2019
Fun Facts:
Eight Will Fall is about eight teens traversing a subterranean realm in search of a god they've been ordered to kill. They must quickly learn to use their inherent (and illegal) magic in order to get the job done.
The magic system is based off of emotions, and magic users--Empaths--can channel emotions to conjure or destroy.
Eight Will Fall is a high fantasy stand-alone novel with a healthy dose of cosmic horror. It is a single-POV mission/survival book (not a heist :) ).
If you're a gaming nerd, think Dead Space set in a Skyrim cave.
For movie geeks, The Descent meets a high-fantasy version of The Goonies.
Initially, I came up with the magic system for this book based on a whim, ignoring what subconsciously drove me to choose emotions. As I began therapy for general anxiety disorder, I realized that I've been driven or coerced into suppressing my emotions my entire life, because the degree that I experience emotions makes me look weak. I'm a crier, and I'm often easily frustrated and panicked. I wear my heart on my sleeve and my feelings are always displayed clearly on my face and in my body language. In a way, writing this book was a continuation of therapy as I developed a world where emotions are fuel for magic, and magic is feared.
I'm very excited to share EIGHT WILL FALL with the world, and I hope you love it as much as I do.
-Sarah
November 25, 2019
Seventeen year old Larkin is a miner who comes from a family of Empaths, magic users who can channel other people's emotions and use them to create or destroy things. Not that they get a lot of practice doing that. Magic is absolutely forbidden by the law. Empaths are all but enslaved by non-magic users and their queen Melay, who can break their families by sending some members to farms while others earn meager wages mining luminite, a rare mineral that suppresses the Emapath magic by blocking their ability to sense other people's emotions.
Empaths have no surnames and are not allowed to learn to read. Larkin knows her wages and her brother Garran's keep her family from starvation, yet when humiliated and provoked by a shopkeeper's disdain, she uses a tiny bit of destruction magic to create a diversion that allows her to steal a bit of food. Very soon she and Garran are arrested and taken to the Queen's dungeons. Larkin would give anything to fix the situation and protect her brother's life. Even draw the Queen's attention to herself when Melay appears to be choosing several inmates for a dangerous mission. There are eight of them: six Empath teenagers, an Empath soldier (a rarity in itself), and a non-Empath scholar. The Queen tells them that dark destruction magic is being used by unknown forces and there have been multiple disappearances from the farms. She sent her soldiers to investigate the underground area called the Reach where a thousand of years ago seven rebel Empaths were imprisoned together with their leader Kyran. Old legends say the darkness will rise. Could the mysterious disappearances and the fact that the soldiers never made their way back to the surface have something to do with this ancient lore?
As the Queen holds Garran and and the families of the other six Empaths as her leverage, Larkin and her party must descend into the Reach with one week worth of food and water, find and kill Kyran. The good news is that luminite is a surface mineral, so they will be able to protect themselves by using their forbidden magic. The bad news is that since it has been outlawed for such long time, they haven't had much practice.
The magic system is very clear and interesting in this book. We often read about mind-readers, but what about emotion-readers? Wouldn't it be fascinating to be able to read and use the mood of other people to be able to create various objects or destroy obstacles? In Larkin's world it is impossible to live alone- you wouldn't be able to feel the calm and joy that comes from other people's company, even fear, rage and anxiety have their usefulness- they just have to be acknowledged and controlled.
Larkin is a strong character and I am always on a lookout for great female leads. The blurb might have led you to think that there will be multiple points of view in the book. There is only one, Larkin's, and while it certainly helped to flesh out her character, at least hald of the others remained less developed, especially the ones who died closer to the beginning of their horrifying adventure.
The book was conceived as a duology and then was re-written as a standalone. On plus side, we still get great worldbuilding and the action starts really soon. On the other hand, some things we learn from the characters talking about old legends, while we could have been shown, not told. For example, I am still not clear about the reasons for the conflict between the original non-magic Queen Ilona and Kyran. I would have also preferred to meet the other disciples in their sectors of the Reach. The ending also seemed a bit rushed. As I read I could almost envisage which parts would have been developped in the second book of the duology.
I would define the genre of this book as horror/ dark fantasy. There is definitely enough blood and gore, so it is better to go in the book expecting these elements. I am a bit claustrophobic, so there was one particluar scene that made me feel for poor Larkin and her companions. This book would make an excellent read for a Halloween readathon or a book club for slightly older teenagers who enjoy this kind of stories.
Finally, I just loved the cover. It is dark and beautiful, and perfectly matches the mood of this book.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Henry Holt for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
Empaths have no surnames and are not allowed to learn to read. Larkin knows her wages and her brother Garran's keep her family from starvation, yet when humiliated and provoked by a shopkeeper's disdain, she uses a tiny bit of destruction magic to create a diversion that allows her to steal a bit of food. Very soon she and Garran are arrested and taken to the Queen's dungeons. Larkin would give anything to fix the situation and protect her brother's life. Even draw the Queen's attention to herself when Melay appears to be choosing several inmates for a dangerous mission. There are eight of them: six Empath teenagers, an Empath soldier (a rarity in itself), and a non-Empath scholar. The Queen tells them that dark destruction magic is being used by unknown forces and there have been multiple disappearances from the farms. She sent her soldiers to investigate the underground area called the Reach where a thousand of years ago seven rebel Empaths were imprisoned together with their leader Kyran. Old legends say the darkness will rise. Could the mysterious disappearances and the fact that the soldiers never made their way back to the surface have something to do with this ancient lore?
As the Queen holds Garran and and the families of the other six Empaths as her leverage, Larkin and her party must descend into the Reach with one week worth of food and water, find and kill Kyran. The good news is that luminite is a surface mineral, so they will be able to protect themselves by using their forbidden magic. The bad news is that since it has been outlawed for such long time, they haven't had much practice.
The magic system is very clear and interesting in this book. We often read about mind-readers, but what about emotion-readers? Wouldn't it be fascinating to be able to read and use the mood of other people to be able to create various objects or destroy obstacles? In Larkin's world it is impossible to live alone- you wouldn't be able to feel the calm and joy that comes from other people's company, even fear, rage and anxiety have their usefulness- they just have to be acknowledged and controlled.
Larkin is a strong character and I am always on a lookout for great female leads. The blurb might have led you to think that there will be multiple points of view in the book. There is only one, Larkin's, and while it certainly helped to flesh out her character, at least hald of the others remained less developed, especially the ones who died closer to the beginning of their horrifying adventure.
The book was conceived as a duology and then was re-written as a standalone. On plus side, we still get great worldbuilding and the action starts really soon. On the other hand, some things we learn from the characters talking about old legends, while we could have been shown, not told. For example, I am still not clear about the reasons for the conflict between the original non-magic Queen Ilona and Kyran. I would have also preferred to meet the other disciples in their sectors of the Reach. The ending also seemed a bit rushed. As I read I could almost envisage which parts would have been developped in the second book of the duology.
I would define the genre of this book as horror/ dark fantasy. There is definitely enough blood and gore, so it is better to go in the book expecting these elements. I am a bit claustrophobic, so there was one particluar scene that made me feel for poor Larkin and her companions. This book would make an excellent read for a Halloween readathon or a book club for slightly older teenagers who enjoy this kind of stories.
Finally, I just loved the cover. It is dark and beautiful, and perfectly matches the mood of this book.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Henry Holt for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
April 9, 2021
2.5 Stars
Well there were a lot of elements I enjoyed but overall the book was a miss for me.
It felt a little bit like this was written in quite an organic way allowing the story to unfold as it moved along. However, the result was that parts felt unfinished as the characters were moved along by whatever took the writers fancy next. Unfortunately there were too many characters for my taste which resulted in me feeling quite disconnected to them and their journey. Also, the ending was pretty underwhelming. What I did love were the horror elements. I found these scenes to be quite tense, engaging and well written. I really did like the concept of the novel and the empath magic, the telling of the story just didn't feel cohesive enough for me.
Well there were a lot of elements I enjoyed but overall the book was a miss for me.
It felt a little bit like this was written in quite an organic way allowing the story to unfold as it moved along. However, the result was that parts felt unfinished as the characters were moved along by whatever took the writers fancy next. Unfortunately there were too many characters for my taste which resulted in me feeling quite disconnected to them and their journey. Also, the ending was pretty underwhelming. What I did love were the horror elements. I found these scenes to be quite tense, engaging and well written. I really did like the concept of the novel and the empath magic, the telling of the story just didn't feel cohesive enough for me.
July 31, 2019
4.5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Eight Will Fall by Sarah Harian follows a group of eight criminals led by seventeen-year-old Larkin who are sent on a mission to destroy an ancient evil that's been plaguing their kingdom. The further they descend into the underground realm known as the Reach- the higher the stakes become, and Larkin and the others must soon confront a terrible truth; The eight of them were chosen for a reason, and it's entirely possible that they were never meant to return from their mission into the realm which they were sent.
This was SO close to being a 5 star read for me, and- for the life of me I can't put my finger on the reason why it wasn't! That being said- I thoroughly enjoy the entirety of Eight Will Fall! What a perfect book to wrap up the month of July with!
It's been a while since I've tabbed a book as much as I did this one! To say I was "on the edge of my seat" the entire time I was reading this would be an understatement! I can't remember the last time I shipped a relationship as much as I did the one that develops in this either, and I definitely didn't go into this looking for (or expecting) romance.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Eight Will Fall by Sarah Harian follows a group of eight criminals led by seventeen-year-old Larkin who are sent on a mission to destroy an ancient evil that's been plaguing their kingdom. The further they descend into the underground realm known as the Reach- the higher the stakes become, and Larkin and the others must soon confront a terrible truth; The eight of them were chosen for a reason, and it's entirely possible that they were never meant to return from their mission into the realm which they were sent.
This was SO close to being a 5 star read for me, and- for the life of me I can't put my finger on the reason why it wasn't! That being said- I thoroughly enjoy the entirety of Eight Will Fall! What a perfect book to wrap up the month of July with!
It's been a while since I've tabbed a book as much as I did this one! To say I was "on the edge of my seat" the entire time I was reading this would be an understatement! I can't remember the last time I shipped a relationship as much as I did the one that develops in this either, and I definitely didn't go into this looking for (or expecting) romance.
Read
December 30, 2019DNF on page 70.
I received this book from my first ever Fairyloot box, and I honestly had not heard of it or seen it until I pulled it out of the Fairyloot pouch. I wanted to read it as soon as I got it, because I knew that since I had no previous excitement about it I would probably quickly forget it was on my shelves.
I probably just should have forgotten it was on my shelves.
I know 70 pages isn't necessarily a fair chance, but I could not get through this book any more than that. I told myself I'd give it to page 100, but I couldn't do it.
This was a disorienting reading experience. For some reason, I could not get it out of my head that this was a sci-fi, so every time something fantastical happened or we were reminded that this takes place in a fantasy-like setting, I was really thrown off. I think it's because the main character is a miner, and everything relating to that reminded me so much of Red Rising that I just couldn't separate this book from my expectation of it being sci-fi. I don't think fantasy is the right genre for the plot the author was going for. Maybe this could have been a magical realism? I don't know. It just felt off.
Something else I didn't like about this book was that it just was so... boring. It felt unoriginal in so many ways, despite the fact that it does do unique things? The magic system is definitely new and the setting is technically unique for a fantasy as well, but it still felt like a run-of-the-mill YA novel. However, I've heard that the book takes quite a turn and becomes more of a body horror type of story. I wish I could have gotten there to see what that part was like, but I could not bring myself to slog through the preamble of this novel. Despite the unique parts, there were still a lot of overused plot devices: an evil queen with zero personality, a Big Ominous Bad that apparently only teenagers can defeat, forbidden magic, etc.
I felt zero connections to the characters and I could not bring myself to care about their problems. I also did not like how the magic system was already bending to the convenience of the plot, which is one of my least favorite things an author could do. It makes the story appear very flimsy and I lose interest quickly. Like I also mentioned before, I'm tired of teenagers somehow being the only age group that can defeat the most evil, powerful beings in the universe? It makes no sense! Why grown ass adults are making literal kids do all the dirty work and expecting amazing results makes no sense to me. I understand that the synopsis says they are all meant to die but... I don't know. I just didn't care to find out how the author was going to turn that trope on its head, because I honestly haven't got any indication from her writing style or plot development so far that she could do so successfully.
Maybe I'm dead wrong about this book. Maybe 70 pages isn't a fair chance and this actually becomes something really interesting and different. But based on what I read so far, I don't really care to find out.
I received this book from my first ever Fairyloot box, and I honestly had not heard of it or seen it until I pulled it out of the Fairyloot pouch. I wanted to read it as soon as I got it, because I knew that since I had no previous excitement about it I would probably quickly forget it was on my shelves.
I probably just should have forgotten it was on my shelves.
I know 70 pages isn't necessarily a fair chance, but I could not get through this book any more than that. I told myself I'd give it to page 100, but I couldn't do it.
This was a disorienting reading experience. For some reason, I could not get it out of my head that this was a sci-fi, so every time something fantastical happened or we were reminded that this takes place in a fantasy-like setting, I was really thrown off. I think it's because the main character is a miner, and everything relating to that reminded me so much of Red Rising that I just couldn't separate this book from my expectation of it being sci-fi. I don't think fantasy is the right genre for the plot the author was going for. Maybe this could have been a magical realism? I don't know. It just felt off.
Something else I didn't like about this book was that it just was so... boring. It felt unoriginal in so many ways, despite the fact that it does do unique things? The magic system is definitely new and the setting is technically unique for a fantasy as well, but it still felt like a run-of-the-mill YA novel. However, I've heard that the book takes quite a turn and becomes more of a body horror type of story. I wish I could have gotten there to see what that part was like, but I could not bring myself to slog through the preamble of this novel. Despite the unique parts, there were still a lot of overused plot devices: an evil queen with zero personality, a Big Ominous Bad that apparently only teenagers can defeat, forbidden magic, etc.
I felt zero connections to the characters and I could not bring myself to care about their problems. I also did not like how the magic system was already bending to the convenience of the plot, which is one of my least favorite things an author could do. It makes the story appear very flimsy and I lose interest quickly. Like I also mentioned before, I'm tired of teenagers somehow being the only age group that can defeat the most evil, powerful beings in the universe? It makes no sense! Why grown ass adults are making literal kids do all the dirty work and expecting amazing results makes no sense to me. I understand that the synopsis says they are all meant to die but... I don't know. I just didn't care to find out how the author was going to turn that trope on its head, because I honestly haven't got any indication from her writing style or plot development so far that she could do so successfully.
Maybe I'm dead wrong about this book. Maybe 70 pages isn't a fair chance and this actually becomes something really interesting and different. But based on what I read so far, I don't really care to find out.
January 10, 2022
➸ Trigger warnings for .
▷ Representation: sapphic & achillean scs.
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
▷ Representation: sapphic & achillean scs.
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
Want to read
August 1, 2017HELL YEAH SOUNDS FUCKING AWESOME
PLZ DON'T DISAPPOINT ME
PLZ DON'T DISAPPOINT ME
September 12, 2019
3.5/5 stars
***This book was originally sold as a duology, but it is being published as a standalone novel.***
First off, I'd just love to mention that this is a heavily described dark-fantasy novel. I adore dark fantasy, and I'm always on the hunt for more, especially in YA. I tend to be extremely picky in what I read in that genre, and I heavily rely on a strong main character.
With that said, this book was actually quite well done in terms of overall story. I thought the plot, the world building, and the "mission/cause" was really well done! I really enjoyed the magic system, and I liked learning about the power differences going on. I actually enjoyed the story, and it was very original and hard to put down.
So why, may you ask, did I give this a lower rating? Well, I have 2 reasons: 1) the characters and 2) the ending.
There are 8 main characters in this book. Yup, you read that right. EIGHT. This book is 368 pages long and was cut down to a standalone. you can see how there may be some issues... I found it extremely difficult to connect to the characters. When someone was in trouble, I didn't feel worried for them. If someone was thought to be traitorous, I didn't feel shock remorse. It was all very neutral for me. Characters are huge deal for me when it comes to dark fantasy. I feel like they really drive the genre, so it doesn't feel like a gorefest or bloody for the sake of it. I felt this book could've worked on that more, or even just cutting the cast down would have been better.
My second complaint is the ending. The main conflict and goal throughout the book is clearly described and spoken about. When we finally get to the climax it falls flat. It felt extremely rushed, the writing got a bit sloppy because of it, and everything happened too fast. I had to reread pages because I thought I might've skipped a page, but in reality the pacing just goes sonic fast. The buildup we get isn't worth what we ended up getting, so that was a major disappointment for me. I once again believe this has to do with the publishing decision to make this a standalone.
Overall, I liked the overall story, but the characters and the ending needed more work. This is a good example of how something planned as a duology should stay as a duology. I feel that if this was 2 books, my feelings on the characters and the ending would have changed. However, I still think this is worth checking out. It was still a fun read and a great thriller. I can set aside my feelings on the ending and still enjoy the rest of the book.
ARC provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
***This book was originally sold as a duology, but it is being published as a standalone novel.***
First off, I'd just love to mention that this is a heavily described dark-fantasy novel. I adore dark fantasy, and I'm always on the hunt for more, especially in YA. I tend to be extremely picky in what I read in that genre, and I heavily rely on a strong main character.
With that said, this book was actually quite well done in terms of overall story. I thought the plot, the world building, and the "mission/cause" was really well done! I really enjoyed the magic system, and I liked learning about the power differences going on. I actually enjoyed the story, and it was very original and hard to put down.
So why, may you ask, did I give this a lower rating? Well, I have 2 reasons: 1) the characters and 2) the ending.
There are 8 main characters in this book. Yup, you read that right. EIGHT. This book is 368 pages long and was cut down to a standalone. you can see how there may be some issues... I found it extremely difficult to connect to the characters. When someone was in trouble, I didn't feel worried for them. If someone was thought to be traitorous, I didn't feel shock remorse. It was all very neutral for me. Characters are huge deal for me when it comes to dark fantasy. I feel like they really drive the genre, so it doesn't feel like a gorefest or bloody for the sake of it. I felt this book could've worked on that more, or even just cutting the cast down would have been better.
My second complaint is the ending. The main conflict and goal throughout the book is clearly described and spoken about. When we finally get to the climax it falls flat. It felt extremely rushed, the writing got a bit sloppy because of it, and everything happened too fast. I had to reread pages because I thought I might've skipped a page, but in reality the pacing just goes sonic fast. The buildup we get isn't worth what we ended up getting, so that was a major disappointment for me. I once again believe this has to do with the publishing decision to make this a standalone.
Overall, I liked the overall story, but the characters and the ending needed more work. This is a good example of how something planned as a duology should stay as a duology. I feel that if this was 2 books, my feelings on the characters and the ending would have changed. However, I still think this is worth checking out. It was still a fun read and a great thriller. I can set aside my feelings on the ending and still enjoy the rest of the book.
ARC provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
January 12, 2020
"There is no such thing as courage without fear, after all."
This book is pitched as "Six of Crows meets Suicide Squad" and let me tell you, the publisher is a fucking liar.
First of all, this book wishes it had a squad half as good as Leigh Bardugo's. Here, we have 8 protagonists, but not really tho: the entire book is from Larkin's pov and she's clearly the protagonist. She's also bland and uninteresting. But were we supposed to feel something for these 8 characters? According to the author yes, indeed we were supposed to care for them, but how the fuck am I supposed to when they all have one single personality trait?
Secondly, I don't even like Suicide squad but I have to admit that its concept is cool. I mean, morally grey or straight up villains teaming up? Amazing. But how are these characters supposed to resemble Suicide squad? Yes, they were all in prison but just because the queen put them there for no reason (although, she probably did it so that the publisher could throw the suicide squad tag in the promotion) and they're all straight up good guys. Not morally grey at all.
This book is pitched as "Six of Crows meets Suicide Squad" and let me tell you, the publisher is a fucking liar.
First of all, this book wishes it had a squad half as good as Leigh Bardugo's. Here, we have 8 protagonists, but not really tho: the entire book is from Larkin's pov and she's clearly the protagonist. She's also bland and uninteresting. But were we supposed to feel something for these 8 characters? According to the author yes, indeed we were supposed to care for them, but how the fuck am I supposed to when they all have one single personality trait?
Secondly, I don't even like Suicide squad but I have to admit that its concept is cool. I mean, morally grey or straight up villains teaming up? Amazing. But how are these characters supposed to resemble Suicide squad? Yes, they were all in prison but just because the queen put them there for no reason (although, she probably did it so that the publisher could throw the suicide squad tag in the promotion) and they're all straight up good guys. Not morally grey at all.
October 13, 2019
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*I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*
In a land where magic is outlawed, Empaths are forced to mine a mineral called luminite, which hinders their powers. A group of 7 criminal Empaths and 1 guide, led by 17-year old Larkin, are sent to the Reach by the Queen to kill a great evil threatening her Kingdom. The deeper they go, the more dangerous it gets. The mission seems like a death sentence, and they soon learn a secret about their pasts that reveals they may have been chosen for a reason.
Before I begin, can we all just take in this cover. It's so perfect for this book! This was a lot darker than I had initially expected it to be. The word-building in this was interesting, I think the highlight of this book was the magic system. Empaths were people who could siphon other people's emotions and either conjure or destroy with it. The beginning of the story, learning the background of the land and storyline was a bit slow. It picked up once the group was lead into the Reach, and that is when I became invested in the story. It was apparently supposed to be a duology, until it was changed to a stand-alone, so maybe that is why the pacing seemed a bit off at times. I loved the concept of the Reach, it was described really well that I could picture the spooky atmosphere in my head so vividly! The creatures the group encounter in the Reach are creepy and grotesque, and probably my favourite part of the story. There is a lot of blood, gore and body horror in this book, so if that is something that makes you uncomfortable, definitely be aware of that going in.
The biggest downfall to this book, in my opinion, were the characters. Many people are under the assumption that this book has 8 different POVs, but that is not the case. Everything is from Larkin's POV. I never felt truly connected to any of them and didn't care about what happened to them. I feel like with having eight main characters you are following, they need to be fleshed out more in order to feel anything towards them. Each member of the group felt very one-dimensional to me. If I had to pick a favourite, it would probably have been Elf, but again, I didn't really care for any of them.
Overall, it was enjoyable if you like something with a creepy, spooky atmosphere and don't mind a lot of gore.
*I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*
In a land where magic is outlawed, Empaths are forced to mine a mineral called luminite, which hinders their powers. A group of 7 criminal Empaths and 1 guide, led by 17-year old Larkin, are sent to the Reach by the Queen to kill a great evil threatening her Kingdom. The deeper they go, the more dangerous it gets. The mission seems like a death sentence, and they soon learn a secret about their pasts that reveals they may have been chosen for a reason.
Before I begin, can we all just take in this cover. It's so perfect for this book! This was a lot darker than I had initially expected it to be. The word-building in this was interesting, I think the highlight of this book was the magic system. Empaths were people who could siphon other people's emotions and either conjure or destroy with it. The beginning of the story, learning the background of the land and storyline was a bit slow. It picked up once the group was lead into the Reach, and that is when I became invested in the story. It was apparently supposed to be a duology, until it was changed to a stand-alone, so maybe that is why the pacing seemed a bit off at times. I loved the concept of the Reach, it was described really well that I could picture the spooky atmosphere in my head so vividly! The creatures the group encounter in the Reach are creepy and grotesque, and probably my favourite part of the story. There is a lot of blood, gore and body horror in this book, so if that is something that makes you uncomfortable, definitely be aware of that going in.
The biggest downfall to this book, in my opinion, were the characters. Many people are under the assumption that this book has 8 different POVs, but that is not the case. Everything is from Larkin's POV. I never felt truly connected to any of them and didn't care about what happened to them. I feel like with having eight main characters you are following, they need to be fleshed out more in order to feel anything towards them. Each member of the group felt very one-dimensional to me. If I had to pick a favourite, it would probably have been Elf, but again, I didn't really care for any of them.
Overall, it was enjoyable if you like something with a creepy, spooky atmosphere and don't mind a lot of gore.
January 23, 2020
Technically 3.5 stars.
Ahh, I had hopes for this one - not high, but hopes nonetheless.
Unfortunately, I found myself feeling let down. And bored. So, so bored.
World-building.
Sarah Harian said she was influenced/inspired by things such as Skyrim, Stranger Things and The Descent. The story takes place deep (deep) down in the mines. There are creepy monster things that eat eyes and grow extra limbs. Cool. Cool cool cool.
I'm not scared.
... ok, maybe just a teeny tiny bit.
All these things sound amazing and horrifying and I was ready to be scared and grossed out and to watch these eight shmucks (sorry, characters) get knocked off one by one. And then I found myself feeling bored. A character gets his eyes eaten right out of his head WHILE HE IS STILL ALIVE. But I'm kinda like ehhh.
One of the problems here was the world-building. We are given a brief description of this world. There are mines. Lots and lots of mines. There's a couple of paragraphs about the characters with their Empath abilities (though they themselves don't know the extent of their powers so fair enough on the information being vague here). The regular people hate Empaths because a bad guy called Otheil Kyran and his seven disciples (there's a number theme here) were Empaths from way back in the (century or so) day and the Queen back then banished them into The Reach (the mines) to perish a slow death.
I want to know more about Kyran! And his disciples! Each disciple used their Empath ability differently. We are given random key words; healer, alchemist, murderer; but no explanation (bar one or two) on how these characters actually used their powers.
Basically, the world-building was a bit meh.
Characters.
A book focused on 8 characters, should be filled with great character-defining moments, right? Wrong.
This book is told from only Larkin's (btw Larkin is a gal and my brain refused to hold on to this fact. Larkin is a male name. It can't just be me that thinks this? And don't get me started on Tamsyn who is a GUY. *brain implodes*) point of view and the story, in my opinion, suffers from this. We only ever view the other 7 characters through Larkin who is, honestly, a bit of a hothead. She also automatically makes herself the leader within the first few chapters and no-one questions this - not even Jaque who is a soldier who works for the Queen who sent them down into the mines in the first place.
And then Larkin goes ahead and becomes infatuated with Amias and this whole body-horror gorefest - but still somehow a bit boring? - of a book becomes a love story. Seriously.
There are people with multiple hands growing out of their arms.
People with eaten out eyes.
But Larkin has this feeling inside her tummy that feels like a whirlpool, and Amias seems to be reciprocating, so hold off on that backstory explanation everyone because we are having a romantic moment here!
I'm gonna say that's a hard no.
What I did like...
- The body-horror was full on but I kind of dug it?
- The whole seven disciples thing: tell me more about their powers, damnit!
- Tamsyn (even though his stupid name sounds like a girls name). Tamsyn was cool. Poor, scholarly Tamsyn who just wants to read glyphs and read his historical scrolls that have more backstory because he wants to understand why this is all happening.
- The Reach/ the mines. Creepy. But kind of beautiful? (when mounds of bodies and eyeless corpses weren't involved).
- Elf. Elf was also cool. She got a little weird there about a 3rd of the way through but I think I get where she was coming from.
I just needed more world-building. And less Larkin.
Thank you, and goodnight.
"Though I have fallen, darkness will rise."
Ahh, I had hopes for this one - not high, but hopes nonetheless.
Unfortunately, I found myself feeling let down. And bored. So, so bored.
World-building.
Sarah Harian said she was influenced/inspired by things such as Skyrim, Stranger Things and The Descent. The story takes place deep (deep) down in the mines. There are creepy monster things that eat eyes and grow extra limbs. Cool. Cool cool cool.
I'm not scared.
... ok, maybe just a teeny tiny bit.
All these things sound amazing and horrifying and I was ready to be scared and grossed out and to watch these eight shmucks (sorry, characters) get knocked off one by one. And then I found myself feeling bored. A character gets his eyes eaten right out of his head WHILE HE IS STILL ALIVE. But I'm kinda like ehhh.
One of the problems here was the world-building. We are given a brief description of this world. There are mines. Lots and lots of mines. There's a couple of paragraphs about the characters with their Empath abilities (though they themselves don't know the extent of their powers so fair enough on the information being vague here). The regular people hate Empaths because a bad guy called Otheil Kyran and his seven disciples (there's a number theme here) were Empaths from way back in the (century or so) day and the Queen back then banished them into The Reach (the mines) to perish a slow death.
I want to know more about Kyran! And his disciples! Each disciple used their Empath ability differently. We are given random key words; healer, alchemist, murderer; but no explanation (bar one or two) on how these characters actually used their powers.
Basically, the world-building was a bit meh.
Characters.
A book focused on 8 characters, should be filled with great character-defining moments, right? Wrong.
This book is told from only Larkin's (btw Larkin is a gal and my brain refused to hold on to this fact. Larkin is a male name. It can't just be me that thinks this? And don't get me started on Tamsyn who is a GUY. *brain implodes*) point of view and the story, in my opinion, suffers from this. We only ever view the other 7 characters through Larkin who is, honestly, a bit of a hothead. She also automatically makes herself the leader within the first few chapters and no-one questions this - not even Jaque who is a soldier who works for the Queen who sent them down into the mines in the first place.
And then Larkin goes ahead and becomes infatuated with Amias and this whole body-horror gorefest - but still somehow a bit boring? - of a book becomes a love story. Seriously.
There are people with multiple hands growing out of their arms.
People with eaten out eyes.
But Larkin has this feeling inside her tummy that feels like a whirlpool, and Amias seems to be reciprocating, so hold off on that backstory explanation everyone because we are having a romantic moment here!
I'm gonna say that's a hard no.
What I did like...
- The body-horror was full on but I kind of dug it?
- The whole seven disciples thing: tell me more about their powers, damnit!
- Tamsyn (even though his stupid name sounds like a girls name). Tamsyn was cool. Poor, scholarly Tamsyn who just wants to read glyphs and read his historical scrolls that have more backstory because he wants to understand why this is all happening.
- The Reach/ the mines. Creepy. But kind of beautiful? (when mounds of bodies and eyeless corpses weren't involved).
- Elf. Elf was also cool. She got a little weird there about a 3rd of the way through but I think I get where she was coming from.
I just needed more world-building. And less Larkin.
Thank you, and goodnight.
May 8, 2020
DNF at page who cares because I can't stand it.
Professional reviewers and writers need to stop comparing six of crows to every stupid book that just happens to involve of group of people engaging in criminal activity!
This hook has lost its worm. Truly.
The writing is awful. I feel it in my bones that I have read this same story again and again in so many YA books and I just don't care to read it again.
Maybe, one day I'll be bored out of my mind and get back to it, for now just get it out of my current reading list and out of my sight!
Professional reviewers and writers need to stop comparing six of crows to every stupid book that just happens to involve of group of people engaging in criminal activity!
This hook has lost its worm. Truly.
The writing is awful. I feel it in my bones that I have read this same story again and again in so many YA books and I just don't care to read it again.
Maybe, one day I'll be bored out of my mind and get back to it, for now just get it out of my current reading list and out of my sight!
December 9, 2020
I thought this book could have been inventive and interesting! I think Sarah did a good job world-building and I thought the plot was interesting. However, this book just really was not for me. I appreciated the innovative plot and writing style, I just couldn't really get myself to care for the characters or feel sadness when they died. Also since this was standalone, I did feel as though the ending was very rushed, I think if she had taken more time or even did a second book and made it a duology, she could have made those last 100 pages into another book.
So the writing and plot development were all great, the book just wasn't for me
So the writing and plot development were all great, the book just wasn't for me
March 24, 2020
4'5/5 ⭐️
September 3, 2020
Rep: wlw characters, minor mlm characters
CWs: gore, eye horror, body horror, torture
CWs: gore, eye horror, body horror, torture
January 5, 2020
2 Stars
Trigger Warning for; graphic violence | gore | body horror | torture | character death | emotional abuse (off page) | scenes of war (Taken from Sarah Harians page)
Okay, I don't even know where to begin. I think because this came in a subscription box, and all of the books but one had been very good... with two or three making it into my favourite reads last year I thought nothing could go wrong with this surely? However I was sadly wrong. I think my issue was that I just wasn't invested and slightly bored. The characters (minus a few) were flat, the romance flat and I think one of the key things I love about reading is being able to have some form of a connection to a character, whether I like them or dislike but I honestly was like meh. Out of all of the characters I only liked Tamsyn, Elf and Jacques and we didn't really see enough of them to actually care a lot for them.
I will say however the premise IS interesting, we get to know that the characters have I'd like to say a certain ability I guess and can harvest peoples emotions and then things progress from there. The setting was very dark and twisted and there was a lot of violent antics throughout. I'm not sure if I missed it or I miss read it, but I'm not really sure WHY these things happen, we do find some form of a back story to something but I don't know why certain things happen.
Along with this I found some things to be slightly confusing, just that when I read a certain part I believed they were leaving someone behind and then the next instance someone was pulling them along soooooo... I don't really know?
I would normally go into characters but there's a lot and to be honest I don't really know what to say for the majority of them so I'm just going to say something about the main character Larkin. She is an Empath who is arrested (once again not sure how she was found) and is then sent on a mission below the surface. We see her kind of bond with characters and her and Brielle had a kind of sister sister friendship. I liked the idea of her family relations and how she'd always think of them in times of need.
Overall I'm not really sure if this was a me not the book kind of thing, HOWEVER I did see this was supposed to be a duology, I think if that had been the case the book would of been a lot better. I say this because things seemed to happen quite quickly (particularly towards the end) and we could of got to know the characters a lot more. Once again this is just a personal opinion in the sense I wanted more from the characters.
Trigger Warning for; graphic violence | gore | body horror | torture | character death | emotional abuse (off page) | scenes of war (Taken from Sarah Harians page)
Okay, I don't even know where to begin. I think because this came in a subscription box, and all of the books but one had been very good... with two or three making it into my favourite reads last year I thought nothing could go wrong with this surely? However I was sadly wrong. I think my issue was that I just wasn't invested and slightly bored. The characters (minus a few) were flat, the romance flat and I think one of the key things I love about reading is being able to have some form of a connection to a character, whether I like them or dislike but I honestly was like meh. Out of all of the characters I only liked Tamsyn, Elf and Jacques and we didn't really see enough of them to actually care a lot for them.
I will say however the premise IS interesting, we get to know that the characters have I'd like to say a certain ability I guess and can harvest peoples emotions and then things progress from there. The setting was very dark and twisted and there was a lot of violent antics throughout. I'm not sure if I missed it or I miss read it, but I'm not really sure WHY these things happen, we do find some form of a back story to something but I don't know why certain things happen.
Along with this I found some things to be slightly confusing, just that when I read a certain part I believed they were leaving someone behind and then the next instance someone was pulling them along soooooo... I don't really know?
I would normally go into characters but there's a lot and to be honest I don't really know what to say for the majority of them so I'm just going to say something about the main character Larkin. She is an Empath who is arrested (once again not sure how she was found) and is then sent on a mission below the surface. We see her kind of bond with characters and her and Brielle had a kind of sister sister friendship. I liked the idea of her family relations and how she'd always think of them in times of need.
Overall I'm not really sure if this was a me not the book kind of thing, HOWEVER I did see this was supposed to be a duology, I think if that had been the case the book would of been a lot better. I say this because things seemed to happen quite quickly (particularly towards the end) and we could of got to know the characters a lot more. Once again this is just a personal opinion in the sense I wanted more from the characters.
July 22, 2019
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the chance to review this title ahead of its release date.
Contrary to what many of you are posting, this book has only one POV with Larkin. It is written in the third person.
Overview:
EIGHT WILL FALL follows Larkin who, as an Empath, is suppressed by the queen of her kingdom, along with others like her. She and her brother are forced to work the mines to survive. Larkin has a bit of a temper (for good reason) and one day she uses magic against an unfair shopkeeper. She and her brother are arrested and thrown into prison. Queen Melay then makes it known that she is choosing seven inmates (and a guide) to go down into the mines and see if the rumors of a returned dark lord are true or not. Each chosen Empath have a family member held back as leverage, thus making their choice an easy one. Once down in the caves, they encounter terrifying creatures, long-dead cultists, and the truth about themselves and how far they will go to save the ones they love and bring justice to their kingdom.
What I liked:
I loved the world-building in this story. It was fresh and not so complicated that it was hard to follow. I was sucked right in. The creep factor hit me like a brick wall in a WHOA sort of way as I wasn't expecting it. BUT I love gore done right, and this was done right. I felt like I was in the movie The Descent, which terrified me and I watched, like, five times, because I'm a sucker for punishment.
The magic system was cool. I don't remember many books with magic like this.
What I didn't like:
Hmmmm. Not much, but maybe that I didn't truly connect with all the characters as much as I hoped. That is what knocked it down a star, but honestly, it didn't affect the story as a whole. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Read if you like:
Claustrophobic atmospheres
Thrill rides
A strong heroine
Good vs Evil
Stand-alone books (as far as I know)
Contrary to what many of you are posting, this book has only one POV with Larkin. It is written in the third person.
Overview:
EIGHT WILL FALL follows Larkin who, as an Empath, is suppressed by the queen of her kingdom, along with others like her. She and her brother are forced to work the mines to survive. Larkin has a bit of a temper (for good reason) and one day she uses magic against an unfair shopkeeper. She and her brother are arrested and thrown into prison. Queen Melay then makes it known that she is choosing seven inmates (and a guide) to go down into the mines and see if the rumors of a returned dark lord are true or not. Each chosen Empath have a family member held back as leverage, thus making their choice an easy one. Once down in the caves, they encounter terrifying creatures, long-dead cultists, and the truth about themselves and how far they will go to save the ones they love and bring justice to their kingdom.
What I liked:
I loved the world-building in this story. It was fresh and not so complicated that it was hard to follow. I was sucked right in. The creep factor hit me like a brick wall in a WHOA sort of way as I wasn't expecting it. BUT I love gore done right, and this was done right. I felt like I was in the movie The Descent, which terrified me and I watched, like, five times, because I'm a sucker for punishment.
The magic system was cool. I don't remember many books with magic like this.
What I didn't like:
Hmmmm. Not much, but maybe that I didn't truly connect with all the characters as much as I hoped. That is what knocked it down a star, but honestly, it didn't affect the story as a whole. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Read if you like:
Claustrophobic atmospheres
Thrill rides
A strong heroine
Good vs Evil
Stand-alone books (as far as I know)
Want to read
January 2, 2019Read the synopsis on Edelweiss ... this sounds awesome!
November 21, 2019
*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Young Adult, Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5
*Thoughts*
Eight Will Fall, by author Sarah Harian, is pitched as Six of Crows meets Suicide Squad, but actually shares no similarities with either. The story follows 17-year-old Larkin who lives in the Demura Isles with her family. Larkin is an Empath, a person who has the ability to project emotions called destruction magic. In this reality, empaths have no rights. They can't get an education. They can't be caught using any magic since it is banned. She is forced into working in the Ethera mines digging for luminite which is said to keep Empath magic in check.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
*Genre* Young Adult, Fantasy
*Rating* 3.5
*Thoughts*
Eight Will Fall, by author Sarah Harian, is pitched as Six of Crows meets Suicide Squad, but actually shares no similarities with either. The story follows 17-year-old Larkin who lives in the Demura Isles with her family. Larkin is an Empath, a person who has the ability to project emotions called destruction magic. In this reality, empaths have no rights. They can't get an education. They can't be caught using any magic since it is banned. She is forced into working in the Ethera mines digging for luminite which is said to keep Empath magic in check.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
May 19, 2021
This was good! Kind of gory, though.
December 12, 2019
Oh, I really liked this one. It's like those cool vintage dungeon games where you walk around various levels trying not to get eaten by monsters. Cock full of gore and horror, and somehow reminded me of early 90s fantasy books too. Definitely one to re-read.
Read
July 12, 2019This book took so much effort to read, I feel like I ran a marathon in 350 pages.
Eight Will Fall follows Larkin, an Empath miner living on an island country where her magic is outlawed. Allowed to live as long as she's documented and does the jobs the crown demands, she lives an impoverished life with her family until she breaks the law by using magic. She is immediately arrested and her brother is held in prison while she is forced to traverse the deep caverns of The Reach with six other Empaths and a scholar, searching for a man-turned-god by legends, a man who their queen is convinced has a reign of evil below ground.
I promise I don't hate every book, I just liked one!!! This book just... whew, didn't work at all for me.
The world-building: I told my boyfriend that this plot was both insanely obvious while making absolutely no sense at once, something that should be a feat. I am not going to spoil it - but this book introduces lore as a story and then insists on making it so relevant to the plot without any emotional weight. The "twists" had so little context outside of the lore that it made no sense why I was supposed to care - more buildup would have been GREATLY appreciated. The beginning was a fine enough setup, but I think the exposition cut off too early and then the developing plot needed more in order for the reveals to do anything but annoy me.
The descriptions: this book is meant to be "gorey" but the descriptions left me completely missing what entirely was supposed to be going on until I reread it. That's a personal style thing, honestly, and it will definitely work for some people. For me, I couldn't really understand what picture was being painted - I felt like I was missing half of the image, and I've never been good at imagining scenes as they're written in books anyway.
The characters: there is, of course, a level of instalove in this book and I could have done without it. The characters, save one (Jacque), felt very one dimensional and placed on the page to serve their purpose. There were no layers beyond what they were described as, and even when a character would have a "twist" revealed about them, I didn't care enough about them to be shocked by the development. I was in a constant state of hoping the twists would add layers to them, give me some dynamics to latch on to, but they never did. Spoiler but
The plot: I can't get into this much without spoilers, so I'll be brief. The premise of the plot holds no weight for me - I don't care about people who existed 1000 years ago if we only know of them from one story and have no attachment to them, for good or worse. If the past is going to be so important in the present, flashbacks could have been useful here. Hell, the scholar had a bunch of journals he carted around - maybe reading out scenes that gave us the disciples personalities, ideas about what made them tick, ANYTHING would have helped me. Instead I got emotionless info-dumping throughout our cast of characters that just gave me the information without raising the stakes.
I don't usually format my thoughts that way but I felt it was important to tick each off. I can't think of more than one thing I liked about this book (a closing moment with Jacque was nice), and I can't believe it took me so long to slug through it. I hope this book finds its audience, but I really don't wanna think about it ever again.
1/5
Eight Will Fall follows Larkin, an Empath miner living on an island country where her magic is outlawed. Allowed to live as long as she's documented and does the jobs the crown demands, she lives an impoverished life with her family until she breaks the law by using magic. She is immediately arrested and her brother is held in prison while she is forced to traverse the deep caverns of The Reach with six other Empaths and a scholar, searching for a man-turned-god by legends, a man who their queen is convinced has a reign of evil below ground.
I promise I don't hate every book, I just liked one!!! This book just... whew, didn't work at all for me.
The world-building: I told my boyfriend that this plot was both insanely obvious while making absolutely no sense at once, something that should be a feat. I am not going to spoil it - but this book introduces lore as a story and then insists on making it so relevant to the plot without any emotional weight. The "twists" had so little context outside of the lore that it made no sense why I was supposed to care - more buildup would have been GREATLY appreciated. The beginning was a fine enough setup, but I think the exposition cut off too early and then the developing plot needed more in order for the reveals to do anything but annoy me.
The descriptions: this book is meant to be "gorey" but the descriptions left me completely missing what entirely was supposed to be going on until I reread it. That's a personal style thing, honestly, and it will definitely work for some people. For me, I couldn't really understand what picture was being painted - I felt like I was missing half of the image, and I've never been good at imagining scenes as they're written in books anyway.
The characters: there is, of course, a level of instalove in this book and I could have done without it. The characters, save one (Jacque), felt very one dimensional and placed on the page to serve their purpose. There were no layers beyond what they were described as, and even when a character would have a "twist" revealed about them, I didn't care enough about them to be shocked by the development. I was in a constant state of hoping the twists would add layers to them, give me some dynamics to latch on to, but they never did. Spoiler but
The plot: I can't get into this much without spoilers, so I'll be brief. The premise of the plot holds no weight for me - I don't care about people who existed 1000 years ago if we only know of them from one story and have no attachment to them, for good or worse. If the past is going to be so important in the present, flashbacks could have been useful here. Hell, the scholar had a bunch of journals he carted around - maybe reading out scenes that gave us the disciples personalities, ideas about what made them tick, ANYTHING would have helped me. Instead I got emotionless info-dumping throughout our cast of characters that just gave me the information without raising the stakes.
I don't usually format my thoughts that way but I felt it was important to tick each off. I can't think of more than one thing I liked about this book (a closing moment with Jacque was nice), and I can't believe it took me so long to slug through it. I hope this book finds its audience, but I really don't wanna think about it ever again.
1/5
August 4, 2020
Eight Will Fall gets teased as similar to Six of Crows, which is what got my attention in the first place. Unfortunately, I don't think the comparisson does this book any favours. You have a group of characters on a mission, but that's as far as the similarities go.
Eight Will Fall feels a bit like too much book was tried to be crammed into too few pages. Establishing a fantasy world with its own rules and history, introducing us to a large cast of characters (there are 8 MCs here) and having us care about them, as well as weaving a well-plotted narrative within only 350 pages is gonna be a tough sell.
The premise is intriguing, the magic system really interesting, and the characters have a lot of potential. It just didn't fully succeed in the execution for me personally.
That being said, it was still an enjoyable read.
Eight Will Fall feels a bit like too much book was tried to be crammed into too few pages. Establishing a fantasy world with its own rules and history, introducing us to a large cast of characters (there are 8 MCs here) and having us care about them, as well as weaving a well-plotted narrative within only 350 pages is gonna be a tough sell.
The premise is intriguing, the magic system really interesting, and the characters have a lot of potential. It just didn't fully succeed in the execution for me personally.
That being said, it was still an enjoyable read.
February 19, 2020
Yup, this is exaclty how a 3-star-book feels.
The idea of this story is fantastic. Fantasy horror is a genre I was intrigued to get into and this is probably the perfect start. A realm beneath a realm, a dark something luring around every corner and nobody knows what they're even trying to find.
Now before I started this book I read some reviews, as I always do to set reasonable expectations. I knew the characters fell flat for a lot of people and there was a decent amount of readers dissatisified with the ending. However, the ending is probably what I liked the most about this story. I closed this book and thought the ending was a worthy conclusion to the mystery.
As for the characters, for a book resolving around feelings I felt surprisingly little for them. Sure, it was obvious not everyone would make it out alive but I genuinely didn't feel for most of them. There is one point where someone in the story loses somebody close to them and I turned the page as if nothing happened.
The atmosphere is where Eight Will Fall shines. The Reach is terrifying, disgusting and an absolute nightmare. If you can't handle bloody sceneries well, this will definitely make your skin crawl.
The magic is also unique and new. I wish it was given more depth because especially towards the end, people just use it without wasting a thought on HOW to use it.
My biggest problem with this book is the writing. It was completely all over the place. Characters' thoughts weren't followed through, they jumped back and forth and sometimes referred to things that either weren't mentioned or you had to search the page to puzzle everything together. This was especially annoying when we entered new territories and I absolutely didn't understand where things were and what they looked like because the descriptions were...descriptive, but not visual. Sure, my mind filled the gaps but it constantly rips you out of action when you're scrambling for an image of a scene in your head.
So overall, this was okay. I am content with where the story ended and enjoyed the action and horror going on. I liked more than half of the main cast but I didn't get to know any of them, really. The lore and magic was interesting but not fleshed out enough (no pun intended, ha). What this book lacked in depth it made up for in atmosphere. In the end, it wasn't all good, but good enough.
Bonus: the Fairyloot edition has a gorgeous red cover and artwork on the inside of the dust jacket. It's really pretty!
The idea of this story is fantastic. Fantasy horror is a genre I was intrigued to get into and this is probably the perfect start. A realm beneath a realm, a dark something luring around every corner and nobody knows what they're even trying to find.
Now before I started this book I read some reviews, as I always do to set reasonable expectations. I knew the characters fell flat for a lot of people and there was a decent amount of readers dissatisified with the ending. However, the ending is probably what I liked the most about this story. I closed this book and thought the ending was a worthy conclusion to the mystery.
As for the characters, for a book resolving around feelings I felt surprisingly little for them. Sure, it was obvious not everyone would make it out alive but I genuinely didn't feel for most of them. There is one point where someone in the story loses somebody close to them and I turned the page as if nothing happened.
The atmosphere is where Eight Will Fall shines. The Reach is terrifying, disgusting and an absolute nightmare. If you can't handle bloody sceneries well, this will definitely make your skin crawl.
The magic is also unique and new. I wish it was given more depth because especially towards the end, people just use it without wasting a thought on HOW to use it.
My biggest problem with this book is the writing. It was completely all over the place. Characters' thoughts weren't followed through, they jumped back and forth and sometimes referred to things that either weren't mentioned or you had to search the page to puzzle everything together. This was especially annoying when we entered new territories and I absolutely didn't understand where things were and what they looked like because the descriptions were...descriptive, but not visual. Sure, my mind filled the gaps but it constantly rips you out of action when you're scrambling for an image of a scene in your head.
So overall, this was okay. I am content with where the story ended and enjoyed the action and horror going on. I liked more than half of the main cast but I didn't get to know any of them, really. The lore and magic was interesting but not fleshed out enough (no pun intended, ha). What this book lacked in depth it made up for in atmosphere. In the end, it wasn't all good, but good enough.
Bonus: the Fairyloot edition has a gorgeous red cover and artwork on the inside of the dust jacket. It's really pretty!
June 11, 2020
⭐️⭐️⭐️(3,5 stars)
"There is no such thing as courage without fear, after all."
Well that was certainly a different book than my usual retellings. I found the setting very promising and I liked the way the magical system worked.
Unfortunately after a strong start the story started to become kind of repetitive. The same thing, the same type of death happened again and again and again. It somehow felt like playing a rather bland computer game - every new level looked alike and at the end you had to defeat the same opponent over and over again.
The idea that our eight "willing" participants actually turned out to be descendants of the original eight criminals was interesting, I just wished it would have been executed in a different way.
I mean, was anyone surprised that Larkin turned out to be the descendants of our main antagonist?
Larkin was a rather typical ya girl and in my opinion the book would have benefited from more than one POV. It would have been interesting to see what the others felt or how they experienced the cave and it’s horrors.
Sadly I couldn’t connect with any of them and I wasn’t invested enough in their storylines to feel anything rather than growing boredom when most of them met their demise.
Also that whole storyline surrounding Elf and her wings was extremely strange and weird and confusing. I just don’t get why she had the urge to "do" this! Just to turn her into an actual elf?
Another weak plot point was the spy storyline. It wasn’t that hard to figure out just who the spy was...and I have no idea why introducing a spy was necessary when the Queen planned to kill them all if they would survive?!
The Queen itself was a stereotypical villain and the big reveal surrounding her true identity came as no surprise.
What actually surprised me the most was that I found the lovestory unnecessary.... and everyone who knows me knows just how much I love a good lovestory.
In that particular scenario it felt rather forced, bordered on insta love and left me feeling nothing at all.
It was refreshing to see that this was a standalone even if the ending kind of left open possibilities for another story.
"There is no such thing as courage without fear, after all."
Well that was certainly a different book than my usual retellings. I found the setting very promising and I liked the way the magical system worked.
Unfortunately after a strong start the story started to become kind of repetitive. The same thing, the same type of death happened again and again and again. It somehow felt like playing a rather bland computer game - every new level looked alike and at the end you had to defeat the same opponent over and over again.
The idea that our eight "willing" participants actually turned out to be descendants of the original eight criminals was interesting, I just wished it would have been executed in a different way.
I mean, was anyone surprised that Larkin turned out to be the descendants of our main antagonist?
Larkin was a rather typical ya girl and in my opinion the book would have benefited from more than one POV. It would have been interesting to see what the others felt or how they experienced the cave and it’s horrors.
Sadly I couldn’t connect with any of them and I wasn’t invested enough in their storylines to feel anything rather than growing boredom when most of them met their demise.
Also that whole storyline surrounding Elf and her wings was extremely strange and weird and confusing. I just don’t get why she had the urge to "do" this! Just to turn her into an actual elf?
Another weak plot point was the spy storyline. It wasn’t that hard to figure out just who the spy was...and I have no idea why introducing a spy was necessary when the Queen planned to kill them all if they would survive?!
The Queen itself was a stereotypical villain and the big reveal surrounding her true identity came as no surprise.
What actually surprised me the most was that I found the lovestory unnecessary.... and everyone who knows me knows just how much I love a good lovestory.
In that particular scenario it felt rather forced, bordered on insta love and left me feeling nothing at all.
It was refreshing to see that this was a standalone even if the ending kind of left open possibilities for another story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2022
This was such a pleasant surprise? I fully went into this expecting I'd DNF, and perhaps it was my very low expectations that helped me enjoy this book so much. Or, no, perhaps that's unfair to the book; it is good.
First of all, it's written in third-person past, THANK THE LORD, so I don't have to suffer through first-person, and it's amazing how much that helps my mindset when reading. It's also really fast-paced and fun and creepy; it reminded me a bit of that movie The Descent. Despite there being eight main characters, they were all distinct and fleshed out and I cared about all of them, which hurt, because people will die in the book. There's a lot of great twists and reveals. The ending felt a bit hackneyed but I don't know that it could have gone another way, to be honest, so I'm fine with it.
Anyway, I read this in two days even though I've been super slumpy for a while so that speaks for itself.
First of all, it's written in third-person past, THANK THE LORD, so I don't have to suffer through first-person, and it's amazing how much that helps my mindset when reading. It's also really fast-paced and fun and creepy; it reminded me a bit of that movie The Descent. Despite there being eight main characters, they were all distinct and fleshed out and I cared about all of them, which hurt, because people will die in the book. There's a lot of great twists and reveals. The ending felt a bit hackneyed but I don't know that it could have gone another way, to be honest, so I'm fine with it.
Anyway, I read this in two days even though I've been super slumpy for a while so that speaks for itself.
January 10, 2020
I didn't know what to expect going in (one day I will read blurbs. Maybe) but I was definitely not prepared. In a good way.
This is an excellent YA fantasy horror and it ticked all the right boxes for me. It was gruesome without being too graphic, shocking and scary, and I loved the world that was built.
Full review to come.
This is an excellent YA fantasy horror and it ticked all the right boxes for me. It was gruesome without being too graphic, shocking and scary, and I loved the world that was built.
Full review to come.
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