Fire Becomes Her

Not bad, but it didn’t really land for me. I found the main character frustrating and the overall plot a bit obvious, even though I appreciate what the book was saying.

For me, this was another one of those books with a great premise but mediocre execution. The book began with 2 characters - Ingrid and Linden - already in a relationship and I find it hard to root for them as I barely knew them. Ingrid irked me so much, and was maybe a bit too haughty at times. I liked her strong will though, compared to Linden’s, whose disposition I found so weak. The political maneuvering felt juvenile, the banter dry and the characterization shallow. I started and ended the book knowing nearly the same amount about the characters. There’s lots of telling. It’s not always a bad thing, but in this case, there wasn’t much to back it up. If you wanted proof that a certain character is smart, etc. you just have to trust what’s being told to you because most of the time, it won’t show. I’d say this book just brushed the surface of things, a lot of aspects were very superficial. The events happened quickly, so much so that they didn't become very believable. I think with more detail, depth, consistency (and more, sorry) I would have liked this better, maybe younger me would have. What I did appreciate about this were the queer platonic relationships. Sure, it started with romance, but the more focus the book gave to platonic relationships the more points were added (still not a lot though). Honestly, I just really wanted romance out of the picture. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the arc!