You had me at Hunchback of Notre Dame retelling! It was my favorite Disney movie as a kid, and while this book is obviously darker and grittier I absolutely loved it. I would definitely recommend!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, Page Street Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this affect my rating or review.

All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication.

Content Warning: Death, Gore, Blood, Starvation, Torture, War

"You don’t need a master, Enebish. Be your own hero. You can save yourself--and me--but only if you open your eyes."

Enebish has known a life of duty and battle her entire life. Having been known as one of the best warriors in the Sky King’s army, she created her identity around that. Also being a Night Spinner--a special Kalima power that allows one to have the ability to bend night within her grasp--she was an indispensable asset. Until, one day, she lost control and slaughtered a merchant caravan. Forced to quell her storm, her dearest friend and surrogate sister Ghoa had to maime her in order to get her under control.

"Followers of the New Order attain exaltation by reporting the mistakes of others. The more grievous the infraction, the closer they come to rapture. And I, the most notorious criminal in the empire, am imprisoned in the heart of their den."

In the aftermath, Enebish becomes known as Enebish the Destroyer, and is branded a traitor to the kingdom. Ghoa, being the commander of the Sky King’s army, is able to secure her a spot hidden away in a monastery, where she will be looked after under strict supervision, instead of executed for her crime. A moonstone is placed into her chest in order to sever her connection with her magic, and secure the safety of others around her.

"The sky doesn’t care that I am wicked and ugly. The clouds never rain down judgment for my crimes, and the moon shines without flinching on my injured limbs and scarred face. The majority of Ashkar may despise me, but the heavens will always embrace me in arms of frost and wrap me in a blanket of starlight. In the eyes of the Lady of the Sky and Father Guzan, I am accepted. Wanted."

Enebish, scorned and fallen from her pedestal, severed from her magic, crippled, and left without much purpose, is forced to create a new life for herself. She finds purpose in training the king’s eagles, but still flirts with the night when it comes around each evening. In a land where the Lady of the Night and Father Guzan are no longer worshiped as the Sky King had denounced their existence, Enebish finds herself yet another outcast, as her relationship to the night leaves no question that they are alive and real.

One day, Ghoa visits the monastery. It is the first time Enebish has seen her since her banishment. There to retrieve the king’s eagles, Ghoa gives Enebish leave along with Serik, a monk at the monastery, to see the eagles safely to the celebration. The excursion doesn’t go without a hitch, however, and Enebish finds herself at the center of ridicule. From out of nowhere, a group of rebels led by the notorious Temujin interfere and tell Enebish to seek them out.

When Ghoa learns about her interaction with Temujin, she offers Enebish a reward if she can hunt the criminal down. She would be reinstated to the army if she could infiltrate enemy lines and capture Temujin. Wanting her old life back more than anything, Enebish agrees, but underestimates the difficulty involved. The truth behind the ongoing war is also underestimated, as the empire’s situation is much more dire than she ever realized. Between the Sky King’s empire and the rebel forces, citizens are desperately in need. Enebish stretches herself to appease Ghoa, but finds that what she thought was the right path may end up being the wrong one.

Night Spinner’s main character Enebish certainly embodies many admirable traits. First, she’s a warrior, but this “past-life” is not a honed edge any longer, and allows fraying to occur at the sharpness in her character. She’s courageous, but also fearful due to being branded a traitor for a terrible crime. Humbleness mirrors pride knowing what her Kalima can do but now is unable to do anything with the night. It is in these attributes that The Hunchback of Notre Dame is visible. Other than this and her obvious disfigurement, I didn’t find much correlation between the two. To be honest, I haven’t read or watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame, so my memory may be jaded by time.

Full of unique mythology, culture, and magic, Night Spinner offers a rich setting for a probing tale of politics and betrayal. The beginning of this story is especially contextual, and gives the reader a fine sense of the world in which it is set. Several plot twists also hide themselves within the plot, but some I had guessed before the truth had been revealed, which was a little disappointing. Despite this, Night Spinner offers a familiar, yet unique story about a character that faces an impossible situation, only to rise above to face head-on yet another.

Vulgarity: Minimal.
Sexual content: Minimal.
Violence: Moderate, including graphic and torture scenes

My Rating: ★★★★

(Link will go live 02/26) 

Another beautiful cover! It seems like I'm a broken record recently in my praise of the cover art of my books, but it's also just true that many of them have been extraordinary! It's nice to see original cover art that properly reflects the book itself rather than trying to brazenly mimic other successful titles in an attempt to trick readers into picking books up. I mean, I get it, publishing is a business and all of that. But a beautiful cover will do the job just as well, as many readers, myself included, will pick up titles like this because the cover is lovely and unique. The book was also marketed at a retelling of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." And because I can't even really picture what that looks like, this was an immediate request for me!

Enebish's life is now one of seclusion and repression, a far fall from a few years ago when she had been on the cusp of becoming a great warrior and great leader for her people. But when a horrific accident occurs, killing many and crippling Enebish, her life takes a drastic turn, leaving her hated and feared by those who used to respect her. But, after years of hiding from her own powers and ignoring the temptations of the night, she is finally given a path forward to redeem herself. As she chases down a notorious criminal, however, she learns that there are many secrets in the night, not least of all her own.

While this book wasn't the home run I'd been hoping for, there was still a lot I ended up liking about it. For one thing (and in my book, most importantly), Enebish was an excellent character. While some of her secrets and the reveals she discovers throughout the book were easy to guess, her own process of exploring these new insights was always sympathetic and relatable. As the story progresses, we see more and more clearly that her physical injuries are not nearly as crippling as her fear. Fear of her past, fear of the judgement of others, and, of course, fear of herself.

I was also a fan of the writing style and world-building. It was the kind of book that I was able to immediately sink into. Writing is always one of the hardest aspects of a book to review because what makes one author's style work and another's struggle can be both very subjective to the reader as well as almost impossible to pinpoint with specifics. I can usually tell within the first few chapters of a book whether the writing is going to click for me, and right off the bat, this one did. The world-building was also interesting, and I was able to easily picture the various locations that Enebish travels to.

The romance is definitely on the slow-burn side and there were hints of a love triangle at points. Luckily, the story didn't commit fully to said triangle and the romance itself was very sweet, what little we had of it.

My struggles had to do with the length/pacing of the story, as well as the comparison to " The Hunchback of Notre Dame." To the latter point, I found this expectation more distracting than anything. I can see the base elements for why this was referenced in the blurb, but frankly, in the first half of the book I spent way too much time comparing characters and events to that story and not enough appreciating the book before me. I think, as a whole, the comparison is too weak to add anything to the story and is likely to prove more distracting to readers. I recommend trying to put that thought out of your head immediately to better enjoy the book. The middle of the story also lagged a bit, and, overall, I think the book was a bit longer than what was necessary. As the writing and characters were strong, these were minor concerns, but still worth noting.

Overall, I thought this was a really interesting read. I'm not biting at the bit to get to the second one, but it laid down a decent foundation for the plot going forward, and I'm fairly invested in Enebish herself. If you're looking for an original fantasy novel this spring, this might be one worth checking out!

Rating 7: A bit longer than was necessary, but a compelling lead character and interesting magic system pulled this one into the "win" column.

I received an advanced copy of Night Spinner from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Enebish the Destroyer possesses the rare ability to control darkness, weaving it to conceal or blind people at her whim. This power was not give lightly, and she considers it her duty to serve the goddess and kingdom that have defined her life thus far. After an incident by Enebish’s hand that devastates the kingdom, she is deemed unfit for service, and sentenced to spend the rest of her days in a monastery dedicated to gods she has no faith for. Chained with the title of “Destroyer” and an insurmountable pile of guilt, Enebish feels as though redemption can never be achieved. But when her adopted sister gives her a mission for the crown, Enebish finally sees her chance to prove herself to the kingdom once again. To reclaim her identity, she will have to hunt down the most notorious rebel in the kingdom, and discover what darker plans lurk under the surface of everyones’ facades.

Addie Thorley has written a compulsively readable fantasy novel in Night Spinner! I wasn’t quite sure what it was in particular that kept me coming back, but I couldn’t seem to put this book down! The story is a retelling of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, a story which I am not particularly familiar with, so my opinions on the book are separate from the source material. I really enjoyed seeing Enebish grow throughout the story, and the plot twists certainly kept me on my toes!

You can get your copy of Night Spinner now from Page Street Kids!

My Recommendation-
This tundra-inspired retelling is perfect for those people still reveling in the winter season! If you enjoy books by Natasha Ngan or Rosaria Munda, you will love the high-stakes conflicts in Night Spinner! Also, if you feel that many stories have become too predictable, Night Spinner contains enough twists to entertain even the most active plot sleuth!

I went into this book without any expectations and without any prior inclination of what this book is about. I just loved the cover so much and requested and was very very glad to be approved for the Blog Tour. And boy was I surprised. This as we all know is the retelling of Hunchback of Notre Dame, and it is mostly is different and unique YA Fantasy take on the classic. It kinda felt like a lot of characters were inspired Grishaverse with flavours of their own and that was just cherry on top. The world building is beautifully done and the twists and turns just adds to the great plot. A vibrant and harsh magical world with streaks of custom and religion woven into it, this book had it all and showed it all as well. I definitely definitely wanna read the next book and asap.

I absolutely loved this book!

It drew me in from the first page, and had me until the very end. Needless to say, I'm happy it has a little one next to the title because I need more!

Thorley is such a great writer. Her prose are lyrical and beautiful; she sets the scene and brings it to life before your eyes. The characters she created are full of life, with emotions and drives that build a solid foundation for a story.

I have never read The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but I have seen the Disney movie. Even with that knowledge, I believe Thorley does a great job of weaving the old with the new and creating a story that stands apart from any kind of source material.

There were enough twists and turns to keep me on my feet, and just a touch of romance to sate my need for love. I felt connected to the characters and found myself rooting for them until I hated them. I really liked that my inklings weren't all founded while some of them were, and I enjoyed the reveals as they came.

Overall, this was such a great read and I can't wait for more Enebish!

Going into this review I think it only fair to mention, that Night Spinner is supposed to be a retelling of the classic "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", which I haven't read so I'm not going to compare it to that (since my whole knowledge of that story is based on watching the Disney movie as a child).

The story starts out with our protagonist Enebish, exiled amongst monks for a crime that branded her a traitor and left her physically disfigured. Her only solice is her best friend and monk, Serik and her birds that she trains for the king. Enebish used to be one of the Kalima, a magic-wielding warrior, able to control the threads of darkness. Much like her adoptive sister Ghoa, who controlls the king's armies.

-

Startingt the book, we as a reader didn't really know much about Enebish or her history, which is something we came to learn over the course of the book. The same goes for the other character that we meet as the story progresses. Usually I think learning things as we go is a good thing because it feels less interruptive especially if it goes hand in hand with the worldbuilding, but to me the first third of the book felt a little slow. We met some of the important characters, learnt about the world and magic system but it took me a while to warm up to the book and writing. Things got better after a certain point and picked up speed though.

We quickly came to realize who the important characters were going to be and they were definitely more fleshed out than some of the others. Enebish, Serik, Ghoa and Temujin were by far the most realistic characters, or at least felt more real and fleshed out than the others. We had characters with different beliefs and character traits, opposing agendas and emotions. Unfortunately some of the side characters felt flat compared to the "main cast" and I felt myself not really invested in their fates.
Generally I feel like the wordlbuilding was there but not enough to give me a better understanding of the world and it conflicts, which I think is a pity since there was an active war going on and I would have loved to know more which would have made some of the motivations more tangible.

But overall I think that the story was captivating and always kept me curious. I had the feeling that there were things that were hidden to Enebish and the reader but couldn't quite figure out what exactly it was, which also left me questioning many of the character's motives and actions. The last third was especially good and I devoured it in one go wanting to know what would happen next.

I liked how relationships changed and evolved, how people grew and changed but sometimes I wished that things would have happened a little slower. In general I felt that some parts were a little rushed and that a 100 pages more would have been great to elaborate more on the worldbuilding and characters. I would also have loved to know more about the other Kalima powers, because I'm sure we barely got a glimpse of it.

What I really loved about the book though, was the slow burning romance. I'm not gonna go into detail here but to me it felt really relatable and I'm already excited to hopefully see more of it in the next book.

The ending itself was really satisfiying and definitely made me look forward to the release of a sequel (?). It ended at a great moment with much potential for another book.

Overall I would give it 3.5 to 4 stars.

Thank you to Page Street Publishing for a copy of the arc and Addie Thorley for this wonderful book, in exchange for an honest review.

These are my initial thoughts after finish the arc last night. I absolutely loved and enjoyed every minute of this book. Addie Thorley's world building is so distinct, intricate and exquisite, I can feel myself walking down the street alongside Enebish. The author beautifully crafted a world full of culture, religion, practices and magical system. It is like a perfectly made souffle, made with careful hands, baked and has risen to perfection.

The complex characters and relationships are also wonderfully made. This book was said to be a Hunchback of Notre Dame retelling, and there are similarities in the beginning but it takes on a flight of it's own. Enebish is somehow like Quasimodo, in the aspect that she has physical deformities as punishment from her past actions that she didn't have any much control of. Sometimes, I felt so much for her because we have all made mistakes, I have made a lot of them, in my short time in this world, but everyone deserves to be heard and be forgiven and have a second chance at life. I love Enebish's character development and cannot wait for the next book!

And of course, my weakness in books are morally gray characters. Ghoa, at first I thought she was going to be the extremely good character from how she was so loyal to the King, and how she was the commander, but then she turned out to be one of the unexpected gray ones. Temujin is also one of the characters that intrigued me and I loved reading his thoughts and perspectives.

I'm so glad this book will have a sequel because that first one was so good I can't wait for more!

This is a hunchback of Notre Dame inspired story. instead of your traditional Quasimodo, you have a wounded ex warrior who's dealing with a lot of fallout and PST from things that have happened war. It is set in this very rich, lush, landscape, of a completely new world with completely new rules. There's a magic system here that has been very thoroughly set up in some fairly interesting ways. People can spin the night, control fire, manipulate ice and different elements such as these.

I started this book not very sure of what I was getting into or if I really liked what was going on and where it was headed. But by the end of the book, I was invested. There were things going on both action-wise and politically that I need to know the end results of. Thorley created this very rich world with a lot of lore and a magical system that I don't fully understand it yet, I want to know more, but built on faith and I find that intriguing.

She also managed to develop a lot of character depth. In the beginning, I wasn't entirely sure about Enebish. I struggled with the fact that she was supposed to be this battle-hardened warrior but she was acting very meek and mild. She was invested in the war efforts but there were a lot of things that made her feel like she wasn't a true warrior. She wasn't acting like I expected a warrior to act. As the series progressed and started to understand that maybe because of everything that she has gone through and everything that was happening, this has changed her in ways and shifted her back into this very weak state. Throughout her journey, as she is starting to rely more on herself and starting to discover some of these truths, she started to grow and become more of what I would expect that this warrior was supposed to be at the very beginning. I like seeing that character arc. And with Enebish, you have her adopted sister Ghoa, adopted cousin Serik, and this whole band of criminals that also grow and morph and shift as different plot points happen in very unexpected ways.

I like it when I can read a story and start to try and guess where the plot is going but then it twists and morphs into something that I wasn't expecting. And this story does that very well. There were hints and bits and pieces of what the ending was going to be. And these little inklings of, maybe things aren't quite what you're expecting them to be, but it was hard to see how that actually was going to fall out until the very end. So I think Thorley did a very good job of giving enough of that anxiety to keep on pushing through and not being sure of anything. This coincides very well with everything that was going on with Enebish as she's struggling to decide who to help, how to help and what she is doing throughout this war.

There's a little bit of romance in it as well. There's a line within this story that just pinpoints how this romance goes and I liked it so much for it.
"This is no time for kissing."

I'm excited to see where all this finally wraps up.

"A must-read for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse, transforming The Hunchback of Notre Dame into a powerful tundra-inspired fantasty.

Before the massacre at Nariin, Enebish was one of the greatest warriors in the Sky King’s Imperial Army: a rare and dangerous Night Spinner, blessed with the ability to control the threads of darkness. Now, she is known as Enebish the Destroyer—a monster and murderer, banished to a monastery for losing control of her power and annihilating a merchant caravan.

Guilt stricken and scarred, Enebish tries to be grateful for her sanctuary, until her adoptive sister, Imperial Army commander Ghoa, returns from the war front with a tantalizing offer. If Enebish can capture the notorious criminal, Temujin, whose band of rebels has been seizing army supply wagons, not only will her crimes be pardoned, she will be reinstated as a warrior.

Enebish eagerly accepts. But as she hunts Temujin across the tundra, she discovers the tides of war have shifted, and the supplies he’s stealing are the only thing keeping thousands of shepherds from starving. Torn between duty and conscience, Enebish must decide whether to put her trust in the charismatic rebel or her beloved sister. No matter who she chooses, an even greater enemy is advancing, ready to bring the empire to its knees."

While The Hunchback of Notre Dame angle interests me, I'm mainly here for the "fans of Legin Bardugo's Grishaverse."

A unique retelling that was absolutely magical. The world building was fantastic and the character development was a joy.

Gender swapped magical retelling of 'The Hunchback' that's all you really need to know to dive into this amazing book.

Our MC is brilliant and the prose is so smoothly laid out that reading this book takes almost no time at all. Thorley drops you into a beautiful world full of conflict, pain, and magic.

'En' is locked up, for the safety of herself but also for the innocent civilians, why? Because once upon a time she was a great Kalima warrior and then one moment change that and she became known as a Destroyer, someone who slew instead of protecting the people of the kingdom.

Luckily for En her adopted older sister saved her from death and now she leads a life quite different from that of a warrior, not just because of her sentencing but because she came out with injuries that changed her body form that of a warrior.

En has people she loves, not just those close to her but the people their Sky King is supposed to protect and she realizes she cannot hide away if they're in danger but does that mean working with her Sister's nemesis to save them?

I don't want to give too much away and I'll do a full review on my blog, but this book was amazing and sure to be one of my favorite releases of 2020.

So this is being marketed as a retelling of The Hunchback of Notre Dame because its heroine is damaged, scarred and considered a monster. Indeed she's frequently referred to as the Destroyer and as the story begins she's living (or should that be existing ? ) in the monastery that's she's been banished to by their King. Enebish doesn't really remember losing control of her formidable powers and wiping out innocents but she knows that she deserves her punishment. The only bright spark in her restricted world is Serik, her adopted brother and her sister who offers her a chance to redeem herself but what if the cost is too high ?
This was an enthralling, magical read and I had so much empathy for Enebish as she's steadfast and really only trying to do the right thing. Enebish absolutely adores her adopted sister Ghoa and clearly would do anything for her. Serik is joyously irreverent and I loved that he always tried to protect her. I'm reluctant to give too much away as the twists when they come are both shocking and heartbreaking. Enebish and the journey she took from shy, self depreciating to full out strong, selfless heroine kept me glued to the page. I'm very excited to read more from this author and I'm left thinking what really makes a monster ?
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Night Spinner is a completely new world, one that I’ve never experienced. As a centuries-old war rages between Ashkar and Zemya, Enebish, a Night Spinner and former Kalima warrior, is imprisoned in a monastery for her crimes. When Temujin, the leader of the Shoniin, rescues her, her sister, the commander of the Kalima, recruits her to infiltrate the Shoniin and turn Temujin over to the Imperial Army. Though injured, Enebish infiltrates the Shoniin and discovers that things aren’t what they seem in the empire, her life, and the Shoniin. The world-building in the novel is incredible. Addie Thorley has created an amazing world that has its own mythology, traditions, culture, and history. As the story unfolds, you learn more about Ashkar, Enebish, and the Shoniin. With a gripping story, many twists and turns, and beautiful imagery, Thorley’s story is truly a unique experience that I can’t recommend enough.

Once, Enebish was a highly lauded warrior for the king’s army.
She was gifted with the rare power of night spinning; drawing down threads of the night sky, conjuring the cloak of darkness and the fiery stars and bending them to her will.

2 years later, she’s a broken shell of a girl; having become the most hated and notorious monster in the land, because while she doesn’t remember it, she committed a horrendous act. She lost control on a mission and it resulted in a massacre of innocent lives. Gone is “Enebish The Warrior”. Now she is known only as “Enebish The Destroyer.”

The only reason she was spared death was due to the negotiations of her adoptive sister Ghoa, whom has since risen high up in the ranks in the king’s army.

It’s agreed she may live as the trainer of the royal birds, but ALONE, locked away, in complete isolation.
So she spends her days enduring the blatant hatred from those she does encounter, finding comfort in her only companion, Orbai the bird, and the occasional visits from her childhood friend Serik. He is the only other human who seems to see the good in her.

Until one day the tables are turned when Ghoa presents her with an opportunity: a group of rebel deserters are blatantly defying the king and recruiting an army. Their leader, Temujin, has become more than just an annoyance and needs to be stopped.
If Enebish can infiltrate the group—spy, and trap Temujin— Ghoa will convince the king to release Enebish and reinstate her into the Kalima Army.

Enebish, while broken, filled with regret, and afraid of her own monstrous tendencies, decides she wants nothing more than to redeem herself, not only for the public, but for herself as well.

But once she leaves the prison of the tower she is faced with a bigger decision: the truth is subjective, and will she even care about redemption once she gets a taste of freedom?

I actually really enjoyed this book! First off, this was the first book that was able to keep me engaged since I got lasting brain trauma (AKA trying to read on the struggle bus express) in October. So that’s a pretty big deal.

This had the adventure, the emotional pull, the atmosphere was easy to picture, the descriptions were extremely detailed and it seemed like they happened quite frequently, which helped keep me “in the moment.”
Also, I myself am not a fan of too much lusty love/overt attraction stuff, especially when it’s right in the midst of an action/conflict plot, so I was super pleased with how everything was played out in this one.

So the basics are covered, and I want to discuss my favorite aspect of the book.
I loved how we finally have a character that’s broken and insecure and doesn’t magically become a bulletproof badass overnight.
This is a girl who spent countless days and nights in isolation with nothing but her guilt and the cruelty of others to beat her down and condition her to not only hate, but ultimately fear herself.
A protagonist that shows transparency and takes us on that struggle not only through the physical transformation but also the battlefield of the mind is my favorite type.

There are multiple layers to the internal struggles Enebish encounters throughout the book, and she navigates them all by intuition alone.
I’m sure there will be people saying she was too naive, didn’t think things through, whatever, but I honestly think that points even more to her frame of mind/self esteem and the evolution it takes.
I think it’s silly to expect all heroes to behave one way. Not all female heroes will be hardcore, take-the-lead, confident types.
Some will believe they are little, they can’t, they aren’t worthy; maybe they will let themselves be swayed or lied to or tricked a bit.
But when it counts the most, they’ll listen to themselves.

It’s those critical tiny decisions that make the victory in the story. I just love a victory, whether it be a loud one or a silent (but no less important) one.

Anyways, I’ve already recommended this to a few people, and I’m excited that this appears to be part of a series. I also gave it 5 stars, I really truly enjoyed reading this one.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy for review. All opinions are my own.

I didn’t know how much I needed this book until I read it. I ended up become so invested in Enebish’s story that I found it almost impossible to put down. This is the first book I’ve read by Addie Thorley and it most certainly will not be the last. Her writing style is beautiful and the world she has created is beyond amazing and magical that I already cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

The character development in this book is spot on, especially with Enebish who ends up being a strong yet incredibly relatable character. Enebish is not your typical heroine but that made me love her even more.

The twist in this book was absolutely perfect and I honestly did not see it coming. I had doubts on the character involved but never to that extent! I was blown away and honestly just needed more once the book was over!

Night Spinner is a beautifully written re-telling of Hunchback of Notre Dame and is the first in a new series by Addie Thorley. I definitely recommend giving this book a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Page Street Publishing for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

For the sake of argument, I am pretending the first half of the book does not exist in this review. The characterization improved greatly and also the world-building as the story progressed. I still find it funny that the main love interest is not mentioned in the blurb, but is a major part of Enebish's decision making.
Although, I do have to say that I think the mantle of "woe is me" has been passed from Bella Swan to Enebish because I have never seen a girl act the way Enebish does. I loved the little bits that were like the "Hunchback of Notre Dame" because it made the story. There were a couple of twists that I didn't see coming, which intrigued me. The ending had me wanting more and has made me curious to see what will happen in the second book.
4 out of 5 stars.
(If you are curious to know what I would give it with the first half of the book, you can check out my review here: https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com. I might be a little brutal, but I could not stand the first half of the book.)

This book was incredible! This story is full of magic, mythology, and betrayal. The main character, Enebish can control the darkness. She is banished to a far away monastery after losing control and destroying a merchant caravan with her abilities. Her sister, Ghoa, is the commander of the Sky King's army and essentially saved Enebish by having her banished instead of being put to death. Enebish is recruited by Ghoa to help track down a rebel leader. This story is amazing and I highly recommend it.

This is an excellent retelling of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. There is some great world-building and some twists that I didn't foresee. Teens who love YA fantasy filled with magic, mythology, and adventure will not want to miss this one.

To begin, I have not read The Hunchback of Notre Dame, though I've seen the Disney adaptation several times. That said, it was evident pretty early on which story this was adapting, and that foreknowledge took away the impact of several intended surprises and plot twists simply because it was easy to figure out which characters were which and then to know how they would behave over the course of the book. So the best audience for this book is probably people who have somehow achieved adolescence without watching or reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Everyone else will go in with spoilery foreknowledge that seriously detracts from author Addie Thorley's attempt to make the story interesting and engaging.

It wasn't having prior knowledge of the characters and plot which made this story less than gripping, however. On page 36 I called the plot twist which was revealed on page 312. Some of that was probably a familiarity with the genre on my part, but it was still a little disappointing to be proven right on that one. I would have liked to see Enebish actually be the monster she's reputed to be. But I guess that's just more of the book being predictable. Like how it's made clear early on that Enebish and Serik (and Ghoa) aren't really related, laying the groundwork for a future romance that experiences about half a chapter of tension following a festive dance scene. Points, I suppose, for not forcing a love triangle, but the fact is I spent most of this book uninvested in the characters to the point where any time a betrayal or reversal happened I didn't much care.

Maybe my lack of investment was because of the present tense narration. I really don't care for present tense narration. But I think a little bit of it came from wondering about halfway through why they were making any sort of effort to fight off the enemy country's invasion attempts when their own king was so bad. Would enemy rule really be much worse? Apparently other characters had my same thoughts, setting up yet another betrayal for poor Enebish, who is astonishingly credulous, and possibly just unintelligent. (I mean, this is the girl who is given the advice "use the head" right after having her attention called to a ram's head symbol and thinks to hersef that she should start looking at hoods, hats, and headscarves. Not really the brightest crayon in the box.)

So this was a really, really predictable book, but it had its good points. I like the Mongolian-ish setting. (I assume it's Mongolian - Temujin was Genghis Khan's childhood name and Borte is a Mongolian name, plus the Mother Sky, Father Earth belief is part of the Mongolian belief system.) I also liked the expression "Be humble, for you are made of earth. Be noble, for you are made of stars." That was a good line. But some other linguistic choices were less pleasing. I read the word "batto" in relation to swordsmanship, which I think is a Japanese term and so a little jarring in the pseudo-Mongolian setting. Additionally, one of the characters used air quotes and the text actually described the gesture as air quotes, and that took me right out of the story because, linguistically, many cultures do not use quotation marks to indicate speech in written text, so they probably would not have developed an air quotes gesture. Though I guess it could be something specific to the culture Thorley has developed that when someone is speaking something they disbelieve they make some sort of gesture to indicate that they know they're not speaking the truth but not trying to mislead their interlocutor in so doing and it might even take the form of air quotes. But it almost certainly wouldn't be called "air quotes," and that bothered me disproportionately.

All in all, I wouldn't have a hard time recommending this book to people who were looking for an interesting setting or a retelling that's not just rehashing Grimm or Perrault or Andersen, but I'd say Tara Sim's retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, Scavenge the Stars , was a better read overall.