3.5 stars - perfectly FINE

This is the first book in a series of seven about seven (surprise!) sisters and how they become part of fighting off an invasion of their country. We start with the sister "who thinks too much": Ryalgar, who takes the role of the intellectual in her family. Early in the book she meets her love interest, a prince, and joins the Velka, an organization of women living a secluded life in the forest and specializing on all things that would have been called witchcraft in the olden times.
As news of an impending invasion of the Mongols make the rounds she decides to do something about it and starts organizing the different groups of people into task forces, basically. Everyone has a talent they can contribute and together they hope to weaken the enemy enough for the kingdom's army to be able to take finish them off.

This story takes place in a medieval type fictional country, which does have neighbours that actually exist, like the Mongols or the Persians. The world building is mostly solid, if not a bit unimaginative as is the storytelling. The characters stay a bit shallow and we don't find out all that much about their inner life, their struggles, worries, joys etc.

Still, the story did draw me in and I enjoyed reading about Ryalgar analyzing the situation at hand, considering strategies that might work and devising plans to make them happen. She is confident and does not shy away from thinking big and from confronting men in a mostly patriarchal society - although here's the thing: we don't really learn much of any inner conflicts or insecurities she might have developed growing up in such a society. The same goes for all of her sisters who we do meet in this book already. They all have a talent of their own and they all pursue it pretty confidently, but maybe that just speaks for their upbringing!

I did enjoy that sexuality, particularly women's sexuality was not a big deal but rather something natural. I did enjoy Ryalgar's curiosity, her drive to learn new things and to solve the problem at hand.

What I did not enjoy was Ryalgar's decision to become the mistress of her prince who is forced into an arranged marriage. Yes, the politics behind all of this fit into the era and are plausible. Still, I felt that this storyline did not tie in with a strong main character here and just smells of manufactured drama. Also, Nevik, the prince, stays a bit pale as a character - but I definitely enjoyed that he is a good guy who respects his partner.
(Although, I really could have done with the line quite in the beginning of the book where Ryalgar thiks that the prince chose her for her big boobs. Really unnecessary, that.)

From the title of the book I would have expected something more tongue-in-cheek, which it isn't really. Also, the story totally ends on a cliffhanger as we need to read the next installment to find out if all of Ryalgar's plans succeded and what becomes of the invasion.

And while I thought that this was a perfectly fine story, I am not sure if I will continue reading considering the ever growing list of books I would like to read and am really excited about. We'll see ...

The truth cost me something to get ahead of this story.

Although its narration is simple and pleasant, I did not find a middle point where I would fall in love with the characters or the story.

I had a hard time with this read. I did not feel connected to the main character at all. I had the impression that she was distant. We did not get access to her thinking or the reason why she takes her decisions. I did not completly dislike this story . The author built a world that is different from what i usually read and that was great. The women in the book are not helpless. They take matter in theirbown hands... but it still was not enough for me to completly love it.

She’s the One Who Thinks Too Much is a historical fantasy that takes place in our world during the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, though the setting, the realm of Ilari, is fictional. Our heroine Ryalgar is the eldest daughter of a farming family, annoyingly single in the eyes of her six younger sisters dutifully waiting their turn to publicly court and wed, who chooses to forgo the whole eligible lady thing and join the Velka. The Velka are this setting’s version of benevolent witches living in the woods. Every Velka has a knack for some sort of supernatural ability, though the abilities vary widely. Ryalgar’s is telekinesis. Each of her six younger sisters eventually proves talented in other unique ways. Adopting the lifestyle of a Velka brings Ryalgar closer to the grandmother she has believed dead for most of her life and frees her up to happily be her prince’s secret mistress. When word arrives that the Mongol horde intends to invade, Ryalgar can’t sit by and let the trained soldiers and their leaders do all the defence planning; she travels the realm forging alliances and hatching a plan that the Velka will lead in secrecy. Can they save the realm?

I found myself relating to Ryalgar a lot. She’s inquisitive, brash, very intelligent, and constantly underestimated. She believes in doing what is best for the greatest good, and leaving people she cares about to make their own decisions, so long as they’re safe and happy. I can’t quite relate to her resolve and confidence in her romantic situation, being “the other woman” and knowing that status will never change, but the affair is presented in a way I can morally rest with: an arranged marriage of political necessity where both parties have agreed to keep their other partners.

Some of the family dynamics are a bit confusing. We are told that Ryalgar has been lead to believe her grandmother is dead rather than alive and well among the Velka because he mother declared her mother in law dead to the family long ago. Ryalgar’s father explains that it’s because his mother left at the one time when a mother in law was needed most: the arrival of twins to a young mother with no other family to lean on. Ryalgar’s mother then says that’s only half the reason, but never elaborates. Later on Ryalgar’s grandmother abruptly ends a conversation when Ryalgar brings up one of her youngest sisters, younger than the twins, and there’s clearly a big issue there even though the grandmother was already “dead” when that child was born. Need more information. I know all too well what it’s like to be devastated by the choices of one’s mother in law, but I don’t understand why granny is dead and not an occasional visitor who is tolerated, and I’m wondering if at some point other arrangements were suggested. How else does Granny have such an opinion on a youngest grandchild she’s never officially met?

I really enjoyed watching Ryalgar’s sisters slowly becoming involved, one by one, in the Velka plan to aid in the upcoming war against the Mongols. Not only was this a great way to celebrate sisterly bonding and an excellent vehicle for character development in this introductory volume to the series, but it also introduced such a strong sense of feminism into this book. Although the Velka are an allegory for witches, living in the woods and practicing supernatural skills, coming into town to sell medical aids and solutions to womanly problems, I’m used to seeing powerful women in low fantasy be witches and sorceresses. Ryalgar’s sisters aren’t. One has married a military leader. One is in the military herself. One has joined a group that stands in for Romani. One has visions. All of them end up with skills that could make them great Velka, but none of them join. Some of them have been allowed to choose careers that many fantasy settings reserve for males. Women are present at and participating in conferences between royalty and military leaders. None of this is ever questioned. The only general rebukes toward women who try to step above their station comes from a drunken man tossing slurs in an awkward scene right before one sister’s wedding.

My two major complaints about this book are simple. First, it feels like the first half of a book. It’s book one of a series, yes, and it needs to leave a lot for books two and beyond to handle, but books within a series still need to answer some of the questions they pose before they conclude. This one teases us with the Mongol threat only to make it very clear in a rather rushed ending that we’re probably going to be fighting the same enemy for all seven books. Wars are long, sure, but battles are short. I wanted more battle! Second, with the full acknowledgment that I read an eARC from so early in the process that there are colour-coded passages with the author’s notes to make changes still so I have no idea what the actual breakdown of content percentages in the final book will be, but there’s a good 10% to this file after the final chapter ends. This compounds the disappointment of point one that it ends so fast and with very few big questions answered.

Overall I really enjoy Cronin’s writing style and the world within our world she has created. I would definitely be interested in continuing with this series, and I will recommend this one to my reader friends who enjoy historical fantasy.

This book was hard to rate. It had many elements that I enjoy, a strong, smart and self-reliant heroine, mysterious magic and an interesting world. However, it was almost a third of the way into the book before I really started to understand the world it takes place in and the story became interesting enough to finish the book. I found the ending to be particularly frustrating as there is no resolution to the main plot point of the story. If I had been aware this is a series when I started the book, the ending may not have felt so abrupt.

Would I read this book again? No
Would I continue the series? Yes
Would I recommend this book? Maybe, I don’t feel like I can recommend until I have read the entire story, which looks to be found in the next 6 books.

I liked this book, but I did not love it, it was not what I expected…

The world-building is basic, there are a map and a calendar at the beginning of the book, but it is harder to refer to them while reading a Kindle so I got a little lost sometimes when the characters talked about Noruz, Keva, Heli, or Svi (which are all important moments of the year).

Ryalgar is a nice character, she is independent, clever, and strong-willed. I also like the fact that women are not scorned for enjoying sex in this world. It is a normal and natural part of their life, as it is for men, and they can even have sex with different partners without being married. What I did not really enjoy is the predictability of her relationship with the prince. They had sex during one of the festivals (because in this world prince can spend time with commoners and even marry them), Ryalgar falls in love with him, and he falls in love with her… But she learns that he is already engaged so she accepts to become the other woman, the mistress without expectations. It clashes with the clever and independent character, but then again it does make sense with the rest of the story since she is part of the Velka, a group of women who can’t marry but can still have sex if they want to. Honestly, I couldn’t connect with the prince at all, I felt nothing for him, and because of that, I had trouble getting invested in their relationship.

This story is about Ryalgar and how she tries to plan a defense against the Mongols that will inevitably attack their country sooner than later. She uses her connections to gather information and tries to find a way to save her country and protect the Velkas at the same time. It is all about talking and preparations because the war really starts only at the end of the book, I was expecting it to come sooner in the story.

Overall, it is an okay book, but I am not amazed by it, and I do not feel the need to continue with this series. Especially with the ending of this book... It just ends without a real conclusion on Ryalgar’s adventure, and the next book will be about another sister, it is a little frustrating honestly.