2.5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️✨
-
Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for giving me a copy of this book! This is my honest review, all views are my own.
-
The Half-Class is a story of rebellion, defiance, and risking it all. In Morra, a country conquered by the neighboring Ryland, Evie is a half-class: too dark-skinned for the light class, too light-skinned for the dark class. In an attempt to free herself from the ruthless laws restricting half-classes, she joins the rebellion in trying to take down the king. Along the way, she meets and befriends Prince Cassian, which pulls into question her loyalty and love for the cause.
I’ll admit, I heard this book compared to Cinderella is Dead—a book that neither myself nor my friends enjoyed very much—and I was hesitant. That being said, I was willing to give it a shot, as I’m a sucker for royal romances! In short: I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book, and I don’t really plan on reading the sequel(s) unless I hear something extremely compelling, but it was kind of fun while it lasted.
The writing was pretty easy to read, and often times it reminded me of the kingdom dystopian novels such as the Jewel and the Selection in terms of its writing style and the royalty vs. rebellion plots. Surprisingly, this book didn’t have any magic, and was less plot-heavy than it sounded. For the most part, the focus was on building up the romance and the increasingly complicated relationships with Evie, her family, and the rebels. Cass had me geeking out because of course the author would write about a book-obsessed nerd with pet names for his love, but otherwise I was frustrated with every single character at different points. I thought it was infuriating how naïve and snobbish Evie was, which didn’t help when she always rambled on about how she would never want to work in a brothel or as a mistress, or made herself “not like other girls” by reading. I was angered at the extreme levels of aggression and slimy schemes I saw Luke conduct. I was upset at Kat for… well, being Kat. My list can and will go on. My point is that the characters were flawed and not always likable. I did enjoy Cass and Evie’s romance, and I was cheering for them, but I couldn’t quite get on board with the story itself. Also, the book heavily relied on racist stereotypes found in the real world, such as the “light class” being the class that both half- and dark-class citizens deferred to, and dark class people being relegated to construction and servant jobs, while the light class was for artists and the like. It was a choice that made the story feel more impactful because it invoked the harmful situations in the real world, impressing them upon a fictional country to the extremes, but perhaps the stereotypes used were *too* similar to the real world…
In any case, this story felt pretty rinse-and-repeat from dystopian kingdoms such as the Selection, and as much as I enjoyed reading it, I don’t think I can say I enjoyed it enough to read on any further. 2.5 stars

What an amazing start to a new series!!! This had so many things that I liked: espionage, classes, romance, and action! Evie is such a great character who is trying to do the right thing. At the same time, she is trying to figure out what the right thing is, and maybe the right thing can change. Cassian is likeable, and his Dad is such a villain. I hope we get to see his bitter end in the next book. I thought the division of classes was very interesting. A good problem for a story to take place.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of The Half-Class.

I can see some people not enjoying this because it's a lot less plot heavy than the description would make you think (also this is barely if at all a fantasy but the cover and description really lay into that) but I'm a character reader so I didn't care. I'm genuinely obsessed with how much time and care was put into developing the characters here. They were all real, likable yet flawed, and it was really easy to root for a main relationship born over a shared love of a fantasy series.

I did not expect this book to explore heavy topics, but I am amazed by how well the author did it. The story illustrates real-world problems while also showing characters with complex personalities. For me, the plot was foreseeable, but what makes this book special is that I ended up caring a lot about the characters. I guess this is the type of story that makes you see that people's actions are not always black or white, but grey. I will definitely be reading the sequel.

On another note, plotwise, this story did remind me a little bit of The Jewel by Amy Ewing, so if you like that book, I highly recommend this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Independent Publishers Group, I had the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for an honest review.