I distinctly remember there was one 'funny' line in the whole book and it didn't make me laugh or even exhale through my nose, it was more 'oh that was supposed to be funny' so it stood out in a sea of dryness. I dont need a book to be a comedy to like it, but I appreciate at least one mildly funny character, or a clever line tossed in here or there. There was also no levity at all in the book. They were all a bunch of forgettable robots that I couldn't care less about.

There were so many weird names thrown at you that all sounded vaguely similar, and none of them had any kind of character development or great moments that made them memorable, unique, or likeable. I've read over 100 fantasy novels which I know isn't a ton compared to some people on here, but its not a small amount either and this has never happened to me before in any other book. I remember some of the roles that other characters played, but if you asked me what role went with what name I couldn't tell you and i just finished the book minutes ago. The only characters I really remember are Baru and Tain Hu, and while I liked Tain Hu better than Baru she certainly isn't one of my all time favorites by any means. I'm not always the best at remembering every character name at the beginning of a book, but by the end of every book I've ever read I learn to know at least the important ones and feel some kind of connection with them, and usually I have a bunch of favorite side characters as well. Typicaly even in a non character driven book there is at least one character that I like or find memorable, but this book had none. Everyone including the MC felt like a robot rather than a person.

It was smartly written and had a 'great' ending, but I simply had no connection whatsoever with the characters. I tried to identify exactly why I didn't like the book so much, because it had aspects I should have enjoyed. I felt like I was supposed to be feeling emotions at the end, but I found that I just didn't have enough of an emotional connection with any of the characters to feel the feelings that the ending was supposed to have given me. I just didn't care enough for the ending to be as impactful as it should have been. I typically like a dark ending with a good twist, and the twist was certainly good. Baru came up with some great ideas to further her cause that I wouldn't have thought of myself, and I respected the thought that was put into crafting the ideas and putting them in a story. There were certain moments throughout the book where I thought 'that was a neat idea' and I respected the thought that was put into it. The author is obviously very smart and it reflected in a cunning MC. I would give it a 1 but there was one aspect of it that I 'liked'. This is probably my least favorite book I've ever read. Some I like, some I love, and a few I'm somewhat meh on, but I've enjoyed almost all of them. I enjoy most books that get recommended on this sub.

The traitor baru