Prelude of Fire: The Gailean Quartet, Book 1 by Christine E. Schulze
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m fifteen percent into reading this ARC and I’m enjoying it so much. The characters have strong, unique personalities and they feel very alive. Ashlai’s place as the protagonist suits her well even though she’s not the most engaging character of the group that’s forming thus far. The adventure and stakes offer a nice high while the small moments of character backstory feel just as engaging. As someone who typically veers on the side of adult fantasy and romantasy, this novel is extremely refreshing without treating its audience too young. The themes are well handled and I don’t feel put off by the baby talk I sometimes get from YA novels that aim at the younger side of the genre. All in all, this will be a book I finish over a longer period of time and I will most likely give another review when I finish it. So far I’d give it a four out of five stars, with the intention of taking my review with a grain of salt due to my usual reading preferences and the fact that I have read only the first fifteen percent of the novel.
On a side note:
I will be following this series, and I’m very engaged with the author’s writing style which is exciting because I’m very picky about what I read, and obtaining a sweet dopamine rush from my current read is a must. Despite the lack of romance and adult themes, my ADHD brain is still happily reading this book. I’m just a slow reader and spending more time on my other hobbies at the moment which has made me take in this book at a snails pace through absolutely no fault of its own.