Book Review: Flame in the Mist

Title: Flame in the Mist
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Series: Flame in the Mist (Book 1)

Well that was disappointing. I honestly should have given up after the first 20 pages but I had been waiting so long to read this book that I figured I would give it another shot... and another one... until I finished the book and just felt let down.

This was probably one of the most boring books that I've read in a while, and a lot of other people really liked it so I'm not sure what went wrong with me when I was reading it... I just couldn't make myself be interested in Mariko's story at all. I felt like I was dragging myself through the book, I wasn't excited to read it at all, and actually decided to edit my essays instead of reading (which I guess I needed to do since I had put them off while reading The End of the Day but still). I also spent way more time on my phone than I normally do, just to avoid picking the book up.

It basically follows Mariko, the future bride of the son of the emperor, as she gets attacked, joins a group of bandits called the Black Clan, and realizes that her life has been wonderful at the expense of others. She also learns how to fend for herself, and just how sheltered she has been. We also get some glimpses into the lives of her brother and the emperor/his wife/his consort, but those were really rare. My issue isn't necessarily with the plot, but just the execution. It seemed to drag on and on and I just lost interest 20 pages in.

Besides the whole instalove thing and slow plot there wasn't really anything I could put my finger on and go "this is why I didn't like the book," I just can't find a reason to like it, if that makes sense.

LIKES:
+ The premise of the book was quite interesting, and with the blurb I really wanted to read it. I almost felt like the blurb was more exciting than the actual book though...
+ When Mariko wasn't complaining she could actually be kinda tough. And she was super inventive, which was nice!
+ Semi-suprising plot twist at the end

DISLIKES:
- Mariko complained A LOT. About everything.
- Instalove
- Really slow plot, and Mariko was really hard to connect to/care about
- It was impossible (for me) to keep track of the characters. I didn't know who was who half of the time.

Now I just have to decide if I am reading Ahdieh's other series... It is supposed to be good, but then again so was this book.

See this review on Goodreads.