Ninth City Burning

NOTE: I got to page 204 before setting the book down. This review will not be based on the entire story

When I originally picked up this book, I was looking for inspiration from other YA authors/books, particularly from the fantasy and sci-fi genres (given that my own book, Element Unknown, is sci-fi/fantasy). I really liked the summary describing a massive war that has been raging for 500 years and how the two main characters, Jax and Naomi, are thrown into the middle of it by their circumstances crossing. I started to read the opening chapters and I found myself really enjoying Naomi and her struggles in survival and meeting the interesting people in her life. Jax was a little bland for my taste and it was hard wanting to care about the goings-on in his life.

As I continued reading and as more characters were introduced, it grew harder and harder to tell them all apart. Despite the chapters being in first person, there didn't seem to be a distinct voice between the characters and they all started to sound the same but with slightly different events/abilities.

The book, also, was a bit of a slow burn. I didn't receive full details about the war going, such as the enemy and the background of the war, until after reading nearly 200 pages. I realize that there is a lot of set up to the world and the history, but it seemed to go a bit slow.

Perhaps one day I will come back and finish the book and, by extension, this review. However, the book was very ‘meh,' interesting enough to get started but not enough to complete.