DNF: SWORDHEART BY T. KINGFISHER
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher is about Halla, a thirty-six-year-old widow who inherits an estate from her late husband's great-uncle, Silas. The old man hasn't even been buried yet when her late husband's relatives are hell-bent on getting their grubby hands on her newly acquired wealth by coercing her into marriage. After vehemently and repeatedly rejecting the proposal, she finds herself imprisoned in her bedchambers. Upon contemplating her options, she decides to end her life. This way, her inheritance will end up on her nieces. She found a sword to kill herself with. However, by unsheathing it, she accidentally binds Sarkis, the immortal servant of the sword, to protect her.
Why did I pick this book?
T. Kingfisher - I picked this book up because I enjoyed reading A Wizard's Defensive Guide to Baking and Kingfisher's whimsical writing style. Hence, I looked for books where the protagonists are adults. The most commonly recommended books are Swordheart and The Paladin's Grace. Both are on my to-read list.
Halla's Conflict - A 36 year-old widow who has to fend off her inheritance from her husband's relatives. The threat captured my interest and made me root for the character even before reading the book.
Cursed Immortal - I cannot help but be curious on immortals trapped into objects, Sarkis was not an exception. There's always a question of how did they end up there? Do they get out of that curse? What does he do to get out of that sword?
Romance - This was the cherry on top that I looked foward to.
Why did I DNF this book?
I reflected on what did not work for me on this book. I initially thought the glacial pacing threw me off. However, when I looked back at other cozy fantasy books that I finished, most of them were slow-paced and remained enjoyable to the end. It could not have been the writing style because I like Kingfisher's writing style. And so, I pinned it to these two points:
Sarkis thinks of Halla a lot. Sometimes, he complains too much about Halla's mindless chatter. It is understandable but it was overdone. Other times, he's lusting over her curvy body. I can't imagine this turning into a love story.
Halla prattled too much even at most inconvenient times. Her endless internal monologues and dialogues reminded me of Mona from A Wizard's Defensive Guide to Baking by the same author and she is fourteen. The further I read, the more annoyed I get at this character.
I really wanted to like this book. By the end of chapter 2, I was delightfully surprised and thought this would be a fantasy romantic comedy. However, as chapters went by, the attempts at comedy in topics such as forced marriage, suicide, drugging, rape did not work me. But in the end, the final straw were the main characters and I DNF @ 18%.
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