This review is my opinion only and does not reflect that of Team Escapist.
My first impressions at 20% were; Interesting that a plant’s POV can hold my attention. Cleanly written, and with enough intrigue to capture my attention. This was one of the books I really couldn’t wait to finish reading.
But after the incredible set up of POVs concering an intricate heist, things fell apart in what should have been be an exciting middle build. In a way, the story did use proper story telling technique wherein the protagonist entered an extraordinary new world at this part of the story, but this protagonist is barely a mention in the beginning hook. And a lot of time is wasted developing this (new) character (in the middle build) as he finds out who he is amongst a very rich world building. It felt backwards. Let the reader meet the protangonist and their world before thrusting them into the adventure. Show the normal world in the beginning hook so the reader can experience the new world with them during the middle build, that way the reader has a sense of what the story is about and can follow the protagonist along for the journey. There were also times when the dialogue also felt very contrived, and the actions of the story became a little repetitive. It became a bit of a slog to read the middle section, and what seemed like the overall premise of the story became lost, making this section seem disjointed from the beginning hook.
What it did have going for it, was that there was something underneath that held my interest. But it may have just been that I wanted to know if the story would find itself again. And it did. Unfortunately, too late. And the ‘trickster’ character was too abrupt, and also a little late to the party. It made the ending very rushed. Overall, I’d say an extremely interesting premise that unfortunatley got muddled by the story’s development. Sorry to say, I will not be recommending this book to move on in the competition.