Review: Sworn to Raise

Sworn to Raise by Terah Edun

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'm going with the Goodreads description of 'It was ok' for two stars on this fantasy I picked up at Netgalley. It really is 'ok' and has potential, but it is still very rough around the edges, even for a galley. There are a lot of typos, and several times I got lost in sentences - run-ons are writing problems, not typos. So it could use some good editing.

The story itself is interesting, but feels disjointed or random at times. There's a makeover story, learning of magic and history, a bachelorette-type contest for a patron that includes a hunt as well as balls and a challenging maze, and there's political intrigue with the magical fate of the country at stake.

I found it quite entertaining, but something was missing - depth of most of the characters was lacking, and connections between events and other people besides the protagonist were loose. At times the actions of the other characters were drastic and unexpected, which added to the shock value, but I felt like I didn't know those characters well enough to expect that kind of action from them. The event that Ciardis spends the first half preparing for is also left incomplete. We only meet a couple of her prospective patrons and the book ends on the 3rd day of the event. Also, what happened to her friend? She is only present during Ciardis' training and then melts away.

This was only novella length, so I think it could have been longer and provided more complexity and closure on these plot points rather than waiting for a second book.

**Received free arc for review.

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