Author: RadharaniBhattacarya

Genre: Fantasy

What I liked about this book:

This book got bumped up the queue by the second thing that gets books bumped: It sounded really fucking cool.

It's about a lesbian snake princess living in ancient India. That's fucking fascinating as an idea, and I really wanted to read it. And it WAS a really good idea. It's a setting you don't usually see, with types of characters you don't usually see, and a story you don't usually see.

And the main character does have an identifiable personality: she's pissed. She doesn't quite feel human, which is something I often want to see but don't with these monster sorts of characters. I really like her.

What I did NOT like about this book:

The writing unfortunately is just not good. It's stilted, it tells more than shows, and I really have no idea of what the story even is. I would like it more if we had maybe gotten to see Urmila's relationship with the human play out, or if we had interspersed her infiltrating the palace and getting imprisoned with scenes farther back in time of her and the human.

I desperately want to feel for these characters more than I do, and the pacing just isn't working for me. I think this is an amazing idea, but it really desperately needs an outline and a rewrite. I can tell it's a first draft.

Overall:

The writing just isn't solid enough for me, but please for the love of God don't give up on it.

Rating:

5/10. The idea is wonderful, the writing is not. Let me know when the next draft comes out.