1.75 stars

I wish I could I say I was truly disappointed with how this book went down, but upon further reflection after reading this and letting some time settle between this review and my actual reading experience, I'm more ambivalent if anything.

And that's almost worse.

At approximately the 13% mark of the novel, the world building had placed the groundwork in to structure the world and setting, but the execution had a lot left to be desired because there simply just wasn’t enough exposition to satisfy my curiosity. Nothing was delved into to the extent that I would've preferred and it’s a shame because I think the premise had potential.

It started off slow on the character analysis front, and while I was hoping this would pick up, that never actually happened. I was really hit and miss with all of the character relationships, and I think it was the incorporation of romance that really ruined things for me. There appeared to be some sort of reverse harem setup at play, and it really just felt low effort and not emotionally worth investing in at all. Plus, when it was coupled with the fact that the chosen one trope was alive and thriving at the same time? All I can say is the struggle was real and that the reading experience had me disgruntled because I felt like I knew what the author was trying to aim for and how awesome it could've been if achieved, but there was a distinct lack of fluidity to the plot which was exacerbated by it's fast pace.

One of my main issues with the world building was how new concepts and characters were introduced, because it was done in a way that was very brusque, and with a tone that implied that it all should make sense, when very often, it didn’t. And it’s a shame because foundationally there was a lot to like, but it never seemed to build and layer upon itself in any concrete sort of fashion.

Thus, at the halfway mark ,I decided nonchronological was the way to go with respect to story consumption if I wanted to finish it at all. This resulted in me realizing that the story was very clearly intending to build upon itself as a series, even though I don’t have anything that would actually verify that a sequel is imminent and in the works. And then as I read further it became evident that I was just not enjoying myself. The romance just continued to snowball on itself in the worst possible way because the character relationships and dynamics were not fleshed out.

At ~75% of the way through, I just wanted it to be over. This is also when I noticed that the sex scenes were fade to black. Now that in itself is not a problem, but the fact that it highlighted that so much of novel seemed to be missing or off-page? That's where it fell short for me. And that's completely bypassing the fact that Shade was screwing around with two brothers at the time, which is brushed to the side with a simple, *oh, it was just the heat of the moment* kind of mentality.

The further into the plot I got, the less that made sense and the less inclined I felt towards the book as a whole because the characters never felt like fully-fledged individuals. More like fragments of characters, or rather glimpses of people, but never enough to constitute any sort of compassion out of me towards their plight. And even then, something else was just off. I’m not sure if it was the choice to have multiple POV’s and yet not be terribly bothered by their lack of structure that just set me off or what. But something was rotten in the novel known as Obsidian, and it’s still irking me in the most bothersome way.

At the end of the day, I didn't enjoy it. Not to the point of active dislike, but still.

I hope things change with the actual release, but at this point, I wouldn't pick the finished product given the choice.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

Let's start with the obvious, the cover artwork is stunning and that really helps to draw potential readers in (despite what people say). But for me the blurb is what sold it to me.

The world building in this book is phenomenal, I was gripped learning about Malavita and it's mysterious 'Veils' - think bubbles of protection. The magic system was intriguing, (TW: cutting) where blood wizards cut themselves in order to access their powers which get magically healed by tattooed wards on their bodies. There is also an easy to spot ranking system based on gemstones eg. Ruby is high level wizard but quartz is a low level wizard. The level of action was great and kept the book feeling fast-paced.

This book was able to pull me out of a mini slump as I got really invested in the story and the characters. The main character Shade Nox, is a I-don't-give-a-damn sort of person who is the most powerful wizard in Malavita and boy does she a) know it and b) tell the reader about it. I would have liked a little more humility from her but I understand that that was all part of the bravado of an abandoned/outcast child who is pretending they do not need or want anyone's help.

Personally, my favourite character was Raiden Mad, I felt that his character development was the most in depth. He started as a prim and proper black and white kind of knight and came to realise that things were not as he first thought and the world becomes more grey to him once he has spent time amongst his 'people'.

So what didn't I like? Well, for me, the romance came out of nowhere and personally I did not think those characters fit together so this stilted that portion of the book to me as well as changed the aftermath of certain book events.

Other than that I thought it was a great read and I am thoroughly intrigued to find out the next part of this story in future books, and who knows perhaps the characters and the author will surprise me with some new twists and turns.

Thank you to Angry Robot and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book to review.

This book was a breath of fresh air. I've been reading fantasy for a long time, and this story is so unique, so we'll imagined and nothing like I've ever experienced before. The world building really takes center stage here, and I think the author did a fantastic job introducing us to their world. The plot was intriguing, though sometimes a little overwhelming, which is why I'm giving it a 4 stars out of 5. I had trouble paying attention the first few pages simply because there was so much information.
However, because the plot is so complicated, it's consuming. Readers will find themselves forgetting the real world exists because this story is so fleshed out in beautiful prose- and that's the whole reason we read, isn't it?
The characters were realistic and likeable enough I cared about each of them. I love Shade and Raidan, and a little romance is just the icing on top for me.
I noticed some reviews saying the writing was immature, but I thought the opposite . The style was very sophisticated and the banter was typical for its genre, setting, and location.

I would definitely love to read more from this author and look forward to adding this to my good read list!

An intriguing dystopian world is the setting for this debut fantasy novel. The world of Malavita has been destroyed in a magical war and the only way that humans can survive is within veils that protect life. Shade Nox is a powerful blood witch who wants to create a new veil to protect her people. The Empire wants to create a new veil so that it can exploit the natural resources of the land and sends an imperial envoy to work towards this. On the other side are the powerful blood wizards and the church who will do anything to prevent Shade from succeeding.
I loved the world building and the idea of the veils. The barren world outside the veils is well imagined and contrasts well with life within the veil. The magic system is imaginative although I find the idea of cutting yourself to provide blood for the magic a bit unpleasant. That aspect of the book is quite dark especially towards the end.
Shade is certainly a memorable character. She was single minded and determined to achieve her goals despite begin thwarted at every turn. I also liked the imperial envoy, Raidan Mad and his story arc was probably the most interesting until the final third when it suddenly became less believable. The three main characters are well fleshed out but other characters, although important to the story, seem a bit 2D. There is a bit of romance which mainly remains unfulfilled and it will be interesting to see where the author takes this in any future novels.
This was a fast paced novel with lots of action and possibly my main issue is that for me, it was almost too pacy and some of the action needed a bit more build up.
This was a good debut and I would certainly be prepared to read any future novels in this series. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, Angry Robot, for providing me with this advance copy in exchange for this honest review.

Just look at this cover. So intense. I love it! The story is intense, too. Shade Nox likes to dress like a man and she won’t allow anyone to mess with her. With her obsidian blades at her hips and the immense power coiled inside, she is even more special than one might suspect. Unlike most bloodwizards she can access The Wild Power. The one that makes the earth tremble and skies crackle with thunders.

Whew.

Daley has a knack for world-building and creating characters filled with inner angst. And longings they can not fulfill. The magic system is dope. Bloodwizards gain access to elemental powers by cutting themselves with blades made of various minerals (obsidian, quartz, tanzanite, garnet, etc.). They all wear magic tattoos that heal self-inflicted wounds. I like the idea, but the image I have of these guys feverishly cutting themselves to go berserk before entering the fight walks the line between serious and ridiculous.

I liked the world: Shade lives in the Wastes protected by Veil from the abominations hiding “outside”. Shade believes she can raise a powerful Veil, but the Brotherhood (folks convinced only wizards should do magic and that blood witches are an abomination) won’t have any of it. I liked the dangerous and cinematic magic and the imagery of the Wastes.

Shade’s motives and determination are clear and understandable. I admired her determination and willingness to delve into dangerous magic. Unfortunately, she comes across as arrogant rather than complex. It seems that the men in her world can not resist her. I did not enjoy the romance part of the story; I just could not understand why the characters were into each other. Passion is all well and good, but I can’t say I bought it all.

Obsidian is a solid book with lots of action and mayhem. It may take itself too seriously (and feel goofy to some readers), but if you’ve been missing spectacular displays of magic, this is it.

The premiss was interesting, but the worldbuilding was lackluster. Character development was spotty and needed a more mature feel. I felt like I missed a whole story with Raiden, the history of the veils, who were the unseen in the history of things. I kept putting this book down and finding other things to read. It was really close to a DNF. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from Netgalley.

The best part of this story was the world building concept; however, even with a somewhat novel take on an apocalyptic world and magic system, it still falls short. The basic premise is a dystopian war destroyed by a magic conflict where people live in protected conclaves under magic shields known as veils. The original combatants have presumably disappeared, leaving only the humans struggling to survive, ruled by a corrupt brotherhood of ‘bloodwizards’ (aka the Church) and capomagj *aka the mafia). There are noble families that have some power, but it is not clear how they have it (other than being first) and most importantly, how they keep it. Finally, there is an Imperial overlord who basically just serves as background for one of the main characters (and quasi-disowned imperial son). Magic is based upon blood from slashing wounds from gem based knives that apparently determine the strength of the wizard … thus the title obsidian with that being significant because of the type of knife used by the main character, Shade Nox (Night Night). Apparently magic tattoos heal the wounds so they can cut themselves again and again … yeah … so maybe the magic system is not quite so well developed as some. All of them makes for a mildly entertaining story and would have scored better if I had actually liked any of the characters … who tending to always be dialed up to 11 for everything, which was super annoying. Frankly the interactions between the characters was so full of bravado, arrogance and generally all around offended that it is amazing every such encountered didn’t end up in a shot out … it was so exhausting dealing with so much adolescent angst from what should have been more matured adults,

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#Obsidian #NetGalley.

OBSIDIAN was a fun read! Shade Nox is the witch we all want to be. Beautiful, gifted with a blade, and the strongest magic wielder in the land. I LOVED the magic system—the four and the hidden, the stone knives, the tattoos, the qaraz. It was a cool blend of elemental and blood magic.

The story is told in past tense, 3rd person multi-POV. The overall plot was well developed and well paced. I didn’t pick up on a lot of sub-plotting. The main characters were fleshed out, with clear motivations, back stories and trauma. Although, I would have liked to have learned more about Shade’s origin story. She was essentially an orphan twice over, and possessed profound magical abilities. I’d hoped for a grand reveal at the end about her birth parents, but no dice. Same went for Imperial Mad—who exactly was his mother? Why do I care so much about their backstories? Because I was invested in the characters! Well played author, well played!

The ending is pretty high tension. I hit the 80% mark on my e-reader and didn’t put down the book until I hit the last page!

If you like creative magic systems, crystals, badass bisexual wizards, and the chosen one trope, then you will love this book!

I received a free e-ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5 rounded up to 5

This was a solid book. I liked the characters and the romance part kept me on my toes (the pair I thought would happen didn’t so that was fun). The magic was a little hard to follow because there’s many way to wield it in this world. Overall, I enjoyed the pacing and the ending. Would read a book 2.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

"Beware the witch who wields obsidian..."
"Shade ached for him; he had a kind heart. Sometimes, too kind for his own good"
"You were right: I'm not a true wizard ... I'm a witch"
When I first looked at the cover of this book , I felt somehow drowned to it. I felt like it could be the right book to get me out of a slump that was lasting way longer than expected ... and it did!
I'm not going to lie , I needed the first 50 pages to get into it but it was absolutely worth it!
If you've ever read "The Tiger at Midnight" and you liked it, you should definitely check this out!
An enchanting fantasy book that has an amazing magical system as well as characters' description that will bring you along into a world made of layers upon layers of mystery and "Veils" that will protect you as much as damage you ...
A badass main character who knows what she wants and how strong she actually is , "The strongest of the strong", who plays a key role in saving the world from injustice and completely ruin and is torn between seemingly long lost feelings and new ones awakened in the most unexpected of times.
Some really intriguing love interests as well as amazing friends ready to sacrifice their life for her ...
An action well divided and distributed throughout the entire plot and a war made even more amazing thanks to the use of magical stones and gems ...
I really hope this story will develop into something more because I cannot wait to meet these characters again already !
"It's called restrain , my dear ... I was protecting your reputation."
"Stop and I'll break your fingers"
"I said the price was too high. I never said I wouldn't pay it."

All Shade Nox wants to do is raise a magical veil to protect and save her people living in the Wastes of Malavita, a recently conquered nation of the empire but it isn’t easy. No woman has ever raised a veil and the Brotherhood who controls the veils and would rather watch them collapse than allow Shade raise a new one. If that wasn’t enough, Shade now has to deal with Raiden Mad, an emissary from the empire, sent to help her raise a new veil but now wants to capture her and make answer for her crimes.
I read a free copy of this book for a free unbiased opinion.
The cover for this book is amazing and immediately caught my eye- I wasn’t disappointed!
Obsidian is a fast-paced well-plotted fantasy with a strong trio of point of view characters. The story is told from the points of view of Shade, Dante and Raiden who are all complex and intriguing.
Shade, as a character, is fascinating- a typically feisty heroine who is perhaps the most powerful bloodwizard in Malavita. But what I really loved about Shade is that she isn’t invincible and is accepts help when needed. She is also realistically reluctant to be the hero who must make a sacrifice to help others but will literally get her hands dirty to achieve her goal. She is also refreshing pragmatic about her love life which is so rare in female fantasy heroines.
My favourite character arc has to be Raiden who starts the book as a prim, rigid by-the-books soldier but grows to appreciate the wizards fighting to save the Wastes despite the great risk to themselves. I’m not sure if there are more books in this series but I would like to learn more about why Raiden is obviously special.
The world-building is fresh and interesting especially the magical system of blood magic. The author’s description of Malavita’s physical landscape, history and people were vivid and I could easily see this being played out on TV. I loved the concept of Veils and Quraz, a sort of magical transport system. The book also had me smiling several times.
My only criticism, and it is very small, is there are few female secondary characters in a sea of male characters.
The book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger but there are plot threads that could be followed in a sequel but the book works well as a standalone. I would definitely read more books in this world or by this author.
Content warning- Description of cutting,

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Spine tinglingly good!

I wasn't a big fan of the writing in this book - in parts it was very good, but the other parts were too hard to ignore and it was very inmature righting. The plot was mostly pretty good, but I couldn't get over the way it was written. The character development was flawed and seemed rushed. I also think that the book could get more interesting if it started before Raiden came to the island. I also found Raiden and 'Shade's relationship to be forced.

Shade Nox is an extremely powerful Bloodwizard, dubbed the Black Witch by most. The Wastes, where her family reside, is slowly becoming overrun with The Unseen. Her solution for this is to raise her own Veil to protect them all. But will she manage it with all the obstacles blocking her path?

First of all, can we just all appreciate how cool this book cover is? It's what drew me towards this read in the first place. The description also managed to draw me in. Unfortunately, outside of that, this book left me feeling disappointed. I was really, really hoping for god things, and I really tried to like this, but I just couldn't. Perhaps I was expecting too much and that was on me.

None of the characters felt likable to me. Shade, on paper, should have been everything I love in a protagonist, but instead she just came off as arrogant and obnoxious (which is okay in some cases but there wasn't really much evidence to back up her claims). Most of the side characters weren't developed very well either, they just felt rather bland. I had some hope for Raiden but unfortunately he let me down too in the second half.

There were also a few romances in this book that just felt so unnecessary to me. Don't get me wrong, I love me some love amidst adventure, but not like this. None of the love interests were developed enough, I didn't understand why they liked one another. It just felt like it was taking up space in the book.

BUT, I did like some aspects of this book. I found the world really interesting, and the whole 'Bloodwizard' thing was incredibly cool. Shade and Raiden's backgrounds were also intriguing, I quite liked learning about their lives before meeting one another.

Amazing. I loved every bit. The characters are flawed and relatable and interesting. The entire story is so well written I swear I was in the room.

this was a wonderfully done scifi book, the cover is striking and I really am glad I read this. The characters were great and I enjoyed getting lost in this story. The author has a wonderful writing style and really look forward to more from her.