Amazing book. Keep me interested from the start. Loved the world. Keep me coming back for more. The politics were intriguing from the very beginning. Fantastic book to start a series with can't wait for the next book.

The first book in a series is always hard for me to rate. I enjoyed the story and I am interested to see where it goes. It wasn't a long book but at times it did feel like the pacing was really slow. And then the dang cliffhangers! I am a psycho apparently and enjoy cliffhangers so I will need answers and pick up the next book upon release! I enjoyed all the world building and information we got in the first book. Lejeune obviously took a lot of time and thought, and I appreciate that as a reader. It made the book feel immersive with rich descriptions of the world and fun engaging characters. After finishing this book I am excited to see where this epic fantasy goes!

City of Rain by William Lejeune was a great read and a truly remarkable epic fantasy debut for the author. With a large cast of characters the author cleverly focused on just two main protagonists at the start making the story far more engaging and allowed for a deeper connection with the characters right from the beginning. The world build and writing is brilliant and well thought out pulling you into the world quickly. WL has managed to create characters that feel authentic, with the intricate backgrounds and all of them fully realized, with layers of complexity that add so much depth to the story with a great touch of humour woven throughout, balancing the epic scope of the narrative.

WL prose and writing style is advanced making the story even more satisfying.

A mage is murdered for a mysterious parchment, and a young woman mage flees to keep the paper from the killers. A young mage-to-be is studying to become a mage so he can have standing to court his lady love. Another young woman mage, trying to make a name and position for herself, is drawn into a really dark crowd. And an assistant to the Marshall, with a less than lawful background of his own, is drawn to do the right thing and investigate the murders of the poor and cast off. Very, very, very slowly, these stories all come, just barely, together.
The world building was excellent. The editing was dreadful. There is too much of it (lots of data dumps) and it is scrambled a bit with chapters out of order and/or flashbacks suddenly appearing that would have explained earlier events. There are always typos and grammatical errors, but there were hundreds, plus missing words and even the wrong character name once. And it never goes anywhere. Almost no progress has been made by any of the characters after over 700 pages. They made more progress in Robert Jordan's series, and that took 12 books. I don't even want to think how long this will take. The characters are not that likeable or intriguing. The plotting isn't bad, there's just so much of it and it goes around and around in circles, and everything always goes wrong. Always. I didn't throw it across the room because it was on my kindle, but I would happily have dropped the characters over a cliff. I will not be continuing the series, it was far too frustrating. Very disappointing.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

City of Rain by William Lejeune is a truly remarkable epic fantasy debut that instantly draws you in. The decision to focus on just two main protagonists at the start was brilliant—it made the story far more engaging and allowed for a deeper connection with the characters right from the beginning. With too many protagonists, things can get muddled, but Lejeune keeps the focus tight, which enhances the overall experience.

The writing is rich and immersive, immediately pulling you into the world. Lejeune has an incredible command of dialogue; every conversation feels authentic and reveals a deep understanding of human behavior. The characters are intricate and fully realized, with layers of complexity that add so much depth to the story. There's even a great touch of humor woven throughout, balancing the epic scope of the narrative.

Lejeune’s prose is advanced, delivering a level of sophistication that makes the story even more satisfying. I also have to mention the lore—I'm utterly in love with this world and obsessed with learning more. The chapter introductions are a personal favorite, as they offer such valuable insight into the lore and themes, making each new section of the book feel rich with meaning.

This is a book that deserves to be seen on the shelves of major bookstores, encased in a beautiful hardbound copy. For Kindle Unlimited readers, it's an absolute treat. Without a doubt, *City of Rain* is the best fantasy book I've read since *Red Sister* and *The Name of the Wind*. Lejeune has crafted something special here, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

This was surprisingly refreshing and one that I would recommend to fantasy readers. A brilliant plot and case.

We are told a story of mystery, heavy politics and betrayal. An ancient parchment, written in a mysterious language triggers the whole intrigue. A wise man is killed. A young mage flees for her life. The die is cast. Summer, Cole, Fenya and Arlen's stories are seriously intertwined.

Each chapter starts with a different POV. In the beginning that adds up to the mystery, but because it is done over and over again it gets a little disconcerting.

Sometimes there is just too much information to go through and organise in your head.
The pace is very slow, but finally things got going and Ithey had me sitting at the edge of my seat at the end of the last chapter. But then… that epilogue just killed me. It is not fair. The story is too long for the reader to end up without having one single question answered. Just not fair…

Editing needed. Please.

I cannot say I didn't like the book. I can't. But the aspects I mentionned before do not allow me to rate it any better. Nevertheless, I will give the second book of the saga a chance.

I received a free e-ARC from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion about the story.

I usually love a multiple POV story but this one didn't quite work for me, every time I would be just getting into the flow of each POV it would switch again and it really took away from my being immersed in the story fully.
The worldbuilding is truly incredible. You can tell the author but a lot into it, it is very detailed and well planned out. Unfortunately I also felt like there was quite a bit of info dumping and I couldn't keep track of the characters.
If I'm being honest I didn't really connect to any of the characters. I liked them but they were a bit surface level, however they do have potential and I'm hoping they will be developed more if there is a book 2

I really think this book has potential! I think the characters needed just a bit more developing, and less info dumping . The political aspects of it were one of my favorites though!

The world building is this was amazing! Loved the detail the author put into this book and was planned out perfectly. There was some info dumping that got me a little confused but overall liked the story!

I really loved Summer; She was defiantly was my favorite overall! But I did not like cole. He just was disloyal and just personally did not like him. And do not get me started on Fenya. She is a evil psycho maniac.

I think I would read the sequel if there is on, just because I think there is big potential with this book!

3.0 / 5.0
City of Rain by William Lejeune is the first book in an epic high fantasy series. From the description I was getting LOTR vibes with the fledgling mage being entrusted with an epic adventure that has far-reaching ramifications. Unfortunately, this does not quite hold up.

My main issue with this was the pacing and the way the POV jumps around. This is SLOW and will take a dedicated reader to make it through. There could have been two books here with how much world-building and character investment that is written. It also feels slightly as though it is preparations for the next book(s).

Overall, I am not interested in continuing this series. The world and plot were not interesting enough for me to invest beyond this first book. It was not a complete dud either, so it may just be for a different kind of reader.

Until Next Time,
MC

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to the eARC.

This is a captivating fantasy debut that merges magic, political intrigue, and adventure into an enthralling narrative. The story follows Summer Fontenay, a young mage who becomes entangled in a deadly conspiracy after receiving a mysterious parchment from her dying master. The book is set in a richly detailed world where mages, wizards, and political factions vie for power.

The novel's strengths lie in its well-crafted plot and complex characters. Summer is a compelling protagonist whose journey is fraught with danger and suspense, making her a character readers can easily root for. The narrative is told from multiple perspectives, including Summer, a young scholar named Cole, a clerk from the Wizarding Guild named Fenya, and Arlen, Torrick’s deputy marshal, which adds depth to the story.

The world-building is intricate, with a vivid depiction of the empire's history, political dynamics, and societal structures. The inclusion of maps, glossaries, and character breakdowns helps readers navigate this complex world. The pacing is well-balanced, blending action, mystery, and introspection effectively.

Overall, "City of Rain" is a promising start to the Cinqhawk Saga, offering a mix of action, intrigue, and magic that is sure to captivate fantasy enthusiasts.

࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟCity of Rain࿐ ࿔*:･

(Mild Spoilers)


- Plot
- World-building
- Pace
- Characters



ᯓ ᡣ𐭩Plot
Daughter of a minor house and fledgling mage, Summer Fontenay yearns for a life beyond her cloistered world. But when her dying master entrusts her with a mysterious parchment, she must use all that she has learned to survive. For there are those in the imperial court who would kill to obtain it and the secrets that it holds.

Essentially that is the plot, with a few other central characters and so the story spans four different povs. While the storyline in itself was very interesting, the transition to a different pov at every chapter left me feeling a little frustrated as I would just be getting into the flow of that pov and feeling excited because it was just getting interesting, when everything would stop and I’d have to drag myself through another story’s slow part.


ᯓ ᡣ𐭩World-building
Firstly, my deepest respect to the author for all the hard work they put into this book because the world-building was DETAILED and it was incredibly planned out, I cannot even imagine the picture they have in their head because of the intricacies at play.
Unfortunately I personally felt that there was a lot of info-dumping and so so so many different locations and families at play that it felt really confusing and I was constantly losing track of what was being referred to and who all the different characters were and how they fit in with the overall character tree of the book. I just kept reading, having given up on understanding how it all fit together.


ᯓ ᡣ𐭩Pace
Honestly this was probably my main gripe with this book. The pacing was very off as I probably dragged myself through about 93%... or 87% of it if we’re being generous. Not that it wasn’t interesting before but I had to push myself to keep reading and hoping it would pick up whereas at the end I was in more of a ‘Oooh what’s going to happen noww?’ mood. If the intrigue had been spread out a little more throughout the plot I feel that it would have kept me going out of interest instead of a stubbornness to finish the book rather than let it finish me lol.


ᯓ ᡣ𐭩Characters
I will say that I wish I had been able to emotionally connect more to the characters and develop a stronger bond with them instead of reading them simply as characters. I think the issue was that as people, they weren’t developed as well as they could have been.

Summer. My favourite character from this book without any hesitation. She was brave, she was smart, she was kind and she was honourable. Her loyalty to Alcidimus, her selflessness in throwing aside all her comforts and safety to carry out this mission for him was so admirable and I just loved that she was an intelligent fmc who wasn’t stupid or had unrealistic expectations in her own abilities and so prepared her plans accordingly.


Cole. Ehhh… I’m sorry I didn’t like him. Firstly he was so disloyal to that poor girl waiting back in that city for him, weeping for him while he had a fling with a girl (who honestly was just using him) which he THEN, feeling guilty, described as ‘a flight of passion’ and then CONTINUED to cheat on her. After that he just developed into a rather pathetic and sullen character who’s only redeeming point was at the prompting of someone else.


Fenya. You b*tch. You conniving, ruthless, evil, twisted, psycho.
Fenya is a case of a woman limited by her greed, her pride and arrogance, thinking herself superior and believing that she deserves more importance than she received. In the pursuit of that superiority and driven by a personal vendetta against Summer, she pursues that desire, the costs, the means to the end be damned. As long as she gets what she wants. Funnily enough when she wasn’t acting like a complete psycho she acted like a spoilt, immature little girl.



Overall, I think the story has a lot of potential if only there was more focus on developing the characters, less information to absorb with regards to all the different aspects of the world and if the pace was improved. I did enjoy the political aspects of the story but again, it was hard to keep track of all the characters and how they fit into it all. I think I’d consider reading the sequel (if there ever is one) but I think that would mostly be because I’ve invested too much time into this book not to know what happens next lol.


࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟThank you for reading࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

Thank you NetGalley and publisher. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next. It had me hooked from the beginning. There were a few times that I got turned around because of some jumping from one point to another between the characters timelines, but eventually I did figure out what was going on. Summer has been given a task by her master with his dying breath. This is where her adventure begins. Cole is trying to make a name for himself so he will be worthy of his love. The choices they make will affect the lives around them.

Wonderful story, excellent world building, lovable characters - I enjoyed this very much!! Wonderful story, excellent world building, lovable characters - I enjoyed this very much!!

I love fantasy with a well-crafted setting, strong characters, and a plot that delivers emotions and excitement. "City of Rain" is one of those books that captures the reader's attention. At first, I thought I was plunged into an overly complicated story, dominated by confusion and with no clear idea of what was being told. However, once I got past the first part of the narrative, everything became clearer and more straightforward. The characters each tell a part of the story until the threads of the plot are pulled together and everything is explained with great clarity.

It's undeniable, though, that the almost obsessive attention to creating a richly detailed setting can make the reader feel a certain anxiety. There were points in the narrative where I felt almost overwhelmed by the richness of details—nuances that, if too numerous, can create anxiety and perhaps divert attention from the main course of the story.

Regardless, this is the first novel of the saga, and I truly appreciate it. I highly recommend it for the author's ability to create a detailed, captivating world and characters with personalities that can move within the space and weave an engaging story.

I really enjoyed reading this book! There were a few aspects that bothered me, but more a personal bias than anything else between two female characters. The main male character was a little annoying, but I understand that his story was still important to the overall. I loved how many strong female characters there were, and the main character was definitely my favorite. She felt very real, and I could feel her desperation, her loneliness, although, I do wish the characters were a little older. The way they acted made me think they were older than they were, which didn't make a lot of sense. I don't wish they acted their age, I wish their age reflected their actions if that makes sense. I was very interested in some of the side characters and hope we learn more about them in the other books. Very entertaining and I can't wait to see what happens next.

I really enjoyed the city of rain. It was captivating in its descriptions and the way that the characters acted.

At first it was a little confusing, with the host of characters and how they interacted but it was very easy to follow and make sense of who most were… still curious about some secrets yet to be revealed (I hope…) the way that the main character Summer was written was engaging and i genuinely began to feel for the predicament that she was in. The sense of danger translated well, as it did for Fenya too and the way that the girls interacted was decently written.

I cannot wait for the next in the series and have already put William Lejeune on my watch list.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Lejeune for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

The positives:

For me, this was a very character driven book. I was really invested in several of the characters (Summer, Cole, Arlen), which is what kept me reading, even when I wanted to DNF this one, at times.

The worldbuilding was very good. It's a massive world with lots of different people, houses, magic, places, history, etc. It's a lot to take in and can be kind of hard to keep everything straight at times, but it's well done.

The negatives:

The pacing was very slow. At times, this book really dragged. This was when I most wanted to give up on it. It was also far longer than it needed to be, and I feel like it could use a really good editor to cut down on a lot of it to make it more streamlined.

The writing style of the author was both a little pretentious and inconsistent. At times, it's as if it was supposed to be some kind of formal or archaic English, but this lapses in places and isn't always maintained throughout. Again, a good editor could help maintain consistency.

Summary
Summer, assistant to the Imperial College's Master Reader, is thrust into danger when he is abruptly murdered, tasking her to deliver a mysterious parchment with his dying breath and making her the prime suspect in his death. Her quest takes her to Torrick a rainy city with far more under its surface than it originally appears.
Review

This book first caught my eye because I thought the title implied a city where it always rained. the blurb belied that, but somehow the idea stuck in my mind. It’s not accurate; the key city is rainy, but no more so than many. In fact, the plot does matches the blurb – a complex, political quest story – which has its pluses and minuses.

Lejeune has clearly put a lot of effort into his worldbuilding, particularly the political aspects. There are Guilds and Circles and families and governments, etc. While the worldbuilding is thorough, the presentation is much less clear. Despite a glossary and cast of characters at the back, I found it all difficult to keep track of, and I eventually stopped trying. This meant that much of the motivation of the different factions passed me by, but I don’t feel I missed much by it. In fact, I think the book would have been better off with much of that elided or simplified. The ending of this book relies in part on understanding (or acceptance) of complex interrelations among the groups, but I didn’t find I really cared.

The characters are where the book should have shined. It’s got initially appealing characters placed in intriguing and tense situations. Unfortunately, virtually across the board, the characters are underdeveloped, with quite a number never really expanded beyond their stock beginnings. I found that disappointing; I wanted to root for several, but they stubbornly refused to extend beyond their initial appearance. The motivations of one core character, Cole, are withheld until past the halfway point, and I saw no benefit to the delay. It’s these flaws that ultimately makes me unlikely to go on to the next book.

There’s an interesting original setup (as described in the blurb) – a mysterious document, lore of the ancients, etc. – all the kind of thing that draws me in. Unfortunately, it’s all about magic, and it felt to me like Lejeune made little effort to develop the magic here. I don’t insist on a carefully regulated Sandersonian magic system, but I do want magic to be a little more than vague D&D-type spells and wands and rings, and I felt that was what was on offer here.

Overall, I thought there was good promise here, but I think the book would have benefited from a developmental editor to cut out some of the extraneous elements and encourage the author to build up (what I saw as) the story’s core. A good concept, but fussy and flawed in execution.

Additionally, and recognizing that what I saw was an ARC, there were far more typos and semantic errors than I’d have expected to see at this point. The dialogue was sometimes on the stilted side as well, which seems even less likely to change. Worth picking up if you enjoy complex political fantasy, but less appealing for those wanting epic quests and engaging characters.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley for giving a chance to read this book. I thought this was a great story it had me hooked from the bringing. I loved that had magic in it. I loved how it reminded me of game of thrones a little bit. I loved going on this adventure. I loved getting to know the characters. I can't wait for the 2nd book.