Review: The Price of The Thousand Blessings by Ginn Hale (Volume 3)
Cymin has agreed to become a spy, defeated a fiery curse, inadvertently derailed a train, and survived a bloody ambush in the Sacred Necropolis—all to escape conscription in a Storm Tower. Now, at last, he and his companions have reached the vibrant canal city of Yanyeo. From here they plan to sail to Saigrath, leaving Chyre and its Storm Towers behind. Ahead of him lies the promise of new magic, deepening friendships and an opportunity to share more than secrets with the Waethir, Laithondi. Cymin can hardly wait to depart.
Unfortunately, two of Cymin’s companions lost their lives on the journey to Yanyeo. Their violent deaths have turned the people of Chyre against the expedition—and the Waeithir. Soon the entire undertaking is threatened. Now Cymin and the Waethir must throw their energy into challenging the bad press and winning the respect of Yanyeo’s leaders. But just as they are winning over the people, Cymin’s traveling companions begin to go missing.
But deep beneath the canal waters a curse has been released and an enemy from Cymin’s past is on the move. Talented mages all across the city are quietly going missing while mutilated remains have washed ashore.
Then Cymin’s friend, Xaon disappears.
Racing to find him, Cymin and Laithondi must plunge into the lair of a criminal syndicate and risk not only exposing their secrets but their very lives.
Review:
Dear Ginn Hale,
I reviewed the first two parts of this story here at DA and I was looking forward to see where the adventure would take me since I read the first two volumes last year. I confess though that the main feeling I am left with after finishing this part is frustration. The first two volumes each had over 400 pages on my kindle (the actual story without various appendixes – character names and brief history as such) and I get why the first two volumes were divided in the separate books. But this book without appendixes clocked 248 pages on my kindle and it is not actually a separate book *at all*; the chapter count was even from chapter 39 to chapter 51.
To be fair, book two also was not a separate story in any way shape or form, but at least book two stopped at a satisfying place. This one? Not so for me. Moreover, I of course do not know how long volume 4, due to be published in a month, will be. If the similar length, I am back to being irritated as to why volumes 3 and 4 could not be combined as one book. My main gripe is not the length though, but that it was not satisfying to me. I guess I thought that no emotional resolution or at least advancement of any relationships or friendships was achieved. I know that it is a very slow moving story with a complex plot and peeling off of layers of the characters. I know that, but basically the killings happen, disappearances happen, people suffer, or their fate is uncertain. Am I not being fair? I know we got some very important past lives revelation at the end of the second book, but I needed something more than I got here. Oh, and there is a potential cliffhanger here, which actually bothered me even less than the cliffhanger at the end of book one because it concerns a character I do not care very much about.
The world building is still as fantastic as it was and there are secondary characters I care about just as much as the main ones and I am fully aware that the story is not done yet, but I am not very happy right now.
I read a lot of this writer’s books. I know her stories are often much more than just a romance and I appreciate that and I know that the romance eventually gets a satisfactory ending, but I kind of feel like at the end of part three a little bit more of the romance could have been shown.
Grade: B
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