Atmosphere: 3 out of 5. There's not really much to say but it is there at times, usually amid brands and cigarette smoke.
Characters: 3 out of 5. The characters are well-constructed. Where they do not necessarily have hidden depths of personality, their histories have layers enough to make up for it.
Plot: 3 out of 5. The characters and story are well-integrated. No complaints on that account. The pacing is also good. The Phineas Priests and BFA are, however, hardly compelling villains. The story leaves things open for sequels without making the book feel incomplete.
Writing Style: 3 out of 5. Some technical errors. Sometimes the paragraphs seem to be put together weirdly, usually when they're describing characters. Infodumps are usually handled well.
Worldbuilding: Not applicable.
Details, details: [here there be spoilers]
The BFA want to improve their image so they… insult people and call them sheep?
As I mentioned above, the villains leave a lot to be desired. They're... "safe" villains, I suppose, the kind that hold together every bad thing that you can be sure will get a jeer from your readers. They're just the regular baddies, here to say mean things and do bad things.
They don't necessarily do this badly, so to speak, but I feel that the author is capable of handling villains of greater complexity, even villains that could make us wonder, if only for a few minutes, just how wrong they actually are, and so I feel a great loss on account of what-could-have-been.
Perhaps in the sequels.
I would buy the ebook, perhaps, but not the hardcopy.
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