Bloated and predictable

I just don’t believe these 5 stars reviews anymore. I adore fantasy and there were some nice beats in this book and an interesting main arc - but it all gets buried by too much bloat. There is really only about 200 pages worth of material here. Even that material is basic chosen one beats big baddie. Waaay too many side characters that were pointless. Random POV shifts - as in telling the exact same moment from two or three points of view for no reason other than to add pages to the book. A frankly stupid and unexplained magic system. Somehow PG (no cursing or sex or even food or use of bathrooms) but with R levels of violence and torture. Tone was also extremely serious and desperately needed some humor and levity. Such a self serious slog at times. Please don’t believe the 5 star reviews. This book is below a average fantasy inflated with too much redundant filler.

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