Trix's Reviews > Iron Butterfly

I debated whether to give this a 2 star rating but it barely cleared 1.5 stars and there were just so many things I found wrong with it that I dropped it to 1 star.

I could not focus on the story... about halfway through, I was speed-reading, barely registering some of the things said, which might explain my general dislike of the book. (view spoiler)[I could not understand Ny's reason for keeping quiet about some of the abuse at the Master's hands, accepting the lies told to him (both by the master and his father) and years later be relieved it was over, admit to knowing it was wrong and displaying such hatred towards his abuser.

I felt the rae'lir race was poorly described. They had great potential but was severely handicapped with the weak character building. We were fed small bits of information about them only when it suited the story to highlight a trait in Gale or emphasize some whatever quality Ny apparently held different.

The conflict with the Council seemed weakly build again as I couldn't understand just how much power they had in court and society from the on-and-off disputes with the king and prince. Not to mention, I was left with the impression that bonding was something sacred, forever and singular for rae'lir and yet the Council accused Gale of sleeping around...

There were just small inconsistencies like these that distracted me from the story. The plot had great concepts but poorly developed. There was no surprise in the second half of the book, as I could very well predict the fall of the Master and rise of Stel, the duel to save the princess'.. I mean the human's honor, the star couple having a baby and the inability to sway Ny's father to reason. And of course, leaving him poor and alone as punishment. (hide spoiler)]

Perhaps I needed another mood to find the story more palatable. As it is, I was cheering at the end simply for having managed to read it till the end.