Catalyst by Solstice Locke

Liore is spiralling towards ruin and a cast of unlikely heroes including a thief, a rising Legionnaire, a queen, an ambitious politician and a chanter are all that stand in the way of utter ruin.

I thought that the premise of this book was interesting, but as I began reading it I quickly lost interest and found it difficult to keep reading.  The characters are all flat and boring.  The plot jumps from action to action, which while I understand is usually an element of New Adult/YA fiction, in this case there was no room for character development left.  Jade and Dian are completely ruled by their hormones and their romance feels forced throughout.  There is no basis for them to be falling for each other other than pure physical attraction, which does not equal love.

The only romance that feels like it has any grounding in reality at all is that between Havinnia, the queen, and her consort Jordana.  I actually liked that relationship in the few brief pages we were allowed a glimpse at anything other than driving action.

The conclusion felt particularly rushed and left off at that type of cliffhanger that is specifically intended to persuade, if not oblige, a reader to buy the next book.

Additionally, throughout the novel I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the place names heavily resembled (if they weren't outright copies) of other fantasy works.  This may have been intended to be a subtle nod to the works that the author has loved throughout life, but I felt that it was done clumsily and kept pulling me out of the immersion.  

Ultimately, this book left me feeling disappointed and like I wasted my time... and it took me over 3 months to summon the energy and willpower to finally finish this one, totally out of the ordinary for me.  Only 1/5 stars for me.

 I received an advance review copy of this title for free through BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.