Luminous by Mara Rutherford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of Luminous in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
I loved Rutherford’s Crown of Coral and Pearl duology. The world building and the story itself were just wonderful. So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard Rutherford is publishing a new story. About magic. And witches. Yay!
Having read a few new releases this year, I’m starting to notice a… trend? A common thread? Not sure what to call it, but I’m starting to see some similarities in the publications.
It has come to my attention that the stories feel unfinished. Like the publications have been rushed.
Possibly because of the situation we are dealing with worldwide, publishers want to make sure the publication of books remains steady. It’s pure conjecture on my part. I’m just trying to make sense of it.
The Details
Anyway, Luminous isn’t the first story I thought felt unfinished. A quarter of the story is used to set up the plot, yet many details, such as the nature of the magic in this world, remain oddly vague.
The vagueness made it difficult to connect and imagine this world, which I thought had great potential to afford a reader to get completely engrossed in it.
The characters could have used a little more fleshing out. I know the protagonist is supposed to be naïve and inexperienced, but it just came across as annoying.
I think there is a fine line between naivete and that goody-two-shoes act that the protagonist kept slipping into from time to time.
The male characters in Luminous I could not stand at all. I thought they were all patronizing and full of themselves. Having one such character adds some depth to the story, but all of them just makes me curl my lip in displeasure.
I have to agree with a few reviews I read about Luminous, one character does remind one quite a bit of the Darkling from the The Shadow and Bone series. Was this intentional?
I wish the story had taken less time setting up the few details that were set up. The saying “show, don’t tell” comes to mind as I kept reading about the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings over and over again.
The Verdict
Overall, I am a little disappointed in this one. I had hoped for more depth, more action and more defined magic.
I would probably suggest it.
