sdlotu
5/13/2024
This story suffers from one of the many issues with fantasy: a person or group is capable of magic that has immense power, but does not use it. While this can be seen as compassionate and noble, when one of the powerful is shown to be angry, vindictive or just evil, then it it harder to understand why their nearly infinite power is not used to acheive their evil desires or intentions.
The mysterious family steps up tot he line several times, only crossing it once. This one time serves to prove that these people can kil at will, and have the emotional instability to do so.
In light of this, the family's reticence and secrecy becomes nonsensical, and their putative vulnerability to the teen hero likewise. In this context, the struggle posed in the story is fatally undermined, and the story itself along with it.
Were this flaw eliminated, the story would be reasonable even in a fantasy context, and feel more like the coming of age story it is meant to be. As it is, the story is poorly constructed even through the characters are genuinely interesting.