Review of Cities of the River

[Kendal Low]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Cities of the River" by Shan Syed.]

---

4 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Belris, Delton, Jacna, Helena, and Felt are the five different main characters of this story. From each perspective, the audience is taught more and more about the world these people are living in, as well as the wars they are living through.

From the viewpoints of five different characters, the audience gets a front-row seat to the gradual and entertaining progression of the story. Cities of the River: Western Invasion by Shan Syed is a thrilling sci-fi/fantasy novel that will have you on the edge of your seat.

I am a huge fan of this novel! While I knew from reading the blurb that I would most likely enjoy it, I had no idea that I would end up being as captivated by it as I was. I loved the idea of showing the readers the story from five different points of view. I believe it added an element of understanding of the characters’ different actions that the audience would not have had if it had only been told from one perspective.

I also genuinely enjoyed how the story progressed. While each character’s story was connected to the others, the book didn’t feel repetitive when reading the same scenes from different perspectives. I appreciate that greatly, as usually when trying to write this way, authors often tend to reuse the same details the audience has already read before, making the story feel somewhat stale.

One thing in this book I thought could use slight improvement was the writing style. I didn’t necessarily dislike it, but at some points, the sentences felt slightly too short and somewhat rushed. While I mainly loved the book, I also thought the writing felt slightly immature at times. It wasn’t anything too serious, but something I believe needs a bit of polishing. Unfortunately, this reason was enough for me to deduct from what would otherwise be a perfect score.

I am glad to say this book was exceptionally edited, as I found no errors whatsoever which greatly added to my overall enjoyment. Apart from my one complaint, I have absolutely nothing else negative to say. I loved the character development, the world-building, and the fact that the story flowed so seamlessly. So, for the various reasons mentioned above, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I would very happily recommend this book to readers who typically enjoy science-fiction/fantasy novels. I believe the great world-building would definitely appeal to them, as it definitely did to me. I believe this book would be better suited for adults, as while there are no instances of profanity, there is a fair amount of violence and quite a few sexual themes throughout.

******
Cities of the River
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[zynnyx_]

I love the idea of giving different character viewpoints too. It provides an in-depth understanding of the character's thought process.

[NetMassimo]

The very simple writing style might not be charming but the story of wars told from different points of view seems engaging. Thank you for your great review!