Title: Beneath the Citadel
Author: Destiny Soria
Rating: ★★½

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

I wanted to love this so badly. Beneath the Citadel is fast-paced, full of action, and has a great cast of diverse characters, but ultimately it just felt flat. Other people seem to be loving it, so I really think this is a case of “it’s not the book, it’s me.”

The story starts out right in the middle of action, which was good in that the book jumps into the action and continues at a fast pace from there. However because of the way it’s written, there are moments when a lot of information is dumped on you, other times when I felt like I was missing something, and some parts where the book seemed to jump around. At times it felt like I was reading the sequel to a book I hadn’t read. And since there was so much information being thrown at the readers right off the back, I kept getting confused with the different terms, such as the rooks and sentients, seers and diviners. 

There are four protagonists – and five POVS – which can be overwhelming, but I think the author did a great job of giving each character a distinct voice. There was a diverse cast of characters, and each of them had their own flaws and unmistakable personalities. And while I appreciated them all, I couldn’t connect with any of the characters, and I think that also had an effect on my enjoyment.

Beneath the Citadel is fast-paced, action-packed, and full of interesting, diverse characters. There are definitely some Six of Crows vibes, so fans of those books will enjoy this as well!