Caste by RaeLynn Fry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
More like a 3.5. I liked this one but I must admit that some things were predictable & it could use a good editing polish (hopefully the author will be able to do an update that at least changes the many instances of "gate" where she really means "gait" & "Hughes's" instead of "Hughe's" & "conscious" was used when "conscience" was meant once or twice as well). The word usage gaffes were the most deterrent to story flow & each time they took me out of the moment. The story itself is, overall, a good one & I enjoyed reading about Karis & her quest to save Ajna. There were some things that happened far too easily for her & one glaring one was the pretty much insta-love with Ethan. I'd already bought into her feelings for Kavin being real because that's how it was laid out in the beginning, so I couldn't really invest in Karis/Ethan when the main of the story between them takes place over the span of about a week. Having Mr. Singh throw in his support behind the couple at the end, didn't sell me either. Karis got over Kavin, her Pair, whom she'd known all her life & says that she truly loved even before they'd been paired, in a blink. He was cast out into the Further, not dead & was part of her reason to want to strike back at The Corporation but she didn't think about him much. Ethan's declaration of eternal love... m'kay. I'm still pulling for Kavin to be saved. Karis/Ethan can be together but I just don't care.
Still, at least there was more to this story than the "love" & that's where it shined mostly. The reveal of Ethan's identity was the most predictable element & seemed almost interminable as the story progressed & Karis remained clueless. I quite enjoyed the bits of Neech shown, from the factory where Karis & Journey work to the Black Market. The Masquerade in Dahn was well done & where one of the most compelling interactions in the entire story takes place, between Akin & Karis. The action picked up a bit somewhere after 70% & the momentum was good until the end, even if some things happened too easily for the characters or others were simply not even explained. The final play was good & I look forward to the next book, but I was disappointed that none of the characters even considered that would happen (I don't even know why any of them were keen to participate in the Jatis after everything that they now knew).
Overall, a good story that I'm interested enough in to continue with the series. I'm glad this was in my via Amazon Recommendations.
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