I just finished reading this book, which came recommended as a highly rated fantasy standalone.

It was okay overall, but I found it bland, slow paced, and somewhat uninteresting. Only a few moments truly drew me in or made me want to keep reading.

What I didn’t like: - Too many characters to keep track of, with similar-sounding names and variations of their names influenced by the world’s own language. - No meaningful connection with the characters. Maia, the main protagonist, wasn’t interesting at all and lacked backstory to add an emotional connection - The parts of the book with the archaic style of speech made the prose harder to follow, especially as a non-native reader. - Long and confusing place/location names.