Review: The Suffering of Fools by Jenn Burke

The Suffering of Fools
by Jenn Burke

My Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/m

Blurb:
What’s worse? Being a half-sprite witch accidentally and magically married to a witch-hunter, or having to go on a quest with your new husband to avoid the wrath of a pissed-off goddess?

Mokido is about to find out.

He and Kason have been playing a dangerous game of “capture the witch” for the last two years, and just when Mokido thought it was safe, he finds himself bound to Kason and on a journey he never asked for.

Add in love spells, a dying queen, and an impossible task, and the smartest thing to do would be to abandon Kason to his fate.

But no one ever accused Mokido of being smart.

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

I’ve read quite a few of Jenn Burke’s books so far and was excited for this new book. Sadly this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me and I struggled a bit to get through it despite it not being a very long book, but it also had things I did like. The Suffering of Fools is set in a world were gods are real, although not everyone believes in them. When witch hunter Kason and witch-thief Mokido fall into a stream belonging to one of the goddesses they end of accidentally married.

I struggled a bit getting into this book. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, the first chapter or so kinda felt off to me with the witch hunter and witch on the run vibes not quite working for me as it didn’t feel like that was what actually was going on. This all makes sense later with their romance having been building a bit before the book starts, which again felt a bit odd like I was missing some part of their relationship, but at the same time I could see why the author decided to start the book around this point.

Anyway it felt more like the character roleplaying their roles than actually being a witch hunter and a witch-thief and these roles are actually more necessary for setting the stage than for the rest of the book in my opinion. I kinda wish they hadn’t been so strongly categorized as witch hunter and witch-thief at the start as I feel like the book wasn’t really about that. I also struggled a bit with the characters not being as capable or smart as their roles and past should suggest, like Mokido being this famous witch-thief that always escaped capture and then everything he does he just kinds seems to stumble along instead of showing the skill I had expected. Or Kason being this capable witch hunter, but never capturing Mokido until now and every time something happens he gets easily bested.

Something about this book just didn’t quite work for me. I wanted to get to know the characters better. The world building and magic system was interesting, but didn’t quite come alive and I wanted more details. The romance had already started before the book which left me floundering a bit at the start to get a handle on what was going on. The pacing could feel a bit fast at times, but not so much so it actually felt rushed, but more like I would’ve liked a bit more detail and expansion to some scenes to make the pace feel better. The plot was pretty straightforward and while interesting enough, it just didn’t fully pull me in. The characters are likable, but I wanted more about their past and personality. There are some side characters that pop up, but their role is small enough and their introduction short enough I had trouble remembering who was who.

So that made it hard to fully enjoy the book. Then again I did feel like there were these parts that were interesting or kept me reading. It was an easy enough read with things progression quickly enough that I kept reading. I liked the connection between Kason and Mokido and I liked seeing them both come to terms to it. The whole world building part with the gods and goddesses was quite interesting and I liked seeing how the characters had to deal with the goddess under whose name they accidentally marry. I just wanted to know more about it all. The magic and the different races were interesting enough too, again I just wanted more. I didn’t realize until like 40% into the book that there were other races than the sprites and humans.

To summarize: This book didn’t quite hit the mark for me sadly. It had some good concepts and parts, but for a lot of these things I had just wanted a bit more details and expanding on those concepts. I liked the romance between Kason and Mokido, but struggled a bit getting a grasp on their situation and who they were at the start. I also wnated to know more about them and their pasts. I liked seeing them grow closer and come to terms with their feelings. The plot line, world building and magic system were all interesting enough, but felt like they could’ve used more expanding and details. The side characters were only briefly introduced and weren’t present often enough for me to remember who was who. So mostly this book had some interesting aspects, but I just wanted more to make it fully feel alive.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.