Buddy Read Review: Daughter of No Worlds, Booktok’s Latest Fantasy Romance Obsession

I first saw this book mentioned on Booktok last Fall, and remember thinking, “Yeah, that sounds good,” and added it to my TBR. But let’s be honest, the TBR is long, and it wasn’t the highest read on my list. But then more and more people started reading it, and suddenly last month it was ALL OVER my FYP (‘For You Page’ for you Bookstagrammers and Book Tubers). I had to see what the hype was about, and others in the community wanted to as well, so we started a buddy read of it (you can still join)! We only committed to the first book, but it very quickly escalated into a buddy read of the full trilogy. It’s quick paced, and you’re immediately drawn into the main character’s story.

Things to Know:

• It’s a completed trilogy (hallelujah!)

• Slow burn romance

• Grumpy Sunshine trope

• Some Throne of Glass vibes, but it does stand on its own

• Skip the audiobook—the main narrator is not great

I don’t normally love prologues, but this was a prologue done right. No spoilers, so that’s all I’ll say…

We first meet Tisaanah as a little girl. Her village is destroyed, she loses her family, and she’s sold into slavery, and eventually ends up as the plaything of a powerful Lord. Sound familiar? Years go by and you can imagine all of the horrific things that might happen to a beautiful young girl in that situation.

“I wondered what that was like. To live a life so untouched by such ugliness that the very concept of it was startling.”

My biggest issue with this book is the magic system. It’s all over the place. And so vague. We’re told 500 years ago there wasn’t any magic and then it appeared. While the writing is great, I was hoping for a little more world building. Some pieces of magic are just too convenient and there’s no rhyme or reason as to why some people have certain powers. Candidly, I also recently finished Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy, which was the complete opposite, so that may be affecting my opinion.

There’s also these drawings called Stratagrams that seem very similar to Wyrdmarks, but also kindof operate like portkeys. How many fandoms can I mention in this review? ;)

“I figured you should have something both beautiful and functional, like you.”

Who I do love is Maxantarius. And the more the layers are peeled back, the more he has my whole heart. The villains are also really well done in this story. You HATE them (looking at you Esmaris, Zeryth, Reshaye, Nura, Sesri), but they’re not one dimensional. For some of them, we’re still learning their motivations, and others we’re only just starting to understand who they are. Yes, there are multiple, and they’re all a bit like petulant children.

The flow of the story itself seemed fast. I appreciated we spent time with Tisaanah training, but again, there were a few things in the storyline that just seemed a little too convenient. So while it’s not quite a five star read for me, I did thoroughly enjoy it, and I can’t wait to pick up book two, Children of Fallen Gods.

“Men want power because it makes them feel good. Women want power because it lets us do things.”

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