★★★★
The Exercise of Vital Powers introduces to us a hateful character by the name of Kayden Jayta. I'm not exaggerating, she's truly hateful. But don't you just love to hate her??
I love it when an author can create characters that are absolutely awful people, but make you want to keep reading about them.
Going into this I thought the plot of students in a magic school might feel a bit tired and overdone, but I was soon corrected as the premise actually felt creative and original.
The prose is both eloquent and concise, which I appreciate. The author has a way with words that make mundane sentences more beautiful.
I enjoyed the plot immensely, and particularly enjoyed the parallel of Master Fay's side quest. My only gripe would be that the story felt a bit longwinded towards the end. After things had wrapped up satisfactorily for me, I felt like the ending dragged.
Overall, this was a great book that is well worth your time. I hope to read more from Kayden in future.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.
