Received a copy on Netgalley for review.

I'm not quite sure why the two main characters on the book look so white, when the text makes them out to be quite brown, but that doesn't change the fact that this book is great.

A deaf, brown character. A queer, brown character. And a kickass female character. This book has most many things that I wanted in one place. I love all the characters. Urus is so fantastic. He questions himself and has his flaws, but he is so brave and he grows to, I think, believe in himself. Goodwyn, the prized warrior comes to understand that war isn't all it's cracked up to be. And the wonderful, Cailix never gives up and fights with tooth and nail (quite literally in cases) first for revenge, but then for a strange patchwork sort of family of outcasts that she finds herself attached to. The plot is not the most unique. It is essentially a basic quest, but the characters make it a fulfilling read. It all did seem to go somewhat quickly, which is my only qualm, so I would more likely give it a 4.5, but a truly fantastic debut all the same. I look forward to the next instalment in the series (as the ending so fantastically set us up for) and I hope that Hoffman will only improve and that the next book will be an even tastier treat than this one. ( )

parts I really liked, but overall, another book I didn't really get into.

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I enjoyed the book when I first picked it up, and couldn't stop the first few chapters. Then the action seemed to slow, the book got a little weirder, more and more characters were introduced, when I felt like I was still trying to get to know the main characters. I didn't really "like" any of the characters other than Cailix, and really would have liked to have seen her in the book much more (and perhaps we'll see her more in future books).

The book is well written, the stage is set out well, the action flows from one scene to the next, but I just couldn't really get into it as much as I would have liked. By the time we got to the halfway mark, I had to force myself to finish (mostly because I wanted to know what would happen to Cailix, and not to the other characters).

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I received a copy of this book for free from netgalley in exchange for my honest reviews, and was not paid in any way ( )

A respectable first foray into epic fantasy, The Fifth Vertex incorporates several well-developed characters from the start. While the "down and out" situations of two, whom we can be sure will be protagonists for the duration of the series, are a bit trite, some of the "disadvantages" are played well, allowing our underdogs to show prospective independent/teen readers more complex interpersonal and internal relationships than your typical bullied/disabled/living rough characters. The writing is fair - sometimes given to greater dramatics than can be taken seriously, but younger readers will not find it difficult to suspend disbelief. All in all, a solid book and an author with potential to grow during subsequent titles in the series. ( )