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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
Wow, this was dull. It brought nothing new or interesting to The Red Queen story. Companion novellas like this need to add something, anything, not merely list scene by scene a boring event that we already knew about having read Red Queen. It needs to provide some insight or deeper meaning, otherwise whats the point?
Short stories don't need to be devoid of characterisation, but this one was. Coriane met Tiberius, they married (did they love each other? Not sure). Tiberius had about three meaningless lines in the whole thing. Then suddenly, years later, Coriane has seemingly been driven mad by Elara. How? Why? Yes, I know we know how evil Elara is in Red Queen. I know we know that Elara wanted the crown for herself. I know that Queen Song is about Coriane, and not Elara. But neither one of them is developed enough to get any insight into this part of the story. I don't feel like I even understood the "song" part of Coriane's power. Come to think of it, I don't really care.
Dull, flat characters and not very well written. Show, don't tell.
Short stories don't need to be devoid of characterisation, but this one was. Coriane met Tiberius, they married (did they love each other? Not sure). Tiberius had about three meaningless lines in the whole thing. Then suddenly, years later, Coriane has seemingly been driven mad by Elara. How? Why? Yes, I know we know how evil Elara is in Red Queen. I know we know that Elara wanted the crown for herself. I know that Queen Song is about Coriane, and not Elara. But neither one of them is developed enough to get any insight into this part of the story. I don't feel like I even understood the "song" part of Coriane's power. Come to think of it, I don't really care.
Dull, flat characters and not very well written. Show, don't tell.
Ok, so I loved it! It was a very well written story, it was quite different from Red Queen, because it was explained on third person, we could see more about Elara as well, certainly the story isn't about Elara, but described as well as in Red Queen the type of person she is. The character development was simply awesome. I would've liked a few more entries from the diary, but still liked it. Victoria Aveyard has an unique way of telling stories.
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Admittedly I read this book because it was short and I needed to catch up on my 2017 reading challenge.
I was hoping this was going to be more than it was. The back story of Queen Coriane was mildly interesting in the "rags to riches" sense. Her upbringing and coming to age was very Cinderella-esque. Her ultimate demise was hard to watch. But I wanted more. I wanted more details about universe. How did the abilities come to be? Tell me more about the war with the Lakelanders! This book only left me with more questions.
I was hoping this was going to be more than it was. The back story of Queen Coriane was mildly interesting in the "rags to riches" sense. Her upbringing and coming to age was very Cinderella-esque. Her ultimate demise was hard to watch. But I wanted more. I wanted more details about universe. How did the abilities come to be? Tell me more about the war with the Lakelanders!
Spoiler
Wait, we find out Elara was messing with Coriane's mind the whole time and we only get 2 paragraphs stating as such?!!? What happened after that? How did Elara win over Tibe?
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an interesting prequel... I will have to see how the 2nd prequel Steel Scars goes.
Finally got the answers we so desperately wanted from the first book. I just KNEW it. I hate Elara lmao.
I just finished this one and I'm shocked! In a good way but shocked never the less. It was so emotional. I have to admit that at the beginning I kinda found it a bit plain, boring BUT as I got towards the end and the ending itself... marvellous. Soon a review/ discussion on my booktube channel (link in bio)
I was curious about Julian and his relationship with Cal, so I was happy this story was about him and Coriane. It's tempting, I think, given the numbers of the stories, to want to read this before Red Queen, but it's really important to read it _afterward_. It won't make sense otherwise. I really enjoyed this story, especially the sense of family that was so lacking in the Red Queen. I found it sad that things changed so much just because of one destructive, selfish person, and accordingly Cal was raised in a loveless home.