Reviews

The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker

mdentch's review

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The world building, character development, and plot was so well done at the start! For the last third, it felt rushed and clunky. It sort of just ended... I was expecting at least another chapter or two. 

tcritter's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

raekra's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Not my type of book at all. It was a book about politics and conversations. I read the first few chapters and was so bored by the politics I skipped to the last few and got bored again and had to skip to the last chapter to see if I missed anything.
I guess I did miss something because the last chapter was annoying.

This was barely a fantasy book. More like historical fiction.

verysarahbennett's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

I really enjoyed this book! I don't usually consider myself a fan of historical fiction. But I can't help it, I love the age of vikings. I've somewhat recently read a different book about this time period that had some elements of magic, and at times I missed that kind of mystical element, but I think it worked really well without it. The story is compelling and loosely based in history, which is really fun. The map at the beginning is a lifesaver because it's SO hard to keep track of the different areas. The names of the people are also very difficult, but authentically so! Everyone has a somewhat similar name though. And I'm completely guessing on pronunciation hahah. I enjoyed the different POVs and the brother-sister duo and all the adventures they got up to.

readingfourme's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A decent saga. Lots of Viking men acting like idiots. I probably have had my fill for now, but I might listen to the others in the series in the future. 

ixolite's review against another edition

adventurous

4.0

frodomom214's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

naomi_messer's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

blindstitchbookwyrm's review

2.0

I'm going to be honest, I started speed-reading / skimming halfway through the book because I just wanted to be done with it. I really wanted to love this one. I truly did. Unfortunately that's just not what happened.

The first few chapters set up a nice premise, but from there things become lackluster rather quickly. Ragnvald is a hot-headed young man who only wants to reclaim the land his stepfather refuses to let him inherit... Except he's also an incredibly levelheaded and wise tactician when the plot needs him to be. Which is pretty much always. And even though his only self-stated goal is to wrest the rights to his land from his stepfather's cold, dead hands... he spends most of his time mediating other characters' political battles and never advancing his own interests. It was supposed to read as political intrigue, I know, but it feels more like the boy is waiting for the gods to look over and go, "Oh, right, forgot about you. Sorry, here you are," and drop a solution in his lap. His sister Svanhild and (enemy? Rival? Insert descriptor here) Solvi ended up being the only two characters that had any sort of actual life to them, and even that was lacking.

I see what the author was going for, and it could have been great, but the execution fumbled it for me. There are people out there who would definitely enjoy the story (and have, if the overall rating is any indication!) but I'm sad to say that I'm not one of them.

basbleu_dans_labiblioteque's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Really really solid historical fiction. Not quite as good as Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom series, but pretty great altogether.