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vivianne's review against another edition
1.0
DNF (on page 63)!
Spoiler free review!
So this was my first Fairyloot book, April 2017. And unfortunately it wasn’t very successful.
Well I tried. Several times even. But I just have to give this up, it’s just not for me.
The concept was interesting but I don’t think that I would have bought this book on my own. I didn’t like the story of Kosha, the fact that she is solely born to have sex, birth a daughter and die had me really in conflict with my morels. And for everyone to just be okay with her faith? The fact that the sea had some kind of special power of drawing girls (and let them do this weird dance), needing sacrificing otherwise it would rebel had me a little hm.. not sure I will like this. And yeah I’m so sorry to say this but I hated it.
The beginning of this book was just awful. The characters needed way more introduction. I was quite confused who was what and lived where and was from what clan. The language used didn’t really draw me in and the concept was kind of mehh. But it was interesting of some sorts, some terms really got me fascinated about the world and that made me continue reading, at least till page 63…
Generally I’m a big fan of short chapters. But here it just didn’t work. There are four main characters, that get like 3-5 pages in turn and then another character is already swooped in and after that those had like a short introduction, another chapter of another character is already started. I didn’t have time to figure out their personality or to connect with them. And I really need that to understand and like a story. When I’m on 20% of a book I want to at least have an idea of what an character is like.
The way the chapters flow into each other was not smooth enough. I want it to be fluent, solid and logical, and that was not the case here. For example in the beginning this feast is thrown for the Given, that’s told from Khosa’s POV for like 4 pages. Then the sister of Vincent walks in and we switch to Vincent’s POV for like 5 pages, but before the scene picks up again there are first a few pages dedicated about what Vincent thinks of Khosa. So after this we finally pick up (only for one page) and Dara walks in and speaks but then we already switch to Dara’s POV and the scene is over. AHHHHH that’s so frustrating to read. All these different opinions and views make the story are so unclear and illogical. It’s just a mess… I didn’t get anything from that scene because there are so many unnecessary words and opinions. It’s not necessary to tell one scene from 3 POV’s.
But something that really put me off in this book was the writing style. I’ve never read such an awful sentence composition in a book. There are lines in here that I read 10 times and still don’t understand. It was like a try at old English with a sparkle of self-fabricated slang. And it just didn’t work. But also some sentences are super weird that I’m like who in their right mind would come up with this.. I will give you an example of this:
Like what?! WHAT THE HELL!? Is this just me or would no one ever do this in the whole damn world? That’s the most nasty thing ever. Is she just going to sit there like that the rest of the evening? And there were literally so much more things like this, that I had question marks with.
Another writing style thing; it was just not descriptive enough, and normally I really like that but when you introduce this whole fantasy world to me it needs some words about the surrounding. The world building was just not existing in the first 63 pages and a story like this REALLY needs that. I have no idea how Stille looks, no idea if it’s an Island or a coast place, it was a kingdom right? So why isn’t there spoken of different cities or even of cities? What kind of creatures do live there? How many people? Why are the pitrans enemies? Is there a lot of beach or forest? But I also had no idea how the main characters looked and that I hated most.
Plot wise it was even more a mess. It started to quick, like I noted before it needed more character introduction and more world building. The second chapter of Kosha (so page 15) hell already broke lose. Well I can say that but I actually had no idea what was happening?! It was just so strange and illogical and weird. Half the freaking time I had no clue what was going on and what someone’s motivation was.
So after several tries I just have to give up on Given to the Sea. Maybe I will give this book a second change in the future, so I will also put it on my ‘setting aside for now’ shelve for now.
“A good person does not necessarily make a good king.”
Spoiler free review!
So this was my first Fairyloot book, April 2017. And unfortunately it wasn’t very successful.
Well I tried. Several times even. But I just have to give this up, it’s just not for me.
The concept was interesting but I don’t think that I would have bought this book on my own. I didn’t like the story of Kosha, the fact that she is solely born to have sex, birth a daughter and die had me really in conflict with my morels. And for everyone to just be okay with her faith? The fact that the sea had some kind of special power of drawing girls (and let them do this weird dance), needing sacrificing otherwise it would rebel had me a little hm.. not sure I will like this. And yeah I’m so sorry to say this but I hated it.
The beginning of this book was just awful. The characters needed way more introduction. I was quite confused who was what and lived where and was from what clan. The language used didn’t really draw me in and the concept was kind of mehh. But it was interesting of some sorts, some terms really got me fascinated about the world and that made me continue reading, at least till page 63…
Generally I’m a big fan of short chapters. But here it just didn’t work. There are four main characters, that get like 3-5 pages in turn and then another character is already swooped in and after that those had like a short introduction, another chapter of another character is already started. I didn’t have time to figure out their personality or to connect with them. And I really need that to understand and like a story. When I’m on 20% of a book I want to at least have an idea of what an character is like.
The way the chapters flow into each other was not smooth enough. I want it to be fluent, solid and logical, and that was not the case here. For example in the beginning this feast is thrown for the Given, that’s told from Khosa’s POV for like 4 pages. Then the sister of Vincent walks in and we switch to Vincent’s POV for like 5 pages, but before the scene picks up again there are first a few pages dedicated about what Vincent thinks of Khosa. So after this we finally pick up (only for one page) and Dara walks in and speaks but then we already switch to Dara’s POV and the scene is over. AHHHHH that’s so frustrating to read. All these different opinions and views make the story are so unclear and illogical. It’s just a mess… I didn’t get anything from that scene because there are so many unnecessary words and opinions. It’s not necessary to tell one scene from 3 POV’s.
But something that really put me off in this book was the writing style. I’ve never read such an awful sentence composition in a book. There are lines in here that I read 10 times and still don’t understand. It was like a try at old English with a sparkle of self-fabricated slang. And it just didn’t work. But also some sentences are super weird that I’m like who in their right mind would come up with this.. I will give you an example of this:
“The smell hit me, and I gag. To my right, my father does the same, though he hides it better. A few of the court ladies swoon; one of them vomits into her lap and then tidily closes her knees so that the skirts pocket the mess.”
Like what?! WHAT THE HELL!? Is this just me or would no one ever do this in the whole damn world? That’s the most nasty thing ever. Is she just going to sit there like that the rest of the evening? And there were literally so much more things like this, that I had question marks with.
Another writing style thing; it was just not descriptive enough, and normally I really like that but when you introduce this whole fantasy world to me it needs some words about the surrounding. The world building was just not existing in the first 63 pages and a story like this REALLY needs that. I have no idea how Stille looks, no idea if it’s an Island or a coast place, it was a kingdom right? So why isn’t there spoken of different cities or even of cities? What kind of creatures do live there? How many people? Why are the pitrans enemies? Is there a lot of beach or forest? But I also had no idea how the main characters looked and that I hated most.
Plot wise it was even more a mess. It started to quick, like I noted before it needed more character introduction and more world building. The second chapter of Kosha (so page 15) hell already broke lose. Well I can say that but I actually had no idea what was happening?! It was just so strange and illogical and weird. Half the freaking time I had no clue what was going on and what someone’s motivation was.
So after several tries I just have to give up on Given to the Sea. Maybe I will give this book a second change in the future, so I will also put it on my ‘setting aside for now’ shelve for now.
bookwife's review against another edition
2.0
SPOILERS
I mean.. I dunno. I went into it with a negative attitude.. And honestly it wasn't good.. it wasn't good at all. I was still entertained though.. I don't see how the author is going to end that love square thing happily. At least not in my eyes. She can't somehow have Dara with Vincent because he chose Khosa.. It would make Dara look like she came in second and that would be shitty. Even though I HATED Dara. Its a freaking mess.
I mean.. I dunno. I went into it with a negative attitude.. And honestly it wasn't good.. it wasn't good at all. I was still entertained though.. I don't see how the author is going to end that love square thing happily. At least not in my eyes. She can't somehow have Dara with Vincent because he chose Khosa.. It would make Dara look like she came in second and that would be shitty. Even though I HATED Dara. Its a freaking mess.
phoebe_books's review against another edition
1.0
*NO SPOILERS* I was very disappointed in this book as the premise had potential. However, it is very underdeveloped; the characters, the world and the plot. You are thrown headfirst into the plot with multiple POVs with no character development or world-building first. This, when combined with an underdeveloped plot, means that the readers get to around the 100-page mark and realises that they still have absolutely no idea what's going on. It's a fantasy world but I couldn't tell you how the world works and I couldn't describe the characters to you either.
marineb09's review against another edition
3.0
I had this book for quite some time now and I am really glad I picked it up.
It's not the best fantasy I read let's be honest but it wasn't"t as bad as I thought ... I read a lot of bad reviews about it and let's face it I may have liked this one because of my catastrophic last read haha
The plot is interesting, the writing as well ... I didn't get some parts but it's okay.
I am really excited for book 2 now that everything is set into motion.
It's not the best fantasy I read let's be honest but it wasn't"t as bad as I thought ... I read a lot of bad reviews about it and let's face it I may have liked this one because of my catastrophic last read haha
The plot is interesting, the writing as well ... I didn't get some parts but it's okay.
I am really excited for book 2 now that everything is set into motion.
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
This was such a great read, loved the world, loved the characters, and now I must finish out this series!
deduvick's review against another edition
3.0
I'm always excited to check out new work from Mindy McGinnis! This story blends four narratives to tell the story of a girl doomed to be "given to the sea," as a sacrifice for her kingdom. While I enjoyed hearing from the various characters, I don't know that I got to know any of them very well. I'm interested in seeing what happens in the next book, so will probably continue the series. But I felt a disconnect from the characters, some disinterest in certain events (though there were some surprising twists and turns!), and some dissatisfaction with how this particular book wrapped up. But it has a gorgeous cover and some creative world-building and I think the second book has potential to be even better!
_kjmac_books_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Racism, War, and Vomit
burstnwithbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I did quite enjoy this, but I'm not sure whether I'm invested enough to finish the duology. I really like Mindy McGinnis's writing, and I love her ability to jump genres with literally everything she writes. I'll definitely check out more from her.
swarmofbooks's review
2.0
Miałam problem z tą książką. Albo na początku nie zrozumiałam o co chodzi w świecie przestawionym, albo było to słabo przedstawione. W dodatku dla mnie ogromnym minusem było prowadzenie kilku POV, ale tylko dwa były w pierwszej osobie, a pozostałe w trzeciej, co mnie strasznie rozpraszało w trakcie lektury. Lepiej by było gdyby autorka zdecydowała się na jeden rodzaj narracji.
Co do historii...pomysł był ciekawy. Jednak wykonanie nieco gorsze, bo chociaż miałam momenty, że fabuła naprawdę mnie ciekawiła to nie potrafiłam przejąć się bohaterami. Nie wiem, czy była to wina mojej znajomości angielskiego (bo język tej książki był trudniejszy niż poprzednich czytanych przeze mnie w oryginale), czy po prostu było to tak napisane. Nie powiem, że była to zła książka, ale nie zachwyciła mnie. Dlatego daje jej 5 gwiazdek. I raczej nie będę sięgać po kontynuację.
Co do historii...pomysł był ciekawy. Jednak wykonanie nieco gorsze, bo chociaż miałam momenty, że fabuła naprawdę mnie ciekawiła to nie potrafiłam przejąć się bohaterami. Nie wiem, czy była to wina mojej znajomości angielskiego (bo język tej książki był trudniejszy niż poprzednich czytanych przeze mnie w oryginale), czy po prostu było to tak napisane. Nie powiem, że była to zła książka, ale nie zachwyciła mnie. Dlatego daje jej 5 gwiazdek. I raczej nie będę sięgać po kontynuację.
lottymp's review against another edition
1.0
Good idea and very good plot but the ending and everything was very dissapointing. Full review coming up soon.