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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Eep. Guess I'm on another DNF streak this week. Idk man, I have no patience or something. I had an immediate hard time connecting to the characters. Plus I guess I just wasn't in the mood for gritty girl-warrior fantasy. Wish I was because I adore this cover so hard!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This wasn't what I expected from the little I knew about it and I was mostly pleasantly surprised.
It's a standalone YA fantasy novel about two peoples and their conflict, which was pleasantly complex (there wasn't one overwhelmingly "good" or "bad" side at least) and had really cool worldbuilding (people living in cities in trees to protect themselves from beasts was already pretty cool but everything else was great as well).
The villain wasn't who I expected it to be at the start, and had interesting motivations even though they were pretty obviously bad once revealed.
The only thing I'd say was that this was more action-focused (and the actions scenes were pretty great!) than character-focused, which is more my thing, so the main relationships sometimes didn't feel developed enough for me, but I think for any readers that enjoy fast-paced books this'll be great. Also, the main couple is sapphic
It's a standalone YA fantasy novel about two peoples and their conflict, which was pleasantly complex (there wasn't one overwhelmingly "good" or "bad" side at least) and had really cool worldbuilding (people living in cities in trees to protect themselves from beasts was already pretty cool but everything else was great as well).
The villain wasn't who I expected it to be at the start, and had interesting motivations even though they were pretty obviously bad once revealed.
The only thing I'd say was that this was more action-focused (and the actions scenes were pretty great!) than character-focused, which is more my thing, so the main relationships sometimes didn't feel developed enough for me, but I think for any readers that enjoy fast-paced books this'll be great. Also, the main couple is sapphic
A great fantasy story with plenty of action, fun and some romance! The world building and the unique way things work was interesting and exciting to learn about! It's wonderfully written and the way everything comes together was done nicely! I loved the message throughout the story of bravery and how there are many different ways to be brave! Dauntless is a great fast-paced action adventure story with a world and characters that are easy to become invested in and want more of! I'd love to learn more about this world and how it all works. Hopefully there will be another book! Thank you Xpresso Book Tours and Elisa Bonnin for sharing this story with me!
This was so lovely and unique and immersive! I really enjoyed this standalone and I loved watching the FMCs grow throughout this story. A few moments were a bit slow and some of the dialogue/inner dialogue didn’t flow smoothly all the time, but the tense battles and sweet moments between characters made up for it.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not sure that this book did anything particularly new or well, but it was an enjoyable sci-fi story. I do think that the audiobook wasn’t super great, and my rating may have been higher in a different format.
I loved this story. The lush jungle setting with tree canopy settlements was so unique and I felt like most of the characters had depth. It really deals with the differences of how cultures are taught their history and beliefs, and how to know what is true and what is simply the "victor's" side of the story. I thought the beasts were very interesting, as well as the valor. The romances in this book were very sweet too. I'd love to see more stories set in this world, so I hope the author continues to write more!
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really enjoyed this book inspired by Filipino mythology and culture. It's a high stakes adventure featuring a sort of enemies to lovers romance between its two queer protagonists. While some of the tropes and plot elements definitely feel familiar there's enough that's unique about the world-building to make it feel fresh too.
Minor gripe but I didn't always love the audiobook narration because I'm not sure whether it was a stylistic choice or maybe an issue with the production but the delivery, especially in dialogue, often felt stilted and choppy which disturbed the prosody of the prose for me. Not enough to make me stop listening but it did annoy me, especially in the more emotional scenes.
Minor gripe but I didn't always love the audiobook narration because I'm not sure whether it was a stylistic choice or maybe an issue with the production but the delivery, especially in dialogue, often felt stilted and choppy which disturbed the prosody of the prose for me. Not enough to make me stop listening but it did annoy me, especially in the more emotional scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, War
Minor: Death, Violence, Death of parent
Regarding the animal death in the book, they are mythical, magical beasts that get killed/injured but if you're sensitive to violence against animals consider yourself forewarned. The 'valiants' (knights) in this story also wear armor fashioned from parts of the beasts they kill which can feel a bit macabre and upsetting too.
An action-packed Filipino-inspired adventure in a jungle world filled with perilous beasts and queer subplots! Reminiscent of the dystopian YA adventure books of the 2000's (ex: Legend, Divergent, etc.), Dauntless pits a cast of survivors with secrets against the rising threat of beasts and whatever may be controlling them. Its struggles lie in creating characters we care about and punctuating the small moments-it's perfectly fine and a complete story start to finish, but I don't think it will be one I remember for long.