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alialu's review against another edition
4.0
4,5 stars
Fuck you, Radovan
*(spoiler at the end)
What a captivating book!
We follow one of the best main characters I've read in a world of fast politics as Askia tries to win the favor of the emperor to fight her war.
Askia is a strong and strong-minded woman, who has suffered a lot in her past, but that doesn't stop dwelling in her wounds or asking for pity to everyone around her.
She takes no bull-shit from men, even if every other woman tries her to.
She takes her duty very seriously, and does not take selfish risks (for love, friendship, or whatever else), though she does have a problem to control her temper.
Women in this book, in general, are the focus, even if they have to follow society's nonsense sometimes.
Even if most of the story takes place in the same site, we are still able to picture the rest of the continent (I guess?) pretty well, since each kingdom's own cultures and singularities are very nicely depicted, and I think that speaks very highly of the writing, in Greta being able to show us all of that from a single palace.
The only thing I missed for it to reach the perfection in those 5 stars, was a little more development in some of the relationships, though less than 400 pages was probably not enough space for it.
Very nice and fast read. Can't wait for the second part!
(Sadly I read the last sentence of the book by mistake before I started reading. Luckily I forgot the name she was swearing at by the time I began reading it. In fact, I thought it was Iskander)
Fuck you, Radovan
*(spoiler at the end)
What a captivating book!
We follow one of the best main characters I've read in a world of fast politics as Askia tries to win the favor of the emperor to fight her war.
Askia is a strong and strong-minded woman, who has suffered a lot in her past, but that doesn't stop dwelling in her wounds or asking for pity to everyone around her.
She takes no bull-shit from men, even if every other woman tries her to.
She takes her duty very seriously, and does not take selfish risks (for love, friendship, or whatever else), though she does have a problem to control her temper.
Women in this book, in general, are the focus, even if they have to follow society's nonsense sometimes.
Even if most of the story takes place in the same site, we are still able to picture the rest of the continent (I guess?) pretty well, since each kingdom's own cultures and singularities are very nicely depicted, and I think that speaks very highly of the writing, in Greta being able to show us all of that from a single palace.
The only thing I missed for it to reach the perfection in those 5 stars, was a little more development in some of the relationships, though less than 400 pages was probably not enough space for it.
Very nice and fast read. Can't wait for the second part!
(Sadly I read the last sentence of the book by mistake before I started reading. Luckily I forgot the name she was swearing at by the time I began reading it. In fact, I thought it was Iskander)
vejohnson's review against another edition
Struggling to force myself to get through it — slow, don’t like where it’s going, etc.
elliferbee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
calaax_x's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
lexifram's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
anotherstoryreader's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Frozen Crown.
This story centers around Askia. A princess and rightful queen of Seravesh. Her cousin murders her grandfather the king and steals her kingdom. He is a puppet for another, The mad emperor of the Roven Empire. He is steadily burning and pillaging his way to Seravesh in order to take over it and all of the neighboring kingdoms. At the beginning of the book, we find Askia meeting with a neighboring kingdom begging for am army so she can take back her land and crown.
I’m not exactly sure how to explain my qualms with this book so please bear with me through this analogy. Have you ever tried to edit a video clip on your phone? You can slide the bars on either end making the clip shorter from both the beginning and the end of the clip. That’s how I feel about this book... Someone shortened the beginning and the ending and I was only left with the middle of the story. I was dropped into the beginning with no back story or world-building. I was mostly lost until around 30% of the book. After 30% The story did pick up and I enjoyed watching Askia find her way through court politics and intrigues. I felt compassion for the choices she needed to make and the dreams she also needed to surrender.
Then I was hit with a huge cliff hanger. I’ve read a lot of reviews lately and cliff hangers seem to be the central point hate in most of them. I am not normally in the “hate” camp on this subject but this ending was especially hard for me since I felt like the beginning of the book was lacking history. It was a double whammy if you will. I probably would have forgiven one or the other but both were too much. I think this story really had a lot of potentials to be great but lacked world-building and back story.
The Frozen Crown.
This story centers around Askia. A princess and rightful queen of Seravesh. Her cousin murders her grandfather the king and steals her kingdom. He is a puppet for another, The mad emperor of the Roven Empire. He is steadily burning and pillaging his way to Seravesh in order to take over it and all of the neighboring kingdoms. At the beginning of the book, we find Askia meeting with a neighboring kingdom begging for am army so she can take back her land and crown.
I’m not exactly sure how to explain my qualms with this book so please bear with me through this analogy. Have you ever tried to edit a video clip on your phone? You can slide the bars on either end making the clip shorter from both the beginning and the end of the clip. That’s how I feel about this book... Someone shortened the beginning and the ending and I was only left with the middle of the story. I was dropped into the beginning with no back story or world-building. I was mostly lost until around 30% of the book. After 30% The story did pick up and I enjoyed watching Askia find her way through court politics and intrigues. I felt compassion for the choices she needed to make and the dreams she also needed to surrender.
Then I was hit with a huge cliff hanger. I’ve read a lot of reviews lately and cliff hangers seem to be the central point hate in most of them. I am not normally in the “hate” camp on this subject but this ending was especially hard for me since I felt like the beginning of the book was lacking history. It was a double whammy if you will. I probably would have forgiven one or the other but both were too much. I think this story really had a lot of potentials to be great but lacked world-building and back story.
amandabuckley's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.5
aspeng's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
teaturtlesandbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.25