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ellamae98's review
4.0
I loved this. The way it was written was a challenge to read for me, for that i give 4 stars, but i loved the story and the characters nonetheless.
highlanderajax's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Fair. It's an interesting take on a nice theme. As I've said before, I am a sucker for Magnificent Seven stories. Putting together a team of talents to Do Things? Hell yeah, I love that. This is a really fun twist, taking characters who would definitely be villains elsewhere and putting them into the classical hero role.
Johnston has done a pretty good job creating a couple of interesting characters here, and has got a fairly fun plot to go along with it. There's some really vivid descriptions, some nice motivations, and some fairly entertaiing fight scenes.
However, there are a fair number of things that just left me completely cold, and have me looking back at the book going "yeah, good enough, I guess."
Firstly, while the story is interesting, there's not a lot of worldbuilding. It would have been nice to have just a bit more information about, like, anything else that's going on. There's little to no explanation of how pretty much anything works here, which makes some of the reveals just kind of spring out of nowhere, rather than feeling earned. This kind of spills over into the rest of the plot, so I guess this is a combination worldbuilding/storyline weakness - the reveals either feel random or entirely predictable, never quite satisfying.
Second, the dialogue. One of the things that makes these types of team stories fun is the interplay between characters, and here so much of the dialogue feels stilted and artificial that a lot of that fun is lost. There's only a couple of characters that really come to life, with the rest feeling very flat indeed. In fact, the character work overall - with some exceptions - feels pretty lacklustre, and it really harms the overall work. A lot of the times, I was very aware that I was reading a manufactured conversation, rather than feeling that characters were talking and interacting naturally.
Third, while the plot is fun and the notion of using "dark" characters as protagonists is really interesting, Johnston's emphasis on things like torture, killing, dark stuff etc. means that it never really has much of an impact. There are scenes that feel like they should have some emotional or visceral weight, but when every other page has an organ being opened or skin being peeled off, it doesn't really hit home the 60th time. I can't help but feel that something abotu the bland way that a lot of this is discussed really stops it being an effective narrative tool.
Overall, this is a decent book, solidly fine. However, the slightly bland characters and some other lacklustre writing choices mean this never really rises to be an out-and-out fun read.
Johnston has done a pretty good job creating a couple of interesting characters here, and has got a fairly fun plot to go along with it. There's some really vivid descriptions, some nice motivations, and some fairly entertaiing fight scenes.
However, there are a fair number of things that just left me completely cold, and have me looking back at the book going "yeah, good enough, I guess."
Firstly, while the story is interesting, there's not a lot of worldbuilding. It would have been nice to have just a bit more information about, like, anything else that's going on. There's little to no explanation of how pretty much anything works here, which makes some of the reveals just kind of spring out of nowhere, rather than feeling earned. This kind of spills over into the rest of the plot, so I guess this is a combination worldbuilding/storyline weakness - the reveals either feel random or entirely predictable, never quite satisfying.
Second, the dialogue. One of the things that makes these types of team stories fun is the interplay between characters, and here so much of the dialogue feels stilted and artificial that a lot of that fun is lost. There's only a couple of characters that really come to life, with the rest feeling very flat indeed. In fact, the character work overall - with some exceptions - feels pretty lacklustre, and it really harms the overall work. A lot of the times, I was very aware that I was reading a manufactured conversation, rather than feeling that characters were talking and interacting naturally.
Third, while the plot is fun and the notion of using "dark" characters as protagonists is really interesting, Johnston's emphasis on things like torture, killing, dark stuff etc. means that it never really has much of an impact. There are scenes that feel like they should have some emotional or visceral weight, but when every other page has an organ being opened or skin being peeled off, it doesn't really hit home the 60th time. I can't help but feel that something abotu the bland way that a lot of this is discussed really stops it being an effective narrative tool.
Overall, this is a decent book, solidly fine. However, the slightly bland characters and some other lacklustre writing choices mean this never really rises to be an out-and-out fun read.
amybraunauthor's review
5.0
I would give this book ten stars if I could. When I read the back blurb, I assumed this book was tailor-made for me. I didn't realize how true that was until I began reading and completely fell in love with it. This is by far one of the most chaotic, exciting, and gore-filled books I've ever read. And I would read it again in a heartbeat.
The story is simple: Forty years after betraying her captains on the eve of battle, Black Herran must retrieve them and use their dark magics and cruelty to protect a small town from a treacherous threat. That's it. And that's all the story needs to be. It's not overly complicated, there is no challenging magic system, no politics. This story literally reads like a morally grey Dungeons & Dragons campaign where the Dungeon Master has set all his monsters loose.
This is why I love it. It's pure, chaotic, gory FUN. I cannot stress the fun part enough. This book and its characters are not shy about how terrible they are, but they each have their charms despite the skewed moral compasses. I have a particular soft spot for Lorimer Felle, who is everything a true vampire should be. Watching these dastardly captains work together and betray one another is spectacular, and I was smiling all the way through.
The action is phenomenal. It's nonstop chaos that is not shy to bring out monsters and gore just for fun. It gets utterly ridiculous at some points, but I can't remember the last time a book made me smile this much.
This is one of my favourite books of all time. It's perfect for anyone who loves morally grey characters, monsters, chaos, crude and bloody humour, and grimdark fantasy that leaves you with a smile on your face. Do not skip out on this one. I'm already ready for a reread.
The story is simple: Forty years after betraying her captains on the eve of battle, Black Herran must retrieve them and use their dark magics and cruelty to protect a small town from a treacherous threat. That's it. And that's all the story needs to be. It's not overly complicated, there is no challenging magic system, no politics. This story literally reads like a morally grey Dungeons & Dragons campaign where the Dungeon Master has set all his monsters loose.
This is why I love it. It's pure, chaotic, gory FUN. I cannot stress the fun part enough. This book and its characters are not shy about how terrible they are, but they each have their charms despite the skewed moral compasses. I have a particular soft spot for Lorimer Felle, who is everything a true vampire should be. Watching these dastardly captains work together and betray one another is spectacular, and I was smiling all the way through.
The action is phenomenal. It's nonstop chaos that is not shy to bring out monsters and gore just for fun. It gets utterly ridiculous at some points, but I can't remember the last time a book made me smile this much.
This is one of my favourite books of all time. It's perfect for anyone who loves morally grey characters, monsters, chaos, crude and bloody humour, and grimdark fantasy that leaves you with a smile on your face. Do not skip out on this one. I'm already ready for a reread.
iamnotacentipede's review against another edition
3.25
I'm ending on a 3.25 (rounded down to 3 stars on GoodReads)
I really liked the book as far as vibes and enjoyability while reading, but the plot was lacking (we didn't really get alot of world building or descriptions of the characters) and the ending was lacking in the fact it was very open ended.
This was basically if an action movie was made into a book, it's fun but didn't offer too much as far as depth.
I will say that this was very easy to read and I will probably read more by the author as nice palette cleanser reads and because I had a good time while going through this journey.
I really liked the book as far as vibes and enjoyability while reading, but the plot was lacking (we didn't really get alot of world building or descriptions of the characters) and the ending was lacking in the fact it was very open ended.
This was basically if an action movie was made into a book, it's fun but didn't offer too much as far as depth.
I will say that this was very easy to read and I will probably read more by the author as nice palette cleanser reads and because I had a good time while going through this journey.
bookwormjls's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Gore
whatsmacksaid's review against another edition
5.0
Betrayals, murder, and mass slaughter has never been so much fun. This story was awesome in all the best ways, and so very satisfying the whole way through. It also doesn't hurt that, in the end, it's a story about taking care of our loved ones.
grimdark_dad's review
Features one of the most disgusting & completely unnecessary scenes of animal cruelty I’ve ever read. No thanks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
theshaggyshepherd's review
3.0
The Maleficent Seven // by Cameron Johnston
The Maleficent Seven is a book that I looked forward to for a long time. The description combined with that cover just looked really badass and like the type of read that would make me want to finish the entire story in one sitting. Sadly, it didn't quite work out to be like that for me.
Johnston chose an incredible cast of characters to bring together. The prologue plunges right into the action and establishes what kind of crew we're working with here. And let me tell you, they aren't the kind you want to meet in a dark alley somewhere. Or a crowded pup. Or even in broad daylight in a flowery meadow. As a sucker for a good villain, I was immediately drawn to this group. The treachery immediately starts from there.
The pacing is FAST. Once the action got started after the avengers were assembled, you don't really get a break until the end. That IS what I was looking forward to but as a reader that really enjoys world-building and complex characters, I didn't really like how that was mostly thrown to the wayside in the process. When a story moves that quickly, I need to be more confident in the characters first or I will doubt whether their actions really fit the story as needed. There were definitely some aspects that I did like a lot, such as the consequences of believing in a god and seeing the personal loyalty between some of the characters.
While I do think Johnston has shown that he can bring together a very interesting cast of characters with a really interesting plot idea, overall it still fell a bit short and the ending turned out to be a little bit anti-climactic for me. The first half started out strong, there was a good bit of humor mixed in everywhere, but the second half definitely fell a bit flat for me. I do have more of his books on my shelf though and I'm looking forward to trying them towards the end of the year.
Thank you for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Maleficent Seven is a book that I looked forward to for a long time. The description combined with that cover just looked really badass and like the type of read that would make me want to finish the entire story in one sitting. Sadly, it didn't quite work out to be like that for me.
Johnston chose an incredible cast of characters to bring together. The prologue plunges right into the action and establishes what kind of crew we're working with here. And let me tell you, they aren't the kind you want to meet in a dark alley somewhere. Or a crowded pup. Or even in broad daylight in a flowery meadow. As a sucker for a good villain, I was immediately drawn to this group. The treachery immediately starts from there.
The pacing is FAST. Once the action got started after the avengers were assembled, you don't really get a break until the end. That IS what I was looking forward to but as a reader that really enjoys world-building and complex characters, I didn't really like how that was mostly thrown to the wayside in the process. When a story moves that quickly, I need to be more confident in the characters first or I will doubt whether their actions really fit the story as needed. There were definitely some aspects that I did like a lot, such as the consequences of believing in a god and seeing the personal loyalty between some of the characters.
While I do think Johnston has shown that he can bring together a very interesting cast of characters with a really interesting plot idea, overall it still fell a bit short and the ending turned out to be a little bit anti-climactic for me. The first half started out strong, there was a good bit of humor mixed in everywhere, but the second half definitely fell a bit flat for me. I do have more of his books on my shelf though and I'm looking forward to trying them towards the end of the year.
Thank you for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
krovox's review
dark
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25