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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Ahh, YA with sci-fi and fantasy elements, and a fairly dystopian world... you get me every time. Once again, a well-told, solidly-written story. Especially liked how most characters are a blend of extremes. Can't wait for the next installment so I can get lost in a world with much bigger problems than my own (and much more mature people than I'm typically surrounded by).
adventurous
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
I underestimated this book so much. After not hearing a lot about it and having read the Divergent series, I didn't expect anything new or complex from this book- but I was proved very very wrong. The setting of this book is incredibly unique, with some pretty decent world building and a magic system that I can definitely get behind. It actually reminded me a lot of Dune, without the mind-numbing historical elements and overanalyzed scenery. The plot is well thought out and executed and the characters are probably the best part. I fell in love with Cyra and Akos, and their love story, even when you know it's going to occur, is one of the cutest I've read in awhile. I highly recommend it for people who are into light sci-fi and morally grey characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture
adventurous
dark
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:
No
Grades: 9-12
Characterization: Very Good
Literary Merit: Good
Recommended
Cyra and Akos are members of two separate societies of people living on the same planet. Throughout their galaxy of planets there is a ribbon of energy called the current that can bestow a variety of different currentgitfts on people. Cyra is the sister of the sovereign of Shotet but lives a life of constant pain and misery. Her currentgift is really a curse causing her constant pain and causing pain to anyone who she touches. Her brother Ryzek, the cruel and merciless ruler of Shotet, uses Cyra to torture and kill his enemies. The Shotet kidnap Akos and his brother Eijeh from their home in Thuvhe. The sons of a sitting Oracle, Eijeh is fated to become an Oracle and Ryzek wants to use this to his advantage. Akos’s currentgift is the ability to stop the flow of the current. He can use his gift to alleviate the constant pain that Cyra feels. Ryzek assigns Akos to be Cyra’s servant not out of sympathy for the pain that she experiences but to allow her to recover more quickly so that she can be used against his enemies.
It was a refreshing change of pace to read science fiction set in a galaxy far, far away instead of a dystopian future earth. A setting like this requires extensive world building, and overall it was pretty well done. My only quibble was that many of the names of people and places were practically unpronounceable. It seemed like the author just randomly hit some keys on the keyboard and called it a name. That was a major distraction for me at first, but once I got past that minor annoyance, I really liked this book. Akos and Cyra are both fully realized main characters, who are imperfect but likable. Their relationship progresses somewhat predictably but it develops over time and is not an instalove situation. There are some intriguing secondary characters. Akos and Eijeh’s mother, for example, seems to love her children but also does not hesitate to manipulate them when it suits her purpose. The book is told in alternating perspectives with Cyra’s chapters in first person point of view and Akos’s in third person limited omniscient. I’m not sure what the purpose of this was since we know the thoughts and feelings of both characters. The plot moved along at a pretty good pace, and there were some major twists and turns in the last quarter of the book. The ending definitely sets up the plot of the second book and will leave a lot of questions in the minds of the reader. Recommended for fans of sci-fi and fantasy who are ok with a cliffhanger ending.
Characterization: Very Good
Literary Merit: Good
Recommended
Cyra and Akos are members of two separate societies of people living on the same planet. Throughout their galaxy of planets there is a ribbon of energy called the current that can bestow a variety of different currentgitfts on people. Cyra is the sister of the sovereign of Shotet but lives a life of constant pain and misery. Her currentgift is really a curse causing her constant pain and causing pain to anyone who she touches. Her brother Ryzek, the cruel and merciless ruler of Shotet, uses Cyra to torture and kill his enemies. The Shotet kidnap Akos and his brother Eijeh from their home in Thuvhe. The sons of a sitting Oracle, Eijeh is fated to become an Oracle and Ryzek wants to use this to his advantage. Akos’s currentgift is the ability to stop the flow of the current. He can use his gift to alleviate the constant pain that Cyra feels. Ryzek assigns Akos to be Cyra’s servant not out of sympathy for the pain that she experiences but to allow her to recover more quickly so that she can be used against his enemies.
It was a refreshing change of pace to read science fiction set in a galaxy far, far away instead of a dystopian future earth. A setting like this requires extensive world building, and overall it was pretty well done. My only quibble was that many of the names of people and places were practically unpronounceable. It seemed like the author just randomly hit some keys on the keyboard and called it a name. That was a major distraction for me at first, but once I got past that minor annoyance, I really liked this book. Akos and Cyra are both fully realized main characters, who are imperfect but likable. Their relationship progresses somewhat predictably but it develops over time and is not an instalove situation. There are some intriguing secondary characters. Akos and Eijeh’s mother, for example, seems to love her children but also does not hesitate to manipulate them when it suits her purpose. The book is told in alternating perspectives with Cyra’s chapters in first person point of view and Akos’s in third person limited omniscient. I’m not sure what the purpose of this was since we know the thoughts and feelings of both characters. The plot moved along at a pretty good pace, and there were some major twists and turns in the last quarter of the book. The ending definitely sets up the plot of the second book and will leave a lot of questions in the minds of the reader. Recommended for fans of sci-fi and fantasy who are ok with a cliffhanger ending.
فقط میتونم بگم این دوگانه هیجان انگیز ترین چیزیه که میتونید توی عمرتون خونده باشید. من به شدت روند داستان و تکنیک هایی که نویسنده به کار برده بود رو دوست داشتم. ایده ی جدید و به دور از کلیشه های داستان های فانتزی. حتما بخونیدش پشیمون نمیشید ;)
Ok, so I slept on it, and in the morning, my thoughts are the same... Meh.
I didn't like it or hate it. I didn't feel better or worse after reading it. I don't think I'll pick up the second in the duology when it comes out. I was reading this for a book club that I'll be attending in a few days, and if not for that, I likely wouldn't have finished it.
The world that Roth created was very interesting, and I did really enjoy the glimpses we got of that. However, I never felt connected to the characters. I didn't really feel invested in what happened to them. Maybe there were too many characters, making it harder to give each of them strong personalities. Even Akos wasn't as fleshed-out as I'd hoped. However, Cyra definitely was. I did feel like we got to know a lot about her and what made her who she is. But since the book was written from both Cyra's AND Akos's perspectives, I feel that his character development was not quite as realized. For example,
I did enjoy the slow development of the relationship between Cyra and Akos. It felt natural for them to become friends as they each learned more about the others' motivations for their choices. And the sweet tentativeness that Roth used to show their growing romantic feelings for each other was a breath of fresh air over a lot of other books I've read.
Another thing that bothered me was right after Cyra and Akos were both in prison, and Cyra had been forced to use her powers on Akos. The next chapter was from Akos's perspective, and he was suddenly free from the prison and the torture. What? How? Huh??? I know it was explained a while later that the renegades rescued him at a later date, but because it wasn't for quite a while until it was explained, I kept expecting there to have been another as-yet-unseen character who had the power to make him see hallucinations so that he would think he was free and meeting up with his mother and his sister and Ori. I have seen that situation happen many times in books and movies, so I kept expecting it to pop up here. I must say, I was a little disappointed when that wasn't the case. Akos getting rescued was way too easy.
At the end of the book, it was "revealed" that Cyra was not really Ryzek's biological sister. I definitely saw that coming from a mile away. My thoughts are that the fates that were read out are going to show something like Cyra was really one of the Kereseths, and Akos was really one of the Noaveks. The fates stated that the Kereseth child would be in service to the Noaveks, which could easily be seen by Cyra's "service" to her brother and father. And also that the Noavek child would cross the Divide, which could easily be seen by Akos growing up with the Kereseths. Oh well, I'll probably never find out if I don't read the second book. Or look for spoilers when it comes out just to satisfy my curiosity on this point.
Overall, not a book I will be recommending to anyone. There are a lot of other books in this genre that I do love and would recommend instead.
Happy reading everyone!
I didn't like it or hate it. I didn't feel better or worse after reading it. I don't think I'll pick up the second in the duology when it comes out. I was reading this for a book club that I'll be attending in a few days, and if not for that, I likely wouldn't have finished it.
The world that Roth created was very interesting, and I did really enjoy the glimpses we got of that. However, I never felt connected to the characters. I didn't really feel invested in what happened to them. Maybe there were too many characters, making it harder to give each of them strong personalities. Even Akos wasn't as fleshed-out as I'd hoped. However, Cyra definitely was. I did feel like we got to know a lot about her and what made her who she is. But since the book was written from both Cyra's AND Akos's perspectives, I feel that his character development was not quite as realized. For example,
Spoiler
after Akos killen Suzao in the arena, he was clearly out of it and distraught. Couldn't even remember taking the shower after, etc. But then this isn't really explored as a deeper part of what makes Akos who he is. Even a few more paragraphs from his perspective stating how he felt would have made a huge difference.I did enjoy the slow development of the relationship between Cyra and Akos. It felt natural for them to become friends as they each learned more about the others' motivations for their choices. And the sweet tentativeness that Roth used to show their growing romantic feelings for each other was a breath of fresh air over a lot of other books I've read.
Another thing that bothered me was right after Cyra and Akos were both in prison, and Cyra had been forced to use her powers on Akos. The next chapter was from Akos's perspective, and he was suddenly free from the prison and the torture. What? How? Huh??? I know it was explained a while later that the renegades rescued him at a later date, but because it wasn't for quite a while until it was explained, I kept expecting there to have been another as-yet-unseen character who had the power to make him see hallucinations so that he would think he was free and meeting up with his mother and his sister and Ori. I have seen that situation happen many times in books and movies, so I kept expecting it to pop up here. I must say, I was a little disappointed when that wasn't the case. Akos getting rescued was way too easy.
At the end of the book, it was "revealed" that Cyra was not really Ryzek's biological sister. I definitely saw that coming from a mile away. My thoughts are that the fates that were read out are going to show something like Cyra was really one of the Kereseths, and Akos was really one of the Noaveks. The fates stated that the Kereseth child would be in service to the Noaveks, which could easily be seen by Cyra's "service" to her brother and father. And also that the Noavek child would cross the Divide, which could easily be seen by Akos growing up with the Kereseths. Oh well, I'll probably never find out if I don't read the second book. Or look for spoilers when it comes out just to satisfy my curiosity on this point.
Overall, not a book I will be recommending to anyone. There are a lot of other books in this genre that I do love and would recommend instead.
Happy reading everyone!
Tak zaprvé musím říct, že zbožňuji příběhy, kde se nepřátelství postupně mění v lásku a my pozorujeme, jak vlastně to pouto mezi postavami vzniká. Každopádně, tady to nebylo jenom o nějakém tvoření pouta. Kniha je napínavá a já jsem se nedokázala odpoutat. Autorka vytvořila zajímavý svět, který se mi hodně líbil. Líbilo se mi pojetí, že každý dar může být zároveň prokletím. Teď nějak nemám vůbec tušení, kam se může příběh stočit v druhém díle, ale jsem hodně zvědavá. Super!
The pace is a little slow, but the worldbuilding is of immense quality, which I appreciated. Much more sci fi than I expected, but I liked that. If you’re looking for something more fast paced and exciting, this isn’t the book for you, but otherwise an interesting read.
this is one of those books that will remain untouched by my reviews bc it's too nostalgic for me & too special to younger me.ni don't have anything to add. <3