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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
It was pretty good, but the plot was somewhat confusing. I couldn't tell where it was going, but not in a good way. Basically, I couldn't tell if the plot was going to them on the ship the whole time, or in England the whole time, or in alternate Norway. Basically, I didn't like the way the book was split up. It felt like separate stories. Also, the main character is supposed to be fighting against her stepmother
(like Penelope from Odysseus) but she just doesn't. She literally follows the stepmother's plan until the very very end. Also, connecting so many different fables, fairytales, and short stories gave it a weird vibe. They didn't feel like they belonged in the same story.
That being said, I liked the writing style and the book itself was interesting.
(like Penelope from Odysseus) but she just doesn't. She literally follows the stepmother's plan until the very very end. Also, connecting so many different fables, fairytales, and short stories gave it a weird vibe. They didn't feel like they belonged in the same story.
That being said, I liked the writing style and the book itself was interesting.
3.5 maybe 4 stars.
This book wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting something like the bachelor but I got a young girl who fell in love three times and didn’t really grow up until the last fifty pages. It was cute and I read it for the romance. But I didn’t really connect with any of the romances because it was a short book with three interests at separate times so all the romances moved fairly quickly.
Selah was also immature and I was uncomfortable with how she called her dad, daddy. She’s 18 and he’s the king, I don’t know, I didn’t like it.
It’s a very politically heavy book too but it’s all undertones so it’s hard to see.
And then the ending took it in a completely different direction. So now I don’t know where the next book is going?
This book wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting something like the bachelor but I got a young girl who fell in love three times and didn’t really grow up until the last fifty pages. It was cute and I read it for the romance. But I didn’t really connect with any of the romances because it was a short book with three interests at separate times so all the romances moved fairly quickly.
Selah was also immature and I was uncomfortable with how she called her dad, daddy. She’s 18 and he’s the king, I don’t know, I didn’t like it.
It’s a very politically heavy book too but it’s all undertones so it’s hard to see.
And then the ending took it in a completely different direction. So now I don’t know where the next book is going?
As I picked up The Beholder by Anna Bright, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Anna Bright is a debut author with a unique storyline. Our main character, Selah, is the seneschal elect of her small nation. She must marry soon for the Council to approve her to take over for her ailing father. When her chosen partner declines her proposal, she is sent on a voyage across the ocean to meet with princes across the globe.
This is a typical story of the growth of a young girl finding herself and building her confidence. As she navigates unfamiliar courts full of rigid rules, lies, hidden motives, and uncertainty. Early in the story, there are several moments of cringe worthy misogyny, but I think Selah will grow beyond those stereotypes in the future book(s). One of the issues I have with this story is that Selah only has two weeks in each court and is expected to find a suitable husband. Besides the unrealistic expectations of finding someone compatible in such a short time, Selah is also very young and naive so the likelihood of finding true companionship in such a short time is hard to believe.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to the second book, The Boundless. I am excited to see Selah’s growth and how she finds her path. I rated this book as 3/5 because I felt like there was a lot of details and information that were unnecessary but there was not enough history of world issues to follow some of the nation names. I am hoping that in book 2 those issues are resolved.
This is a typical story of the growth of a young girl finding herself and building her confidence. As she navigates unfamiliar courts full of rigid rules, lies, hidden motives, and uncertainty. Early in the story, there are several moments of cringe worthy misogyny, but I think Selah will grow beyond those stereotypes in the future book(s). One of the issues I have with this story is that Selah only has two weeks in each court and is expected to find a suitable husband. Besides the unrealistic expectations of finding someone compatible in such a short time, Selah is also very young and naive so the likelihood of finding true companionship in such a short time is hard to believe.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to the second book, The Boundless. I am excited to see Selah’s growth and how she finds her path. I rated this book as 3/5 because I felt like there was a lot of details and information that were unnecessary but there was not enough history of world issues to follow some of the nation names. I am hoping that in book 2 those issues are resolved.
As I picked up The Beholder by Anna Bright, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Anna Bright is a debut author with a unique storyline. Our main character, Selah, is the seneschal elect of her small nation. She must marry soon for the Council to approve her to take over for her ailing father. When her chosen partner declines her proposal, she is sent on a voyage across the ocean to meet with princes across the globe.
This is a typical story of the growth of a young girl finding herself and building her confidence. As she navigates unfamiliar courts full of rigid rules, lies, hidden motives, and uncertainty. Early in the story, there are several moments of cringe worthy misogyny, but I think Selah will grow beyond those stereotypes in the future book(s). One of the issues I have with this story is that Selah only has two weeks in each court and is expected to find a suitable husband. Besides the unrealistic expectations of finding someone compatible in such a short time, Selah is also very young and naive so the likelihood of finding true companionship in such a short time is hard to believe.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to the second book, The Boundless. I am excited to see Selah’s growth and how she finds her path. I rated this book as 3/5 because I felt like there was a lot of details and information that were unnecessary but there was not enough history of world issues to follow some of the nation names. I am hoping that in book 2 those issues are resolved.
This is a typical story of the growth of a young girl finding herself and building her confidence. As she navigates unfamiliar courts full of rigid rules, lies, hidden motives, and uncertainty. Early in the story, there are several moments of cringe worthy misogyny, but I think Selah will grow beyond those stereotypes in the future book(s). One of the issues I have with this story is that Selah only has two weeks in each court and is expected to find a suitable husband. Besides the unrealistic expectations of finding someone compatible in such a short time, Selah is also very young and naive so the likelihood of finding true companionship in such a short time is hard to believe.
Overall, I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to the second book, The Boundless. I am excited to see Selah’s growth and how she finds her path. I rated this book as 3/5 because I felt like there was a lot of details and information that were unnecessary but there was not enough history of world issues to follow some of the nation names. I am hoping that in book 2 those issues are resolved.
The Beholder is a story of Selah, only daughter of the leader of Potomac. Her father is in poor health, and soon she may have to take over the leader position in her country. However, as a seneschal-elect, she first needs to marry in order to be considered as a fully qualified leader of the country… This is the first issue I had with the story. The first scenes in the book is a ball where Selah is officially proposing marriage to a boy she adores, who was kind to her, and who she idolized. I was hoping that in the society where the daughter can take over as a seneschal from her father, and where she is the one to propose we will not end up with what happened next. When Selah is rejected by Peter, the same night Potomac's council meets and her stepmother says that Selah, the very next day, needs to go on an epic journey to court new husband because she will not find anyone else in Potomac that will marry her.
Her stepmother is presented as the evil and her father as the poor, naive guy that is being manipulated by his wife. I hate such representation of characters, especially that we were told that this is the case with Selah's parents, and we were presented with nothing that gives us evidence and allows us to conclude that this is the case. I especially hate the portrayal of Selah's father as such a kind and poor man, who loves his daughter, but for some reason does nothing where Selah is sent away on a journey that must have been planned for months. He suspects nothing, doesn't ask questions how and when the expedition was planned, and why Alessandra was so sure that the expedition will be needed so to invest time and money of a poor country into the plan that if Peter said yes, will not be needed? And why doesn't even try to have a serious conversation with his daughter? He just meekly agrees with his wife, and to Selah, he says sorry that it has to be like that.
Already we are starting with weak characters and poor story-telling. Then we need to spend time with Selah. She is naive and passive. She notices some questionable activities, but besides noticing them, she does nothing. Just continues brooding over her situation. She has extremely tense relationships with everyone she meets, from the start she is in some bizarre hate relationship with ship captain Lang, which confused me a lot, because there was nothing that would explain why she was so angry with him, and the book mentions ceasefire between those two few times. Did I miss some major argument they had? All her relationships jump straight to hate or love without any proper buildup and explanations why. She stands up for some people, saying that they are her family even though before in the story she barely exchanges a word with them.
Selah in the book meets two potential husbands, one in England and second in Norge. She falls in love with them both in the two weeks she spends with them. This girl can go from zero to a hundred real fast. I hate how they both were described as such a kind, handsome, caring guys, that are different from other boys around. They are without a flaw. The story is at its core, a story of a girl that is loved and loves all the boys she meets, and just cannot choose who she wants the most. But there are politics sprinkled on top of that, in an attempt to make things interesting. It didn't work… All the political action happens around Selah, but she is oblivious to it all, her sole focus is falling in love and she imagines that it will solve all her problems. She doesn't stop to consider why she was sent on this mission, and what people from The Beholder's crew are doing. She notices something, but never tries to figure out what that is because look, there's a boy with pretty eyes!
The politics and the fear of foreign empire were added probably to add more substance to the story, but they weren't properly explored, only used as a fear that should inventive Selah.Selah should fear the big, bad monster of the country that invades territories and is violent (nevermind she doesn't have an issue with accepting the trophy from siege in Norge) but please, give us more information about why we all should be afraid of this country.
Her stepmother is presented as the evil and her father as the poor, naive guy that is being manipulated by his wife. I hate such representation of characters, especially that we were told that this is the case with Selah's parents, and we were presented with nothing that gives us evidence and allows us to conclude that this is the case. I especially hate the portrayal of Selah's father as such a kind and poor man, who loves his daughter, but for some reason does nothing where Selah is sent away on a journey that must have been planned for months. He suspects nothing, doesn't ask questions how and when the expedition was planned, and why Alessandra was so sure that the expedition will be needed so to invest time and money of a poor country into the plan that if Peter said yes, will not be needed? And why doesn't even try to have a serious conversation with his daughter? He just meekly agrees with his wife, and to Selah, he says sorry that it has to be like that.
Already we are starting with weak characters and poor story-telling. Then we need to spend time with Selah. She is naive and passive. She notices some questionable activities, but besides noticing them, she does nothing. Just continues brooding over her situation. She has extremely tense relationships with everyone she meets, from the start she is in some bizarre hate relationship with ship captain Lang, which confused me a lot, because there was nothing that would explain why she was so angry with him, and the book mentions ceasefire between those two few times. Did I miss some major argument they had? All her relationships jump straight to hate or love without any proper buildup and explanations why. She stands up for some people, saying that they are her family even though before in the story she barely exchanges a word with them.
Selah in the book meets two potential husbands, one in England and second in Norge. She falls in love with them both in the two weeks she spends with them. This girl can go from zero to a hundred real fast. I hate how they both were described as such a kind, handsome, caring guys, that are different from other boys around. They are without a flaw. The story is at its core, a story of a girl that is loved and loves all the boys she meets, and just cannot choose who she wants the most. But there are politics sprinkled on top of that, in an attempt to make things interesting. It didn't work… All the political action happens around Selah, but she is oblivious to it all, her sole focus is falling in love and she imagines that it will solve all her problems. She doesn't stop to consider why she was sent on this mission, and what people from The Beholder's crew are doing. She notices something, but never tries to figure out what that is because look, there's a boy with pretty eyes!
The politics and the fear of foreign empire were added probably to add more substance to the story, but they weren't properly explored, only used as a fear that should inventive Selah.Selah should fear the big, bad monster of the country that invades territories and is violent (nevermind she doesn't have an issue with accepting the trophy from siege in Norge) but please, give us more information about why we all should be afraid of this country.
4.5 ⭐️
Okay first can we just appreciate the ABSOLUTE BEAUTY that is this cover. And second, this book, I picked up randomly in the bookstore, having heard mediocre reviews, but it sounded just like the type of book I needed right now, and it was.
It’s like that vine of “They has us in the first half...” because honestly, Anna Bright did. I was totally for Bear, especially after I figured out he was prince, before the big reveal, but honestly MAD RESPECT for not following the expected and over used trope of hiding their royal identities as romantic. Like damn. That was so metal.
Also Torden is such a fricking sweetheart I want a love like him. He’s honestly perfect in every way, and his flaws *chefs kiss* makes him so humane and relatable, I just have to adore him.
Perrault got kind of weird as soon as they arrived in Asgard, like man what. And oh my god Anya and Skop, wow so cute but so dramatic! And I loved all of Torden’s brothers like how is that possible, but I did. Obviously not the older ones, we don’t care about them, but everyone in the group. Love. Even Aleksei, like Anna Bright, again, had me in the first half, by making think “oh maybe he really is up to something.” No, my poor boy is just so misunderstood.
I loved how names and places were like myths. Like the crew mate, Homer, actually being THE HOMER and being chums with Odessius or whatever his name is. Like wow, I love that. And then obviously Asgard. Also like England was cool but it felt like a weird alternate England, like obviously, but it was odd. Also I hate the words “sensechal” like what even is that title, Selah, I’m sorry, and the name of her country, Potomac. Wtf. Potato-Mack. Why. Of all the names.
ALSO HER STEPMOTHER THE FUDGEEEEEE but I love the godmother, and how Bright also weaves in fairytales? Perfection. BUT YEAH THE STEPMOTHER HOW HORRIBLE AND THE POOR DADDDDD and the baby that Selah already lives but I’m sure the mother will avoid her at all costs.
AND THEN THERE IS LANG!!!! LIKE AT THE START I WAS LIKE “could theyyyyy.....???” But no we have Torden, BUT STILL THEN WHY HE SO TOUCHY!?
and wow the resistance damn.
Okay first can we just appreciate the ABSOLUTE BEAUTY that is this cover. And second, this book, I picked up randomly in the bookstore, having heard mediocre reviews, but it sounded just like the type of book I needed right now, and it was.
It’s like that vine of “They has us in the first half...” because honestly, Anna Bright did. I was totally for Bear, especially after I figured out he was prince, before the big reveal, but honestly MAD RESPECT for not following the expected and over used trope of hiding their royal identities as romantic. Like damn. That was so metal.
Also Torden is such a fricking sweetheart I want a love like him. He’s honestly perfect in every way, and his flaws *chefs kiss* makes him so humane and relatable, I just have to adore him.
Perrault got kind of weird as soon as they arrived in Asgard, like man what. And oh my god Anya and Skop, wow so cute but so dramatic! And I loved all of Torden’s brothers like how is that possible, but I did. Obviously not the older ones, we don’t care about them, but everyone in the group. Love. Even Aleksei, like Anna Bright, again, had me in the first half, by making think “oh maybe he really is up to something.” No, my poor boy is just so misunderstood.
I loved how names and places were like myths. Like the crew mate, Homer, actually being THE HOMER and being chums with Odessius or whatever his name is. Like wow, I love that. And then obviously Asgard. Also like England was cool but it felt like a weird alternate England, like obviously, but it was odd. Also I hate the words “sensechal” like what even is that title, Selah, I’m sorry, and the name of her country, Potomac. Wtf. Potato-Mack. Why. Of all the names.
ALSO HER STEPMOTHER THE FUDGEEEEEE but I love the godmother, and how Bright also weaves in fairytales? Perfection. BUT YEAH THE STEPMOTHER HOW HORRIBLE AND THE POOR DADDDDD and the baby that Selah already lives but I’m sure the mother will avoid her at all costs.
AND THEN THERE IS LANG!!!! LIKE AT THE START I WAS LIKE “could theyyyyy.....???” But no we have Torden, BUT STILL THEN WHY HE SO TOUCHY!?
and wow the resistance damn.
I absolutely loved this story. It was a mixture of so many classics with a mix of its own. Selah was so snarky and completely dumbfounded me with her decision at the end but also made me extremely proud.
And the boys....oh lord the boys. So handsome. I love too many, I dont know who I love more and at this point want them all and we havent even met them all. Ughhhhh.
Definitely give this a read. I was on the edge of my seat, toes curled and trying to turn pages faster than I could read this. I loved it!
And the boys....oh lord the boys. So handsome. I love too many, I dont know who I love more and at this point want them all and we havent even met them all. Ughhhhh.
Definitely give this a read. I was on the edge of my seat, toes curled and trying to turn pages faster than I could read this. I loved it!
This book is so good? I didn’t know what to expect. And I chose it because of the cover. Still, I really liked this and am looking forward to the next one.
I just thought the love story was a little rushed, and I wish the political aspect would have not been revealed at the end. It’s definitely the typical YA story with a princess who has to save the day, but I still think it is very good. Selah is a good narrator, and I think the next book will be even better.
I just thought the love story was a little rushed, and I wish the political aspect would have not been revealed at the end. It’s definitely the typical YA story with a princess who has to save the day, but I still think it is very good. Selah is a good narrator, and I think the next book will be even better.