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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
I liked reading this, though now I have to wait for the sequel, lol.
This story follows Seneschel-elect Selah who is forced by her step-mother to go and find a fiance across the seas after a humiliating proposal fail. Though that's just a simple way to put it all.
Overall, I have to admit (though I do find this problem in 80% of stories) that the pacing lagged a bit, especially in the beginning, and I still have mixed feelings over the whole Bear fiasco.
This story is focused on romance, by the way, with elements of fantasy and fairytale, but also a radio and guns... so... those into romance stories with elements of fantasy will most likely find this a good read.
This story follows Seneschel-elect Selah who is forced by her step-mother to go and find a fiance across the seas after a humiliating proposal fail. Though that's just a simple way to put it all.
Overall, I have to admit (though I do find this problem in 80% of stories) that the pacing lagged a bit, especially in the beginning, and I still have mixed feelings over the whole Bear fiasco.
This story is focused on romance, by the way, with elements of fantasy and fairytale, but also a radio and guns... so... those into romance stories with elements of fantasy will most likely find this a good read.
2.5/5 Stars: 'The Beholder' is a Young Adult, Historical Romance by Anna Bright; 'The Beholder' embers on an enticing quest, it is a selection box of candy-sweet, fairy-tale tropes. Weaving, in threads, classic stories such as: 'Cinderella', 'Snow White' and 'Beauty and the Beast', as well as, intertwining it with legends and myths of: King Arthur, Saint George, and Odysseus. Given the nature of the plot, the crux of the novel, of course, is the romance. Bright constructs these bachelorette-style relationships well; however, at times, they progressed far too quickly, lacking realism. Considering the small window of time allotted to each suitor, it makes sense it was written in this manner, but it would have benefitted from developing naturally. 'The Beholder' is heavily cliché; lacking action and character development.
Absolutely in love with this book! Can't wait for the sequel!
I have read some stinkers in my time but this book has got to be one of the most boring books I have ever read. You'd think that a book that was hyped to be a retelling of [b:The Odyssey|1381|The Odyssey|Homer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390173285l/1381._SY75_.jpg|3356006] would have an exciting trek across the seas, meeting dangerous creatures and gods but no, we get The Bachelorette at Sea featuring one of the blandest main characters I have ever had the misfortune to read about.
HAVING A CHARACTER CALLED HOMER WHO APPEARS FOR TWO SECONDS DOES NOT MAKE YOUR BOOK AN ODYSSEY RETELLING!!!
I can only assume that whoever came up with that marketing ploy has never read The Odyssey and the only reason I didn’t DNF this thing is because I was waiting to see if we ever got to the Imperiya, the most interesting sounding country and suitor in the damn book. (Spoiler: You never fucking do!!!)
Selah is one of the worst YA heroines and I've read about a lot of shitty ones ( see [b:Three Dark Crowns|28374007|Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1)|Kendare Blake|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1469265712l/28374007._SY75_.jpg|42750582] ) and you know what, Potomac is better off without her. She is so naive and far too emotional. She also gave her heart away FAR too easily – undying love is declared for at least two boys in the book, one of whom she’s known for a week. She doesn’t do a single thing throughout the whole book.
The world-building is a mess, mainly because the author can't decide what fucking timeline the world is in. Selah lives in this Colonial country of Potomac and travels across the seas on a wooden m colonial ship but somehow has a two-way radio and radio towers exist?!? Huh?!? And then the author throws in all of these allusions to Thor and Loki and Asgard with the inclusion of the country of Norge but does NOTHING with those characters making it entirely pointless in the end. Most of the characters are incredibly pointless, including the entirety of Selah's crew. The entire book there are hints that the crew is "shady" and doing something under Selah's nose and guess what.....nothing happens!
This book just draaaaaaags on and on and on with Selah falling in love with these "perfect" boys and by the time the book is over she only made it to TWO countries out of like seven?
All I wanted was to meet the evil prince in the Imperiya because it was hyped so much throughout the book and all I was left with was bitter disappointment.
I recommend this to nobody unless you like being utterly bored to death and confusing incoherent writing.
HAVING A CHARACTER CALLED HOMER WHO APPEARS FOR TWO SECONDS DOES NOT MAKE YOUR BOOK AN ODYSSEY RETELLING!!!
I can only assume that whoever came up with that marketing ploy has never read The Odyssey and the only reason I didn’t DNF this thing is because I was waiting to see if we ever got to the Imperiya, the most interesting sounding country and suitor in the damn book. (Spoiler: You never fucking do!!!)
Selah is one of the worst YA heroines and I've read about a lot of shitty ones ( see [b:Three Dark Crowns|28374007|Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1)|Kendare Blake|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1469265712l/28374007._SY75_.jpg|42750582] ) and you know what, Potomac is better off without her. She is so naive and far too emotional. She also gave her heart away FAR too easily – undying love is declared for at least two boys in the book, one of whom she’s known for a week. She doesn’t do a single thing throughout the whole book.
The world-building is a mess, mainly because the author can't decide what fucking timeline the world is in. Selah lives in this Colonial country of Potomac and travels across the seas on a wooden m colonial ship but somehow has a two-way radio and radio towers exist?!? Huh?!? And then the author throws in all of these allusions to Thor and Loki and Asgard with the inclusion of the country of Norge but does NOTHING with those characters making it entirely pointless in the end. Most of the characters are incredibly pointless, including the entirety of Selah's crew. The entire book there are hints that the crew is "shady" and doing something under Selah's nose and guess what.....nothing happens!
This book just draaaaaaags on and on and on with Selah falling in love with these "perfect" boys and by the time the book is over she only made it to TWO countries out of like seven?
All I wanted was to meet the evil prince in the Imperiya because it was hyped so much throughout the book and all I was left with was bitter disappointment.
I recommend this to nobody unless you like being utterly bored to death and confusing incoherent writing.
The Beholder is a beautifully enchanting read, with the several mythical and folkorish retellings. I much enjoyed the development in Selah's character, at first she was meek and naive when she left Potomac but after she left for Germany, she was a changed woman in control of her destiny and open to her desires. I adored the worldwind of romance between Selah & Bear, and Selah & Torden aswell the romances between minor characters aswell. I liked the sense of adventure in the complex world described, although I did feel a reader might benefit from a map of the world, I appreciated that each land country was named in its native langauge. The writing was beautiful and well thought out, a well-developed plot and great cliff hanger. Supposedly this book is part of a duology, I will be picking up the sequel once it is released.
NEW FAVORITE SERIES.
NEW FAVORITE AUTHOR.
I LOVED IT.
I CANNOT WAIT FOR MORE.
NEW FAVORITE AUTHOR.
I LOVED IT.
I CANNOT WAIT FOR MORE.
I felt like the MC fell in and out of love too quickly. The one boy that was the most interesting and acted like they truly cared for her ended up not being a love interest. I don't think I'm going to continue with the second book. I can't go through another book with the MC droning on about her relationships. If you were wondering there are 3 just in this book plus the hot and cold chemistry with the ship's captain. Nope not here for all that drama.
More like 2.5 *. This book kinda sucked. It was a fast paced read and kept me intrigued but I had so many issues with it I can’t really give it a high rating.
First slight annoyance. She calls her Dad, Daddy. I hate reading this. It’s so cringey and childish. She is a teenager not a baby. All of the other characters use Father which just made Daddy even worse.
The naming of countries slightly annoyed me. England was just England. They had overtaken the world at some point but were now running scared. She kept using England and then sometimes British Empire. It’s not the same thing. Either just England did it or Britain as a whole. Pick one. But other countries were changed. For example Yotne. The big bad country overtaking the world in this book is called Yotne. It’s basically Russia so why change the name? She didn’t change England. Either make it a complete fantasy and change everything or don’t. Don’t do a half assed attempt.
The whole ‘retelling’ thing? Yeah, it was rubbish.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Selah has an evil stepmother who wants to rule and doesn’t want her around. Snow White.
She loses a shoe running away from a party and a guy finds it and gives it back to her. Cinderella.
Navigator of the Ship is named Homer. Odyssey.
Prince of England who his called Arthur and has a round table which is only mentioned in passing. King Arthur and Merlin.
Baba Yaga.
Torden lives in Asgard and uses a hammer only he can use and has a mischievous brother who is basically a shit stirrer. Thor and Loki.
Either things were simply mentioned in passing and were really irrelevant or it was a blatant copy of scenes from fairytales. Either way it sucked. It felt like the author had no imagination for a story of her own and was relying on positive connotations based on other stories you already love. It felt like a cheap shot at getting your attention.
Selah needed to make up her mind. First she liked Peter, then a couple of weeks later loved Bear. Then two weeks later loved Torden. She was also kind of falling for Captain Lang. Girl gave me whiplash.
Perrault annoyed my tits off. Commenting on her eating habits cause she had extra carrots. Telling her to lose weight and put on make up to be prettier before she meets the princes? On your horse pal. Setting up her itinerary for England then leaving her out to hang in Norge. Entering her room without knocking and acting all in charge when he wasn’t. He was an ass. I like the fact that Selah didn’t take it though. She told him not to comment on her eating and put him in his place every time. She always said she was weak but she never put up with rudeness and stood up to sexism and abuse whenever she saw it. It was the only great thing about her. Apart from that she was pretty fickle.
I use tabs in all of my books when I am reading so I can look at a book and see all of the different things I loved and hated whilst reading. This book is FULL of blue tabs. Which I use to highlight issues. There are barely any other colours at all. I have a few yellows (heartwarming tabs) for the scenes in Norge between all the siblings and their banter but apart from that not many other colours. This is a problem. It shows from once glance that the book was full of problems.
Having said all of this I enjoyed picking it up. I wasn’t dreading reading it. I read it quickly. I liked Torden and Bear as characters. There were a few redeeming aspects. However this doesn’t negate all of the bad stuff. So overall my rating is quite low.
First slight annoyance. She calls her Dad, Daddy. I hate reading this. It’s so cringey and childish. She is a teenager not a baby. All of the other characters use Father which just made Daddy even worse.
The naming of countries slightly annoyed me. England was just England. They had overtaken the world at some point but were now running scared. She kept using England and then sometimes British Empire. It’s not the same thing. Either just England did it or Britain as a whole. Pick one. But other countries were changed. For example Yotne. The big bad country overtaking the world in this book is called Yotne. It’s basically Russia so why change the name? She didn’t change England. Either make it a complete fantasy and change everything or don’t. Don’t do a half assed attempt.
The whole ‘retelling’ thing? Yeah, it was rubbish.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
Selah has an evil stepmother who wants to rule and doesn’t want her around. Snow White.
She loses a shoe running away from a party and a guy finds it and gives it back to her. Cinderella.
Navigator of the Ship is named Homer. Odyssey.
Prince of England who his called Arthur and has a round table which is only mentioned in passing. King Arthur and Merlin.
Baba Yaga.
Torden lives in Asgard and uses a hammer only he can use and has a mischievous brother who is basically a shit stirrer. Thor and Loki.
Either things were simply mentioned in passing and were really irrelevant or it was a blatant copy of scenes from fairytales. Either way it sucked. It felt like the author had no imagination for a story of her own and was relying on positive connotations based on other stories you already love. It felt like a cheap shot at getting your attention.
Selah needed to make up her mind. First she liked Peter, then a couple of weeks later loved Bear. Then two weeks later loved Torden. She was also kind of falling for Captain Lang. Girl gave me whiplash.
Perrault annoyed my tits off. Commenting on her eating habits cause she had extra carrots. Telling her to lose weight and put on make up to be prettier before she meets the princes? On your horse pal. Setting up her itinerary for England then leaving her out to hang in Norge. Entering her room without knocking and acting all in charge when he wasn’t. He was an ass. I like the fact that Selah didn’t take it though. She told him not to comment on her eating and put him in his place every time. She always said she was weak but she never put up with rudeness and stood up to sexism and abuse whenever she saw it. It was the only great thing about her. Apart from that she was pretty fickle.
I use tabs in all of my books when I am reading so I can look at a book and see all of the different things I loved and hated whilst reading. This book is FULL of blue tabs. Which I use to highlight issues. There are barely any other colours at all. I have a few yellows (heartwarming tabs) for the scenes in Norge between all the siblings and their banter but apart from that not many other colours. This is a problem. It shows from once glance that the book was full of problems.
Having said all of this I enjoyed picking it up. I wasn’t dreading reading it. I read it quickly. I liked Torden and Bear as characters. There were a few redeeming aspects. However this doesn’t negate all of the bad stuff. So overall my rating is quite low.
I saw this book at the secondhand department of my favorite bookstore. I remembered it was on my tbr and, because the cover is so gorgeous and the synopsis intriguing, plus the book itself was in amazing shape for secondhand, I took the risk and bought the book. Shortly after purchasing I started reading it and WOW this story exceeded my expectations! It's not that I had low expectations (I always read a book with none and an open mind), but I didn't expect to get so sucked into this book either. At first, it seems to be about romance and heartbreak and the struggles of complicated romances. But towards the end, it's slowly revealed there's so much more than that! I finished the book feeling extremely excited for the upcoming 2nd book. Anna Bright did a marvelous job, I love her writing style and world building. I can't WAIT for the next book, and I will definitely try to get my hands on it as soon as it's released! I feel so giddy to have discovered a book I can now claim as one of my very favorites!