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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
A very enticing read.
So many things about this book kept me guess it he best way. Absolutely delightful read. I wish I could read it for the first time all over again to relive that feeling. 10/10.
So many things about this book kept me guess it he best way. Absolutely delightful read. I wish I could read it for the first time all over again to relive that feeling. 10/10.
i wanted to like this sm and the ending was good but the length was so unnecessary
3.5 stars.
I think there are few reasons why I didn't love this as much as everyone else seemed to:
1. Pacing - to me, it felt so very slow-paced. Nothing much happens for the first half of the book, and even after that you can go pages and pages with no action.
2. Info-dumping - there was just too much info dumping. Each character needed the same story telling to them in a different way. There was so much history, mythology, religion, culture and more to explore, so much to tell, that this could have been done much better over a series rather than in one book.
3. The characters. I thought some characters quite flat, others seemed quite similar to others. I couldn't understand what the two characters who fell for each other saw in each other. They seemed to lack defining characteristics, and had no chemistry or real reason to love each other. It was like so much was spent on world building and history and everything else that the author didn't put enough into her characters to make me care about who they loved and if they died. The only ones I cared even a little about were Tane and Margret. Tane because I did feel for her in the situation she ended up in - her selfishness and lack of character growth meant that I soon lost that pity and ended up not caring if she died or not.
4. The plot. There just wasn't enough of it to warrant an 800 page book, in my opinion. So much time was spent on side plots and introducing character history that I just wanted to get to the plot, to the actual action.
5. The passive voice - I think the writing style also didn't gel with me. I found it very passive, and very descriptive, and it didn't engage me as much as it should have.
6. The 'feminism' - yes, this features 'strong' female characters, but there is an emphasis on being childless, mothers have generally died before the start of the book, and men are dragged down to the status that women usually have in fantasy novels - that of a consort. While it can be refreshing to see fantasy novels from this perspective, I personally do not think that feminism means dragging men down, but by raising women up to be the equals of men. Most men in this novel are not even worth writing about. Except Loth, perhaps. I don't know. I didn't hate this aspect, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. You know?
Overall, I enjoyed the story enough to continue and finish the book, but I wasn't very engaged, I didn't care about the characters, and the book was about 300 pages too long.
I think there are few reasons why I didn't love this as much as everyone else seemed to:
1. Pacing - to me, it felt so very slow-paced. Nothing much happens for the first half of the book, and even after that you can go pages and pages with no action.
2. Info-dumping - there was just too much info dumping. Each character needed the same story telling to them in a different way. There was so much history, mythology, religion, culture and more to explore, so much to tell, that this could have been done much better over a series rather than in one book.
3. The characters. I thought some characters quite flat, others seemed quite similar to others. I couldn't understand what the two characters who fell for each other saw in each other. They seemed to lack defining characteristics, and had no chemistry or real reason to love each other. It was like so much was spent on world building and history and everything else that the author didn't put enough into her characters to make me care about who they loved and if they died. The only ones I cared even a little about were Tane and Margret. Tane because I did feel for her in the situation she ended up in - her selfishness and lack of character growth meant that I soon lost that pity and ended up not caring if she died or not.
4. The plot. There just wasn't enough of it to warrant an 800 page book, in my opinion. So much time was spent on side plots and introducing character history that I just wanted to get to the plot, to the actual action.
5. The passive voice - I think the writing style also didn't gel with me. I found it very passive, and very descriptive, and it didn't engage me as much as it should have.
6. The 'feminism' - yes, this features 'strong' female characters, but there is an emphasis on being childless, mothers have generally died before the start of the book, and men are dragged down to the status that women usually have in fantasy novels - that of a consort. While it can be refreshing to see fantasy novels from this perspective, I personally do not think that feminism means dragging men down, but by raising women up to be the equals of men. Most men in this novel are not even worth writing about. Except Loth, perhaps. I don't know. I didn't hate this aspect, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. You know?
Overall, I enjoyed the story enough to continue and finish the book, but I wasn't very engaged, I didn't care about the characters, and the book was about 300 pages too long.
dark
sad
slow-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:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
I thought this book was quite good up until about halfway through, when the situations that were set up had boring or too tidy or too convenient solutions and when we started to get a lot of info dumping style exposition. I just gradually lost interest in it. Also the final battle scene was so ridiculously unrealistic it bothered me
I think a lot of readers give these issues a pass because of the LGBTQ rep and matriarchal world building. It’s great if this book opens the door to more works with those themes, but the plot and overall story just aren’t that great. I didn’t hate it, but it didn’t really hold my interest.
I think a lot of readers give these issues a pass because of the LGBTQ rep and matriarchal world building. It’s great if this book opens the door to more works with those themes, but the plot and overall story just aren’t that great. I didn’t hate it, but it didn’t really hold my interest.
This book is so long. It’s really good but long. I liked how the different religions wove together.
adventurous
slow-paced
This book was literally an entire experience. I’m having trouble summarizing my thoughts in a succinct review since i spent the last eight months on and off reading this book, which is more time than i’ve invested in pretty much any other book ever. but overall i LOVED it. it’s my first dip into high fantasy so i found it somewhat hard to follow along with at times but generally this delivered on pretty much every single aspect i could hope for in a fantasy story. i was a bit bored at times but i think i’m just unused to this genre. i’d definitely recommend this to anyone willing to invest the energy into it