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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Why was this such an excellent book with a fantastic and clever main character until she finally gets caught by the general guy and then he's suuuuper gross and rapey?? Like, this book took a total 180, I was appalled.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Audiobook. Strong female character. Misfits and found family. Unusual skills. Mysterious beasts. Hiding in plain sight. Power differential. “You ask why you; how could it be any but you?”
Maybe like a 3.75 realistically. This was an entertaining read with relatively good pacing. That said, some of the romance was not super well written IMO, and the last 30% or so was pretty riddled with typos. There are a couple of spicier scenes, but I think the book would have been better without them, as they were not super well written or edited, and they were also so quick.
Will definitely be trying out the next books either way though!
Will definitely be trying out the next books either way though!
This book was great; I couldn't put it down. The adventure was so much fun and had many surprises. The hero and heroine were playing a fun cat and mouse game that was really entertaining. Shea's ingenuity and wit were funny and brilliant. I can understand where some readers couldn't get past Fallon's, the hero's, domineering, aggressive actions. It skimmed the line for me, so I can understand the controversial-ness of how he essentially wants to kidnap and keep Shea for himself. However, the writing managed to soothe any real "icky-ness" his actions might have made me feel. I wouldn't have minded seeing a bit more development between Fallon and Shea together. They clearly got to know one another from afar, but it didin't quite feel like they had enough time to make relationship decisions from their brief interactions.
First off, I think this author has a thing for romances starting off with abductions (ew), but Shea was such a well developed and interesting character that I was hooked. Luckily, this one is an extremely slow burn, where the romance is unfortunately more like an immediate obsession for Fallon, and an almost ... Stockholm syndrome type of acceptance on Shea's part. Really not a fan of the romance, but it is what it is. Fallon is as standard as it gets. I wish there was more banter and just... Equal footing between them. While Rules of Redemption had the love interest court the protagonist, this one basically gave her no choice in anything. It's ultimately because Shea is lonely and wanting a place to belong that she accepts his marriage offer.
With that out of the way, amazingly well done look at how so many people may accept a conquering army's presence and want to join a stronger, healthier empire. There's something really tragic about the colonization that happens, and yet the author spins it into fire burning the ground to make way for something new.
The concept of scouts and Pathfinders being such integral and valued parts of society was really interesting. I don't think I've ever seen it, and honestly it such an accurate look at what is required to really establish a society. I can't even imagine not having Google maps tell me where to go, much less decipher a map that someone drew up based on their own travel and not a bird eye's view.
Once again, this book is heavy on the male presence, with the one other significant female presence being a non-entity. As well, the side characters were pretty interchangeable. But somehow, even with all it's flaws, I think it was a great book that drops you right into survival and camping and wilderness.
With that out of the way, amazingly well done look at how so many people may accept a conquering army's presence and want to join a stronger, healthier empire. There's something really tragic about the colonization that happens, and yet the author spins it into fire burning the ground to make way for something new.
The concept of scouts and Pathfinders being such integral and valued parts of society was really interesting. I don't think I've ever seen it, and honestly it such an accurate look at what is required to really establish a society. I can't even imagine not having Google maps tell me where to go, much less decipher a map that someone drew up based on their own travel and not a bird eye's view.
Once again, this book is heavy on the male presence, with the one other significant female presence being a non-entity. As well, the side characters were pretty interchangeable. But somehow, even with all it's flaws, I think it was a great book that drops you right into survival and camping and wilderness.
Friendly advice: wait until she gets unmasked as a chick. Literally, someone throws everyone out of the room. Take your cue. Close the book, open the Table of Contents and skip to Chapter 23. You're welcome.
This book has three parts.
1) Pre-imbecile, there's a really entertaining book. 4 Stars
2) Post-imbecile, it's Mr. Put-You-On-My-Shoulder. 1 Star
3) Post-going steady, it's finally going back to the good stuff - worldbuilding and characters and adventures 3 Stars
If it's not clear, Part 3 starts at chapter 23. The quality jumps so sharply from one section to the next it's really easy to point out. I almost DNF'd this. Now I'm just really curious whether someone else wrote part 2. Or parts 1 and 3. Must have been the editor.
I don't get it. How does it start from a smart, competent protagonist climbing the ranks with genuine character development and ends with her agreeing to stay with Tarzan's missing link cousin? Coercion is not my cup of tea and relationship-wise, her acceptance makes zero sense. The first time, she was basically high and the feelz got her. Charming standards,
Afterwards, it boiled down to a clearly stated choice:
A) Be my mistress-with-benefits #SpoilerAlert
B) Leave your friends and the society you proved yourself to and go back to your people, who are misogynistic and intermittently backstabbing
So boring. He gives no shits about her skills or her job, and for all his supposed intelligence, he's a grade-A moron. Gets stabbed in the back and basically goes "Ok, who did this?!" and then keeps looking cool while having betrayal-related near-death experiences.
That, my friends, is an imbecile.
I'll give the book this, they make it really clear that at least if he were killed, it would leave a vacuum of power that his army would take advantage of to lay waste to the lowlands--
SEE? This is what I'm talking about. Delightful worldbuilding, atrocious romance.
So when it goes back to the adventure and the killing, I can almost consider it a palate cleanser for the poor quality shit I read in the middle.
Enthralling
This book was marvellous. From the first moment to the last, I was captured, needing to find out what happened next. This book pulled me on an exciting adventure with so many twists and turns!
This book was marvellous. From the first moment to the last, I was captured, needing to find out what happened next. This book pulled me on an exciting adventure with so many twists and turns!
eggcorn
: a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase either on its own or as part of a set expression (Merriam-Webster dixit).
I was a hair's breath from giving this 5 stars, a tall order given how stingy I am with that elusive 5th. I loved the adventure, the female protagonist who seems to be always in the mist of things, not so much the mail protagonist, the gender bender, the entire setting.
Did you find the sentence annoying? Well, then you have another think coming.
This book was sheer entertainment and I enjoyed every bit of it. But if I have to read again that she wanted to keep to her own council instead of counsel, someone had been exorcised instead of excised, how phased someone was instead of fazed, or the annoying use of then instead of the comparative than, I'm going throw it to the wall.
: a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase either on its own or as part of a set expression (Merriam-Webster dixit).
I was a hair's breath from giving this 5 stars, a tall order given how stingy I am with that elusive 5th. I loved the adventure, the female protagonist who seems to be always in the mist of things, not so much the mail protagonist, the gender bender, the entire setting.
Did you find the sentence annoying? Well, then you have another think coming.
This book was sheer entertainment and I enjoyed every bit of it. But if I have to read again that she wanted to keep to her own council instead of counsel, someone had been exorcised instead of excised, how phased someone was instead of fazed, or the annoying use of then instead of the comparative than, I'm going throw it to the wall.
Well, this was refreshing. A super-competent heroine and romance which did not start till the last fourth of the book. And it wasn't about a whole bunch of lusting and feelings and how hot they each were, which I found incredibly refreshing.