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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
“History,” Mari muttered, as if she'd overheard his thoughts. “Why do we need to know what happened before we were born?”
“So hopefully we get smarter and don't make the same mistakes again.”
The Demon King is great introductory book which sets things up quite high for the future instalments.
The fantasy elements and world-building were interesting and though through, the problem in this one was that it felt info dumpy at times, more tell than show. But the little magic we got to see was great and I'm hoping to see much more of, as well as of the world building, it in the sequels. Overall, the world of the Seven Realms is very promising one.
One of my main complaints is that this book dragged A LOT. It was slow-paced and nothing that interesting happened until the last couple of chapters.
The other complaint, for me, was that there was too much of a focus on the multiple romances till it overwhelmed the plot. And they just felt very surface level to me, which I wouldn't necessarily mind, if the story wasn't so focused on them. When really, the best thing about this book/series, so far, seems to be the promising world and magic and plot. I did like, though, that Raisa was 16 and had some experience with kissing and having fun without falling in love, unlike a lot of other YA female protagonists. Tthere was a bit too much unnecessary thinking about flirting and parties and.. I want more of the amazing magic and world building and some politics and stuff.
“Raisa felt relieved, yet oddly disappointed. She was the blooded princess heir, yet in servants' clothes she was apparently unrecognizable. In the stories, rulers had a natural presence about them that identified them as such, even dressed in rags.
What's the nature of royalty, she wondered. Is it like a gown you put on that disappears when you take it off? Does anyone look beyond the finery? Could anyone in the queendom take her place, given the right accessories? If so, it was contrary to everything she'd ever been taught about bloodlines.”
This story is mainly told from the POVs of two main characters:
1.) Princess and an heir to the throne in her queendom - In this world, there's actually a matriarchy and it was amazing! - Raisa ana'Marianna.
2.) Lowlife reformed thief Han Alister / Hunts Alone for Clan / Cuffs in the streets.
I really appreciated how both characters had such a distinctive peronalities and their voices were so different from one another.
Raisa acts appropriately to her age I guess. I'm not gonna lie, she did feel spoilt and immature sometimes. But, the reason why I didn't mind it much was - it was intentional from the author from the very beginning! You make a flawed character and then make them grow. It made sense for her to have the personality she had, because of her privileged life and being raised as the princess and blooded heir of the Grey Wolf line of queens. It was fitting and justified and it made sense. That's why I didn't mind it at all. I have also an inkling that she will have a character development throughout the series.
“Han always seemed to find trouble, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it.”
Han was also a flawed character, although in pretty much opposite way of Raisa. He didn't drow up rich and he had a family to take care of, in the end he ended up in a gang to make money. Hes character is basically(mostly) reformed thief, former streetlord and snarky little bastard. One tidbit for me was that I felt like he shoud've been older (around 18-20 at least).
But otherwise, I liked him and cannot with for more interactions between him and Raisa in the future, becuse here they were like 99.9% of the time in a completely different places.
“Well, I believe she went in to rescue some Raggers from the pits,” Cuffs said. “She wasn’t all that specific.”
“She went in to rescue — why would she do that?” Amon gripped the ironwork, studying the streetlord’s face. Was he lying? And if so, what was the purpose?
“Guess she’s kind of taken with us,” Cuffs said. “You know, the glamor of the gang life and all. Getting beat up every other day, arrested for crimes you didn’t commit, long nights in gaol, sleeping in the cold and wet. It’s...seductive.” He raised an eyebrow.”
Side note: If you like the likes of The Shannara Chronicles tv show (similar to Han's chapters) and Raign (Raisa's chapters) than this will be for you, it often felt like a mix of the two.
Pros:
* Queendom. Which is obviously amazing to read about for once in high fantasy!
(The only other queendom I encountered was in [b:The Impostor Queen|23495112|The Impostor Queen (The Impostor Queen, #1)|Sarah Fine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434401954l/23495112._SX50_.jpg|43085233]. Desperately need more recommendations!)
* I love flawed characters, and in this one, both of the main ones were definitely not perfect. Raisa's character especially has a huge potential to grow throughout the series.
* The magic system and world-building have great potential, so hopefully it will be more developed in the future books.
* This is kind of pointless to say, but I love the covers for this series! So much so that I had to buy the whole boxed set... and now I just pray that the series will be worth it!
Cons:
* Took me longer to get into
* Slow paced
* Slightly predictable plot
“Well, what's your position on multiple wives? If you have two or three, can your wife have multiple husbands?”
All in all: The Demon King makes for very promising high fantasy which introduces us to the world of forbidden magic, queendom, clans, court life and streetgangs. While the pacing is slow through most of the book, I can see this series becoming really great in the future.
In the end, this feels pretty much like an introductory book, hinting at more adventures later on, so I'm interested to see where the story will go in The Exiled Queen.
“So hopefully we get smarter and don't make the same mistakes again.”
The Demon King is great introductory book which sets things up quite high for the future instalments.
The fantasy elements and world-building were interesting and though through, the problem in this one was that it felt info dumpy at times, more tell than show. But the little magic we got to see was great and I'm hoping to see much more of, as well as of the world building, it in the sequels. Overall, the world of the Seven Realms is very promising one.
One of my main complaints is that this book dragged A LOT. It was slow-paced and nothing that interesting happened until the last couple of chapters.
The other complaint, for me, was that there was too much of a focus on the multiple romances till it overwhelmed the plot. And they just felt very surface level to me, which I wouldn't necessarily mind, if the story wasn't so focused on them. When really, the best thing about this book/series, so far, seems to be the promising world and magic and plot. I did like, though, that Raisa was 16 and had some experience with kissing and having fun without falling in love, unlike a lot of other YA female protagonists. Tthere was a bit too much unnecessary thinking about flirting and parties and.. I want more of the amazing magic and world building and some politics and stuff.
“Raisa felt relieved, yet oddly disappointed. She was the blooded princess heir, yet in servants' clothes she was apparently unrecognizable. In the stories, rulers had a natural presence about them that identified them as such, even dressed in rags.
What's the nature of royalty, she wondered. Is it like a gown you put on that disappears when you take it off? Does anyone look beyond the finery? Could anyone in the queendom take her place, given the right accessories? If so, it was contrary to everything she'd ever been taught about bloodlines.”
This story is mainly told from the POVs of two main characters:
1.) Princess and an heir to the throne in her queendom - In this world, there's actually a matriarchy and it was amazing! - Raisa ana'Marianna.
2.) Lowlife reformed thief Han Alister / Hunts Alone for Clan / Cuffs in the streets.
I really appreciated how both characters had such a distinctive peronalities and their voices were so different from one another.
Raisa acts appropriately to her age I guess. I'm not gonna lie, she did feel spoilt and immature sometimes. But, the reason why I didn't mind it much was - it was intentional from the author from the very beginning! You make a flawed character and then make them grow. It made sense for her to have the personality she had, because of her privileged life and being raised as the princess and blooded heir of the Grey Wolf line of queens. It was fitting and justified and it made sense. That's why I didn't mind it at all. I have also an inkling that she will have a character development throughout the series.
“Han always seemed to find trouble, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it.”
Han was also a flawed character, although in pretty much opposite way of Raisa. He didn't drow up rich and he had a family to take care of, in the end he ended up in a gang to make money. Hes character is basically
But otherwise, I liked him and cannot with for more interactions between him and Raisa in the future, becuse here they were like 99.9% of the time in a completely different places.
“Well, I believe she went in to rescue some Raggers from the pits,” Cuffs said. “She wasn’t all that specific.”
“She went in to rescue — why would she do that?” Amon gripped the ironwork, studying the streetlord’s face. Was he lying? And if so, what was the purpose?
“Guess she’s kind of taken with us,” Cuffs said. “You know, the glamor of the gang life and all. Getting beat up every other day, arrested for crimes you didn’t commit, long nights in gaol, sleeping in the cold and wet. It’s...seductive.” He raised an eyebrow.”
Side note: If you like the likes of The Shannara Chronicles tv show (similar to Han's chapters) and Raign (Raisa's chapters) than this will be for you, it often felt like a mix of the two.
Pros:
* Queendom. Which is obviously amazing to read about for once in high fantasy!
(The only other queendom I encountered was in [b:The Impostor Queen|23495112|The Impostor Queen (The Impostor Queen, #1)|Sarah Fine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434401954l/23495112._SX50_.jpg|43085233]. Desperately need more recommendations!)
* I love flawed characters, and in this one, both of the main ones were definitely not perfect. Raisa's character especially has a huge potential to grow throughout the series.
* The magic system and world-building have great potential, so hopefully it will be more developed in the future books.
* This is kind of pointless to say, but I love the covers for this series! So much so that I had to buy the whole boxed set... and now I just pray that the series will be worth it!
Cons:
* Took me longer to get into
* Slow paced
* Slightly predictable plot
“Well, what's your position on multiple wives? If you have two or three, can your wife have multiple husbands?”
All in all: The Demon King makes for very promising high fantasy which introduces us to the world of forbidden magic, queendom, clans, court life and streetgangs. While the pacing is slow through most of the book, I can see this series becoming really great in the future.
In the end, this feels pretty much like an introductory book, hinting at more adventures later on, so I'm interested to see where the story will go in The Exiled Queen.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I did not have high expectations for this book after reading a string of disappointing YA novels, but this was a pleasant surprise. Well-paced, great world-building, and characters I thoroughly enjoyed reading about, this book has reinvigorated my love of YA fantasy novels.
Wow! Quel livre!! Le double tranchant des fictions c'est qu'il est difficile au départ de s'y retrouver avec les lieux et les termes qui n'existent pas, mais une fois que l'on s'accroche à l'histoire, il est impossible d'arrêter de lire. La princesse Raisa est d'ailleurs un caractère fort que j'ai beaucoup aimé tout au long du livre.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Sometimes I got frustrated when a character seemed to only be capable of thinking about kissing other characters. I felt that the characters' relationships were much deeper than that, but it was often simplified into attraction.
This dual-perspective novel is filled with political machinations, thinly-veiled social commentary, and set in a world frustratingly familar yet intriguingly fantastical. Princess Raisa is about to celebrate her 16th name day: a day that makes her eligible for marriage and with civil war in a nearby realm, her queendom is a prize worth having. Meanwhile, the streetgang leader Han "Cuffs" (Hunts Alone) Alister has already celebrated his name day, but finds himself without a calling or a real place in the world--caught between his dangerous gang-life in the Vale and the peace of life with the clans in the Fells. The supporting characters are somewhat stereotypical , but well-drawn and likeable. Even wizarding playboy Micah Bayar and honourable best-friend/guardsman Amon Byrne have layers beyond their seeming roles as competitors for the love of the Princess.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was not prepared! This book had everything I want:
-Epic scope
-Danger boys
-Effortless in its inclusion of race, religion, nation of origin, sex, orientation of all characters
-Strong characters
-Real peril and hard choices
-90s tastic
I immediately went and finished the series, which I never do. Absolutely worth it.
CONTENT WARNING:
-Epic scope
-Danger boys
-Effortless in its inclusion of race, religion, nation of origin, sex, orientation of all characters
-Strong characters
-Real peril and hard choices
-90s tastic
I immediately went and finished the series, which I never do. Absolutely worth it.
CONTENT WARNING:
Spoiler
adultery, house fire, kidnap, personal boundary-pushing, sickness, loss of a loved one, violence
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes