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mwhitney's review against another edition
4.0
I received this copy through Netgalley, for review.
After spending 14 years as a hostage in a foreign court, Elanna Valtai is forced to flee the only home she has ever truly known. Her dream to become a botanist is shattered when her mentor is arrested and she in implicated in a conspiracy to kill the king. And the only people there to help her are the same supporters of the revolution her father started years before. And her only way to any kind of safety is to return home to a country she doesn't know. And have to deal with the magic she has locked away and suppressed since childhood, and the connection and weight it has to the deep roots of the country she left behind and her part in a revolution she's not sure she can believe in.
I did enjoy this book. It's pretty solid although I wouldn't put too much stock in it's comparisons, comparing anything to Uprooted is just way too high (I read a lot of books and I've only found one other last year that met it on the same level of feeling, and this wasn't it.) I enjoyed this over all, there were some spots that I felt more time could have been spent, but over all the pace was good.
Elanna was far from a one dimensional character. She's strong, and fiery, stubborn, questioning, not content to take slack from anyone, and not thrilled about holding back from what she feels is right. She's also deeply conflicted about what she's supposed to feel about the place she's lived and what she's been told about her people, her family, her country.
The magical portion I like, the idea of connecting to the land it's self. The descriptions were incredible.
Give this one a chance. throw the comparison to Uprooted out the window, it's doing such a disservice. Callie Bates has given us something fresh, magical and new, and a Caveadear to believe in.
After spending 14 years as a hostage in a foreign court, Elanna Valtai is forced to flee the only home she has ever truly known. Her dream to become a botanist is shattered when her mentor is arrested and she in implicated in a conspiracy to kill the king. And the only people there to help her are the same supporters of the revolution her father started years before. And her only way to any kind of safety is to return home to a country she doesn't know. And have to deal with the magic she has locked away and suppressed since childhood, and the connection and weight it has to the deep roots of the country she left behind and her part in a revolution she's not sure she can believe in.
I did enjoy this book. It's pretty solid although I wouldn't put too much stock in it's comparisons, comparing anything to Uprooted is just way too high (I read a lot of books and I've only found one other last year that met it on the same level of feeling, and this wasn't it.) I enjoyed this over all, there were some spots that I felt more time could have been spent, but over all the pace was good.
Elanna was far from a one dimensional character. She's strong, and fiery, stubborn, questioning, not content to take slack from anyone, and not thrilled about holding back from what she feels is right. She's also deeply conflicted about what she's supposed to feel about the place she's lived and what she's been told about her people, her family, her country.
The magical portion I like, the idea of connecting to the land it's self. The descriptions were incredible.
Give this one a chance. throw the comparison to Uprooted out the window, it's doing such a disservice. Callie Bates has given us something fresh, magical and new, and a Caveadear to believe in.
i_dream_of_books's review against another edition
3.0
This book had so much promise to me. And I don't think it was terrible. It was pretty slow moving and could have definitely been shorter. There was a good amount of plot, but the lore behind it wasn't explained well. I'm not sure if this would benefit from another book, or even if there is another one planned, but some more explanation is needed in my opinion.
beauty_andthe_bookworms's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway, so i'd like to begin by thanking both Goodreads and Del Ray for my Advance Reader Edition.
I really enjoyed the book, and will be looking out for the second one in the future!
Now, for an actual review:
The book balanced El's politics well, we are looking at a girl kidnapped at a young age and raised in a foreign court where most passed judgement based on her heritage. It's hard to maintain your parents political views and culture when you're kidnapped at five years old, but as the book progresses you can see her become torn between the two different places she calls home, aided with the appearance of her intense Magical abilities. I do feel that her character progressed well, and realistically, as she slowly uncovered the Truth. My only qualms with the book were that the ending moved very quickly, and felt rushed in comparison to the rest of the novel, but I do hope to see it extended in the sequel. The other issue I took with the novel was the romance, which came on too fast and strong. You could tell that the characters DID have chemistry, but it feels like the Author knew more than she wrote, and therefor left holes in the relationship that the reader is forced to fill in themselves.
You could definitely tell the Author has an extensive knowledge behind the politics and culture in the novel, and I would be interested to see it explained more in the future or even see the notes the author may have on this fictional world.
Overall I gave 4.5 Stars, this novel was wonderful but leaves some to be desired in the future, and I will be looking out for the next book. Callie Bates has won me over.
PS: I would have bought the novel on the cover art alone, as it is gorgeous.
I really enjoyed the book, and will be looking out for the second one in the future!
Now, for an actual review:
The book balanced El's politics well, we are looking at a girl kidnapped at a young age and raised in a foreign court where most passed judgement based on her heritage. It's hard to maintain your parents political views and culture when you're kidnapped at five years old, but as the book progresses you can see her become torn between the two different places she calls home, aided with the appearance of her intense Magical abilities. I do feel that her character progressed well, and realistically, as she slowly uncovered the Truth. My only qualms with the book were that the ending moved very quickly, and felt rushed in comparison to the rest of the novel, but I do hope to see it extended in the sequel. The other issue I took with the novel was the romance, which came on too fast and strong. You could tell that the characters DID have chemistry, but it feels like the Author knew more than she wrote, and therefor left holes in the relationship that the reader is forced to fill in themselves.
You could definitely tell the Author has an extensive knowledge behind the politics and culture in the novel, and I would be interested to see it explained more in the future or even see the notes the author may have on this fictional world.
Overall I gave 4.5 Stars, this novel was wonderful but leaves some to be desired in the future, and I will be looking out for the next book. Callie Bates has won me over.
PS: I would have bought the novel on the cover art alone, as it is gorgeous.
nataliesboooks's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 stars
I received an ARC of this book, but never got a chance to read it before the release date. So any criticisms that I make are based off of the ARC I read and there might be differences between that one and the finished copy.
Ugh, where to begin?
My biggest complaint was definitely the main character Elanna. I didn’t like her narrative voice and I couldn’t stand her as a protagonist. She was so hopelessly naive and her emotions were all over the place. First she loves her father, then she hates him, then she’s raised by someone else, hates him, then loves him, then hates him again. Her narration was so meandering and contradictory. She loved her native country, then looked down upon it, then thought it was the best place ever.
The romance can be summed up in one word - YUCK. I couldn’t stand the guy she liked. And total instalove. Five seconds in his presence and she’s over the moon. But he won’t marry her because....reasons. It was never really explained why he didn’t want to marry her. Just because his father wasn’t a good man and didn’t want to be that kind of a father to his own kids?? He basically tells her that he will love her as much as he can “without the paper.” She had the worst taste ever, so basically any character that she liked, I did not like. (My favorite character was the Butcher, and Elanna hated him. Maybe I liked him the most simply because Elanna hated him.) Anyway, the love interest was awful. That random sex scene was bizarro and weird. And don’t get me starts on how she somehow “mated with the land”????!
Because Elanna’s narration was so dry and dull, it was hard to care about any of the characters. Was I supposed to be sad her father died? I didn’t really care. Was I supposed to worry about her servant Hensey, who disappeared completely from the book less than 40 pages in only to reappear in the last 10 pages? Because I forgot all about her.
Okay, I think my rant about the characters is done - now onto the plot. I actually thought the concept of this was really interesting, but the political situation was just. so. confusing. I couldn’t keep all the countries straight, or which characters were allied with which countries. After a while, it started to make sense, but it took a long time to figure out, mostly because Elanna’s alliance kept shifting.
I really liked the concept of the earth magic, but to me characters are more important than plot, and in this book, I couldn’t stand the character.
I received an ARC of this book, but never got a chance to read it before the release date. So any criticisms that I make are based off of the ARC I read and there might be differences between that one and the finished copy.
Ugh, where to begin?
My biggest complaint was definitely the main character Elanna. I didn’t like her narrative voice and I couldn’t stand her as a protagonist. She was so hopelessly naive and her emotions were all over the place. First she loves her father, then she hates him, then she’s raised by someone else, hates him, then loves him, then hates him again. Her narration was so meandering and contradictory. She loved her native country, then looked down upon it, then thought it was the best place ever.
The romance can be summed up in one word - YUCK. I couldn’t stand the guy she liked. And total instalove. Five seconds in his presence and she’s over the moon. But he won’t marry her because....reasons. It was never really explained why he didn’t want to marry her. Just because his father wasn’t a good man and didn’t want to be that kind of a father to his own kids?? He basically tells her that he will love her as much as he can “without the paper.” She had the worst taste ever, so basically any character that she liked, I did not like. (My favorite character was the Butcher, and Elanna hated him. Maybe I liked him the most simply because Elanna hated him.) Anyway, the love interest was awful. That random sex scene was bizarro and weird. And don’t get me starts on how she somehow “mated with the land”????!
Because Elanna’s narration was so dry and dull, it was hard to care about any of the characters. Was I supposed to be sad her father died? I didn’t really care. Was I supposed to worry about her servant Hensey, who disappeared completely from the book less than 40 pages in only to reappear in the last 10 pages? Because I forgot all about her.
Okay, I think my rant about the characters is done - now onto the plot. I actually thought the concept of this was really interesting, but the political situation was just. so. confusing. I couldn’t keep all the countries straight, or which characters were allied with which countries. After a while, it started to make sense, but it took a long time to figure out, mostly because Elanna’s alliance kept shifting.
I really liked the concept of the earth magic, but to me characters are more important than plot, and in this book, I couldn’t stand the character.
nightresplendent's review against another edition
4.0
The Waking Land is a wonderful debut novel. The world building is magnificent and the overall storyline is enchanting. My only issue is that it could be quite difficult to keep the characters straight in my mind at times, but other than that I loved it. I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series!
susibee's review against another edition
4.0
As daffodils and cherry trees start to bloom all around, I couldn't think of a more perfect time to be reading The Waking Land. From its stunning cover to its beautiful imagery and main character, Elanna's deep connection with nature, this book evokes an awakening similar to coming to life after a long winter. While The Waking Land does seem to follow some typical plot points for fantasy fiction, the uniqueness of the magic (the ability to feel and control the land), the interesting dynamic between father and daughter and the divided loyalties that a long time hostage feels helps it transcend the norm.
* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
5.0
I actively hunted this book down when I saw that Robin Hobb herself had given it five stars, and said she thinks 'Bates is an author well worth watching,'
From the first few pages I knew I'd be ditching absolutely everything to finish it as soon as possible. We meet a five year old girl who's caught in political uproar as the King himself comes to her home, shoots her nanny and takes her hostage so her father will stop trying to apparently take over the kingdom. Elanna has no clue at all of what her father may be doing - she loves her parents, she has a new doll, and she's had a lovely evening until the gunfire started...
We then skip forward fourteen years, and meet Elanna again when she's nineteen and still under the control of the king - but it's not such a bad life at all. She's able to study and they have intelligent conversations together - much more than he has with his actual daughter. She's bullied from many angles regarding her heritage - apparently her people are heathens, dirty, and unintelligent - but in general she's thankful for the quality of life she's been given, and she believes everything she's been told growing up. She has some close friends and opportunities that wouldn't have been possible back in her uncultured land.
This all changes when her only protector, the King, is found dead. As one may have gathered, his actual daughter, now Queen, isn't a fan of Elanna and quickly tries to frame her for the death of the King, which means Elanna has to flee for her life (though that makes her look guilty), and you'll just have to pick this up and read for yourself to find out what happens next. The above is possibly the first 2-3 chapters - there's so much more to this than the only life Elanna has ever known.
The pacing through the novel is possibly the only tricky thing - though there isn't anything wrong with it from a reading perspective, it doesn't always follow what one would expect which can throw you a bit - but if anything, it makes them seem even more desperate for their cause, and more realistic when everything doesn't go to plan. The action is what drives this novel as they all run out of time again and again.
Another factor of the novel is what you would have to call a love triangle, however it's the most convincing one I've seen. Elanna isn't torn between her affections for the two men in question - she's caught up between someone she feels closer and more similar to (and someone who sees her for who she is as a person), and what she should do for their people, the future of their land and people, and someone who is quite fond of otherwise - it's also an arranged marriage from when she was five, and what everyone around them expects to happen... And Elanna isn't flighty or distraught about this - like all her other decisions in the book she approaches this one with mature thought and deliberation.
The landscape, world building, and magic system in this book were all wonderful and delicate and I am desperate to see more set in this world so I can learn more about this and see where the characters take themselves. So far it looks like a standalone novel, and the plot certainly ties everything up neatly... but goodness, I'd love more.
Overall this was a beyond fantastic book, and I eagerly await to see what Bates comes out with next.
From the first few pages I knew I'd be ditching absolutely everything to finish it as soon as possible. We meet a five year old girl who's caught in political uproar as the King himself comes to her home, shoots her nanny and takes her hostage so her father will stop trying to apparently take over the kingdom. Elanna has no clue at all of what her father may be doing - she loves her parents, she has a new doll, and she's had a lovely evening until the gunfire started...
We then skip forward fourteen years, and meet Elanna again when she's nineteen and still under the control of the king - but it's not such a bad life at all. She's able to study and they have intelligent conversations together - much more than he has with his actual daughter. She's bullied from many angles regarding her heritage - apparently her people are heathens, dirty, and unintelligent - but in general she's thankful for the quality of life she's been given, and she believes everything she's been told growing up. She has some close friends and opportunities that wouldn't have been possible back in her uncultured land.
This all changes when her only protector, the King, is found dead. As one may have gathered, his actual daughter, now Queen, isn't a fan of Elanna and quickly tries to frame her for the death of the King, which means Elanna has to flee for her life (though that makes her look guilty), and you'll just have to pick this up and read for yourself to find out what happens next. The above is possibly the first 2-3 chapters - there's so much more to this than the only life Elanna has ever known.
The pacing through the novel is possibly the only tricky thing - though there isn't anything wrong with it from a reading perspective, it doesn't always follow what one would expect which can throw you a bit - but if anything, it makes them seem even more desperate for their cause, and more realistic when everything doesn't go to plan. The action is what drives this novel as they all run out of time again and again.
Another factor of the novel is what you would have to call a love triangle, however it's the most convincing one I've seen. Elanna isn't torn between her affections for the two men in question - she's caught up between someone she feels closer and more similar to (and someone who sees her for who she is as a person), and what she should do for their people, the future of their land and people, and someone who is quite fond of otherwise - it's also an arranged marriage from when she was five, and what everyone around them expects to happen... And Elanna isn't flighty or distraught about this - like all her other decisions in the book she approaches this one with mature thought and deliberation.
The landscape, world building, and magic system in this book were all wonderful and delicate and I am desperate to see more set in this world so I can learn more about this and see where the characters take themselves. So far it looks like a standalone novel, and the plot certainly ties everything up neatly... but goodness, I'd love more.
Overall this was a beyond fantastic book, and I eagerly await to see what Bates comes out with next.
itsmarsworld's review against another edition
4.0
I really, really liked this book. It was so rich and interesting. The magic is phenomenal. The conflict of the main character was believable and not overdone. The romance was tasty and delicious and my oh my It wrapped up a little too easily and quickly at the end for me. I could really picture the plot extending and watching MC mature into her powers in the midst of conflict, but alas.
Spoiler
give me a forest clearing and a pagan holiday PLEASE.howlinglibraries's review against another edition
2.0
At five years old, Elanna Valtai is seized from her family at gunpoint and kidnapped by a powerful king who raises her as his own, in his palace, under one condition: her father is never to come and reclaim her. In her home land of Caeris, Elanna was loved and doted upon, warmly welcomed for her natural inclination to magic; in the royal city of Laon, however, despite the king's growing affections for her, she is subjected to prejudices for her darker skin, her Caerisian blood, and her family name. Worst of all, she must hide her magic at all costs, for the witch hunters would surely execute her if they found out her blood could wake the stones and the earth, and bring forth spirits of ancestors past.
When the king is poisoned and his daughter takes her place as Queen, she accuses Elanna of regicide, and thus begins an adventure that leaves Elanna running for her life - right into the arms of the family she was stolen from. They've got big plans for her and her magic, but will she be able to leave behind the life the kingdom gave her?
---
Where do I even begin? I usually try to type up my RTCs in the order that I read the books, but I had to let The Waking Land cut to the front of the line because I just have so many feelings about this book. I hope you guys are buckled in. I'll start with the positives, because this book was not a total loss.
What I liked:
First and foremost, Callie Bates has real potential as an author. Her style is enjoyable and easy to read, she paints beautiful pictures without being too flowery and descriptive, and the plot itself was intriguing to me. I always love a good story of magic and betrayal, and that's the central theme to this entire book. There were a lot of really enjoyable side characters, such as Jahan, Rhia, Hugh, and Victoire.
I actually found the main plot line to be fairly refreshing, with the whole idea that El's magic comes from the earth, and that she can see through the eyes of animals and trees and such. The entire Caveadear ordeal reminded me a lot of the spiritual beliefs of some indigenous peoples, with the emphasis on the idea that the earth is a living, feeling entity that deserves respect and kindness, and is capable of feeling grief, rage, sorrow, etc. Between that aspect, and the fact that the Caerisians have darker skin than the Ereni people, are called "savages" as an insult, and the back story that the Paladisan emperors essentially came in and forced them to forsake their religion, magic, homes, and destroyed their lands... well, I saw huge similarities to how settlers affected the native people here in North America, and I actually really enjoyed the political nudge that I felt Callie Bates gave the whole book.
What I didn't like:
The absolute worst thing about this book is that, no matter how I felt about anything else, Elanna is absolutely horrible. She is one of the single most infuriating, self-obsessed, arrogant, self-contradicting, and obtuse narrators I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. She has a nasty temper and constantly starts screaming at people for nothing. It felt like at least once every few chapters, she would completely misunderstand someone, yell at them for a little bit, realize she misunderstood (or was just wrong), and then she just moves on. She never apologizes once for treating everyone around her like shit, and she continues to treat them terribly right to the very end of the book, yet intermingled with some of these incidents, she thinks to herself that these people are her family, her best friends, etc. Well, lady, you sure have one hell of an odd way to show your affection to people.
She spends the entire book contradicting herself at every possible turn. She says she refuses to let anyone see her cry, yet cries constantly. She says she never allows herself to indulge in her magic, but then immediately explains that she goes to this special, magical spot in Laon once every year to practice her magic. She implies in the beginning of the book that she never knew she was magical as a kid until this one specific incident, but later describes that she played with magic a lot as a small child. She acts stunned to find out she is the Caveadear (which is basically a fancy sorcerer of the land), but says that her family and Hugh basically acknowledged from her toddler years that they knew she would be the Caveadear.
The absolute worst part of her behavior is her attitude towards the Caerisians, and her family. She fully remembers being pulled from them at gunpoint, and the king telling her father that, if he ever came to take her back home, she would be killed immediately rather than being raised as the king's daughter. Any form of common sense would lead one to think El should blame the king for ripping their family apart, but instead, she decides to worship the ground the king walks on, and spends her entire childhood/teen life hating her parents for not coming to get her. When she first sees Hugh, one of her childhood best friends and her father's right-hand man, she is absolutely awful to him. She accuses him of lying every time he opens his mouth, and constantly asks him for explanations only to interrupt him with what she thinks actually happened (which is wrong, literally every single time). Characteristic of her own self-contradicting behavior, though, in the span of about a day, she goes from hating and disbelieving him to being willing to die to save him because he is so important to her.
Moving on from the focus on El as a character, there are some major issues with the story and writing itself, too. The insta love in this book is ridiculously strong. She literally spends a day or two with Jahan before becoming obsessed with him, and after five-minute conversations through magical mirrors, accusing him of betraying them, and then changing her mind, she's suddenly considering marrying the guy - partially out of love, and partially out of trying to avoid telling Finn that she isn't interested. After another day or two together, she's in love, and it's all just so insta-lovey and gagworthy that I couldn't even enjoy the fact that Jahan was actually a likable love interest.
One last issue I'll touch on before I let this rant end is that the author, despite having potential, has one problem that I really hope she'll focus on fixing before her next project: she frequently describes things only halfway before trailing off or changing topics, yet the narrator clearly expects us to fully understand what is being described with the half explanations. There are also several moments when a side character will start to ask a question or say something that seems important, but they then get cut off by an event or another character and they never go back and finish the thought process. This frustrated me to no end, because I kept thinking, "Was that something important? Am I supposed to know what they were going to say?" It makes the entire book feel very jumpy and dismembered.
All in all, this was not an absolutely terrible book - I powered through and finished it, which should tell you something about how much I did want to know how everything ended. That said, if El had been an even remotely enjoyable character, and the insta-love had been cut out of it, I probably could have given this a solid 3.5 or even 4 stars. As it stands, 2 stars for this one. I've been told this will be the first book in a series, and if that's the case, I can safely say I won't be picking up the next installment.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing company for giving me an ARC of this book to review. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own honest opinions.
You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!
When the king is poisoned and his daughter takes her place as Queen, she accuses Elanna of regicide, and thus begins an adventure that leaves Elanna running for her life - right into the arms of the family she was stolen from. They've got big plans for her and her magic, but will she be able to leave behind the life the kingdom gave her?
---
Where do I even begin? I usually try to type up my RTCs in the order that I read the books, but I had to let The Waking Land cut to the front of the line because I just have so many feelings about this book. I hope you guys are buckled in. I'll start with the positives, because this book was not a total loss.
What I liked:
First and foremost, Callie Bates has real potential as an author. Her style is enjoyable and easy to read, she paints beautiful pictures without being too flowery and descriptive, and the plot itself was intriguing to me. I always love a good story of magic and betrayal, and that's the central theme to this entire book. There were a lot of really enjoyable side characters, such as Jahan, Rhia, Hugh, and Victoire.
I actually found the main plot line to be fairly refreshing, with the whole idea that El's magic comes from the earth, and that she can see through the eyes of animals and trees and such. The entire Caveadear ordeal reminded me a lot of the spiritual beliefs of some indigenous peoples, with the emphasis on the idea that the earth is a living, feeling entity that deserves respect and kindness, and is capable of feeling grief, rage, sorrow, etc. Between that aspect, and the fact that the Caerisians have darker skin than the Ereni people, are called "savages" as an insult, and the back story that the Paladisan emperors essentially came in and forced them to forsake their religion, magic, homes, and destroyed their lands... well, I saw huge similarities to how settlers affected the native people here in North America, and I actually really enjoyed the political nudge that I felt Callie Bates gave the whole book.
What I didn't like:
The absolute worst thing about this book is that, no matter how I felt about anything else, Elanna is absolutely horrible. She is one of the single most infuriating, self-obsessed, arrogant, self-contradicting, and obtuse narrators I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. She has a nasty temper and constantly starts screaming at people for nothing. It felt like at least once every few chapters, she would completely misunderstand someone, yell at them for a little bit, realize she misunderstood (or was just wrong), and then she just moves on. She never apologizes once for treating everyone around her like shit, and she continues to treat them terribly right to the very end of the book, yet intermingled with some of these incidents, she thinks to herself that these people are her family, her best friends, etc. Well, lady, you sure have one hell of an odd way to show your affection to people.
She spends the entire book contradicting herself at every possible turn. She says she refuses to let anyone see her cry, yet cries constantly. She says she never allows herself to indulge in her magic, but then immediately explains that she goes to this special, magical spot in Laon once every year to practice her magic. She implies in the beginning of the book that she never knew she was magical as a kid until this one specific incident, but later describes that she played with magic a lot as a small child. She acts stunned to find out she is the Caveadear (which is basically a fancy sorcerer of the land), but says that her family and Hugh basically acknowledged from her toddler years that they knew she would be the Caveadear.
The absolute worst part of her behavior is her attitude towards the Caerisians, and her family. She fully remembers being pulled from them at gunpoint, and the king telling her father that, if he ever came to take her back home, she would be killed immediately rather than being raised as the king's daughter. Any form of common sense would lead one to think El should blame the king for ripping their family apart, but instead, she decides to worship the ground the king walks on, and spends her entire childhood/teen life hating her parents for not coming to get her. When she first sees Hugh, one of her childhood best friends and her father's right-hand man, she is absolutely awful to him. She accuses him of lying every time he opens his mouth, and constantly asks him for explanations only to interrupt him with what she thinks actually happened (which is wrong, literally every single time). Characteristic of her own self-contradicting behavior, though, in the span of about a day, she goes from hating and disbelieving him to being willing to die to save him because he is so important to her.
Moving on from the focus on El as a character, there are some major issues with the story and writing itself, too. The insta love in this book is ridiculously strong. She literally spends a day or two with Jahan before becoming obsessed with him, and after five-minute conversations through magical mirrors, accusing him of betraying them, and then changing her mind, she's suddenly considering marrying the guy - partially out of love, and partially out of trying to avoid telling Finn
Spoiler
**SPOILER** who she's been betrothed to since childhood,One last issue I'll touch on before I let this rant end is that the author, despite having potential, has one problem that I really hope she'll focus on fixing before her next project: she frequently describes things only halfway before trailing off or changing topics, yet the narrator clearly expects us to fully understand what is being described with the half explanations. There are also several moments when a side character will start to ask a question or say something that seems important, but they then get cut off by an event or another character and they never go back and finish the thought process. This frustrated me to no end, because I kept thinking, "Was that something important? Am I supposed to know what they were going to say?" It makes the entire book feel very jumpy and dismembered.
All in all, this was not an absolutely terrible book - I powered through and finished it, which should tell you something about how much I did want to know how everything ended. That said, if El had been an even remotely enjoyable character, and the insta-love had been cut out of it, I probably could have given this a solid 3.5 or even 4 stars. As it stands, 2 stars for this one. I've been told this will be the first book in a series, and if that's the case, I can safely say I won't be picking up the next installment.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing company for giving me an ARC of this book to review. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own honest opinions.
You can find this review (and more) on my blog here!
kellyt_abc's review
3.0
A very interesting premise, but it came across as a little bit bloated to me. Reads like a D&D campaign with too many side-quests, so the DM is forced to wrap everything up really quickly at the end.