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timsreads's review against another edition
5.0
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Surprisingly brilliant and woefully underrated! Seriously, how do more people not know about this book??? I loved it and it was so much fun. Ive been in a bit of a slump but this book managed to pull me out for a while. I recommend it to everyone!
Surprisingly brilliant and woefully underrated! Seriously, how do more people not know about this book??? I loved it and it was so much fun. Ive been in a bit of a slump but this book managed to pull me out for a while. I recommend it to everyone!
mandykins007's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up after reading a recommendation in a book group on facebook. I went into it with no expectations and have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It's somewhat evident to a book junkie like myself that this was the authors freshman debut but that in no way detracted from the story! The characters are likeable, the storyline and plot adventurous and unique. I'm invested now and cant wait to start the next installment, which of course is already queued and ready to go.
scrollsofdragons's review against another edition
1.0
Romance - 1 Insta love, plain and simple. Also gag worthy.
Originality - 1.5 A lot of it was the typical stuff and nothing much new was brought to the table.
Plot - 2 Would have worked much better had the protagonist not be the only narrator.
Characters - 1 Not one stood out.
Enjoyability - 2 There were a few dull parts but it kept my interest somewhat.
Writing - 2 Just okay. Nothing special.
World Building - 2 Subpar world, I liked the land and nature having this great power but other then that nothing else was given much thought, just the run of the mill medieval fantasy world.
For a total of 1.64 so round to 1.5.
So the main character. One minute she's all like my hometown is evil yet it doesn't take her long to change her mind. I expected her to hold on to her values for just a bit longer. It was constant, her changing her mind.
First she doesn't want to use her magic but then doesn't protest the next second. One sec, this person's evil then it's oh no this person is actually good. On the way to the kingdom she puts her foot down and says there is no way I am coming but then for no reason whatsoever, like one of the dudes taking her there reminds her of this story she used to know and then she's alright with going just like that. Who can change their opinion that quickly? It's just not natural how quickly she changes. And she's always repeating herself.
She's back and forth, back and forth all the time and it's so annoying. Plus she just goes along with shit so easily. And beyond that, she's just as dull as the rest of the cast.
The plot really could have been seen better through other eyes as Elanna's monologue fills up more pages then anything else and her mind is not a place I like to be stuck in. One point I didn't get was how her hometown were perceived as backwards people because there was zero difference other then how they felt about magic between the two nations, all of the nations were backwards in their beliefs. Also visually, nothing felt different between any of the places, they were all so similar. As for the mountain people, they were the only original thing there.
The romance is just cliché as all insta love romance is. I see no reason why they even love one another, they barely got to know one another before they're confessing love. And when they have zero chemistry too, it's just bad.
Originality - 1.5 A lot of it was the typical stuff and nothing much new was brought to the table.
Plot - 2 Would have worked much better had the protagonist not be the only narrator.
Characters - 1 Not one stood out.
Enjoyability - 2 There were a few dull parts but it kept my interest somewhat.
Writing - 2 Just okay. Nothing special.
World Building - 2 Subpar world, I liked the land and nature having this great power but other then that nothing else was given much thought, just the run of the mill medieval fantasy world.
For a total of 1.64 so round to 1.5.
So the main character. One minute she's all like my hometown is evil yet it doesn't take her long to change her mind. I expected her to hold on to her values for just a bit longer. It was constant, her changing her mind.
First she doesn't want to use her magic but then doesn't protest the next second. One sec, this person's evil then it's oh no this person is actually good. On the way to the kingdom she puts her foot down and says there is no way I am coming but then for no reason whatsoever, like one of the dudes taking her there reminds her of this story she used to know and then she's alright with going just like that. Who can change their opinion that quickly? It's just not natural how quickly she changes. And she's always repeating herself.
She's back and forth, back and forth all the time and it's so annoying. Plus she just goes along with shit so easily. And beyond that, she's just as dull as the rest of the cast.
The plot really could have been seen better through other eyes as Elanna's monologue fills up more pages then anything else and her mind is not a place I like to be stuck in. One point I didn't get was how her hometown were perceived as backwards people because there was zero difference other then how they felt about magic between the two nations, all of the nations were backwards in their beliefs. Also visually, nothing felt different between any of the places, they were all so similar. As for the mountain people, they were the only original thing there.
The romance is just cliché as all insta love romance is. I see no reason why they even love one another, they barely got to know one another before they're confessing love. And when they have zero chemistry too, it's just bad.
nicolemhill's review against another edition
2.0
While I appreciate a very rare, very thoughtful look at trauma and at Stockholm Syndrome, really, this never quite landed for me. Mostly because of the frustrations of being in Elanna's head.
asurasantosha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
otter_the_grouch's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
driedfrogpills's review against another edition
2.0
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a review!
I really don't know where all the five star reviews are coming from with this book. The premise and the cover were really intriguing. But once I began reading it, very quickly I became frustrated with Elanna, with the revolutionaries, with pretty much everyone in the book; I ended up caring absolutely not one whit about any of them. Also, can we just not with the magic hero trope, you know the one: the main character who's so pivotal to the action and everyone's looking to him/her to be their savior, but the MC hasn't a clue what's going on for so many chapters until *handwave* suddenly they're all for the cause and would never do anything else? Can we just decide we're done with this storyline, we've beaten it to death and we'll try something different from now on?
This book either needed to have less going on, or it needed more fleshing out with the characters. It was like Bates decided to write the bare bones of how the relationships between all the characters should change without giving the more complex/complicated ones the time to breathe and genuinely develop. The writing isn't bad but it's definitely not anywhere near as laudable as others have been saying. The magic parts, while different, weren't very intriguing to me, either, and I was expecting to be grabbed by that from the start.
Overall, The Waking Land feels like yet another YA fantasy novel. Some parts of it have promise, some parts of it were dull as the dirt Elanna's connected to, and some of it we've all read before.
I really don't know where all the five star reviews are coming from with this book. The premise and the cover were really intriguing. But once I began reading it, very quickly I became frustrated with Elanna, with the revolutionaries, with pretty much everyone in the book; I ended up caring absolutely not one whit about any of them. Also, can we just not with the magic hero trope, you know the one: the main character who's so pivotal to the action and everyone's looking to him/her to be their savior, but the MC hasn't a clue what's going on for so many chapters until *handwave* suddenly they're all for the cause and would never do anything else? Can we just decide we're done with this storyline, we've beaten it to death and we'll try something different from now on?
This book either needed to have less going on, or it needed more fleshing out with the characters. It was like Bates decided to write the bare bones of how the relationships between all the characters should change without giving the more complex/complicated ones the time to breathe and genuinely develop.
Spoiler
Don't get me started on the whole waffling about the "is-my-mother-a-traitor" thing. God, that was tedious.Overall, The Waking Land feels like yet another YA fantasy novel. Some parts of it have promise, some parts of it were dull as the dirt Elanna's connected to, and some of it we've all read before.
edgoff's review against another edition
4.0
Callie Bates awakens readers with her wit and creativity in her debut books The Waking Land.
The complexity of her characters and imagery of her world is what kept me reading.
For me, it was a slow start, but once the main character was betrayed and magic revealed, I became hooked.
After that point I felt the book moved fairly quick.
I enjoyed the read and cannot wait for the next edition to the series, because there has to be another book. I'll be following Callie Bates. She's just getting started!
I received this book from NetGallery in exchange for a free honest opinion.
The complexity of her characters and imagery of her world is what kept me reading.
For me, it was a slow start, but once the main character was betrayed and magic revealed, I became hooked.
After that point I felt the book moved fairly quick.
I enjoyed the read and cannot wait for the next edition to the series, because there has to be another book. I'll be following Callie Bates. She's just getting started!
I received this book from NetGallery in exchange for a free honest opinion.
skelleybean's review against another edition
2.0
When Elanna's father tries to unseat the king of Eren and is caught, the king takes Elanna as his captive, and raises her like a daughter in his palace. After fourteen years in the palace, Elanna is 19 years old and ready to leave the city to study botany in a far away land. However, when the king is mysterious killed, his daughter accuses Elanna of the crime, using her family's tied to Caeris and the magic of the land. She is forced to flee the place she has learned to call home, and return to the home she can barely remember. The new queen declares war, and Elanna is forced to fight against the land she grew up on to protect the land of her people. Alongside her father, his men, the ancient peoples of the mountains, and secretive sorcerer, Elanna learns how to awaken powers deep within herself, powers that help her control the water, the animals, and the land she treads upon. With this new power, Elanna must bring the land together as one in order to bring the two warring countries-- and it's peoples-- together in the end.
I REALLY wanted to like this book-- the magical world that Bates has created is very interesting, combining aspects from 1800s British culture (fashion, interest in science and botany, the style of weapons used) with a brand new landscape. The first few chapters are great, as she catches you up on how Elanna became the prisoner of the king, and what has been happening in life since then. The action picks up quickly as well, with the king being murdered within the first few chapters. However, the action quickly gets bogged down with talk about the different cities and countries, every single nobleman, past king, etc. that has ever been part of the world. While I understand that world building is important, this quickly became very confusing, and quite a few of the information is never used or picked back up again. It reached a point where I couldn't bother trying to remember who went with what city/nation, and just learned the names of the 15+ characters that were important to the story.
Along with the history weighing the story down. Elanna herself is a real drag. While her powers are really cool, she as a character is rather blah-- every other page is her thinking about whether she made the right decision, and complaining about how making decisions is terrible and she just wants things to be easy. "Oh no, I have to fight for this nation I have no ties to against people that I have grown up around for years.... Oh wait it's not that big a deal." "Oh no, I have to meet my dad after fourteen years and I've been taught that he is a terrible person so I don't want to see him... oh wait it's fine he's a good guy." She also has a paper thin relationship with the only other magic-user in story, a man who she meets once and decides she doesn't like, then goes on a two day horse-riding trip with him and then is suddenly in love with him. Their relationship has no time to grow, it's just a matter of "Oh, I don't like him... oh wait I do." It comes out of the blue, so their feelings don't feel authentic, and that carries through the bulk of their relationship.
All in all, I wanted to like this book, but there is so much information thrown at you, along with a main character that isn't all that likable, that the book falls flat and becomes kind of a slog to get through. I might read the second one, partly because the book focuses on her lover and not her, but if he's as wishy washy and boring as her, then it might be a waste....
I REALLY wanted to like this book-- the magical world that Bates has created is very interesting, combining aspects from 1800s British culture (fashion, interest in science and botany, the style of weapons used) with a brand new landscape. The first few chapters are great, as she catches you up on how Elanna became the prisoner of the king, and what has been happening in life since then. The action picks up quickly as well, with the king being murdered within the first few chapters. However, the action quickly gets bogged down with talk about the different cities and countries, every single nobleman, past king, etc. that has ever been part of the world. While I understand that world building is important, this quickly became very confusing, and quite a few of the information is never used or picked back up again. It reached a point where I couldn't bother trying to remember who went with what city/nation, and just learned the names of the 15+ characters that were important to the story.
Along with the history weighing the story down. Elanna herself is a real drag. While her powers are really cool, she as a character is rather blah-- every other page is her thinking about whether she made the right decision, and complaining about how making decisions is terrible and she just wants things to be easy. "Oh no, I have to fight for this nation I have no ties to against people that I have grown up around for years.... Oh wait it's not that big a deal." "Oh no, I have to meet my dad after fourteen years and I've been taught that he is a terrible person so I don't want to see him... oh wait it's fine he's a good guy." She also has a paper thin relationship with the only other magic-user in story, a man who she meets once and decides she doesn't like, then goes on a two day horse-riding trip with him and then is suddenly in love with him. Their relationship has no time to grow, it's just a matter of "Oh, I don't like him... oh wait I do." It comes out of the blue, so their feelings don't feel authentic, and that carries through the bulk of their relationship.
All in all, I wanted to like this book, but there is so much information thrown at you, along with a main character that isn't all that likable, that the book falls flat and becomes kind of a slog to get through. I might read the second one, partly because the book focuses on her lover and not her, but if he's as wishy washy and boring as her, then it might be a waste....