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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
This book was enchanting, but a little hard to follow at times.
Violet Everly was hidden away as a child. Her mom walked out, and her uncles did their best to keep her cared for, but isolated. She had questions, but no answers. The Everlys had long been cursed, and when she's discovered, Violet is next in line to meet their dark fate.
When Violet starts to learn some of the secrets that have been kept from her - a whole society of revered Scholars, in a world away known as Fidelis - she sets out on her own to find her mother. To find answers, and to break the curse and save her life.
Aleksander, the chosen assistant to Penelope, the woman who's in charge of the Scholars and the most feared and respected in Fidelis, should have an honored position. But it comes with a price - as does not meeting Penelope's exacting standards. When he meets Violet, he's torn between helping her, or carrying out his orders.
The world building is good - Fidelis is a dream land that you want to explore even more. There's a lot of history, myths and legends that have distorted over time, so no one knows the true story anymore. While this storyline definitely reaches it's conclusion, I'm left with a lot of questions - I want to know more of the history, to find out what really happened in the past, and how Fidelis was developed into what it became. I want to know more about Marianne, will we ever actually get to meet her? To understand her reasoning, and what she found in her research and travels?
I hope there's another book set in this universe, there's definitely the potential for one! I'm sure if a second book does come out, it will make this one such a pleasurable re-read - to get to see all the hints here and there that have been left!
Thank you to the publishers through NetGalley for this ARC!
Violet Everly was hidden away as a child. Her mom walked out, and her uncles did their best to keep her cared for, but isolated. She had questions, but no answers. The Everlys had long been cursed, and when she's discovered, Violet is next in line to meet their dark fate.
When Violet starts to learn some of the secrets that have been kept from her - a whole society of revered Scholars, in a world away known as Fidelis - she sets out on her own to find her mother. To find answers, and to break the curse and save her life.
Aleksander, the chosen assistant to Penelope, the woman who's in charge of the Scholars and the most feared and respected in Fidelis, should have an honored position. But it comes with a price - as does not meeting Penelope's exacting standards. When he meets Violet, he's torn between helping her, or carrying out his orders.
The world building is good - Fidelis is a dream land that you want to explore even more. There's a lot of history, myths and legends that have distorted over time, so no one knows the true story anymore. While this storyline definitely reaches it's conclusion, I'm left with a lot of questions - I want to know more of the history, to find out what really happened in the past, and how Fidelis was developed into what it became. I want to know more about Marianne, will we ever actually get to meet her? To understand her reasoning, and what she found in her research and travels?
I hope there's another book set in this universe, there's definitely the potential for one! I'm sure if a second book does come out, it will make this one such a pleasurable re-read - to get to see all the hints here and there that have been left!
Thank you to the publishers through NetGalley for this ARC!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
I’m a bit iffy on this read, on the one hand I truly liked the world set up in the story, I liked a lot of the characters and the writing is lush and wonderful to read. On the other hand though the way the story jumps from one point of view to another is jarring, especially in the audiobook version I was listening to that put few gaps between point of view shifts. I also felt throughout it like my favorite parts of the story, the different worlds and Violet’s search for her mother especially, weren’t really the focus of the story and weren’t given much time. In the end I’d give the story 3 stars, the parts that worked for me really worked for me but the rest was a bit of a difficult read.
It was okay. The writing is good and the premise is intriguing. The execution falls a bit flat. The characters had potential but never quite fully realized it. The worldbuilding had some cool stuff but never really gelled. The plot was interesting but became unfocused especially in the second half. I felt there were a lot of loose threads and plot points that were just forgotten about. The pacing was pretty good and kept things moving along well, except for a few chapters around the 80% mark where the characters just kind of milled around waiting for the climax. A lot of that should have been edited out. The romance was unobjectionable, but also wasn't very interesting, just kind of there. I'll count that as a win since annoying romances are the worst. I'll take an uninteresting one over an obnoxious one any day, and in this book it stayed mostly in the background and could be largely ignored.
It's a little frustrating because all the elements are there, they just aren't pulled together in a satisfying way. But I think this author has potential and I would read another book by her.
It's a little frustrating because all the elements are there, they just aren't pulled together in a satisfying way. But I think this author has potential and I would read another book by her.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thankyou to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape for a free e-arc in exchange of an honest review.
This is definitely for those who are fans of The Starless Sea. The writing is beautiful and the story sucks you in.
I struggled to connect to the characters fully however due to being written in third person- but this can be forgiven for the quick paced story.
The romance (not a huge part of the story) was a little lack lustre and could have been skipped all together for a friendship- again probably because of the lack of feeling and emotion i got from the characters due to the writing style.
All together i did enjoy it and would recommend.
3.5 stars
This is definitely for those who are fans of The Starless Sea. The writing is beautiful and the story sucks you in.
I struggled to connect to the characters fully however due to being written in third person- but this can be forgiven for the quick paced story.
The romance (not a huge part of the story) was a little lack lustre and could have been skipped all together for a friendship- again probably because of the lack of feeling and emotion i got from the characters due to the writing style.
All together i did enjoy it and would recommend.
3.5 stars