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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
DNF at P105.
Nothing at all happens. Maybe this is why very few fantasies hold my attention
Nothing at all happens. Maybe this is why very few fantasies hold my attention
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore
Minor: Child death
Got 60% of the way through and it just seemed to be lagging. Might have been because I was only listening in short segments.
The writing was so beautiful, but that's mostly it.
The plot was ok-ish, but the characters barely had any progression. They felt really flat. The whole idea of traveling through portals around the worlds was really fun and it gave a really whimsical vibe to the book, but the magical abilities the scholars were supposed to have weren't put through some filters and they seemed a bit ambiguous. In addition, the most interesting parts of the plot felt overlooked while others got too much attention.
Other than Penelope's backstory, the story felt like it was done with the flow and very few things were actually foreshadowed or even mentioned for a reason. For example, Penelope's vanilla scent could have been such a cool trait that was just forgotten after a while. Another example of that could have been Violet's wardobe that she kept hiding in when she was small. It was mentioned at least three times and it held barely any relevance to the plot.
I really wanted to like Aleksander, but he kept fumbling over and over. Contrary to most fantasy books from recent times, the characters weren't acting too 'mature' for their age, but the opposite. From my point of view, Aleksander's actions would have been more excusable if he were a teen. Maybe I'm the problem because I'm used to a different kind of mmcs in fantasy books. Or maybe, if he had a reason to be that attached to Penelope, he'd be easy to understand.
All in all, the writing definitely saved this book and also the few chapters about the way the curse came to life at the beginning of each part. I really enjoyed thoes and, to be honest, I would have liked more of that plot instead of the repetitive supid actions done by Aleksander.
- 3,8☆
The plot was ok-ish, but the characters barely had any progression. They felt really flat. The whole idea of traveling through portals around the worlds was really fun and it gave a really whimsical vibe to the book, but the magical abilities the scholars were supposed to have weren't put through some filters and they seemed a bit ambiguous. In addition, the most interesting parts of the plot felt overlooked while others got too much attention.
Other than Penelope's backstory, the story felt like it was done with the flow and very few things were actually foreshadowed or even mentioned for a reason. For example, Penelope's vanilla scent could have been such a cool trait that was just forgotten after a while. Another example of that could have been Violet's wardobe that she kept hiding in when she was small. It was mentioned at least three times and it held barely any relevance to the plot.
I really wanted to like Aleksander, but he kept fumbling over and over. Contrary to most fantasy books from recent times, the characters weren't acting too 'mature' for their age, but the opposite. From my point of view, Aleksander's actions would have been more excusable if he were a teen. Maybe I'm the problem because I'm used to a different kind of mmcs in fantasy books. Or maybe, if he had a reason to be that attached to Penelope, he'd be easy to understand.
All in all, the writing definitely saved this book and also the few chapters about the way the curse came to life at the beginning of each part. I really enjoyed thoes and, to be honest, I would have liked more of that plot instead of the repetitive supid actions done by Aleksander.
- 3,8☆
The book was too everywhere and confusing. The plot was not very interesting.