Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana

22 reviews

spicycronereads's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Lore of the Wilds centers on a world where humans have been mysteriously displaced from their home world and subjugated by Fae. Lore ends up traveling from her human enclave to be assigned the task of organizing an enchanted library that the Fae have been cursed from entering.

There is lots to like about this book. it has a very diverse cast, including racial and sexual diversity. Lore is a typical YA fantasy heroine who impetuously faces danger to save those she cares about. The magic system is interesting. The orders of Fae are novel and the tension between them adds some drama.

I say that Lore is a YA heroine, but I’m not actually sure this is supposed to be a YA book. It is maybe new adult based on Lore‘s age, the hints of SA, and the one spicy scene in the book. But Lore’s impetuousness, and the nature of the relationships between her and other characters lacks maturity.

There are four potential love interests, so it is less of a love triangle than a love pentagon? 😂 The chemistry and tension between these characters is a bit uneven. And sometimes we are told that feelings are developing rather than being shown that they are developing.

The plot takes some interesting twists, and some confusing twist and turns. The pacing is a bit off. Things that feel like they could be the focus of the entire novel are resolved pretty quickly. To give you a sense of this, there is no plot point that results in what I would consider graphic content warnings because they all stay at the surface and are resolved really quickly. 

There’s just a lot crammed in there and while the sequels could take their time unraveling much of this, at the end, there’s an indication that it’s going to take another turn all together. And I was very surprised to see that it is part of a duology and not a longer series. Which suggests that answers and explanations to the many things that are going on may not be forthcoming.

There is some pining in the book. Finndryl does provide one or two almost-swoony moments. The spicy scene is not bad but it feels out of place. 🌶️

In terms of diversity, most of the characters are people of color. There are a few moments that hint that Lore is bi or pan. And one character seems to be definitely aro and possibly ace.

Overall, I was entertained. I will likely read the next book in the series. And I hope that the next one goes through some more extensive developmental editing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/🌶️

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iamsammie27's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


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emilywemily6's review

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adventurous relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Eh this book was a let down… maybe romantasy is not for me. This book started off strong for the first 15% and then the rest of the book was all over the place. This read like a YA novel and yet one two separate instances an f-bomb was dropped, which felt so out of character compared to the rest of the book that had zero swearing. The one sex scene also felt contrived, awkwardly timed, and not consistent with the characters or the relationships. There was a supposed love triangle but it was hard to root for either love interest when one lacked chemistry or personality and the other was just mean and grumpy. The world and backstory seemed interesting but this book left so many questions unanswered. The mystical library could have been its own character but was only in the first third of the book. I felt like the plot meandered randomly and while the author’s writing was easy to read, it didn’t add any gravitas or depth to the plot. Serious, climactic moments were glossed over after having zero lead up (like only one chapter  devoted to a massive break-in/kidnapping) and insignificant moments/musings took up a lot of page time even though they didn’t have a bearing on the plot. She also made nonsensical decisions that aged her way down. There were no hints or Easter eggs about where the story was going or foreshadowing of any reveals, so many plot devices came out of nowhere without any lead up. It reads like a YA with a couple inappropriate moments and a lack of editing to improve the quality of the storytelling. I was surprisingly bored through most of the book. I want to read the second book since the world building interested me and the characters had more depth than another romantasy I recently read, but I’m not going to buy it.

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chipotlemayo's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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linnybear's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I’d call it ‘mediocre middle grade book with fairy spice’
She should've stayed in the library

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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5


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stitchbooks22's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This was incredibly boring, full of plot holes and wasn’t well written. Whoever marketed this as adult must not have read it, given it felt more like a YA with a vague attempt at romantasy that just didn’t work. Also predicted the plot twist at the end.

The idea of an enchanted library, cottagecore and cosy vibes with magic for a book could’ve been so good, but was executed poorly. I’m very disappointed I can’t lie.

The only redeeming features were the small portion of the enchanted library we got as well as the characters of Isla, Gryph, Grey and the fox who were barely in it. Milo also seemed like a sweet kid and I liked him despite his also limited presence. 

I have mixed feelings about Lore as she acted like an ungrateful brat at times, though could be wonderful at others. Finn is another character I have mixed feelings on, but he is growing on me.

Will I read the next one? Possibly. I would like to see some of the characters again and see if the duology can be redeemed. It’s a decision for a later date.

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adafae's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I will start with I didn’t want to put this book down. The story is beautiful it captures you. Lore the main character is a strong women independent and protective. The story never stagnates it moves and a good pace.

However, there are some negatives which I want to mention. Sometimes the language used is crass and take a leap towards more modern and not fitting with the setting. It also has some descriptions in scenes I would not expect to find in a YA book that make it seem that it might be better suited as the adult fantasy genre. There were also a few times where the wording or sentences structure throw me off or consistencies where changed like the scent of someone changing when mentioned but always said as their familiar scent.
However this might be linked to the twist at the end of the story, with Asher, it might make some of the inconsistencies make sense if that was the intention of the author.


Overall I enjoyed the book, I read it in no time and it kept me guessing. I cannot wait for the second book to come out
I cannot wait to find out more about Finn and how he is so good at fighting
and to see future works by this author. 

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naomi_k's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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booknerderika's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense

4.0

Alright this was a lot. 

The story started with a pretty steady plot and then it was one thing after another after another just all over the place. I kind of enjoyed it though, it kept my ADHD brain engaged. Especially as I tried to remember if things had been said before or if the characters were having a conversation about something new even though it was familiar to them. Basically as if I had missed out on some previous conversations, which from the pacing of this happened more often than I liked. 

Aside from that, I enjoyed the characters and the growing romance. I went into this expecting a fun fantasy and I'm not going to be too nitpicky about it. 

I will say I feel like the 2nd book will be better than the first, at least that's the impression I got from the ending. I'm crossing my fingers that that's the case because I like this story. 

That ending left me shocked although it really shouldn't have. I think I just didn't want to believe that after everything the characters had been through. I was mad but also a little relieved that I could finally root for the other (no spoilers) without feeling bad for the first.

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