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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
An easy read with remarkable writing, minimal world building and plot. But a quick tale sure to take your decent mind of things. Apart from a deficit in chemistry between Silhara and Martise, their romance was okay but not memorable enough to make yourself envy them.
3.75 stars
Grace Draven is quickly becoming one of all-time favourite authors and with good reason. Her writing, her metaphors and most of all her characters are incomparable!
Grace Draven is quickly becoming one of all-time favourite authors and with good reason. Her writing, her metaphors and most of all her characters are incomparable!
medium-paced
Incredible
And catching... at first it just seems like most fantasy books.. but the pages in you find yourself captured.. hoping for an ending you can love..
And catching... at first it just seems like most fantasy books.. but the pages in you find yourself captured.. hoping for an ending you can love..
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A medieval fantasy nice but the universe created by the author was not developed enough for my taste and the characters lacked a little something to make this a really great book =)
It's funny because on my second attempt to read this, less than a chapter after I originally DNF'd is when the book finally hooked me. I sort of wish I had just kept at it back then because it's been staring at me in my library for over a year, mocking me to finish.
I guess it was fine? The characters grew on me after they finally took a romantic interest in each other. I didn't feel like the story had that much going on that felt fresh and/or interesting or surprising which I normally enjoy in fantasy romance. I also felt like some of the worldbuilding was overwritten in places and underwritten in others - I would have a hard time summarizing exactly what the plot was because everything felt very vague. I stand by all the comments originally made in my DNF review below. That audiobook needs to be sent to the e-landfill.
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Original 2022 DNF review
Pausing this at 32%. I might try again reading-reading this book at some point but the audio is painful. What's the point of hiring a male narrator if he can't use a normal speaking voice for the MMC's voice and instead takes "gravely voice" to mean "Christian Bale Batman voice"?
Also it's just kind of boring, it feels like nothing has really happened yet. I know it can be tedious in other fantasy books to have the logistics dumped in the first few chapters, but this leans too far into the other direction where I can't keep track of any of the magic and there's no tangible/realistic/familiar themes or concepts introduced yet that are grounding the story.
I guess it was fine? The characters grew on me after they finally took a romantic interest in each other. I didn't feel like the story had that much going on that felt fresh and/or interesting or surprising which I normally enjoy in fantasy romance. I also felt like some of the worldbuilding was overwritten in places and underwritten in others - I would have a hard time summarizing exactly what the plot was because everything felt very vague. I stand by all the comments originally made in my DNF review below. That audiobook needs to be sent to the e-landfill.
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Original 2022 DNF review
Pausing this at 32%. I might try again reading-reading this book at some point but the audio is painful. What's the point of hiring a male narrator if he can't use a normal speaking voice for the MMC's voice and instead takes "gravely voice" to mean "Christian Bale Batman voice"?
Also it's just kind of boring, it feels like nothing has really happened yet. I know it can be tedious in other fantasy books to have the logistics dumped in the first few chapters, but this leans too far into the other direction where I can't keep track of any of the magic and there's no tangible/realistic/familiar themes or concepts introduced yet that are grounding the story.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love a fantasy romance with a dark, brooding MMC. Master of Crows shows us a world of magic, forbidden love and toxic men with power.
Our FMC is Martise of Asher, who is a servant/slave on loan to our MMC, Silhara, for his research and translation requirements. Silhara is an outcast mage and an orange farmer, known as the Master of Crows. Silhara harbours a secret that Martise tries to uncover, while also trying to uncover her own magic.
The writing is super atmospheric. I really enjoyed the setting of Neith, Silhara's decrepit home. The side characters, Gurn and the stinky mage hunter dog, were also super fun. Martise and Gurn's relationship was super sweet, and I loved how Martise learned Gurn's sign language to speak with him.
My only qualm was that the MMC was maybe a bit too rough with the FMC. There was a certain scene where he obtains a certain something to try and forget about Martise, which made me very uncomfortable. But other than that, I realy enjoyed it!
Our FMC is Martise of Asher, who is a servant/slave on loan to our MMC, Silhara, for his research and translation requirements. Silhara is an outcast mage and an orange farmer, known as the Master of Crows. Silhara harbours a secret that Martise tries to uncover, while also trying to uncover her own magic.
The writing is super atmospheric. I really enjoyed the setting of Neith, Silhara's decrepit home. The side characters, Gurn and the stinky mage hunter dog, were also super fun. Martise and Gurn's relationship was super sweet, and I loved how Martise learned Gurn's sign language to speak with him.
My only qualm was that the MMC was maybe a bit too rough with the FMC. There was a certain scene where he obtains a certain something to try and forget about Martise, which made me very uncomfortable. But other than that, I realy enjoyed it!