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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Libby/audio
This was okay, but the world is confusing.
The language is very odd, a mix between old west (as written) and South African/occasional Irish(as read by the AB narrator). (The AB was not my favorite). Yes, it's a weird mix!
The world involves different castes, all are named after different types of birds. The crows are the lowest rung, and are the mercy killers/dead collectors of the land. They grab the dead bodies and take them away for disposal. They are also picked on and not appreciated or paid well.
The FMC is a Crow. She has a pretty big chip on her shoulder, and a lot of suppressed rage. This led me to most often dislike her. She is very prickly.
The land has a plague. This plague isn't explained very well. I guess the chief of the crows cant catch it, but everyone else can? And usually the chief has to end the victims life too.
Also the crows use teeth as magic. They sometimes get paid in teeth from the dead. Different castes teeth have different abilities. It's unclear to me(and this may be my own fault due to not paying enough attention) but i guess only the chief, and the MMC can wield the teeth?
Anyway, the prince of the kingdom and his loyal bodyguard fake their deaths, and join the Crows to plan a coup against the prince's evil stepmother.
What follows is is a harrowing chase across the country in hiding against dark forces who hunt them, friendships, romance, and a bit of eye opening 'see-how-the-rabble-live lessons.'
The story added in some social commentary/content i didn't like. The main character is pretty unlikable, and she frequently is weak at inopportune times. The prince is also difficult and unlikable. The Bodyguard is fine, i actually liked him okay. I do enjoy the way the prince and the FMC are able to bond a bit. It involves some decent character growth.
Mostly, i just found this boring and overly wordy. The FMC has a lot of attitude. I think the story could have benefitted from some condensing, and some less heavy handed character rage and character development. The world-building could have been streamlined.
I did like the action scenes, but they were few. The FMC and the other characters were too caught off guard by all the dangers, despite being told outright what those threats were. This just resulted in frustration for me.
In conclusion, i may read the next book, as the end action scene was good. The final resolution was pretty frustrating for me though. I may be curious enough to find out the end, but i cant say this was exactly the type of writing or story that i like.
This was okay, but the world is confusing.
The language is very odd, a mix between old west (as written) and South African/occasional Irish(as read by the AB narrator). (The AB was not my favorite). Yes, it's a weird mix!
The world involves different castes, all are named after different types of birds. The crows are the lowest rung, and are the mercy killers/dead collectors of the land. They grab the dead bodies and take them away for disposal. They are also picked on and not appreciated or paid well.
The FMC is a Crow. She has a pretty big chip on her shoulder, and a lot of suppressed rage. This led me to most often dislike her. She is very prickly.
The land has a plague. This plague isn't explained very well. I guess the chief of the crows cant catch it, but everyone else can? And usually the chief has to end the victims life too.
Also the crows use teeth as magic. They sometimes get paid in teeth from the dead. Different castes teeth have different abilities. It's unclear to me(and this may be my own fault due to not paying enough attention) but i guess only the chief, and the MMC can wield the teeth?
Anyway, the prince of the kingdom and his loyal bodyguard fake their deaths, and join the Crows to plan a coup against the prince's evil stepmother.
What follows is is a harrowing chase across the country in hiding against dark forces who hunt them, friendships, romance, and a bit of eye opening 'see-how-the-rabble-live lessons.'
The story added in some social commentary/content i didn't like. The main character is pretty unlikable, and she frequently is weak at inopportune times. The prince is also difficult and unlikable. The Bodyguard is fine, i actually liked him okay. I do enjoy the way the prince and the FMC are able to bond a bit. It involves some decent character growth.
Mostly, i just found this boring and overly wordy. The FMC has a lot of attitude. I think the story could have benefitted from some condensing, and some less heavy handed character rage and character development. The world-building could have been streamlined.
I did like the action scenes, but they were few. The FMC and the other characters were too caught off guard by all the dangers, despite being told outright what those threats were. This just resulted in frustration for me.
In conclusion, i may read the next book, as the end action scene was good. The final resolution was pretty frustrating for me though. I may be curious enough to find out the end, but i cant say this was exactly the type of writing or story that i like.
DNF. It didn't seem bad but I couldn't get into it.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I tried my best to love this, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
In the first half, the world-building and magic systems were a bit overwhelming. They’re complex, but I think they could’ve been explained more clearly. I found myself getting distracted and had to keep going back and forth to make sure I understood everything. In the end, I ended up skimming a lot of the action parts. I’m not a fan of the writing style either; it felt dense, crowded, and repetitive. The use of Scottish slang is also unnecessary in my opinion, because the setting itself is not like Scotland.
The characters are certainly difficult to love. In the first part, I didn’t like Prince Jas and Tavin, his Hawk guard, because they acted childish and spoiled. But over time, Fie became a real pain, too. Everything in her eyes was wrong, even her ungrateful attitude. The lordlings and she were constantly at each other’s throats during their journey. It was exhausting to witness all that constant bickering.
I initially gave this a 2⭐️, but the character development was really good in the end, so I added one extra star. But as I’m writing this, I’m still not sure if I should read the last book or not.
adventurous
mysterious
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
adventurous
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
I think the world building was well done and I liked the characters once I spent about 5 minutes reminding myself that they were 16 and are supposed to be stupid
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved it so much and I have thoughts which I’ll share with you later. ♥️
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked the world building and thought the castes and caste magic was interesting, if not fully fleshed out. (Although I'll always take jumping into a world I don't catch all of over having it be awkwardly over explained.)
I really liked the characters, especially I liked that I didn't actually always *like* the characters; it made them more interesting.
I didn't like the attempt at dialect or language or whatever was going on with the "kenning" and such. It felt forced into speech patterns that were otherwise fairly modern.
I really liked the characters, especially I liked that I didn't actually always *like* the characters; it made them more interesting.
I didn't like the attempt at dialect or language or whatever was going on with the "kenning" and such. It felt forced into speech patterns that were otherwise fairly modern.