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2.9 AVERAGE
2.9 AVERAGE
I gave this my best shot. I let myself get to 65%. Unfortunately, I am just not following along with where it's going. I don't feel a connection to the story or characters. I hope others will give it a try, but for me I just can't move past these things to bring myself to finish it.
The plot and location of the this novel intrigued me, (how can I resist anything set in Scotland?) yet didn't live up to my expectations. The plot was slow and the structure was weird. The multi-narration didn't bother me, it was more the weird part 2 that was all flashback; why couldn't that have been inserted more organically throughout the book? Then there's the fact that half the book (at least it felt like it) was just two characters trying to avoid their problems, one by doing lots of drugs and the other by actually succumbing to voluntary amnesia. Something about that just bugged me, because it comes just as we're getting to know who the characters are and this made them feel less heroic. The antagonist is equally frustrating as he's not truly evil, he's conflicted and constantly feeling guilty and hiding behind the men that he sends to do his dirty work for him, so he doesn't have to personally beat up the girl he supposedly loves. The whole story felt kind of meh to me; there was no urgency to get it finished. Though I am curious enough to probably read the next one when it comes out, so I guess the author was successful after all?
This book started slowly, with half-formed characters in a poorly built world. The plot crawled along and I almost stopped reading at about 30% through. However, I stuck with it and when the plot really started moving, there was this whole flashback section that really threw me off.
Until about 70% this was a one or two star book, but the last third really was great. The characters started coming together, I started to understand the world, and the plot go a good rhythm. In the end I think this turned out to be a 3 1/2 star book.
Until about 70% this was a one or two star book, but the last third really was great. The characters started coming together, I started to understand the world, and the plot go a good rhythm. In the end I think this turned out to be a 3 1/2 star book.
DNF @38%.
I can understand why this is the lowest rated book on my physical TBR. The premise sounded so interesting, but the execution just wasn't there. It felt like I was reading a draft, not a final polished book. It lacked any sort of detail within the story and yet was somehow still confusing...?
I'm disappointed because I really did want to enjoy this book.
I can understand why this is the lowest rated book on my physical TBR. The premise sounded so interesting, but the execution just wasn't there. It felt like I was reading a draft, not a final polished book. It lacked any sort of detail within the story and yet was somehow still confusing...?
I'm disappointed because I really did want to enjoy this book.
Boy, I wanted to LOVE this book! The story of Quin as she trains to become a "Seeker" which is some kind of super mysterious and totally cool thing, only to discover she will actually be an assassin. OOH! Sounds like a terrific book and then add in Scottish Highlands and Hong Kong with some great scene setting ... but sadly the plot never really goes anywhere. Quin got very annoying very quickly for me as she chewed the scenery and agonized over every little thing instead of just getting on with it. I was sad as I whizzed my way through this book, skimming over huge parts because they were sooooo boring and weird-it had SO MUCH POTENTIAL but just fell flat in just about every way. I would like to read more from this author because if she can ever figure out how to mesh the world building with an actual story line, it will be a book I definitely want to read! Great bones here just not strong enough to carry an entire novel. I was given a copy of the book-this is my own opinion.
Wow...okay this book immediately interested me! That first training battle between Quin and Alistair, I think it was more their weapons that interested me. I'm a sucker for cool, unique weapons and a whip that turns into a sword fits that description perfectly. The amount of detail describing not only the weapons but everything else too, really helped me picture what was happening. Like this sword turning from a sword, to a dagger, to a whip –I was able to picture that as if I was seeing it for myself.
I feel like I could write about this book for days but I know I have to keep this review short so here goes. Quin is the daughter of a horribly brutal man. She has been raised to be a Seeker, just like every generation of her family. Seekers are supposed to be noble people that fight evildoers and keep the world a more peaceful place to live. Unfortunately, the Seekers have been corrupted and it is nothing like Quin or Shinobu imagined it would be. After they completed their first task they hesitate before deciding to take their oaths, failure to take the oath after the completion of the first task would have resulted in immediate death.
John was Quin's love but things got a little rocky after he cut her moms throat. Her mother didn't die but still I think I would be a little upset too. Then she gets a little angry and takes his atheme for herself, as revenge for her mom– the irony. After escaping from John and his little army Shinobu leaves Quin because she is a constant reminder of what they did.
After all of this the book takes you back in time to before all of this, to when they were kids. At first I was mad, I didn't care about how they became who they were. I wanted to know what was going on in the present not what already happened. But now I'm glad that was there because it helped me to understand Maud and John better.
I liked John at first but the further I got into the book the more I hated him. I understand he wanted what belonged to him and his family but I felt he didn't have to go about getting it in that way. If he truly "loved" Quin he would not have let that guy hit her – I don't care if he "felt" the hit too she should not have been hit.
I loved Shinobu though, the more I got to know him the more I liked him. Who cares they are like half third cousins they are freaking adorable together. It was sad that he got so low after leaving the estate but I guess they all kind of did. Shinobu turned to drugs to forget everything, Quin literally forgot everything that happened and became a healer (hers wasn't bad), Her mom, Fiona, became an escort and John became Briac, whether he saw it or not. He was willing to kill anyone to get what he wanted so he was every bit the monster that Briac was.
I loved this book! It was so, so, so good and I can't wait for the sequel next year.
For more of my reviews got to http://www.hyperashley.com/
I feel like I could write about this book for days but I know I have to keep this review short so here goes. Quin is the daughter of a horribly brutal man. She has been raised to be a Seeker, just like every generation of her family. Seekers are supposed to be noble people that fight evildoers and keep the world a more peaceful place to live. Unfortunately, the Seekers have been corrupted and it is nothing like Quin or Shinobu imagined it would be. After they completed their first task they hesitate before deciding to take their oaths, failure to take the oath after the completion of the first task would have resulted in immediate death.
John was Quin's love but things got a little rocky after he cut her moms throat. Her mother didn't die but still I think I would be a little upset too. Then she gets a little angry and takes his atheme for herself, as revenge for her mom– the irony. After escaping from John and his little army Shinobu leaves Quin because she is a constant reminder of what they did.
After all of this the book takes you back in time to before all of this, to when they were kids. At first I was mad, I didn't care about how they became who they were. I wanted to know what was going on in the present not what already happened. But now I'm glad that was there because it helped me to understand Maud and John better.
I liked John at first but the further I got into the book the more I hated him. I understand he wanted what belonged to him and his family but I felt he didn't have to go about getting it in that way. If he truly "loved" Quin he would not have let that guy hit her – I don't care if he "felt" the hit too she should not have been hit.
I loved Shinobu though, the more I got to know him the more I liked him. Who cares they are like half third cousins they are freaking adorable together. It was sad that he got so low after leaving the estate but I guess they all kind of did. Shinobu turned to drugs to forget everything, Quin literally forgot everything that happened and became a healer (hers wasn't bad), Her mom, Fiona, became an escort and John became Briac, whether he saw it or not. He was willing to kill anyone to get what he wanted so he was every bit the monster that Briac was.
I loved this book! It was so, so, so good and I can't wait for the sequel next year.
For more of my reviews got to http://www.hyperashley.com/
Largely incoherent with no real introduction or anything resembling world building. The love triangle felt unnecessarily complicated and the setting was all over the place. Still not entirely sure what happened.
Although it took me almost a month to read it - due to exams and such - it didn't feel like a month at all. It felt like I just read the book all in one go. I also feel like I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book.
The book was full of action - one of my favourite things in a book, I did have some comedy in it but I feel like it was mostly serious and the love interests - I don't want to spoil anything so I'm just gonna say: "I would have done the same Quin.".
My least liked character was probably John. I mostly felt like he was missing the bigger picture and was almost blinded by his own desires. He refused to try and understand the other side of the argument and then maybe even didn't realize that it could have ended in more than two ways. I didn't hate him as a character - I just disagreed with his choices.
I read this book mainly because it was being compared to Throne of Glass. Because of this I expected the story to be set in a more medieval-fantasy world but I guess that would have changed the whole story of the book. Both Throne of Glass have a main kick-ass female character/protagonist but both have stories of their own to tell.
I'm sorry if sometimes my writing doesn't flow or make sense - I have trouble writing down my feelings for this book.
The book was full of action - one of my favourite things in a book, I did have some comedy in it but I feel like it was mostly serious and the love interests - I don't want to spoil anything so I'm just gonna say: "I would have done the same Quin.".
My least liked character was probably John. I mostly felt like he was missing the bigger picture and was almost blinded by his own desires. He refused to try and understand the other side of the argument and then maybe even didn't realize that it could have ended in more than two ways. I didn't hate him as a character - I just disagreed with his choices.
I read this book mainly because it was being compared to Throne of Glass. Because of this I expected the story to be set in a more medieval-fantasy world but I guess that would have changed the whole story of the book. Both Throne of Glass have a main kick-ass female character/protagonist but both have stories of their own to tell.
I'm sorry if sometimes my writing doesn't flow or make sense - I have trouble writing down my feelings for this book.
It's quite a different story, though the characters all tend to fall into stereotypes. There's an esoteric artifact with a very unusual purpose, and the characters don't just shrug off betrayals of people and ideology, each dealing with issues in his/her own way. The alternate universe is *just* different enough to give you pause, but not so much as to make it awkward. Unfortunately I wasn't ever clear exactly what a Seeker or Dread was really meant to do, it was hard to figure out *when* things were happening and I didn't feel any particular connection with the characters.
In short, it was disappointing, though it would have been less so without the exorbitant praise from the editor (who included some minor spoilers) and the overly-hyped description. I would have enjoyed it more had they just let me read the book without trying to make it sound like the next biggest thing since the Hunger Games and Game of Thrones, especially as it's neither dystopian nor high fantasy. I won't be reading any more from this series.
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Spoiler
The casually-cruel taskmaster, who spares even his own child nothing, the red-headed Scotsman with a claymore, the drug addict, the escort, and so on.In short, it was disappointing, though it would have been less so without the exorbitant praise from the editor (who included some minor spoilers
Spoiler
such as mention of the love triangle, ancient grudges, and even the settingsDisclaimer: I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot