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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book had me at fantastical historical fiction based on early medieval Ireland with Tuatha de Dannan mythological figures.
adventurous
dark
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
More political intrigue and posturing than magical fantasy. I don't know a lot about Irish folklore but I'm definitely more interested. Not a huge action book which I expected more of with the title. I'm still hooked to see more of this series.
This took a little bit to get going, but once it did, we were off to the races.
okay i had this at 4 stars but then the more i thought about the ending the more it pissed me off sorry
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
I picked this one to read for the Irish Readathon as it had a lot of Irish and Viking lore and inspiration throughout, and was highly rated by many of my friends on Goodreads. I would class this as a historical fiction with magic scattered throughout, but magic is not actually used all that often in the plot, it's more the fear of what will happen if the magic is used and the magic-users are discovered.
We're following a world where Ireland has many kings and rulers, and various people want to unite and rule over all of Ireland. We have Viking ways and Christian ways and Irish ways all in a melting pot together, with many of our characters in the middle of it all. Religion is a key part of the plot, as this helps kings and rulers to be boosted up by their populace due to their popularity and that of the religion they follow, but there's also a balance to be struck with the supporters of old religions too.
We follow two women mainly, who are surrounded by men who want to push them down and make all the decisions themselves (even when they are wrong...). We have Fódla who is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann (a race of magical healers) and we have Gormflaith who is a Fomorian (an immortal with fire magic). Each woman is based on one side of a conflict, the Irish and the Vikings, and they are both sworn enemies too. They don't know of one another but their plots draw them slowly closer and there's lots of tension around whether they will meet and what conflict would ensue if they did.
One element I really liked here was the constant references to the Irish old gods and the ways of the Irish and Vikings and the clash of the two faiths. I felt like each women did a good job of staying true to themselves and their beliefs and still seeing the beliefs around them and how to move forward with the path of least resistance. They are both very clever advisors and if their men just listened to them more they might have got further.
Personally I didn't really like or care about any of the characters, although their stories are interesting to me they didn't feel that emotionally-easy to connect with. I generally found that although I liked reading this book, I just wasn't drawn into the plight of anyone, and the big battles were less interesting to me than the more intimate, personal struggles of being a good mother or a good aunt to their kin.
On the whole, I felt as though I wished the women could have shone a little brighter, I wanted to see them not so much behind the scenes but rather in the fray of it all more. I also would have liked them to utilise their magics more, I feel like we join the story in a time where it's very rarely used (for reasons explained in the book) and I just feel like it all would have been a little more epic if their magic was more out in the open.
3*s from me and I don't know if I will continue as it didn't hook me in as much as I wanted it to.
We're following a world where Ireland has many kings and rulers, and various people want to unite and rule over all of Ireland. We have Viking ways and Christian ways and Irish ways all in a melting pot together, with many of our characters in the middle of it all. Religion is a key part of the plot, as this helps kings and rulers to be boosted up by their populace due to their popularity and that of the religion they follow, but there's also a balance to be struck with the supporters of old religions too.
We follow two women mainly, who are surrounded by men who want to push them down and make all the decisions themselves (even when they are wrong...). We have Fódla who is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann (a race of magical healers) and we have Gormflaith who is a Fomorian (an immortal with fire magic). Each woman is based on one side of a conflict, the Irish and the Vikings, and they are both sworn enemies too. They don't know of one another but their plots draw them slowly closer and there's lots of tension around whether they will meet and what conflict would ensue if they did.
One element I really liked here was the constant references to the Irish old gods and the ways of the Irish and Vikings and the clash of the two faiths. I felt like each women did a good job of staying true to themselves and their beliefs and still seeing the beliefs around them and how to move forward with the path of least resistance. They are both very clever advisors and if their men just listened to them more they might have got further.
Personally I didn't really like or care about any of the characters, although their stories are interesting to me they didn't feel that emotionally-easy to connect with. I generally found that although I liked reading this book, I just wasn't drawn into the plight of anyone, and the big battles were less interesting to me than the more intimate, personal struggles of being a good mother or a good aunt to their kin.
On the whole, I felt as though I wished the women could have shone a little brighter, I wanted to see them not so much behind the scenes but rather in the fray of it all more. I also would have liked them to utilise their magics more, I feel like we join the story in a time where it's very rarely used (for reasons explained in the book) and I just feel like it all would have been a little more epic if their magic was more out in the open.
3*s from me and I don't know if I will continue as it didn't hook me in as much as I wanted it to.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
hopeful
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:
Yes