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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
I stayed up until 2:30 am to finish this, so...yeah. It was great. Need to start the next one asap!
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.
This is a difficult one for me to review because while it is objectively very good, I just personally struggled and DNFed it at 73%. I'm still giving it 3 stars though.
What I liked:
- The writing style is great for the most part. It's well-written and fits the time. However, there were some pieces of dialogue that struck me as odd because they felt too short for the significance of the situation.
- The historical aspect. This was clearly very well researched and flawlessly combined history and mythology. I will definitely be recommending this book to lovers of historical fiction. I also think the complexity of the world and plot is doing a good job at setting up this series.
- Gormflaith's character. She reminded me a lot of Cersei from Game of Thrones. She's cunning and clever, but sometimes her plans work against her, and ultimately she's just another pawn in the game. I loved that she was a bit of an anti-heroine/villainness.
- The first 30% of the book. At the beginning, I thought this was going to be a 5-star read. I found it easy to get into, and I loved how authentic the world felt.
However, it became repetitive after that. At around 60%, I paused and thought... what has even happened for the past 20-30 % ? The plot was moving so slowly, and it became repetitive. I love historical fantasy, I love political intrigues, but I also need some actual action in between. I also found it hard to keep track of the worldbuilding as the story progressed. I hope the final copy of the book comes with a map because I think that would help a lot. The list of character names helps, but a glossary would have also been helpful.
I also struggled with Fodla's storyline, it was intriguing at first but then... nothing happened?
The time jumps were also confusing, I missed the first one because I didn't really pay attention to the year numbers at the beginning of each chapter and was confused why the kid is suddenly 4 years old.
Because of all that, I found myself not caring about the story anymore. It was all tangled up and very... non-linear and slow-moving, and every page started feeling like a chore. I stopped reading at 73 %.
Overall, I think this series has a lot of potential, and I'm sure other readers will really appreciate it, I just personally struggled a lot.
This is a difficult one for me to review because while it is objectively very good, I just personally struggled and DNFed it at 73%. I'm still giving it 3 stars though.
What I liked:
- The writing style is great for the most part. It's well-written and fits the time. However, there were some pieces of dialogue that struck me as odd because they felt too short for the significance of the situation.
- The historical aspect. This was clearly very well researched and flawlessly combined history and mythology. I will definitely be recommending this book to lovers of historical fiction. I also think the complexity of the world and plot is doing a good job at setting up this series.
- Gormflaith's character. She reminded me a lot of Cersei from Game of Thrones. She's cunning and clever, but sometimes her plans work against her, and ultimately she's just another pawn in the game. I loved that she was a bit of an anti-heroine/villainness.
- The first 30% of the book. At the beginning, I thought this was going to be a 5-star read. I found it easy to get into, and I loved how authentic the world felt.
However, it became repetitive after that. At around 60%, I paused and thought... what has even happened for the past 20-30 % ? The plot was moving so slowly, and it became repetitive. I love historical fantasy, I love political intrigues, but I also need some actual action in between. I also found it hard to keep track of the worldbuilding as the story progressed. I hope the final copy of the book comes with a map because I think that would help a lot. The list of character names helps, but a glossary would have also been helpful.
I also struggled with Fodla's storyline, it was intriguing at first but then... nothing happened?
The time jumps were also confusing, I missed the first one because I didn't really pay attention to the year numbers at the beginning of each chapter and was confused why the kid is suddenly 4 years old.
Because of all that, I found myself not caring about the story anymore. It was all tangled up and very... non-linear and slow-moving, and every page started feeling like a chore. I stopped reading at 73 %.
Overall, I think this series has a lot of potential, and I'm sure other readers will really appreciate it, I just personally struggled a lot.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
I didn't know I needed a historical fiction of Ireland with magic, but I did. This story had a great balance of political intrigue, action, and magic. The main characters were fun to read and compelling.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes