Reviews

Deceived by Paul S. Kemp

yiffy's review

1.0

oh man. it's like the shortest in the tor novels so far but it also felt like the longest? i'll be honest and say that getting through this was a drag and it was only through sheer determination i managed to finish it at all.

the beginning was so slow, and there was like. so much tension built but the payoff was very little. things at the end felt rushed, and sometimes, intense moments were dragged on for too long that it just lost its edge.

i liked aryn tho. liked reading her internal conflict. thought it made her more interesting, more complex. didn't like how she and zeerid basically hooked up at the near end of the book despite having very little chemistry. it felt rushed and it came more of a surprise to me than whatever plot twist this book had.

like. i know its trying to mirror a dynamic in the original films but also it just fell flat that it felt so forced and unnecessary.

malgus was interesting, i guess. like there was a complexity in him that felt unexplored. i didnt like reading his chapters because it always felt too edgy. like, whatever complexity he carried was ultimately lost in his monologues that read too much like an edgy teen venting his angst. couldn't take it seriously. had to stop because of all those descriptors.

zeerid was just there. didn't like him, didn't dislike him. he's plain, unremarkable in most ways, didn't have much role in the book except for being aryn's companion. i probably wouldn't even know it if he got cut out of some parts and replaced with a cardboard lol

overall, it's just something i wouldnt recommend. aryn's cool but even she couldn't save this whole thing alone. malgus's character was better portrayed in the game, and the battle scenes weren't that good either, so if you're looking for mindless entertainment, you'd best get it elsewhere. if you're just invested in tor novels and would love to know more about background lore of the game, go ahead and read this.

ceridwen83's review

4.0

Very good book makes me want the game to come out faster.

doorasbookshelf's review

adventurous emotional fast-paced

4.0

mirrorballmusings's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

sgraves444's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

julia09's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

This book was an awesome read, great recommendation for Star Wars enthusiasts.

bardinhell's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this. It was fine. Not ground breaking or anything but I did enjoy it. 

bianca_horkan's review

3.0

I've read The Old Republic stories (comics) before and enjoyed them.

This story...I only finished because it's a Star Wars book club pick.

I didn't care for Darth Malgus or Elenna...or any of the ither Sith characters.

Zeerid "Z-man" and Jedi Aryn Leneer were slightly brighter spots...with Zeerid being ghe brightest of them all.

His character was the only one I felt anything for or cared about.

I don't think I'll be reading any more of this time period.

wyrmbergmalcolm's review

4.0

Despite being so keen to read this, it did take me a long time to get into it. However, once the characters start heading to Coruscant, the story really picked up and I was gripped right to the very satisfactory conclusion. I found the characters here very well fleshed-out with an equal focus on their flaws and failings as on their strengths and successes. I particularly liked the relationships between Darth Malgus and his Twi’lek slave/lover as well as with the Jedi and the smuggler.

eveejoystar's review

3.0

When I first started this book I thought about giving it two stars, but something changed.

Let me start off with the things that I disliked. Some might seem like I'm nitpicking, but hey! it's my review. ;)

I felt like the first couple chapters were terrible. They didn't get me interested in the story and the battle scenes were awful. I started this book in July, got to page 28 and then just stopped until I picked it back up again as a part of my New Year's Resolution. That was pretty much the only thing pushing me. It took me a whole week to get to the part where I actually started to enjoy it. That was pretty much my main gripe about this book. Also, what kind of nickname is Z-man? That bothered me so much. While I was reading I was thinking, "Maybe I should pretend I read the rest and just give it two stars". Obviously I ran across some things that made me change my mind and add a star.

My mind first changed when

Spoiler

in Chapter 5 Zeerid sees his daughter in the park. Some emotions started rolling over me, and my throat started to get tight. This also happened when later in the book they ran into T7 and it gives Aryn Zallow's lightsaber. I'm not someone who normally gets emotional, so that's definently going to bring my rating up.

Also, later on in the book I started to love some of the characters. You couldn't just say, "Oh, he's just another Sith Lord, or Oh, she's just another Jedi". They differentiated from the pack, and that really made their stories interesting.

But the whole way through, I was definently rooting for Zeerid. I wanted to see him make his daughter proud.