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kryskrossed's review
4.0
I ended up loving this book. It took a while for me to get into it, but that was definitely not the book’s fault. Seeing how much Lilith grew in this book and the sacrifices she endured were an amazing experience. I can’t wait to check out the sequel
#TheLegendOfLilith
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#TheLegendOfLilith
#NetGalley
julzangold's review
2.0
I loved the premise of the book. Unfortunately, it had problems I could not even pretend to ignore.
Lilith Oak is a fiery yet naive girl working at her family's smithy when an accident turns her whole world upside down. She is quickly thrust into a polytheistic world where the Gods represent the elements (water, air, earth, fire, and the aether) and bestow them upon deserving humans when they die before their time. These gifts make them Divine and allow them to protect the world, fighting to bring the Gods' interests to life. The book does switch between multiple perspectives of Lilith, Larkin - Lilith's brother, and Rhea - an enchantress.
If you enjoy a typical YA book and are not expecting a whole new trope or original storyline, this book will suffice. The world building was standard, if not a bit muddled at the beginning, for typical YA fantasy. I did appreciate the creativity with the naming and jargon, but took some acclimation. The characters were flawed but strong, realistic enough. And of course, the handsome hero was to swoon for. I wish we saw more of him to be honest.
Sadly, the flaws surpass other competitors in the YA genre.
The writing is a bit too verbose for a YA, but it also lacks adult content, preventing it from receiving an NA label. I consider myself well-read and comfortable with a dictionary, but I found myself too frequently cocking my head at words and having to use the handy-dandy dictionary tool on my Kindle. This would be fine if it was easy to tell which words were made up (in the Elder Tongue language or world jardon) and which ones were just unfamiliar. Alas, it wasn't clear, and it was far too frequent for me. This, added to run-on sentences and extended descriptions of every little thing made the prose drag.
The synopsis held promise for an original storyline, but I felt like I was diving into an older version of "Avatar the Last Airbender." The Divine's all had Masters, similar to Avatar, and of course, the elements they wielded. Half of the book was about Lilith traveling through the woods or sulking because she did something she shouldn't have done. It was just... tiring.
Regarding the characters, this book's only true diversity was the "golden skin" that gave variety to the otherwise overwhelmingly pale characters. I know this is not a necessity to some readers, and this is a made up world in a different time, but as a white woman myself, the lack of POC characters was very obvious. The ONE black character was referred to as a knight, but essentially was a servant and cook for the other Divines at the Frourio, with no real powers of his own. He was a skilled swordsman, but again, like many POC characters by non-POC authors, he was there just to move the plot along and provide character growth for the main characters.
The Arduen and Rhea were two of the three appealing characters with complex backstories. We barely get more information on Rhea, and essentially just see her hopping from one bad situation to the next. I assume she is secretly Larkin and Lilith's real mom, but who knows if that is true or revealed later in the series. And Arduen, oh Arduen. Lilith describes his attractiveness and this longing for her Master, but then later ends up describing him like a father? Yuck. It needed to be one or the other, or just leave it at "he feels like family" after the plot progression. Not only that, but the twist that he was Jude's relative from centuries ago really was not necessary. Jude was irrelevant and should stay that way. No reason to further complicate the attraction Lilith felt towards Arduen at the beginning of the book.
Finally - I know, I'm sorry - I just could not stand the "you are my entire universe" line being used over and over. It felt like Oliver was trying to show some depth here, but there was just really no symbology or weight behind these words. Jude meant nothing to Lilith, yet these words held guilt over her for the entire novel? And the most basic line, at that?
Anyways, this book had a lot of promise. I wish Oliver would try again so I could fall in love like I wanted to.
*I received this book on NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review.*
Lilith Oak is a fiery yet naive girl working at her family's smithy when an accident turns her whole world upside down. She is quickly thrust into a polytheistic world where the Gods represent the elements (water, air, earth, fire, and the aether) and bestow them upon deserving humans when they die before their time. These gifts make them Divine and allow them to protect the world, fighting to bring the Gods' interests to life. The book does switch between multiple perspectives of Lilith, Larkin - Lilith's brother, and Rhea - an enchantress.
If you enjoy a typical YA book and are not expecting a whole new trope or original storyline, this book will suffice. The world building was standard, if not a bit muddled at the beginning, for typical YA fantasy. I did appreciate the creativity with the naming and jargon, but took some acclimation. The characters were flawed but strong, realistic enough. And of course, the handsome hero was to swoon for. I wish we saw more of him to be honest.
Sadly, the flaws surpass other competitors in the YA genre.
The writing is a bit too verbose for a YA, but it also lacks adult content, preventing it from receiving an NA label. I consider myself well-read and comfortable with a dictionary, but I found myself too frequently cocking my head at words and having to use the handy-dandy dictionary tool on my Kindle. This would be fine if it was easy to tell which words were made up (in the Elder Tongue language or world jardon) and which ones were just unfamiliar. Alas, it wasn't clear, and it was far too frequent for me. This, added to run-on sentences and extended descriptions of every little thing made the prose drag.
The synopsis held promise for an original storyline, but I felt like I was diving into an older version of "Avatar the Last Airbender." The Divine's all had Masters, similar to Avatar, and of course, the elements they wielded. Half of the book was about Lilith traveling through the woods or sulking because she did something she shouldn't have done. It was just... tiring.
Regarding the characters, this book's only true diversity was the "golden skin" that gave variety to the otherwise overwhelmingly pale characters. I know this is not a necessity to some readers, and this is a made up world in a different time, but as a white woman myself, the lack of POC characters was very obvious. The ONE black character was referred to as a knight, but essentially was a servant and cook for the other Divines at the Frourio, with no real powers of his own. He was a skilled swordsman, but again, like many POC characters by non-POC authors, he was there just to move the plot along and provide character growth for the main characters.
The Arduen and Rhea were two of the three appealing characters with complex backstories. We barely get more information on Rhea, and essentially just see her hopping from one bad situation to the next. I assume she is secretly Larkin and Lilith's real mom, but who knows if that is true or revealed later in the series. And Arduen, oh Arduen. Lilith describes his attractiveness and this longing for her Master, but then later ends up describing him like a father? Yuck. It needed to be one or the other, or just leave it at "he feels like family" after the plot progression. Not only that, but the twist that he was Jude's relative from centuries ago really was not necessary. Jude was irrelevant and should stay that way. No reason to further complicate the attraction Lilith felt towards Arduen at the beginning of the book.
Finally - I know, I'm sorry - I just could not stand the "you are my entire universe" line being used over and over. It felt like Oliver was trying to show some depth here, but there was just really no symbology or weight behind these words. Jude meant nothing to Lilith, yet these words held guilt over her for the entire novel? And the most basic line, at that?
Anyways, this book had a lot of promise. I wish Oliver would try again so I could fall in love like I wanted to.
*I received this book on NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review.*
supernovaa's review
The legend of Lilith
*DNF at 21%*
long story short: I didn’t like this book. Maybe it’s because I’m not the target audience or I don’t like the chosen one trope, but something about this book made me not like it.
First things first, the writing. It was…uncomfortable, some sentences and phrases that were said made me take a step back and stop reading for a bit. An example of one of these sentences being, “Lilith hadn’t deigned to notify her master of the arrival of her moon cycle.” Master?? That was another phrase used that made me wildly uncomfortable.
I didn’t feel drawn to the characters, nor did I feel for any of them. To me, their personalities were kind of bland. All of Liliths conversations with Arduen were so formal, and a kind of a pain to read. In almost every conversation, there would be some sort of lecture from Arduen. Lilith was also an “Oh no I got this sudden power, now i must train but why me? why am I the chosen one” type of MC and those main characters are a struggle to read about.
The plot seemed very interesting, but too many factors played into me not liking it, and ultimately my decision to DNF it.
*DNF at 21%*
long story short: I didn’t like this book. Maybe it’s because I’m not the target audience or I don’t like the chosen one trope, but something about this book made me not like it.
First things first, the writing. It was…uncomfortable, some sentences and phrases that were said made me take a step back and stop reading for a bit. An example of one of these sentences being, “Lilith hadn’t deigned to notify her master of the arrival of her moon cycle.” Master?? That was another phrase used that made me wildly uncomfortable.
I didn’t feel drawn to the characters, nor did I feel for any of them. To me, their personalities were kind of bland. All of Liliths conversations with Arduen were so formal, and a kind of a pain to read. In almost every conversation, there would be some sort of lecture from Arduen. Lilith was also an “Oh no I got this sudden power, now i must train but why me? why am I the chosen one” type of MC and those main characters are a struggle to read about.
The plot seemed very interesting, but too many factors played into me not liking it, and ultimately my decision to DNF it.
kateyac's review
1.0
Tried. I really really tried to give this series a chance since the synopsis was good. Being stuck at 15% progress for 120 days, that’s when I decided to give up. I. DO. NOT. TAKE. DNF-ing. LIGHTLY. I can count the books I DNF-ed in my whole life within one hand and I’ve read for more than a decade already. I do not like DNF-ing, but this book was too much to bear.
- The words were a whole jumble of mess. I mean who use words so deep I can see the Earth’s core in it????
- The story didn’t interest me. A girl gets powers out of nowhere and now she has to go train herself with a bunch of strangers???? With words that I’m sure she doesn’t even understand
- The words were a whole jumble of mess. I mean who use words so deep I can see the Earth’s core in it????
- The story didn’t interest me. A girl gets powers out of nowhere and now she has to go train herself with a bunch of strangers???? With words that I’m sure she doesn’t even understand
radioactiveleopard's review
1.0
The plot was confusing and she just added in more plot points without ever explaining them so it felt very inconsistent and erratic. The characters were marginal and there was practically no actual character development.
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