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areebarehman's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
My first read of January and it didn't disappoint! The story follows Vhalla Yarl who works as an apprentice in the Imperial library.
With the help of the silver-tongued heir to the throne, Vhalla soon discovers her magical abilities. Throw in a golden prince, rebellion, conspiracies and a bloody war and you've got an adventurous story!
The book is a seamless blend of magical characters and a compelling storyline. I won't give it five stars because I wanted to see more of aldrik's powers. He's called the strongest sorcerer of his time but I didn't see much of that. His character seemed a little flat at times and the same goes for Vhalla. I guess we'll see more character growth in the next book. Still, a lovely read.
With the help of the silver-tongued heir to the throne, Vhalla soon discovers her magical abilities. Throw in a golden prince, rebellion, conspiracies and a bloody war and you've got an adventurous story!
The book is a seamless blend of magical characters and a compelling storyline. I won't give it five stars because I wanted to see more of aldrik's powers. He's called the strongest sorcerer of his time but I didn't see much of that. His character seemed a little flat at times and the same goes for Vhalla. I guess we'll see more character growth in the next book. Still, a lovely read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Violence
spellboundreader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Body horror, Classism, and Confinement
quietlyfierce's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Violence, Gore, Body horror, and Death
donatio's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book makes me aggressive. It had so much potential but didn't fulfill it.
I read the German translation and I'm still not quite sure if the translation was shitty or the English original or just both.
I couldn't bond with the prota, Vhalla, because... I don't know, she wouldn't be someone I wanted to be friends with and seemed very indecisive and unaware of her surroundings,self-centered as she called Aldrik .
There were literally three men telling her she was beautiful???! (not counting Fitz) I don't understand how she could blame her indecisiveness on the fact that it was never the right moment.
I feel like many aspects that would have given the book depth were cast aside or placed in scenes where they didn't belong. I would have liked to see more of Vhalla's relationship with her friends and would have liked to learn more about the magic and see what it can do.
The plot wasn't always predictable but had a lot of smaller inconsistencies which added up. One moment he's angry and then he's not?
But I believe a better choice of words could have compensated at least some of these things. What did Stephen King say? The road to hell is paved with adverbs? There has never been a book in which I felt this more. I cringed really hard at some points in the book.
Also, Craig and Daniel? Were there no other names to name to guards?
I read the German translation and I'm still not quite sure if the translation was shitty or the English original or just both.
I couldn't bond with the prota, Vhalla, because... I don't know, she wouldn't be someone I wanted to be friends with and seemed very indecisive and unaware of her surroundings,
I feel like many aspects that would have given the book depth were cast aside or placed in scenes where they didn't belong. I would have liked to see more of Vhalla's relationship with her friends and would have liked to learn more about the magic and see what it can do.
The plot wasn't always predictable but had a lot of smaller inconsistencies which added up. One moment he's angry and then he's not?
But I believe a better choice of words could have compensated at least some of these things. What did Stephen King say? The road to hell is paved with adverbs? There has never been a book in which I felt this more. I cringed really hard at some points in the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, and Violence
colourful_kenyan's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
This is a slow paced romace YA fantasy.
We follow Vhalla who has saved the crown prince's life but without knowing that she used her powers. She works in the library and therefore has easy access to books about magic but all does not go well as she starts getting notes. She has a hard time accepting that she is a sorcerer and it takes a while for her to let go of her prejudices against the group that she barely knows much about.
This book had loads of potential but the execution was done in an unsatisfactory manner.
Told in only Vhalla's pov, we get to learn little about the world that she is supposed to be immersed in because she has a hard time accepting her powers. There are sprinkles here and there about the world that I wish were explained more heavily instead of the romance that took the forefront.
I got Avatar the last Air bender vibes but this is different enough that I didn't feel like I was getting a retelling.
What I liked:
- The world- While we got so little about it, I was intrigued enough.
- That she acted how an 18-year-old would act. The decisions made, the way she choose a partner because her parents influenced her thought process.
The issues I had with the book:
- she does not make long-lasting impressions as a character. It probably has something to do with the fact that we spend too much time in her head and too much time with the prince. She barely makes any decisions and the ones that she does are wrong ones.<spoilers>Lying to Alderik about Sareem being like a brother considering that she had kissed him </spoilers>. I hope she does better in the coming books because I am already invested in this world.
- <spoilers>She is a hypocrite for not being understanding to her friends who have a hard time accepting her powers yet she herself had a hard time coming to terms with it.</spoilers>
- A love triangle that was done poorly.
- There is a lot of telling instead of showing.
We follow Vhalla who has saved the crown prince's life but without knowing that she used her powers. She works in the library and therefore has easy access to books about magic but all does not go well as she starts getting notes. She has a hard time accepting that she is a sorcerer and it takes a while for her to let go of her prejudices against the group that she barely knows much about.
This book had loads of potential but the execution was done in an unsatisfactory manner.
Told in only Vhalla's pov, we get to learn little about the world that she is supposed to be immersed in because she has a hard time accepting her powers. There are sprinkles here and there about the world that I wish were explained more heavily instead of the romance that took the forefront.
I got Avatar the last Air bender vibes but this is different enough that I didn't feel like I was getting a retelling.
What I liked:
- The world- While we got so little about it, I was intrigued enough.
- That she acted how an 18-year-old would act. The decisions made, the way she choose a partner because her parents influenced her thought process.
The issues I had with the book:
- she does not make long-lasting impressions as a character. It probably has something to do with the fact that we spend too much time in her head and too much time with the prince. She barely makes any decisions and the ones that she does are wrong ones.<spoilers>Lying to Alderik about Sareem being like a brother considering that she had kissed him </spoilers>. I hope she does better in the coming books because I am already invested in this world.
- <spoilers>She is a hypocrite for not being understanding to her friends who have a hard time accepting her powers yet she herself had a hard time coming to terms with it.</spoilers>
- A love triangle that was done poorly.
- There is a lot of telling instead of showing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
camiclarkbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
High fantasy isn’t usually a genre I read, but the promise of a library apprentice and a sorcerer prince was something I couldn’t pass up.
“Air Awakens” had a lot of great ideas and a great magic system. The characters felt a little bland and the book was very slow, but there was a lot of groundwork that needed to be established for the other books in the series.
“Air Awakens” had a lot of great ideas and a great magic system. The characters felt a little bland and the book was very slow, but there was a lot of groundwork that needed to be established for the other books in the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
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