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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review
Man, oh, man. This book. before I started reading it I checked the reviews and most either commented on how violent it is or described it as a dull mix of many other books. So I was surprised by how much I adored this book. However it definitely contains a lot of violence, racism and slavery so please be aware. But if that doesn't put you off then enjoy!
What I Liked
-I never felt the same thing for each character apart from the obvious villains. My feelings changed regularly about several characters and it made it more emotional
-Some pretty romance scenes
-It's dark fantasy
-The mythos
What I Didn't Like
-It was a little slow to get into
-Some of the writing was a little repetitive
Overall
This book was just what I needed right now and I really enjoyed it. Can I have book 2 now please?
Man, oh, man. This book. before I started reading it I checked the reviews and most either commented on how violent it is or described it as a dull mix of many other books. So I was surprised by how much I adored this book. However it definitely contains a lot of violence, racism and slavery so please be aware. But if that doesn't put you off then enjoy!
What I Liked
-I never felt the same thing for each character apart from the obvious villains. My feelings changed regularly about several characters and it made it more emotional
-Some pretty romance scenes
-It's dark fantasy
-The mythos
What I Didn't Like
-It was a little slow to get into
-Some of the writing was a little repetitive
Overall
This book was just what I needed right now and I really enjoyed it. Can I have book 2 now please?
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I surprisingly loved this book and series! Solid character development and plot
Was a great book! I was instantly hooked and did not see some of the twists coming. Hope the whole series is gonna be like this. Cannot wait to get started with the next book.
Very enjoyable read.
Very enjoyable read.
This book was AMAZING! It pulled me out of a reading slump and I couldn't put it down. The ending was something I really didn't expect. Theodosia, was a complete Mastermind. I need the next book and can't wait to devour it as well. Great writing and world building. I didn't want to come back to my reality.
I was expecting this to be a random book I read while waiting for my others from the library with weak world building and annoying characters but I WAS WRONG. The world building is simple enough to understand but not lame. The start is a teeny but slow but it defiantly picks up the pace about 25ish percent through(I stayed up until 2:30am to finish). There is zero spice/smut(there is some kissing though) which is so nice comping from a teen christian!! It's a love triangle... but not an annoying one(tsitp I'm looking at you
What a disappointment. I love reading YA fantasy - I consider it one of my favorite genres. But this was extremely formulaic and felt like a watered down version of several series I have already read. Rather than add something new or interesting to the genre, the story felt like it followed a checklist of many of the tropes and plot devices associated with YA fantasy.
And I really disliked the main character. That’s where most of my animosity for this story stems from, as she is the only perspective readers read from. And being stuck inside her head for an entire book was hell. She was one of the most passive main characters I have ever read the POV of. She never made any decisions of her own, instead acting as a reluctant/indecisive hero who didn’t contribute much to the effort her country was making to retake their land, despite how much the author wanted you to believe she was.
I don’t feel the need to finish the series because I have a hunch about what is going to happen - it seems pretty predictable, and I’d rather not put myself through that. But I will say that I did enjoy Laura Sebastian’s writing style and will probably pick up her newest release.
And I really disliked the main character. That’s where most of my animosity for this story stems from, as she is the only perspective readers read from. And being stuck inside her head for an entire book was hell. She was one of the most passive main characters I have ever read the POV of. She never made any decisions of her own, instead acting as a reluctant/indecisive hero who didn’t contribute much to the effort her country was making to retake their land, despite how much the author wanted you to believe she was.
I don’t feel the need to finish the series because I have a hunch about what is going to happen - it seems pretty predictable, and I’d rather not put myself through that. But I will say that I did enjoy Laura Sebastian’s writing style and will probably pick up her newest release.
I received ARC in exchange for an honest review.
There are enough princesses in the YA literature world. Do we really need more?Maybe we do need more princesses like this one Full review posted.
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This is such a hard book to rate. While I was reading it, there were moments when I wanted to give it 2 stars, then 4 which finally led me to give it 3 fair stars.
This message isn’t especially for this book but for all the present and future YA novels: Stop using violence (such as whipping, burning or cutting off parts of the body) and slavery as a ground to create strong characters. It is well known that we learn through be strong after enduring pain, but this is getting off your hands. We do need happy stories, too. In a world full of violence, the less we need is more of it.
Warning: This book has explicit violence content.
Plot:
This book is a combination of some already known YA novels with some glints of originality. It reminded me of [b: An Ember in the Ashes|27774758|An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)|Sabaa Tahir|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519425615s/27774758.jpg|39113604], [b: Throne of Glass|7896527|Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1495278054s/7896527.jpg|11138426] and a little bit of The Grisha Trilogy.
The book follows the story of Thora, Theo, Theodosia, whatever you wanna call her, whose Mother the Fire Queen was slaughtered in front of her eyes while her land was taken by the Kalovaxians.
The Astrean population who tried to fight against the Kaiser was killed and the ones who surrendered were turned into slaves. However, Theo was taken by the Kaiser as a trophy of the victory, to be raised as a Kalovaxians and to use her as a reminder of the fall of the Astreans and the impossibility of a reconquest. Now, after the year of suffering the Kaiser’s punishments, Theo has decided to take revenge and to finally get her land back. Together with three other Astreans, they will endanger their lives and attempt to rise a revolution to save their people from the biggest tyrant of all times.
It’s something that has been already seen and read. On the other hand, I liked the magic system that is described in the book, though I was just a little bit overwhelmed by the lack of explanations about how it really works.
Writing style:
There’s nothing memorable about the writing style. It’s simple, a little slow-paced at the beginning but that changes throughout the book and it turns into a pleasant, fast-paced read. A point in its favor is that I loved the use of German words. Give me Spanish or German terms and I will be the happiest man on Earth.
Worldbuilding:
Even though there’s not much of a worldbuilding, it’s fair enough to say that it was a well-done introductory one. The pirate vibes I got at the end of the book, promises a rich worldbuilding in the next books of the series.
Characters:
Not all memorable, not all of them so well done, and yet every one of them teaches us something important.
Theodosia: to begin with, I like her name. I’m not sure if I even pronouncing it well, but the way I do it sounds cool. She is the character who has taught me the most. She is a strong person and even though she has been through difficult situations, through violence and surrounded by death, she has control of her emotion, knowledge of what is wrong and right. She does sacrifices in order to save others. She embraces her emotions; her anger, her love, her history. She’s one of the characters best developed I’ve had the chance to read.
Crescentia: my heart is broken. She is the incarnation of human bondage, of pity and jealousy. She is revenge and she is illusions. She is smart and bold. She will be amazing in the next books.
Soren: he is a kid. He doesn’t know about life. He is in love and he is blind. He has suffered, and he has hope. He needs more depth.
Kaiser and Theyn: those are what I call well-done villains.
The Shadows (Blaise, Art, and Heron): This is review is getting too long so I will only say thanks to Blaise for being part of one of the best well-done love triangles ever and Heron for giving us some diversity and Art for having her hair blue.
Extras:
This book has one of the best love triangles I've ever read.
I’m out.
P.S. The book is worth reading. Somebody give me the next part now, please.
...................................................................................................................................................................
This is such a hard book to rate. While I was reading it, there were moments when I wanted to give it 2 stars, then 4 which finally led me to give it 3 fair stars.
This message isn’t especially for this book but for all the present and future YA novels: Stop using violence (such as whipping, burning or cutting off parts of the body) and slavery as a ground to create strong characters. It is well known that we learn through be strong after enduring pain, but this is getting off your hands. We do need happy stories, too. In a world full of violence, the less we need is more of it.
Warning: This book has explicit violence content.
Plot:
This book is a combination of some already known YA novels with some glints of originality. It reminded me of [b: An Ember in the Ashes|27774758|An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1)|Sabaa Tahir|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519425615s/27774758.jpg|39113604], [b: Throne of Glass|7896527|Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, #1)|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1495278054s/7896527.jpg|11138426] and a little bit of The Grisha Trilogy.
The book follows the story of Thora, Theo, Theodosia, whatever you wanna call her, whose Mother the Fire Queen was slaughtered in front of her eyes while her land was taken by the Kalovaxians.
The Astrean population who tried to fight against the Kaiser was killed and the ones who surrendered were turned into slaves. However, Theo was taken by the Kaiser as a trophy of the victory, to be raised as a Kalovaxians and to use her as a reminder of the fall of the Astreans and the impossibility of a reconquest. Now, after the year of suffering the Kaiser’s punishments, Theo has decided to take revenge and to finally get her land back. Together with three other Astreans, they will endanger their lives and attempt to rise a revolution to save their people from the biggest tyrant of all times.
It’s something that has been already seen and read. On the other hand, I liked the magic system that is described in the book, though I was just a little bit overwhelmed by the lack of explanations about how it really works.
Writing style:
There’s nothing memorable about the writing style. It’s simple, a little slow-paced at the beginning but that changes throughout the book and it turns into a pleasant, fast-paced read. A point in its favor is that I loved the use of German words. Give me Spanish or German terms and I will be the happiest man on Earth.
Worldbuilding:
Even though there’s not much of a worldbuilding, it’s fair enough to say that it was a well-done introductory one. The pirate vibes I got at the end of the book, promises a rich worldbuilding in the next books of the series.
Characters:
Not all memorable, not all of them so well done, and yet every one of them teaches us something important.
Theodosia: to begin with, I like her name. I’m not sure if I even pronouncing it well, but the way I do it sounds cool. She is the character who has taught me the most. She is a strong person and even though she has been through difficult situations, through violence and surrounded by death, she has control of her emotion, knowledge of what is wrong and right. She does sacrifices in order to save others. She embraces her emotions; her anger, her love, her history. She’s one of the characters best developed I’ve had the chance to read.
Crescentia: my heart is broken. She is the incarnation of human bondage, of pity and jealousy. She is revenge and she is illusions. She is smart and bold. She will be amazing in the next books.
Soren: he is a kid. He doesn’t know about life. He is in love and he is blind. He has suffered, and he has hope. He needs more depth.
Kaiser and Theyn: those are what I call well-done villains.
The Shadows (Blaise, Art, and Heron): This is review is getting too long so I will only say thanks to Blaise for being part of one of the best well-done love triangles ever and Heron for giving us some diversity and Art for having her hair blue.
Extras:
This book has one of the best love triangles I've ever read.
I’m out.
P.S. The book is worth reading. Somebody give me the next part now, please.
I really did go into this wanting to like it. Because I have been liking the low fantasy romances, I thought this would be up my alley.
Instead, it ended up reminding me of one of the most mediocre book series I've ever read, The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski. I was also feeling anxious and not in the mood for anything I might end up rating below a 4/5, so I decided to cut my losses and DNF this one about 25% of the way in.
I guess if it gets better after that point, you can let me know, but for now, I couldn't make it through this one.
Instead, it ended up reminding me of one of the most mediocre book series I've ever read, The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski. I was also feeling anxious and not in the mood for anything I might end up rating below a 4/5, so I decided to cut my losses and DNF this one about 25% of the way in.
I guess if it gets better after that point, you can let me know, but for now, I couldn't make it through this one.
