Scan barcode
oakie's review
4.0
it was a run of the mill magic Harry Potter clone full of sexy making out scenes and an unoriginal plot.
some of the choices made don't make much sense to me. and this is where the spoilers will begin. minor, but still a warning.
her horse is afraid of everyone, it took Sabrina a year to get the horse to trust her. but she somehow managed to gallop across the country with her not ever freaking out or panicking outside of the normal horse amount. Sabrina freaked out thinking someone was in the horse's stall but let's ride her free across the world full of people.
she had horrible nightmares about her long dead relative haunting her, she most likely would have been talking in her sleep and freaking out like most people with normal nightmares. why did none of the boys question this during the months they traveled together? even just that she had nightmares, especially when she slept cuddled up to the young boy to comfort him.
the monks were said to be logical, would debate until long after they needed to make a decision on defense. yet the main chamber of the oldest monks, those who would talk the most, going by old folks in my life, they just quickly decide she needs to go after the lodestone and they will defend as best they can there while she destroyed it.
also where was that old master guy? they acted really suspicious when he was mentioned and nothing ever came of it. nobody batted an eye and yet it was made like it was important to the reader. not sure if this was supposed to be followed up and edited out or for the sequel or forgotten. but it left me frustrated.
the scenes with her and Micah stealing away for making out were so cheesy romance novel that I sent quotes to my friends and we laughed about it. "he touched where no one has touched before" was said so many times I could have made a drinking game out of it.
also did we ever figure out what that fire rain was because it was kind of important to stop that???
so basically, it was average, with quite a few plot Holes that were never talked about. if you don't think about that stuff you'll probably like it but I'm not one for being set up for information and then it drifting off as a past thought.
some of the choices made don't make much sense to me. and this is where the spoilers will begin. minor, but still a warning.
her horse is afraid of everyone, it took Sabrina a year to get the horse to trust her. but she somehow managed to gallop across the country with her not ever freaking out or panicking outside of the normal horse amount. Sabrina freaked out thinking someone was in the horse's stall but let's ride her free across the world full of people.
she had horrible nightmares about her long dead relative haunting her, she most likely would have been talking in her sleep and freaking out like most people with normal nightmares. why did none of the boys question this during the months they traveled together? even just that she had nightmares, especially when she slept cuddled up to the young boy to comfort him.
the monks were said to be logical, would debate until long after they needed to make a decision on defense. yet the main chamber of the oldest monks, those who would talk the most, going by old folks in my life, they just quickly decide she needs to go after the lodestone and they will defend as best they can there while she destroyed it.
also where was that old master guy? they acted really suspicious when he was mentioned and nothing ever came of it. nobody batted an eye and yet it was made like it was important to the reader. not sure if this was supposed to be followed up and edited out or for the sequel or forgotten. but it left me frustrated.
the scenes with her and Micah stealing away for making out were so cheesy romance novel that I sent quotes to my friends and we laughed about it. "he touched where no one has touched before" was said so many times I could have made a drinking game out of it.
also did we ever figure out what that fire rain was because it was kind of important to stop that???
so basically, it was average, with quite a few plot Holes that were never talked about. if you don't think about that stuff you'll probably like it but I'm not one for being set up for information and then it drifting off as a past thought.
emmalg's review
2.0
I'm a huge fan of fantasy but I found this dreadfully contrived. Whilst most fantasy is written to a clear formula this book feels like it has been fleshed out as part of an exercise - "Make three things happen during the journey through the wood. How do the characters react?"
Compared to other fantasies, passion and imagination are really lacking and the simplistic style of writing doesn't let you get lost in the story or really imagine the scenes. I doubt I'll read the sequels.
Compared to other fantasies, passion and imagination are really lacking and the simplistic style of writing doesn't let you get lost in the story or really imagine the scenes. I doubt I'll read the sequels.
emmajaye's review
4.0
A classic fantasy tale with an interesting theme. There are plenty of believable 3 dimensional characters, with their own agendas and personal conflicts. It’s an intriguing read and left me hungry to discover what happens to the main characters on an interpersonal level as well as in their society in general. The door is definitely wide open for future books in this series, although you aren't left hanging at the end of Lodestone, just very curious about how things will turn out.
Scenes are described beautifully, and draw you in, without the annoying repetitive details that some established fantasy authors insist on to pad their books. For example although setting up camp fires, cooking, eating and clothing is described in sufficient detail, you don’t suffer endless repeats of each meal while the characters travel.
The author weaves the ‘back story’ in via a diary, and although I found the ‘accent’ used a little irritating at times, it is well constructed, feeding in information at a suitable pace throughout the main tale.
I'd have given it five stars if they'd been a little more 'adult situations' between the characters, but then it wouldn't appeal to such a wide audience, and it is a very personal preference.
More...