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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
Well. I am not thrilled about this.
The book started well enough, but then it went down in the second half.
There where things, that didn't make sense to me, and some inconsistencies, that made me mad.
There was no real worldbuilding, just wallpaper setting. No mad kings as promised and dark magic, which I wouldn't have called so, was just barely mentioned.
I did not care about any of the characters. Some of their decisions were stupid as fuck. And that romance part - her drooling after him and the back and forth of 'He loves me, he loves me not" - was ridiculous.
It was definitely not my cup of tea and I won't read the second book. But it's not as bad as the worst book I've read last year so it gets two stars from me.
The book started well enough, but then it went down in the second half.
There where things, that didn't make sense to me, and some inconsistencies, that made me mad.
There was no real worldbuilding, just wallpaper setting. No mad kings as promised and dark magic, which I wouldn't have called so, was just barely mentioned.
I did not care about any of the characters. Some of their decisions were stupid as fuck. And that romance part - her drooling after him and the back and forth of 'He loves me, he loves me not" - was ridiculous.
It was definitely not my cup of tea and I won't read the second book. But it's not as bad as the worst book I've read last year so it gets two stars from me.
This is one of those 'didn't work for me but the kids will really love it' type of books. The swoony guy who says swoony things, a secret past, magic, ole! It's fine. Predictable, for sure, but fine.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5 I'm not sure why it took me so long to get through this book because i did like it. I could have done with a little less romance, but otherwise it was a good and interesting story.
This book has some beautiful writing, and I really loved the ending. It felt long at a few parts, but I am excited to read the next one.
Britta Flannery is caught poaching on royal land and is given an ultimatum by the king's right-hand man: find your father's murderer or be hanged for your crimes. Britta's father, the king's bounty hunter and a respected man in Malam, was killed two months ago. Britta is left little choice and accepts the offer even though the prime suspect is her former best friend and father's former apprentice, Cohen. Britta's hunt for Cohen soon takes her into the neighboring country Shaerdan, where she learns more about the magic that is feared and forbidden in her homeland, and the conflict between the two countries that she finds herself a part of.
The plot is rather predictable, but the story is well told. There are plenty of climactic scenes, daring escapes, and romance. A harrowing climax leaves much room for an anticipated sequel. A great read for fans of Kristin Cashore's Graceling.
The plot is rather predictable, but the story is well told. There are plenty of climactic scenes, daring escapes, and romance. A harrowing climax leaves much room for an anticipated sequel. A great read for fans of Kristin Cashore's Graceling.
Well... it got better by the end. That beginning, though...
At the start, Britta is everything terrible about Katniss Everdeen and Bella Swan and every other sullen ice cold Mary Sue bitch template being used in YA literature and being marketed as good role models for teen girls (I weep for future generations of women, if this is all they have to aspire to). Far from being your typical Strong Female Character(tm) that Tumblr loses their shit over, she's a caricature. A stereotype. A cliche. Which I guess is why this book was nominated for the Beehive Award this year and why critics are going nuts over it (I will never understand book reviewers or awards committees).
However, once the book introduced more characters - and interesting characters - like Leif and the Archtraitor and Enat and even Captain Omar (he was actually likable by the end), the book became a whole lot better. I don't give a crap what happens to Cohen and Britta (if you have any doubt that they'll get together by the end of the trilogy, you obviously haven't been paying attention to every carbon copy of YA lit being marketed to teens right now). But what happens to the two kingdoms - Malam and Shaerdan? Yeah, that's cool.
Britta has a lot of characterization to make up, though, if I have to continue reading everything from her point of view. And for the love of Caesar's Tap-Dancing Ghost, can she please stop mooning over Cohen? Or at least give him a personality so I can see why she likes him so much? This is getting tedious.
I may keep going with the series - my husband ended up with a copy of sequel at the most recent YALSA conference. But if these main characters don't improve - and my experience with second books in YA trilogies leaves me dubious that they will - I won't be going onto the third.
At least the covers are pretty, though.
At the start, Britta is everything terrible about Katniss Everdeen and Bella Swan and every other sullen ice cold Mary Sue bitch template being used in YA literature and being marketed as good role models for teen girls (I weep for future generations of women, if this is all they have to aspire to). Far from being your typical Strong Female Character(tm) that Tumblr loses their shit over, she's a caricature. A stereotype. A cliche. Which I guess is why this book was nominated for the Beehive Award this year and why critics are going nuts over it (I will never understand book reviewers or awards committees).
However, once the book introduced more characters - and interesting characters - like Leif and the Archtraitor and Enat and even Captain Omar (he was actually likable by the end), the book became a whole lot better. I don't give a crap what happens to Cohen and Britta (if you have any doubt that they'll get together by the end of the trilogy, you obviously haven't been paying attention to every carbon copy of YA lit being marketed to teens right now). But what happens to the two kingdoms - Malam and Shaerdan? Yeah, that's cool.
Britta has a lot of characterization to make up, though, if I have to continue reading everything from her point of view. And for the love of Caesar's Tap-Dancing Ghost, can she please stop mooning over Cohen? Or at least give him a personality so I can see why she likes him so much? This is getting tedious.
I may keep going with the series - my husband ended up with a copy of sequel at the most recent YALSA conference. But if these main characters don't improve - and my experience with second books in YA trilogies leaves me dubious that they will - I won't be going onto the third.
At least the covers are pretty, though.
This book was alr..
The beginning was really good, but from the middle to end things got a bit disorganized.
Random details were added in VERY abruptly, and unorganized is just the perfect word I would use to describe the whole thing.
Bu tho everything I said above was true, the last page caught me by surprise and i literally cant wait to read the next book
The beginning was really good, but from the middle to end things got a bit disorganized.
Random details were added in VERY abruptly, and unorganized is just the perfect word I would use to describe the whole thing.
Bu tho everything I said above was true, the last page caught me by surprise and i literally cant wait to read the next book