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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
Well THAT was a roller coaster
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Premise: Britta Flannery’s father was murdered. She comes out of mourning to find out that the suspect is none other than her Cohen, her best friend who disappeared on her a year and a half ago after they confessed feelings for each other. The powerful Lord Jamis offers a proposal: if she is able to hunt Cohen down and help the king’s men capture him, in return Britta will be able to keep her father’s small cabin and parcel of land, even though by law she cannot inherit the land.
Britta goes on an adventure through the woods, and uncovers a lot more than just who murdered her father.
Look, this was FUN read! I read the whole thing in 24 hours. I have not done that with a book in a while. Also, I realized, I actually don’t think I am very good at figuring out plot twists? Because this book had a couple, and one I did figure out, there were many that left me open-mouthed.
Here are the aforementioned FUN, spoiler-free things about this book:
-Dear Lord, the ROMANTIC TENSION in this book made me want to scream. Sometimes it’s so fun to read teenagers who OBVIOUSLY LIKE EACH OTHER and just don’t know how to talk about it. Cutie pies.
-Cohen is a great character. He is characterized as strong more than attractive, and while he is proud he acquiesces to Britta. He never controls her, ultimately he trusts her decisions.
-Britta is headstrong, compassionate and so easy to love, but her self-talk in her head made me sad. She was constantly talking negatively about her body, which I wished she wouldn’t do! This is something that evolves over the book, and it’s heartwarming to see her grow into loving herself.
-God, ENAT is GREAT. I don’t want to spoil much but I did write down in my notes “If Enat dies I swear I’m gonna kill a b*tch,” so you know take that for what you will.
-The metaphors were sometimes too much for me, but then this cute one really hit home: “I might as well be tied to a flock of birds for how his smile eases an invisible weight off my shoulders.” CUTIE PATOOTIES
-The magic of Channelers was cool in this book, and I wish we got to see more of how it worked! Can’t wait to read in Ever the Brave!
-Also LOVE the idea that Black Magic is the same as regular magic, just that it’s magic used to harm people instead of help them.
Things that I didn’t love as much:
-There was too much rehashing of every single thought Britta had about every single thing that was happening. I didn’t need Britta to retell me what she thought about her father’s death every time they talked about it or that she was happy when x character did this then sad x character did that on the next page. It was too much. We remember things! Readers are smart!
-The plot didn’t really get going for me until page 92. It made it in the 100 page rule, but I did feel like the people I cared about were Britta and Cohen so I just wanted to get to them. But the first 90 or so pages were still fun to read, just a tad slow.
-The flashbacks were a little dull and unnecessary for me. They popped up in random places, and outside of the mountain cat one I didn’t feel like we needed them.
-“I suppose you thought it odd Papa brought me so many books to read.” This is not really the author’s fault, but can we stop the “girls who read are odd” stereotype? This must come from author’s feeling like people thought they were odd because they liked books, but let’s change the narrative! Books are awesome and you don’t have to be considered weird for liking them! To this book’s defense, Cohen says in the next sentence, “Believe me, that is the last reason I think you are odd.” So he still thinks she is odd? It’s all confusing and could have just been kept out.
-Okay, this is a MILD spoiler, but there is one death in the book that feels like it’s just a death for the sake of the death. It doesn’t really change anything and felt pointless, the character didn’t sacrifice themselves for anything the death just kind of… happened.
3.5/5 Bog Berries!
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Premise: Britta Flannery’s father was murdered. She comes out of mourning to find out that the suspect is none other than her Cohen, her best friend who disappeared on her a year and a half ago after they confessed feelings for each other. The powerful Lord Jamis offers a proposal: if she is able to hunt Cohen down and help the king’s men capture him, in return Britta will be able to keep her father’s small cabin and parcel of land, even though by law she cannot inherit the land.
Britta goes on an adventure through the woods, and uncovers a lot more than just who murdered her father.
Look, this was FUN read! I read the whole thing in 24 hours. I have not done that with a book in a while. Also, I realized, I actually don’t think I am very good at figuring out plot twists? Because this book had a couple, and one I did figure out, there were many that left me open-mouthed.
Here are the aforementioned FUN, spoiler-free things about this book:
-Dear Lord, the ROMANTIC TENSION in this book made me want to scream. Sometimes it’s so fun to read teenagers who OBVIOUSLY LIKE EACH OTHER and just don’t know how to talk about it. Cutie pies.
-Cohen is a great character. He is characterized as strong more than attractive, and while he is proud he acquiesces to Britta. He never controls her, ultimately he trusts her decisions.
-Britta is headstrong, compassionate and so easy to love, but her self-talk in her head made me sad. She was constantly talking negatively about her body, which I wished she wouldn’t do! This is something that evolves over the book, and it’s heartwarming to see her grow into loving herself.
-God, ENAT is GREAT. I don’t want to spoil much but I did write down in my notes “If Enat dies I swear I’m gonna kill a b*tch,” so you know take that for what you will.
-The metaphors were sometimes too much for me, but then this cute one really hit home: “I might as well be tied to a flock of birds for how his smile eases an invisible weight off my shoulders.” CUTIE PATOOTIES
-The magic of Channelers was cool in this book, and I wish we got to see more of how it worked! Can’t wait to read in Ever the Brave!
-Also LOVE the idea that Black Magic is the same as regular magic, just that it’s magic used to harm people instead of help them.
Things that I didn’t love as much:
-There was too much rehashing of every single thought Britta had about every single thing that was happening. I didn’t need Britta to retell me what she thought about her father’s death every time they talked about it or that she was happy when x character did this then sad x character did that on the next page. It was too much. We remember things! Readers are smart!
-The plot didn’t really get going for me until page 92. It made it in the 100 page rule, but I did feel like the people I cared about were Britta and Cohen so I just wanted to get to them. But the first 90 or so pages were still fun to read, just a tad slow.
-The flashbacks were a little dull and unnecessary for me. They popped up in random places, and outside of the mountain cat one I didn’t feel like we needed them.
-“I suppose you thought it odd Papa brought me so many books to read.” This is not really the author’s fault, but can we stop the “girls who read are odd” stereotype? This must come from author’s feeling like people thought they were odd because they liked books, but let’s change the narrative! Books are awesome and you don’t have to be considered weird for liking them! To this book’s defense, Cohen says in the next sentence, “Believe me, that is the last reason I think you are odd.” So he still thinks she is odd? It’s all confusing and could have just been kept out.
-Okay, this is a MILD spoiler, but there is one death in the book that feels like it’s just a death for the sake of the death. It doesn’t really change anything and felt pointless, the character didn’t sacrifice themselves for anything the death just kind of… happened.
3.5/5 Bog Berries!
This YA Fantasy with Romance took off and kept me interested from start to finish. Summerill created an interesting world and characters. Of course there's a twist at the end to keep you going in the series. I might just read the last one though - to see who ends up with whom! Great YA recommend.
Plot (5 Points): The plot is meh. Honestly, this is the first YA book I've read, and it was disappointing. It's about a girl whose mother was from a different country, warring with the one they currently reside in. Her father is a hunter for the king so she is not approved of, but protected due to his authority. She is labeled as an outcast and never seems to fit in until she meets the handsome father's apprentice. But, oh no! Her father dies, and it's murder!? The cover pulled me in, it's beautiful, but the story did not meet expectations.
Spoiler
The apprentice boy is thrown under the bus as a scapegoat. She believes the story but after meeting him ONCE she is like, "Oh my gosh, he's so handsome, he would never do this,"
An interesting plot with a good worldbuilding but a well tested trope.
Started out insanely boring, I dropped reading it until I was in the middle of nowhere with no mobile connection. Continued being that way until the last line, which definitely has me considering reading the next book.
I have to admit this book was a total cover buy, come on just look at that cover. I recently buddy read this book with a friend. I really wanted to enjoy this book but found it was rather slow, a lot of things were drawn out with not much happening. Overall it just felt a little bit flat and left me feeling underwhelmed which is a shame.
I rated it 3 stars as it was a quick read, just wasn’t really much to it. Although this is just my opinion and how I felt about it, you never know you might really enjoy it, that’s the great thing about books.
I rated it 3 stars as it was a quick read, just wasn’t really much to it. Although this is just my opinion and how I felt about it, you never know you might really enjoy it, that’s the great thing about books.
It had such a promising beginning! I am so upset by how much of a tumbleweed Ever the Hunted became. Aside from underwhelming rising action, characters that felt like such sticks in the mud, dialogue that was unentertaining and bland like eating a whole container of plain Greek yoghurt.
Britta, you poor, underwhelming woman. You had so much potential. You had so much and you threw it all away! For what? A guy. Per usual. No. I am just so fed up with characters who don't stand up and take their own feelings into account. Britta, you piece of butter, you were so promising in the first couple chapters. Then plot holes and boys and emotions threw you under the bus.
I just hated how complacent Britta was. Like, someone just apologizes and Britta forgives them for every single thing. Especially Cohen, who left her for dead in a town who outcasted her, starved her out, and did nothing when her father died. She forgave him and went off smacking lips for a good page. Girl! you said you could count every single rib you were that malnourished! and you're gonna go ahead and forgive the bastard because he said he was sorry and kissed you real good? I don't get it.
I didn't even see the appeal of Cohen, he was just plain dirt half the time. Keeping secrets and shit. Just a real stick in the mud kinda personality. I couldn't paint a picture of him if you asked me to try. He's just be the sheet of paper.
As far as endings go, I was confused. What even happened? It was not a cliffhanger that makes me excited for book two. It makes me feel awkward because Britta's powers(?) attached her hyperaware spirit to the king...? Who is now going to be a new love interest? And where was I when they announced the king was like super young? I thought he was this stocky old guy just dying in bed the whole time. Anyway, bring on the love triangle, because this story need that of all things.
Britta, you poor, underwhelming woman. You had so much potential. You had so much and you threw it all away! For what? A guy. Per usual. No. I am just so fed up with characters who don't stand up and take their own feelings into account. Britta, you piece of butter, you were so promising in the first couple chapters. Then plot holes and boys and emotions threw you under the bus.
I just hated how complacent Britta was. Like, someone just apologizes and Britta forgives them for every single thing. Especially Cohen, who left her for dead in a town who outcasted her, starved her out, and did nothing when her father died. She forgave him and went off smacking lips for a good page. Girl! you said you could count every single rib you were that malnourished! and you're gonna go ahead and forgive the bastard because he said he was sorry and kissed you real good? I don't get it.
I didn't even see the appeal of Cohen, he was just plain dirt half the time. Keeping secrets and shit. Just a real stick in the mud kinda personality. I couldn't paint a picture of him if you asked me to try. He's just be the sheet of paper.
As far as endings go, I was confused. What even happened? It was not a cliffhanger that makes me excited for book two. It makes me feel awkward because Britta's powers(?) attached her hyperaware spirit to the king...? Who is now going to be a new love interest? And where was I when they announced the king was like super young? I thought he was this stocky old guy just dying in bed the whole time. Anyway, bring on the love triangle, because this story need that of all things.
This book confuses me. On one hand, it was very cliché and felt like a million other stories that I’ve already read. But on the other hand, I was very intrigued by the ending and while there were cringey parts, a found some of the writing very good. So let’s talk.
Cohen is… well. I like his name? Here’s the thing about this book. It fell flat for me in a ton of areas. The writing, while delicious at times, almost felt like middle grade writing in the sense that it felt sort of young (though there were purposefully sexual scenes and kissing).
I found the worldbuilding to feel very one dimensional in the sense that the only places that really felt semi-real were the places visited in the book. I didn’t get much of a solid sense from the rest of the storyworld.
And also, our main character, Britta, has just lost her father, but her grief is, at best, minimal. Sure, most of the story is based on the revenge she needs and there are some scenes with her grief, but for the most part it seems like a plot device and I don’t care a ton for it. As someone who has lost a family member, I just don’t see my own grief relating to hers. I do understand that everyone grieves differently, but it just… It fell flat for me! Also Britta herself didn’t motivate me as a reader. I found her kind of annoying.
We have talked about this for many books, and it all circles back to the cliché aspects of the story, one of which is A FREAKING DUEX MACHINA. NO NO NO. If there was anything that could have rescued this story for me, it would have been NO DUEX MACHINA. I’ve said this many times. I am not a fan of Duex Machinas. At all. No. Do not give me a story with a duex machina unless you’re my best friend and you know it’s one of the rare ones I can actually tolerated without wanting to barf. LET THE CHARACTER DIE.
So moving on. The kissing in this was actually really good. xP Though I felt like the romance kind of took over the story a little and the sexually-charged scenes seemed a little… like every other one I’ve read? There was of course the classic “love interests stay in Inn and oh no! there’s only one bed” which I enjoyed in other books but didn’t really enjoy here.
So I guess for me this story fell flat. (and I didn’t even talk about ENAT y’all). I found it cliché, one dimensional, and a little “ughhhh”. However, I did kind of like the last paragraph so I’ll probably read the next book.
Cohen is… well. I like his name? Here’s the thing about this book. It fell flat for me in a ton of areas. The writing, while delicious at times, almost felt like middle grade writing in the sense that it felt sort of young (though there were purposefully sexual scenes and kissing).
I found the worldbuilding to feel very one dimensional in the sense that the only places that really felt semi-real were the places visited in the book. I didn’t get much of a solid sense from the rest of the storyworld.
And also, our main character, Britta, has just lost her father, but her grief is, at best, minimal. Sure, most of the story is based on the revenge she needs and there are some scenes with her grief, but for the most part it seems like a plot device and I don’t care a ton for it. As someone who has lost a family member, I just don’t see my own grief relating to hers. I do understand that everyone grieves differently, but it just… It fell flat for me! Also Britta herself didn’t motivate me as a reader. I found her kind of annoying.
We have talked about this for many books, and it all circles back to the cliché aspects of the story, one of which is A FREAKING DUEX MACHINA. NO NO NO. If there was anything that could have rescued this story for me, it would have been NO DUEX MACHINA. I’ve said this many times. I am not a fan of Duex Machinas. At all. No. Do not give me a story with a duex machina unless you’re my best friend and you know it’s one of the rare ones I can actually tolerated without wanting to barf. LET THE CHARACTER DIE.
So moving on. The kissing in this was actually really good. xP Though I felt like the romance kind of took over the story a little and the sexually-charged scenes seemed a little… like every other one I’ve read? There was of course the classic “love interests stay in Inn and oh no! there’s only one bed” which I enjoyed in other books but didn’t really enjoy here.
So I guess for me this story fell flat. (and I didn’t even talk about ENAT y’all). I found it cliché, one dimensional, and a little “ughhhh”. However, I did kind of like the last paragraph so I’ll probably read the next book.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced