Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
For full or more reviews check out my blog at http://adiisbookshelf.blogspot.com/
As much as I loved the book I did find a lot of stereotypical themes in this read... For example Britta happens to have one of the rarer magical abilities... That's just ONE of the many examples. I was very excited and interested in the read and after reading it, I was only slightly disappointed. Slightly disappointed because one book contained so many cliches! However, I did find it very enjoyable and would rate it a 3.5/5. I am excited for the next book especially with the cliffhanger that Erin Summerill left the 1st book on. I have high hopes for the next book!
I also for some reason was keen to the idea that Britta was already in love with Cohen. Sometimes the way characters fall in love with each other seem too forced or too cheesy. So I appreciate the slight difference. I also really like that they were best friends before she fell in love with him! My SO and I were best friends for years before we actually started dating. So I found that relatable too!
As much as I loved the book I did find a lot of stereotypical themes in this read... For example Britta happens to have one of the rarer magical abilities... That's just ONE of the many examples. I was very excited and interested in the read and after reading it, I was only slightly disappointed. Slightly disappointed because one book contained so many cliches! However, I did find it very enjoyable and would rate it a 3.5/5. I am excited for the next book especially with the cliffhanger that Erin Summerill left the 1st book on. I have high hopes for the next book!
I also for some reason was keen to the idea that Britta was already in love with Cohen. Sometimes the way characters fall in love with each other seem too forced or too cheesy. So I appreciate the slight difference. I also really like that they were best friends before she fell in love with him! My SO and I were best friends for years before we actually started dating. So I found that relatable too!
Honestly I loved most of this book. I love the development Britta's character undergoes. I love her fight and her tenacity. I appreciate the fact that she fights for herself, for what's right, and for her kingdom. The story had some clever points but the end felt contrived and twisted as a way to sell a series. I would wholeheartedly appreciate a spin-off book about the character Leaf. I love him deeply. That is not how the future books are sold and I feel cheated. There was a lovely end in sight but it reeked of an editor demanding a series and not just a quality story.
If you could tell from the 1 star (or husky) rating above, this will not be a positive review. I am sorry to say that I was lured in by the beautiful cover of this book, as well as the synopsis. After having had less of a dose of fantasy than I normally do, for some weeks, I was really looking forward to diving into this book. Once I read the first few pages, however, I realized that this would not be the book I had been looking forward to.
This book is the first which I ever buddy read, and it’s a good thing that I did too, because I am not sure if I could have finished it otherwise. Every 5 chapters, fellow blogger Melanie and I would take a break and discuss what we had read, and I found this to be the funnest part about reading this book. I had always wanted to read a book at the same time with someone else, and even though our reading experience was negative, we encouraged each other to keep going, and made a number of discoveries regarding descriptions, and writing style…But anyway, back to Ever the Hunted.
I think that there was a lot of potential here, regarding world-building, magic, and characters but that they all sort of fell short. And I believe that most of these things fell short because the author did not have a full grasp over the story. The plot and everything else still requires a lot of re-working and refining before publication, in my opinion, and I think that this is the main reason why I was disappointed in this read.
Some of the events or characters choices are not well-explained, and even when they are, the reasoning behind these explanations did not make sense to me. Or I found them to be pointless. There were also a lot of twists and surprises, and while maybe just a few were actually surprising, the others were predictable and definitely plot twists I had come across in other books (books in which these twists were executed with much more skill and reasoning).
The world was interesting, but nothing I hadn’t encountered before. There was also nothing about the descriptions used for the two countries which really caught my attention, or which will be memorable for me in the long-run. The magic became over-complicated at one point, where it could have been more effective and believable if it had been kept simple. I think that the author wanted to do a lot of things with the magic, but that she limited herself and then broke her own limits. As for the characters, they all felt like they had been plucked out of a list of typical fantasy characters and placed into this story. There was close to no depth to any of them, in my opinion, except for Britta who is the narrator and main character. And although there was more detail provided of her character and the inner workings of her mind, there was an incredible amount of repetition, as well as contradictions which became incredibly frustrating after a while.
For me, Britta felt like a female character created out of bits and pieces of other female characters in YA fantasy. Except that all of the pieces which were used, were the parts of those other female characters which I disliked. I cannot think of one quality which was attributed to Britta which I would consider positive or in the least endearing.
I am very disappointed to have been lured in by this book’s cover and description, only to spend hours upon hours of feeling dissatisfied. But while I may have wasted my time with this book, I am hoping that I can save those of you with the same (or similar) tastes as myself from the same experience.
This book is the first which I ever buddy read, and it’s a good thing that I did too, because I am not sure if I could have finished it otherwise. Every 5 chapters, fellow blogger Melanie and I would take a break and discuss what we had read, and I found this to be the funnest part about reading this book. I had always wanted to read a book at the same time with someone else, and even though our reading experience was negative, we encouraged each other to keep going, and made a number of discoveries regarding descriptions, and writing style…But anyway, back to Ever the Hunted.
I think that there was a lot of potential here, regarding world-building, magic, and characters but that they all sort of fell short. And I believe that most of these things fell short because the author did not have a full grasp over the story. The plot and everything else still requires a lot of re-working and refining before publication, in my opinion, and I think that this is the main reason why I was disappointed in this read.
Some of the events or characters choices are not well-explained, and even when they are, the reasoning behind these explanations did not make sense to me. Or I found them to be pointless. There were also a lot of twists and surprises, and while maybe just a few were actually surprising, the others were predictable and definitely plot twists I had come across in other books (books in which these twists were executed with much more skill and reasoning).
The world was interesting, but nothing I hadn’t encountered before. There was also nothing about the descriptions used for the two countries which really caught my attention, or which will be memorable for me in the long-run. The magic became over-complicated at one point, where it could have been more effective and believable if it had been kept simple. I think that the author wanted to do a lot of things with the magic, but that she limited herself and then broke her own limits. As for the characters, they all felt like they had been plucked out of a list of typical fantasy characters and placed into this story. There was close to no depth to any of them, in my opinion, except for Britta who is the narrator and main character. And although there was more detail provided of her character and the inner workings of her mind, there was an incredible amount of repetition, as well as contradictions which became incredibly frustrating after a while.
For me, Britta felt like a female character created out of bits and pieces of other female characters in YA fantasy. Except that all of the pieces which were used, were the parts of those other female characters which I disliked. I cannot think of one quality which was attributed to Britta which I would consider positive or in the least endearing.
I am very disappointed to have been lured in by this book’s cover and description, only to spend hours upon hours of feeling dissatisfied. But while I may have wasted my time with this book, I am hoping that I can save those of you with the same (or similar) tastes as myself from the same experience.
Da ich gemischte Rezensionen und Meinungen zu diesem Buch gelesen habe, war ich mir zuerst nicht ganz sicher, ob ich es mögen würde. Doch der Klappentext und das Cover haben mich überzeugt. Und wie ich vom Inhalt dieses Buches überrascht wurde ist kaum zu glauben!
Es erwartet einen eine magische Reise durch Verrat, Liebe, Vertrauen und Hass und ich wurde von den Wendungen im Roman so oft überrascht, dass ich kaum hinterherkam. Und das ist immer ein Plus! Es geht um eine Welt in der ein Land, dem Magie verhasst ist, neben einem anderen Land liegt in dem Magie verehrt wird. Zwei Länder die Krieg führen, einen Verrat am König und den Tod von Tessas Vater, das Verschwinden ihrer großen Liebe und dem Geheimnis um ihre Mutter. Klingt nach hartem Tobak und einem Action-bepackten Buch? Genau richtig! All diese unterschwelligen Thematiken die behandelt werden, wie Ausgrenzung von Minderheiten in der Gesellschaft, verratene Freundschaften und auch Feminismus haben das Buch zu einem großartigen Erlebnis gemacht, dass ich nicht aus der Hand legen wollte.
Tesse war ein Charakter, mit dem man sich gut identifizieren konnte. Sie hatte Fehler und Schwächen und war unheimlich sympathisch geschrieben. Außerdem hatte ich bei ihr selten dieses Unverständnis für leichtsinnige Handlungen, wie bei anderen Büchern, auch wenn ich nicht immer alles nachvollziehen konnte, was passiert ist. Manche Handlungen wirkten etwas zu abgehetzt und gezwungen, doch das wäre jetzt wirklich meckern auf hohem Niveau. Auch Cohen hat mir mit seiner selbstbewussten und doch fürsorglichen Art und Weise sehr gut gefallen und der Fakt, dass die beiden sich schon früher kannten und Das Fehlen von Insta-Liebe hat das Buch für mich gleich noch besser gemacht, da es meiner eigenen Liebesgeschichte ähnelt und irgendwie sehr viel realistischer scheint! Allerdings fand ich es manchmal schade, dass die doch recht kindischen Machtspielchen zwischen den beiden irgendwie dem Vorankommen der spannenden Hauptgeschichte im Weg standen.
Nun zum Schreibstil und dem generellen Inhalt: Am Anfang habe ich jedes Wort in mich aufgesogen und war super fasziniert von den detailreichen Beschreibungen der Umgebung und Tessas Gefühlen und konnte mir richtiggehend vorstellen mit ihr durch die Wälder zu streifen. In der Mitte wurde das Ganze dann etwas langsamer, was der Geschichte aber irgendwie keinen Abbruch getan hat, weil man dennoch unbedingt wissen wollte wie es weitergeht. Und dann waren da noch die letzten circa 50 Seiten, in denen sich die Ereignisse so heftig überschlagen haben, dass ich einige Paragraphen nochmal lesen musste um überhaupt hinterherzukommen, was gerade geschehen ist. Manches davon hat mich beinahe zum Weinen gebracht und nicht selten ist mein Herz stehen geblieben vor Anspannung. Der gelungene Cliffhanger am Ende sorgt dafür, dass ich den zweiten Band kaum abwarten kann und jedem von euch das Buch nur ans Herz legen kann, wenn Geschichten wie “Die Tribute von Panem”, “Das Reich der Sieben Höfe” oder auch “Snow like Ashes” euch gefallen haben. Ich möchte es dennoch mit keinem dieser Reihen vergleichen, denn es hat seinen ganz eigenen Charme!
Ich möchte aber auf jeden Fall noch darauf eingehen, wie verrückt es ist, dass der Hauptcharakter in der deutschen Übersetzung einen komplett anderen Namen trägt! Als ich nach einer Zusammenfassung für den englischen Band auf diese Tatsache getroffen bin war ich absolut verwirrt, und kann auch nicht ganz verstehen, warum so eine Änderung überhaupt vorgenommen wurde! Für gewöhnlich baut der Autor schließlich eine Bindung zu dem Namen seines Protagonisten auf und ein Namen kann sehr wohl verändern, wie man einen Charakter wahrnimmt. Vielleicht wurde der Name aus dem englischen “Britta” in “Tessa” umgewandelt weil er ansonsten zu altmodisch deutsch geklungen hätte? Ich weiß es nicht genau, wollte das aber nicht unerwähnt lassen, da mich sowas aus unerklärlichen Gründen stört.
(Das der Verlag mir ein Rezensionsexemplar zukommen ließ hat meine Meinung in keinster Weise beeinflusst.)
Es erwartet einen eine magische Reise durch Verrat, Liebe, Vertrauen und Hass und ich wurde von den Wendungen im Roman so oft überrascht, dass ich kaum hinterherkam. Und das ist immer ein Plus! Es geht um eine Welt in der ein Land, dem Magie verhasst ist, neben einem anderen Land liegt in dem Magie verehrt wird. Zwei Länder die Krieg führen, einen Verrat am König und den Tod von Tessas Vater, das Verschwinden ihrer großen Liebe und dem Geheimnis um ihre Mutter. Klingt nach hartem Tobak und einem Action-bepackten Buch? Genau richtig! All diese unterschwelligen Thematiken die behandelt werden, wie Ausgrenzung von Minderheiten in der Gesellschaft, verratene Freundschaften und auch Feminismus haben das Buch zu einem großartigen Erlebnis gemacht, dass ich nicht aus der Hand legen wollte.
Tesse war ein Charakter, mit dem man sich gut identifizieren konnte. Sie hatte Fehler und Schwächen und war unheimlich sympathisch geschrieben. Außerdem hatte ich bei ihr selten dieses Unverständnis für leichtsinnige Handlungen, wie bei anderen Büchern, auch wenn ich nicht immer alles nachvollziehen konnte, was passiert ist. Manche Handlungen wirkten etwas zu abgehetzt und gezwungen, doch das wäre jetzt wirklich meckern auf hohem Niveau. Auch Cohen hat mir mit seiner selbstbewussten und doch fürsorglichen Art und Weise sehr gut gefallen und der Fakt, dass die beiden sich schon früher kannten und Das Fehlen von Insta-Liebe hat das Buch für mich gleich noch besser gemacht, da es meiner eigenen Liebesgeschichte ähnelt und irgendwie sehr viel realistischer scheint! Allerdings fand ich es manchmal schade, dass die doch recht kindischen Machtspielchen zwischen den beiden irgendwie dem Vorankommen der spannenden Hauptgeschichte im Weg standen.
Nun zum Schreibstil und dem generellen Inhalt: Am Anfang habe ich jedes Wort in mich aufgesogen und war super fasziniert von den detailreichen Beschreibungen der Umgebung und Tessas Gefühlen und konnte mir richtiggehend vorstellen mit ihr durch die Wälder zu streifen. In der Mitte wurde das Ganze dann etwas langsamer, was der Geschichte aber irgendwie keinen Abbruch getan hat, weil man dennoch unbedingt wissen wollte wie es weitergeht. Und dann waren da noch die letzten circa 50 Seiten, in denen sich die Ereignisse so heftig überschlagen haben, dass ich einige Paragraphen nochmal lesen musste um überhaupt hinterherzukommen, was gerade geschehen ist. Manches davon hat mich beinahe zum Weinen gebracht und nicht selten ist mein Herz stehen geblieben vor Anspannung. Der gelungene Cliffhanger am Ende sorgt dafür, dass ich den zweiten Band kaum abwarten kann und jedem von euch das Buch nur ans Herz legen kann, wenn Geschichten wie “Die Tribute von Panem”, “Das Reich der Sieben Höfe” oder auch “Snow like Ashes” euch gefallen haben. Ich möchte es dennoch mit keinem dieser Reihen vergleichen, denn es hat seinen ganz eigenen Charme!
Ich möchte aber auf jeden Fall noch darauf eingehen, wie verrückt es ist, dass der Hauptcharakter in der deutschen Übersetzung einen komplett anderen Namen trägt! Als ich nach einer Zusammenfassung für den englischen Band auf diese Tatsache getroffen bin war ich absolut verwirrt, und kann auch nicht ganz verstehen, warum so eine Änderung überhaupt vorgenommen wurde! Für gewöhnlich baut der Autor schließlich eine Bindung zu dem Namen seines Protagonisten auf und ein Namen kann sehr wohl verändern, wie man einen Charakter wahrnimmt. Vielleicht wurde der Name aus dem englischen “Britta” in “Tessa” umgewandelt weil er ansonsten zu altmodisch deutsch geklungen hätte? Ich weiß es nicht genau, wollte das aber nicht unerwähnt lassen, da mich sowas aus unerklärlichen Gründen stört.
(Das der Verlag mir ein Rezensionsexemplar zukommen ließ hat meine Meinung in keinster Weise beeinflusst.)
***I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion***
I've been in a reading slump, i've currently got 5 books that i'm halfway through, but I kept hearing really wonderful things about this book so I requested it from NetGalley and thankfully was apporved! I opened it up as soon as I could and it was the perfect book to get me going again! This book was so refreshing and bright. At first I thought it was going to be too much like a fairy tale retelling or that it sounded too similar to a Court of Thorns and Roses but then I kept reading and I was immediately bowled over by how well rounded Britta is as a character. She has tons of small defining details that Summerill doesn't waste years justifying or explaining away, she is imbued with characteristics that are well supported and her character is complicated. I loved learning more about her and her relationship/history with Cohen. I loved the slow reveal on those details and I think it was a very mature way to tell this story.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something familiar yet refreshing. It's not the same played out tropes and there VERY easily could have been a love triangle and there WASN'T!!!! I about cried. It was great. 10/10.
So definitely pick this book up and do yourselves a favor.
I've been in a reading slump, i've currently got 5 books that i'm halfway through, but I kept hearing really wonderful things about this book so I requested it from NetGalley and thankfully was apporved! I opened it up as soon as I could and it was the perfect book to get me going again! This book was so refreshing and bright. At first I thought it was going to be too much like a fairy tale retelling or that it sounded too similar to a Court of Thorns and Roses but then I kept reading and I was immediately bowled over by how well rounded Britta is as a character. She has tons of small defining details that Summerill doesn't waste years justifying or explaining away, she is imbued with characteristics that are well supported and her character is complicated. I loved learning more about her and her relationship/history with Cohen. I loved the slow reveal on those details and I think it was a very mature way to tell this story.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something familiar yet refreshing. It's not the same played out tropes and there VERY easily could have been a love triangle and there WASN'T!!!! I about cried. It was great. 10/10.
So definitely pick this book up and do yourselves a favor.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was lovely, the story was interesting and the magic system was an interesting variation on the elements theme.
I wish that more of the channeler powers would have ben shown through out the story but understand that we had to see the slow understanding grow through the main characters perspective.
The story point that really let me down was the main characters constant inability to defend herself. The author repeatedly points out how her father trained her from a young age to be a skilled bounty hunter who can fight, hunt and track. Even going so far as discuss how she was evenly matched with her sparing partner. Yet, every encounter she has with the guards through out the book, she lands only one two good hits and then is overpowered and must be rescued.
I was also a bit disappointed with the ending. That may be fault for not researching the book more before beginning it. I was under the impression it was a stand alone novel so the cliffhanger “to be continued” caught me by surprise.
On the upside, hopefully book two will delve into the magic system deeper and maybe show us some fights that prove our heroine actually is the badass bounty hunter protégée that she was originally described to be.
I wish that more of the channeler powers would have ben shown through out the story but understand that we had to see the slow understanding grow through the main characters perspective.
The story point that really let me down was the main characters constant inability to defend herself. The author repeatedly points out how her father trained her from a young age to be a skilled bounty hunter who can fight, hunt and track. Even going so far as discuss how she was evenly matched with her sparing partner. Yet, every encounter she has with the guards through out the book, she lands only one two good hits and then is overpowered and must be rescued.
I was also a bit disappointed with the ending. That may be fault for not researching the book more before beginning it. I was under the impression it was a stand alone novel so the cliffhanger “to be continued” caught me by surprise.
On the upside, hopefully book two will delve into the magic system deeper and maybe show us some fights that prove our heroine actually is the badass bounty hunter protégée that she was originally described to be.
So I went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars because it was good and there was nothing particularly bad about it but there wasn't anything especially unique or special about it either.
So 3.5 stars and I rounded up.
However, the ending made me equal parts mad and intrigued because it's a big cliffhanger that I don't entirely entirely understand but it really makes
So 3.5 stars and I rounded up.
However, the ending made me equal parts mad and intrigued because it's a big cliffhanger that I don't entirely entirely understand but it really makes
DNF @ 27%.
I really, really, really wanted to like this book, but the plot was simply too boring and the characters themselves were simply too cliche (also the main love interest was annoying!). It felt like a hodgepodge of other fantasy worlds and it just felt like the author was "trying too hard" to make the story happen.
I really, really, really wanted to like this book, but the plot was simply too boring and the characters themselves were simply too cliche (also the main love interest was annoying!). It felt like a hodgepodge of other fantasy worlds and it just felt like the author was "trying too hard" to make the story happen.
adventurous
medium-paced
2.5 stars, DNF at 40%. I might come back and finish it sometime but right now I'm not sufficiently grabbed or impressed. The writing is fine and the story idea is pretty cool. I like the warring kingdoms and the magic. However, almost every cliche and fantasy trope I can think of is present and not done particularly well. I also don't like Britt very much. She was Katniss-meets- Feyre and didn't have much personality beyond that. Plus her inner monologue about Cohen was too much at times; I really didn't need to go through his physical features constantly. And the flashbacks took me out of the story. Plus girl, he doesn't think of you as his sister. TRUST me. She's a little dense there. And the name Cohen- can we not?? Some last names aren't meant to be last names (and this is firmly a last name, as it was mine for the first 27 years of my life). That's not even getting into the implications of taking a name that is special to a certain religion and using it for other purposes. There are so many other names to use!! So yeah, I don't care about the romance and this book revolves heavily around the romance under the guise of a murder mystery. There's some action but again, it's almost like a connect the dots fantasy. I think readers who don't read a lot of fantasy will enjoy it. It's not a bad book, it's just not particularly original.