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lily5678's review
1.0
I wanted to like this book. The storyline itself promises something a bit different, and it could have been great. It just wasn't. In fact, the only reason I even finished the book was that it was so short - 174 pages according to kindle. On the other hand, its brevity might be its main problem - there simply is no time for characterbuilding, worldbuilding or depth of any kind.
Naturally, there's instalove-with-destined-soulmate. Because freedom of choice is so old school. The theme of instant love with a soulmate is easy, and that's the way the whole book is written - it feels like the author took the easy way out. She wanted the heroine to struggle during her hard training, during which she would become stronger than any witch before her - awesome! But in order for it to actually feel hard it should probably have lasted longer than a couple of days, and the struggle ought to have been more than a couple minor setbacks, which our heroine overcame directly.
I feel this is a perfect example of how the author tries to start something but then backs out:
Sova stood silently for s moment, frowning in concern.
"Sova, what's wrong?"
"You have only been harnessing your Intueri powers for a few days," she said softly. "Do you feel ready to fight?"
I didn't miss a beat. "Yes."
All signs of worry left her face when she saw my resolve.
Simple.
And also, was it really necessary to call magic "magick"?
Spoiler
Naturally, there's instalove-with-destined-soulmate. Because freedom of choice is so old school. The theme of instant love with a soulmate is easy, and that's the way the whole book is written - it feels like the author took the easy way out. She wanted the heroine to struggle during her hard training, during which she would become stronger than any witch before her - awesome! But in order for it to actually feel hard it should probably have lasted longer than a couple of days, and the struggle ought to have been more than a couple minor setbacks, which our heroine overcame directly.
I feel this is a perfect example of how the author tries to start something but then backs out:
Sova stood silently for s moment, frowning in concern.
"Sova, what's wrong?"
"You have only been harnessing your Intueri powers for a few days," she said softly. "Do you feel ready to fight?"
I didn't miss a beat. "Yes."
All signs of worry left her face when she saw my resolve.
Simple.
And also, was it really necessary to call magic "magick"?
daleydale's review
3.0
Echo of the Witch is an exciting, magical adventure with a strong “girl power” theme. Teens and younger audiences will greatly enjoy this story for its strong female heroine whose hard work shows that facing your fears can make you stronger.
What I liked about this story was Echo, the main character. Though strong in many ways, Echo has a lot of weaknesses that make her perfectly relatable and easy to sympathize with. Throughout the story, she works hard to overcome her struggles and save herself and the people she loves from the Shriekers, and that leads her to grow quite a bit from beginning to end.
The other characters were also decently well fleshed out and had strong relationships with each other. I enjoyed the friendship she had with her friend Nyxie, and Maia’s motherly tendencies. I do feel there could have been a bit more character growth for the side characters, but I suppose that can be expected from sequels.
Unfortunately, I felt there were several lacking aspects that made this book fall a little short for me. For starters, I wish I had a clearer image of the Shriekers. I got the impression that they were dark and scary, but were they enormous, or human-like? What did their eyes look like, or their fangs? There may have been a description, but it obviously wasn’t memorable enough, which is unfortunate for the main villain. I didn’t fear the villains so much as know that they are bad in an abstract way.
I also think there might have been just a tad too much inner dialogue throughout every chapter, which slowed down the story a little and detracted from the writing. They made the training scenes in particular feel a bit slow. I think the writing was fine for a young adult novel; not anything to write home about, but nothing to really complain about either. It got the job done but didn’t add much to the impact of the story.
There were a few aspects of the story that needed a bit more flesh to them as well. The “plot twist”, for example, didn’t feel as impactful as it should have, and the climax felt just a little underwhelming. All-in-all the whole story could have used a little extra oomph, which is a shame because I did feel that it started off very strong.
However, I do believe that this book is great for its intended audience: teens and young adults. As an adult, despite being a fan of YA books at my age, I didn’t feel enthralled by it, but young girls, I think, will really like it. As far as I remember there is no sex or cursing, so it’s suitable for most ages. In short, teenage audiences will probably love this story, but an adult might find it a little rough around the edges.
What I liked about this story was Echo, the main character. Though strong in many ways, Echo has a lot of weaknesses that make her perfectly relatable and easy to sympathize with. Throughout the story, she works hard to overcome her struggles and save herself and the people she loves from the Shriekers, and that leads her to grow quite a bit from beginning to end.
The other characters were also decently well fleshed out and had strong relationships with each other. I enjoyed the friendship she had with her friend Nyxie, and Maia’s motherly tendencies. I do feel there could have been a bit more character growth for the side characters, but I suppose that can be expected from sequels.
Unfortunately, I felt there were several lacking aspects that made this book fall a little short for me. For starters, I wish I had a clearer image of the Shriekers. I got the impression that they were dark and scary, but were they enormous, or human-like? What did their eyes look like, or their fangs? There may have been a description, but it obviously wasn’t memorable enough, which is unfortunate for the main villain. I didn’t fear the villains so much as know that they are bad in an abstract way.
I also think there might have been just a tad too much inner dialogue throughout every chapter, which slowed down the story a little and detracted from the writing. They made the training scenes in particular feel a bit slow. I think the writing was fine for a young adult novel; not anything to write home about, but nothing to really complain about either. It got the job done but didn’t add much to the impact of the story.
There were a few aspects of the story that needed a bit more flesh to them as well. The “plot twist”, for example, didn’t feel as impactful as it should have, and the climax felt just a little underwhelming. All-in-all the whole story could have used a little extra oomph, which is a shame because I did feel that it started off very strong.
However, I do believe that this book is great for its intended audience: teens and young adults. As an adult, despite being a fan of YA books at my age, I didn’t feel enthralled by it, but young girls, I think, will really like it. As far as I remember there is no sex or cursing, so it’s suitable for most ages. In short, teenage audiences will probably love this story, but an adult might find it a little rough around the edges.
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