Reviews - By the Orchid and the Owl: The Esholian Institute Book 1

205 reviews for:

By the Orchid and the Owl: The Esholian Institute Book 1

Mariah Montoya

4.29 AVERAGE

caffeinatedbookdragon's review against another edition

It reads extremely YA and the writing isn’t very good. It seems to be trying to do a Harry Potter/fourth wing kind of thing but the male MC is 23 to the female MC’s 18 which is giving me the ick.

josiewebster11's review against another edition

4.75

medium-paced

lexrex's review against another edition

2.0

This book is very young, and I don’t think I’m the right audience for it. The writing was not very good and the plot was all over the place, same with the relationships.

3 ⭐️

This book was... frustrating. I really liked the beginning and the world building. Loved hearing about the magic and the way the different kinds could be used. I love a good academy/school setting and I think it did that really well with a good balance of lessons and details about magic and how it worked without it ever becoming boring and repetitive. So I think the author did that really well!

However, as the story progressed I started getting annoyed with the characters and their complete lack of communication. No one really talks to each other about anything. Something major happens that would leave normal people with so many questions, but then a new chapter begins and the first line is "a few weeks later". And you'd think that maybe the characters had those conversations off-page, but she actually mentions that they've just been ignoring it. It was just such a missed opportunity because I feel like there could be some really good scenes there with more depth and progression in character relationships, which was something the story sorely lacked.

Which is another issue I have; Coen and Rayna's relationship was way too sudden and it lacked tension and depth. He has some really good and sexy one-liners but they just seem a bit misplaced and cringey because we only just met him and there's no buildup; suddenly he is just head over heals and will do anything to protect her. And I love that trope, but it needs to feel natural, and unfortunately it didn't. And when they finally get together, we don't spend enough time with them at all. We needed more scenes where they talk, where they do things together for it to feel more natural. Otherwise we don't really care that much about their relationship

Spoiler

or their breakup

. And the same goes for Rayna's friendships with Emelle and the others as well. The characters themselves were good, but the relationships were just... flat.

Sometimes the characters would jump to conclusions I did not understand at all. We are slowly getting more information on things and suddenly someone is like "ah, this must mean that!" and I'm just left a but dumbfounded going "how did you get there?" I needed more information and a bit more steps before the character has a sudden realization that seems a little random to the reader. The same goes for the motivations of the bad guys. It seemed so unnecessary and unrealistic for Fergus and Jania to hate Rayna that much. It was clear that the author wanted them to be mean and bad, but the motivation just didn't really fit the severity of what they wanted to do to Rayna and her friends. So they ended up just being evil for evil's sake which, again, felt flat.

And then the final issue, which is definitely the biggest: I hated the ending.

Spoiler

I hated that Coen hid her memories (both times but especially the last one), I hated how he treated her (it was such a violation of her mind and her free will) and I HATED the fake memory he gave Kitterfol. It felt way too horrible and unnecessary. It was so cruel to leave that in her head, and again we don't talk about it afterwards. She is clearly shaken and he apologizes, but that's it. It's never mentioned between them again and they just act normal. I thought it was so uncomfortable to read and I really thought he could have come up with something better. And the way the story ends with her now thinking this is reality and he has done these horrible things to her? You guessed it; I hated it.

Also it's just such a dumb plan in the end. Erasing her memories when Kitterfol has seen them together in her mind before? Coen knows that she will be interrogated by them (which is ironically why he does it), so now The Good Council knows that her memories have been tampered with. How will that make her safe? Spoiler alert: it doesn't. They don't suspect her, which is great. But she is now a pawn in their game instead of being left alone. I know he couldn't have predicted everything and they were working under immense time pressure. But still. It was an obviously horrible plan and he had to treat her so bad for it to work. For the majority of the story, I did not like him as a main character/love interest and I hope there will be some serious grovelling when they find each other again.

I would really like to know how the entire story ends, but I don't think I'm going to continue reading the series when more books are published. Again, I really liked the beginning of the story and it had so many great elements. But I feel like the issues I have with the book are too big and too vital for me to continue. Unfortunately.

✨"Don’t touch her or her friends ever again, okay? I’m not allowed to kill you, but I am allowed to make you wish you were dead."✨

✨"Goodnight. And Rayna?" Coen’s voice sharpened to a lethal quiet. "I can’t get the taste of you out of my mouth either."✨

✨"I wouldn’t have picked that dress for you if I’d known how badly I would just want to rip it off."✨