Reviews - Year One | The StoryGraph

1.79k reviews for:

Year One

Nora Roberts

3.83 AVERAGE

amharvey's review against another edition

cheesy dialogue detracted from the story

jamie_bibliotecaria's review against another edition

3.0

Burnt out by The Walking Dead? Looking for a kinder, gentler, non-zombie apocalypse tale? Then this is the book for you. I mean, yeah, some Very Bad Things happen, but there's also a lot of, like, using magic to make flowers grow. It's a fun read.

emily_jones_08's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous tense fast-paced

Strong character development: Yes

onetruekim's review against another edition

1.0

I tried. I really tried. But this is a relentlessly terrible book.

mindirat's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

dghoiem's review against another edition

3.25

On the surface, Year One was right up my alley — an end-of-the-world story where survivors fight to rebuild and create a better society. I enjoyed the premise and the setting a lot.

That said, there was a lot going on. Between the different types of magical creatures — Light and Dark, faeries, elves, the Uncanny — and a sprawling cast of characters, it sometimes felt overwhelming to keep everything straight.

Just as I was getting a handle on it all, a very predictable twist happened. After that, the story narrowed sharply, following only one character to the end. I found it frustrating, especially after investing so much effort into tracking the other characters’ stories — only to be left hanging without closure or any sense of what they were working to build.

Overall, I liked the concept, but the execution left me frustrated.