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drcgreen's review against another edition
Stopped reading as i don’t know , Do I need to read the rest of the series first? Or is it independent?
quodfelix's review against another edition
3.0
While an intriguing notion -- a dual world of magicians and elementalists with different realms of power and influence -- I found the book a bit predictable. At times, Lackey could be pedantic explaining the intricacies of Victorian British society protocols and its unfairness to women in particular. But the characters were all intriguing in their own ways, and it made a long set of car drives much more palatable. I may explore other books in the series, but I gather the series is bound by a concept of modernizing fairy tales rather than developing characters over time.
eak1013's review
2.0
Lackey should really stay away from writing about that whole "enlightened white heroine mixes with other races because she's so enlightened in far less enlightened times" thing. The magical non-human beings are less obsequiously subservient to the Nice White Lady than the Benneton ad spread of Servants From Other Continents.
On the other hand, Lackey broke out of the standard romance structure for this - a happily married couple who remain happily married! A POV split between the children and adults! I do wish there were less of the "I have loved once, I can never love again" slash "I though I loved once but I didn't really know what love was so that doesn't count!" thing, but even this squidge of variety was pleasant.
Also, for the love of all that's holy, the dialect. OH, the dialect. Just. No.
(And yet I'm still reading all of these. I don't even.)
On the other hand, Lackey broke out of the standard romance structure for this - a happily married couple who remain happily married! A POV split between the children and adults! I do wish there were less of the "I have loved once, I can never love again" slash "I though I loved once but I didn't really know what love was so that doesn't count!" thing, but even this squidge of variety was pleasant.
Also, for the love of all that's holy, the dialect. OH, the dialect. Just. No.
(And yet I'm still reading all of these. I don't even.)
xandira's review
2.0
I actually listened to this one as I was driving, and I did enjoy it quite a bit. However I kept waiting for the big confrontation, and when it finally came it was rather anticlimactic and emotional. There was more action and tension in the first main conflict of the story. But this was certainly worth a read, and I do enjoy the system of magic in her Elemental Master's series.
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