Scan barcode
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
1.0
I read this one for the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club, November 2016.
...
At least it was free.
I knew I was in trouble when we get to this gem of a sentence really early on:
"Reading people quickly had become second nature to her, so when she noticed a strange looking couple in their mid-twenties come down the sidewalk, she noticed."
I think she noticed. It didn't get much better from there.
So, first, I kept switching back and forth on how to pronounce Annika. I know two separate Annikas. One is pronounce with emphasis on the Ann with a short i sound in the middle. The other is pronounced with a hard i sound in the middle, emphasis there: Ann-I-ka. So, I kept flipping back and forth the entire book on how I pronounced it and it distracted me.
Annika is an awful person. She's a deadbeat who gets angry at her boyfriend who wants her to grow up when he proposes to her with a giant diamond. (Which he insists she keep, even when she turns him down, natch.) She drunk-emails her uncle who insists she come visit him and cook for him, even though it pissed her off that her boyfriend wanted her to do the same. She then meets this awful person, Talvi and shortly after destroys a book store and steals a book.
Talvi annoyed the hell out of me too. He's just an awful person, so I guess he and Annika are perfect for each other. I didn't like either of them. I didn't care for Talvi's stupid sister either. The wood nymphs were annoying, as was the vampire. In fact, the only person barely tolerable was the druid. Annika and Talvi's relationship was like a bunch of super young teenagers. They got mad at each other all the time over every tiny thing. She's supposed to be 25 and he's 300, but they act like they're both 14. It was super annoying.
The writing started out okay. But it quickly devolved into feeling WAY more like a very young juvenile fantasy story, with some soft-core porn thrown in. They meet freaking trolls and spend a week cleaning their house because the wife is unable to do anything with her seven unruly troll children and her troll husband. None of which have any manners whatsover and ruin their house. It's just...stupid.
...
At least it was free.
I knew I was in trouble when we get to this gem of a sentence really early on:
"Reading people quickly had become second nature to her, so when she noticed a strange looking couple in their mid-twenties come down the sidewalk, she noticed."
I think she noticed. It didn't get much better from there.
So, first, I kept switching back and forth on how to pronounce Annika. I know two separate Annikas. One is pronounce with emphasis on the Ann with a short i sound in the middle. The other is pronounced with a hard i sound in the middle, emphasis there: Ann-I-ka. So, I kept flipping back and forth the entire book on how I pronounced it and it distracted me.
Annika is an awful person. She's a deadbeat who gets angry at her boyfriend who wants her to grow up when he proposes to her with a giant diamond. (Which he insists she keep, even when she turns him down, natch.) She drunk-emails her uncle who insists she come visit him and cook for him, even though it pissed her off that her boyfriend wanted her to do the same. She then meets this awful person, Talvi and shortly after destroys a book store and steals a book.
Talvi annoyed the hell out of me too. He's just an awful person, so I guess he and Annika are perfect for each other. I didn't like either of them. I didn't care for Talvi's stupid sister either. The wood nymphs were annoying, as was the vampire. In fact, the only person barely tolerable was the druid. Annika and Talvi's relationship was like a bunch of super young teenagers. They got mad at each other all the time over every tiny thing. She's supposed to be 25 and he's 300, but they act like they're both 14. It was super annoying.
The writing started out okay. But it quickly devolved into feeling WAY more like a very young juvenile fantasy story, with some soft-core porn thrown in. They meet freaking trolls and spend a week cleaning their house because the wife is unable to do anything with her seven unruly troll children and her troll husband. None of which have any manners whatsover and ruin their house. It's just...stupid.
lulustjames's review against another edition
5.0
facebook // twitter // bloglovin
Reading the synopsis, I wasn’t sold on The Flame and the Arrow by Emigh Cannaday, I have to be honest. I thought this sounds cheesy, and doubted it would do anything but bore me. But, I thought hey, it’s free, the author was incredibly lovely in her email, and the cover looks AMAZING. Plus, if I hated it, I could always just stop. I have never been happier to be wrong about a synopsis in my life! This was such a fun and fantastic read, once I started it, I just kept going until I finished it (which meant going over my treadmill time at the gym just because I didn’t want to stop!)
The writing is solid. It is clear Emigh Cannaday knows what she’s doing. Conversations sound realistic and are fun. It feels natural, especially the banter. Her characters seem flat at first, but as they charm each other, you find yourself enamored with them as well. Annika isn’t just a wannabe rock star. She is a legitimate character that is strong and stands up for herself, while at the same time, able to show vulnerability and recognize when she’s wrong. Talvi is such a charmer and such a cad, I am absolutely smitten with him. The world building is good. I can’t say amazing, simply because most of book was more focused on characters and relationships, rather than building the world up. However, I’d love to know more about all of the supernatural and paranormal creatures and the homelands. Maybe in the second book, The Silver Thread, we’ll learn more.
The Flame and the Arrow by Emigh Cannaday is an absolute treasure. It’s fun, smitten, captivating, and really just grips you. The more you read, the more entangled you become and the more attached you grow to everyone involved in the novel. Cannot wait to start the second one!
// This book is FREE on amazon and I was recommended it by the author //
nikkim17's review against another edition
4.0
Good story
I love that it doesn't end with a cliffhanger like so many in this genre. It's not a deal breaker, but refreshing nonetheless. The characters were different with their abilities, (and I liked that) but wow there were a lot of people to remember. Thankfully it hooked me and I read it quickly so there wasn't a lot of time in between for me to forget. The main parts could've been better I thought though. I will finish the series as long as it's free for me. But I just can't quite put my finger on what it was missing for me. Overall I do recommend, it's a good story!
I love that it doesn't end with a cliffhanger like so many in this genre. It's not a deal breaker, but refreshing nonetheless. The characters were different with their abilities, (and I liked that) but wow there were a lot of people to remember. Thankfully it hooked me and I read it quickly so there wasn't a lot of time in between for me to forget. The main parts could've been better I thought though. I will finish the series as long as it's free for me. But I just can't quite put my finger on what it was missing for me. Overall I do recommend, it's a good story!
lbrick363's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this book was just okay. I want particularly fond of Annika and the story took too long. All the action seemed to happen in the last pages and it all seemed rushed. I highly doubt I will continue the series.
oracleofaal's review
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I tried really hard. It was like a D&D campaign with a romance stuck in the middle. I would even have given this book 3 stars except the author made a fatal mistake at the very end and didn't finish the gorram book!!! For heaven's sake, don't end a book on a cliffhanger. You end chapters on cliffhangers so that people will the next chapter!!! Sequels should be a complete second story, not the continuation of the same story!!! Other option, if you plan on splitting your one book into multiples (like a serial novel) then claim that at the beginning or release all of the "books" at the same time so people can read your stupid story as a whole.
Before that troublesome bit of bad marketing that annoys me and seals it that I will not read any more, I was having trouble really liking any of the characters. I think my favorite was Talvi's brother, Finn. I didn't really like Talvi, Annika was okay but not my favorite heroine and the sister was obnoxious to the point that I thought they might be Lannisters and she was hoarding her brother for her own reasons. Turns out - no.
Also, the really poor attempt at a love triangle irked me. I never felt Annika have a connection with either guy and it seemed as though everyone is just forced together.
A random stop at a trolls house! So we can pick up a tank for the fight we are about to embark on and get the romance back on track. Let's look at our D&D party - Troll (Fighter/tank), Sariel (Barbarian - she rages), Talvi et. al (ranger), Nicolas (Druid), Fairies (wizards), Vampires (rogue/assassin), and I'm sure I'm forgetting people.
And then lots of bad decisions. The number of times I wanted to throw the book against a wall because of something stupid a character did was too many to count. I just read the description of the sequel which says "But one bad decision leads to another, and the chaos that ensues may cost someone their life." Which is pretty much the description of this book.
I don't even get to find out what the purpose for the portal closings or the mechanics of how and so many other unanswered questions. If it wasn't for the non-ending I would have overlooked many of the flaws and continued on to book 2 because it isn't a bad story, it just isn't a good story. But don't waste your time unless you commit to buy all 3 at once.
Before that troublesome bit of bad marketing that annoys me and seals it that I will not read any more, I was having trouble really liking any of the characters. I think my favorite was Talvi's brother, Finn. I didn't really like Talvi, Annika was okay but not my favorite heroine and the sister was obnoxious to the point that I thought they might be Lannisters and she was hoarding her brother for her own reasons. Turns out - no.
Also, the really poor attempt at a love triangle irked me. I never felt Annika have a connection with either guy and it seemed as though everyone is just forced together.
A random stop at a trolls house! So we can pick up a tank for the fight we are about to embark on and get the romance back on track. Let's look at our D&D party - Troll (Fighter/tank), Sariel (Barbarian - she rages), Talvi et. al (ranger), Nicolas (Druid), Fairies (wizards), Vampires (rogue/assassin), and I'm sure I'm forgetting people.
And then lots of bad decisions. The number of times I wanted to throw the book against a wall because of something stupid a character did was too many to count. I just read the description of the sequel which says "But one bad decision leads to another, and the chaos that ensues may cost someone their life." Which is pretty much the description of this book.
I don't even get to find out what the purpose for the portal closings or the mechanics of how and so many other unanswered questions. If it wasn't for the non-ending I would have overlooked many of the flaws and continued on to book 2 because it isn't a bad story, it just isn't a good story. But don't waste your time unless you commit to buy all 3 at once.
beckiebookworm1974's review
4.0
The Flame And The Arrow is one of them stories that when you start you just have to finish.
I'll start with a brief description.We have our main female lead Annika, a Twenty-five-year-old American girl who after rejecting her fiance decides to travel to stay with her uncle too well, get her head sorted.
while there she travels to town and spots some unusual strangers.
After following them into a book store.
Annikka then proceeds to flee the store with the strangers in hot pursuit, The unusual male is more persistent but eventually, our girl loses him and makes her way home to her uncle still unable to get the peculiar male out of her head.
Fast forward and Annika's vacation is coming to its finish so she decides to take an amble through the local countryside.
Armed with Her camera, i-pod, apples, a bottle of water & a trusty peanut butter & Jelly Sarnie ewww!! (that's the English in me these two just don't go together yucky)
Now call me a pessimist but if you're going to wander aimlessly over terrain you haven't the foggiest about maybe it would be a good idea to take a phone.
mmm, you think it might be a tad helpful for if you get lost or god forbid hurt yourself.
On realising she's lost our Girl prepares to spend the night in the great outdoors (probably not the best time to mention well PHONE!!!)
The next morning after many hours of wandering and not having a clue where she is Annika spots some familiar people it's the weird girls from the bookstop.
This time she chases them as they appear to be in a hurry, trying to follow them over a pool she slips and hurts her ankle, she calls after the girl begging for help, and she gets more than she's bargained for as she's pulled through a portal right into another dimension. The portal closes trapping her in this strange land.
Do you know what one of the first things she asks is
HAVE YOU GOT A PHONE!!!!
I give up.
Now, this is where the story really begins, Annika stuck on the wrong side of the portal trapped. The three girls or Samodivi, a type of wood nymph offer to take her to the elves for help and I bet you can guess who one of these elves is yes it's the lovely young man from the bookstore the one Annika was so taken with his name is Talvi.
Here starts a dance as old as time as Annika & Talvi enter into a passionate courtship plagued with misunderstandings and hurt as these two and many others try and save their family and friends trapped on the other side of the gate.
What starts as a pleasant interlude to distract herself with the roguish womanising elf quickly escalates into matters of the heart & nobody's walking away unscathed.
good points to this story include an excellent backset for this saga, the worldbuilding is amazingly real, it is so easy to be drawn into this rich tapestry.
The secondary characters are fantastic as much thought has been taken in creating them as the main ones, I felt like I knew them all intimately.
Now this may seem a bit weird but a flawed heroine and hero it was just so refreshing to see some real traits like selfishness and bratty behaviour in our two main characters it made them seem much more human or elfish in Talv'is case.
Bad points well again it was them darn personality traits there were times I didn't like either of the main characters very much
Talvi could be a bit of a brat and Annika was slightly childish at times there were times I just wanted to knock their heads together and say grow up kids, Annika your twenty-five and Talvi your bloody three hundred years old act it lol.
I Also wasn't to struck on the ending but that's just me being bolshy about the giant cliffhanger thrown our way, I was like NO WAY MAN !!!
until I realised book two is out now YAY!!!! problems
solved.
So in conclusion, this story gets a big thumbs up from me even when I was ready to throw my kindle at the wall in frustration at some of the antics of our so-called adults I couldn't stop devouring this awesome piece of fiction.
It's full of wood nymphs, Elves, Trolls, Fairies, unicorns, vampires, druids the list goes on & on something for everyone and if you happen to have Kindle unlimited it's also free.
This is my First book by this author but it certainly won't be the last.
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
I'll start with a brief description.We have our main female lead Annika, a Twenty-five-year-old American girl who after rejecting her fiance decides to travel to stay with her uncle too well, get her head sorted.
while there she travels to town and spots some unusual strangers.
After following them into a book store.
Annikka then proceeds to flee the store with the strangers in hot pursuit, The unusual male is more persistent but eventually, our girl loses him and makes her way home to her uncle still unable to get the peculiar male out of her head.
Fast forward and Annika's vacation is coming to its finish so she decides to take an amble through the local countryside.
Armed with Her camera, i-pod, apples, a bottle of water & a trusty peanut butter & Jelly Sarnie ewww!! (that's the English in me these two just don't go together yucky)
Now call me a pessimist but if you're going to wander aimlessly over terrain you haven't the foggiest about maybe it would be a good idea to take a phone.
mmm, you think it might be a tad helpful for if you get lost or god forbid hurt yourself.
On realising she's lost our Girl prepares to spend the night in the great outdoors (probably not the best time to mention well PHONE!!!)
The next morning after many hours of wandering and not having a clue where she is Annika spots some familiar people it's the weird girls from the bookstop.
This time she chases them as they appear to be in a hurry, trying to follow them over a pool she slips and hurts her ankle, she calls after the girl begging for help, and she gets more than she's bargained for as she's pulled through a portal right into another dimension. The portal closes trapping her in this strange land.
Do you know what one of the first things she asks is
HAVE YOU GOT A PHONE!!!!
I give up.
Now, this is where the story really begins, Annika stuck on the wrong side of the portal trapped. The three girls or Samodivi, a type of wood nymph offer to take her to the elves for help and I bet you can guess who one of these elves is yes it's the lovely young man from the bookstore the one Annika was so taken with his name is Talvi.
Here starts a dance as old as time as Annika & Talvi enter into a passionate courtship plagued with misunderstandings and hurt as these two and many others try and save their family and friends trapped on the other side of the gate.
What starts as a pleasant interlude to distract herself with the roguish womanising elf quickly escalates into matters of the heart & nobody's walking away unscathed.
good points to this story include an excellent backset for this saga, the worldbuilding is amazingly real, it is so easy to be drawn into this rich tapestry.
The secondary characters are fantastic as much thought has been taken in creating them as the main ones, I felt like I knew them all intimately.
Now this may seem a bit weird but a flawed heroine and hero it was just so refreshing to see some real traits like selfishness and bratty behaviour in our two main characters it made them seem much more human or elfish in Talv'is case.
Bad points well again it was them darn personality traits there were times I didn't like either of the main characters very much
Talvi could be a bit of a brat and Annika was slightly childish at times there were times I just wanted to knock their heads together and say grow up kids, Annika your twenty-five and Talvi your bloody three hundred years old act it lol.
I Also wasn't to struck on the ending but that's just me being bolshy about the giant cliffhanger thrown our way, I was like NO WAY MAN !!!
until I realised book two is out now YAY!!!! problems
solved.
So in conclusion, this story gets a big thumbs up from me even when I was ready to throw my kindle at the wall in frustration at some of the antics of our so-called adults I couldn't stop devouring this awesome piece of fiction.
It's full of wood nymphs, Elves, Trolls, Fairies, unicorns, vampires, druids the list goes on & on something for everyone and if you happen to have Kindle unlimited it's also free.
This is my First book by this author but it certainly won't be the last.
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
nikkiethereader's review
5.0
Annika is devastated and confused not knowing where her life is heading. She decides to take time away from her life to spend at her uncle's for a brief time away. While there, she meets a mysterious man who intrigues her attention. The circumstances that follow them meeting gets her trapped in another realm with types of people she didn't even know existed.
This book is so creative and imaginative! I just couldn't get enough of it! I loved it! I listened to it in an audio book, but I will find a way to own a physical copy of this book to have on my shelf! I'll obtain the rest of the series too! It's so addictive and fun! I loved all the characters and their witty humor. It was an amazing read.
The narrator was great! He did such a great job giving all the characters their own flair and bringing the story to life in a vivid sense. I loved it. It didn't hurt that he had a very dreamy voice. I didn't let that distract me from the story too much though!
I fully recommend this book! I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series! It's witty, it's fun, it's realistic (to an extent of course), and it's edgy! It's everything I love in a book. I love to be kept on my toes but wowed with witty characters! I'm so glad I got to read this book!
This book is so creative and imaginative! I just couldn't get enough of it! I loved it! I listened to it in an audio book, but I will find a way to own a physical copy of this book to have on my shelf! I'll obtain the rest of the series too! It's so addictive and fun! I loved all the characters and their witty humor. It was an amazing read.
The narrator was great! He did such a great job giving all the characters their own flair and bringing the story to life in a vivid sense. I loved it. It didn't hurt that he had a very dreamy voice. I didn't let that distract me from the story too much though!
I fully recommend this book! I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series! It's witty, it's fun, it's realistic (to an extent of course), and it's edgy! It's everything I love in a book. I love to be kept on my toes but wowed with witty characters! I'm so glad I got to read this book!
ndfootballgrl33's review against another edition
4.0
In Emigh Cannaday's book, The Flame and the Arrow, we follow Annika Brisby to new and unexpected places full of all sorts of new discoveries. From magical beings and exciting adventures to a smoldering romance, this book has it all. Once I had picked it up, I didn't want to stop reading. This book DOES have a cliff-hanger ending, though, so I'm really looking forward to reading the next book.
reginaexmachina's review
I really wanted to like this as it was the Vaginal Fantasy pick for this month and it had several good reviews. But it was extremely insta-love to me and felt very flat. There's also the matter that around a third of the way into the book he's referring to her "hot little honeycomb" and how it's "spilling over with nectar." I mean..... SERIOUSLY. WTF.