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annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
2.0
Ik keek er echt ongelooflijk naar uit om dit boek te lezen. Het andere boek dat ik van deze auteur gelezen heb vond ik echt geweldig en ik was er dan ook helemaal klaar voor om weer net zo geraakt te worden en net zo betoverd te worden door haar geweldige schrijfstijl. Helaas viel dat dus uiteindelijk een beetje tegen.
Het kan natuurlijk aan de vertaling liggen (ik heb haar andere boek in het Engels gelezen), maar eerlijk gezegd betwijfel ik dat. Ik denk dat er gewoon absoluut geen klik was tussen mij en dit verhaal, deze karakters en deze wereld. Het werkte voor mij gewoon absoluut niet.
Allereerst omdat ik vond dat er veel te veel informatie gegeven en uitgelegd moest worden. Het is overduidelijk dat Donnelly een geweldige wereld in haar hoofd heeft, maar de hoeveelheid aan begrippen, uitleg, politieke achtergrond, namen en lange verhalen was gewoon te groot. Het voelde alsof de helft van het boek uitleg van de wereld was en ik vind dat altijd erg jammer.
Daarnaast was er voor de karakters te weinig tijd om echt emoties te hebben, dingen te verwerken, ergens bij stil te staan. Al vanaf het begin zit er een heel hoog tempo in de gebeurtenissen, waardoor de emoties nogal ondergesneeuwd raken. Op geen enkel moment had ik echt het gevoel dat de hoofdpersonages echt doorleefd iets voelden. Het was veel tell, weinig show.
Het resultaat is dat ik geen emotionele band had met de karakters, het me niet echt kon schelen wat er met hen gebeurde en ik ook geen echte connectie met hun wereld voelde, omdat ik nagenoeg alles alleen van horen zeggen had.
Ik had het graag anders gezien. Ik had zeker anders gehoopt. Maar goed, er staan gelukkig meer boeken in de kast.
Het kan natuurlijk aan de vertaling liggen (ik heb haar andere boek in het Engels gelezen), maar eerlijk gezegd betwijfel ik dat. Ik denk dat er gewoon absoluut geen klik was tussen mij en dit verhaal, deze karakters en deze wereld. Het werkte voor mij gewoon absoluut niet.
Allereerst omdat ik vond dat er veel te veel informatie gegeven en uitgelegd moest worden. Het is overduidelijk dat Donnelly een geweldige wereld in haar hoofd heeft, maar de hoeveelheid aan begrippen, uitleg, politieke achtergrond, namen en lange verhalen was gewoon te groot. Het voelde alsof de helft van het boek uitleg van de wereld was en ik vind dat altijd erg jammer.
Daarnaast was er voor de karakters te weinig tijd om echt emoties te hebben, dingen te verwerken, ergens bij stil te staan. Al vanaf het begin zit er een heel hoog tempo in de gebeurtenissen, waardoor de emoties nogal ondergesneeuwd raken. Op geen enkel moment had ik echt het gevoel dat de hoofdpersonages echt doorleefd iets voelden. Het was veel tell, weinig show.
Het resultaat is dat ik geen emotionele band had met de karakters, het me niet echt kon schelen wat er met hen gebeurde en ik ook geen echte connectie met hun wereld voelde, omdat ik nagenoeg alles alleen van horen zeggen had.
Ik had het graag anders gezien. Ik had zeker anders gehoopt. Maar goed, er staan gelukkig meer boeken in de kast.
freadomlibrary's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally posted at https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/
Check out my series review here: https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/2016/10/14/series-review-waterfire-saga-by-jennifer-donnelly/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
The story was really cute. Most of the time it’s light and fun with a sort of sprinkling of heavy topics. One of my issues is the fact that there’s a little bit too much information on the world, not enough plot action. However, it is very entertaining and has little romance for a YA novel. It’s mostly focused on female friendships.
Writing Style – 3 out of 5 stars
Honestly, the writing style in this book falls into the younger side of YA, almost Middle Grade. It’s really simple and filled with puns about mermaids and the ocean. However, it’s detailed, descriptive and pretty clever and it takes a special interest in feminism.
Characters – 4 out of 5 stars
This book and series has a huge cast of characters compromised of 6 main female characters and a plethora of side characters. In this first book we get to know two of the main characters closely.
Serafina can be thought of as the main main character as she’s the driving force to most of the story. She’s unsure and nervous and feels very vulnerable because her whole world comes crashing down around her. However, she’s also brave and mature and though she wishes she had a different life sometimes, she’s determined to fight for her people.
Neela is her best friend and she has a really girly personality though with a few issues. She’s a stress eater and has a lot of fears. She has the kind of personality where she looks for the fun and lightness in everything and tends to run when things get scary. Yet, she works up her courage and manages to be really brave in the end.
The rest of the characters are complex and diverse, in every sense of the word. They’re different in personality, looks, abilities and there’s even diverse representation involved with a disabled sort of main character. I really loved that and how they interacted with each other.
Emotionally
The first book was a really fast, cute read that had a lot of deep themes.
The plot is cute but intense. Yeah, I know, weird combination. I’ll explain. We follow Serafina, the Princess of Miromara, whose kingdom, on the day of her Dokimi ceremony (kind of like a proof of the bloodline/coronation), is attackd and her mother and father are shot. Chaos ensues and Sera and her best friend Neela go on a quest to try to stop the war in the mer nations. This book starts off really slow and kind of daunting. This world while kind of cheesy is really complex and unfortunately that explanation is given to you almost bombarded to you in the first few chapters. You have to get used to the terms, the imagery, the culture almost all in one go and yet it was really slow in the beginning. Then the action starts and the pace picks up and it becomes much easier to get sucked into what is going on. Basically, this book is about six mermaids who are brought together to learn about a prophecy and to defeat it before it comes true. It’s the setting up of the world, and the characters and what to expect with the rest of the series. It builds up what’s to come in the next books and ends with a bang. While the way the worldbuilding was set up wasn’t the best, I really appreciated how expansive it was. Think of it as the world we know but underwater. Similar kingdoms in the oceans of the countries that recide in our world with familiar but mermaid style slang that’s cute, funny yet sometimes annoying at the same time. There is so much diversity within the characters as each girl comes from a different underwater kingdom, each has a different gift and personality and each is battling with their own fears and set backs. There’s also a lot of feminist ideals woven in through the whole book, like matriarchal socities, which is pretty freaking awesome. I really enjoyed the ride.
Serafina is a poor teenager with a lot of responsability. As the heir to a matriarchal society, she has a lot on her shoulders and it only gets worse once her parents die and her world is turnd upside down. She’s never been 100% sure of what her life is going to be and if being queen is something she can really do and do well. She has a tendency toward indecision and nervousness but she constantly pushes past it to be strong because she knows she needs to be. She becomes the sort of leader in this band of six, subconsciously and reluctantly all at the same time. I feel like she’s the one who will have the most trials to go through in the series.
One of my favorite things about this book is the fact that there is no romance. I’m not saying there isn’t a love interest for a main character, but that’s not really something that matters in this first book. The girls have much more to worry about than boys to be honest, and it’s pretty awesome.
Overall, this series is really fun and I’m glad I read it. The plots are not that consistent, going from crazy action packed to sometimes lulling in movement, but they were all in general entertaining. I really liked the characters and how different they were and how much they grew throughout the series. But my favorite part of this series is how much the subject of girl power and female friendship was represented and made important. It was really refreshing and entertaining.
Check out my series review here: https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/2016/10/14/series-review-waterfire-saga-by-jennifer-donnelly/
Critically
Plot – 4 out of 5 stars
The story was really cute. Most of the time it’s light and fun with a sort of sprinkling of heavy topics. One of my issues is the fact that there’s a little bit too much information on the world, not enough plot action. However, it is very entertaining and has little romance for a YA novel. It’s mostly focused on female friendships.
Writing Style – 3 out of 5 stars
Honestly, the writing style in this book falls into the younger side of YA, almost Middle Grade. It’s really simple and filled with puns about mermaids and the ocean. However, it’s detailed, descriptive and pretty clever and it takes a special interest in feminism.
Characters – 4 out of 5 stars
This book and series has a huge cast of characters compromised of 6 main female characters and a plethora of side characters. In this first book we get to know two of the main characters closely.
Serafina can be thought of as the main main character as she’s the driving force to most of the story. She’s unsure and nervous and feels very vulnerable because her whole world comes crashing down around her. However, she’s also brave and mature and though she wishes she had a different life sometimes, she’s determined to fight for her people.
Neela is her best friend and she has a really girly personality though with a few issues. She’s a stress eater and has a lot of fears. She has the kind of personality where she looks for the fun and lightness in everything and tends to run when things get scary. Yet, she works up her courage and manages to be really brave in the end.
The rest of the characters are complex and diverse, in every sense of the word. They’re different in personality, looks, abilities and there’s even diverse representation involved with a disabled sort of main character. I really loved that and how they interacted with each other.
Emotionally
Spoiler
This series wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever read but it’s so much fun and I loved the messages and themes it presents.The first book was a really fast, cute read that had a lot of deep themes.
The plot is cute but intense. Yeah, I know, weird combination. I’ll explain. We follow Serafina, the Princess of Miromara, whose kingdom, on the day of her Dokimi ceremony (kind of like a proof of the bloodline/coronation), is attackd and her mother and father are shot. Chaos ensues and Sera and her best friend Neela go on a quest to try to stop the war in the mer nations. This book starts off really slow and kind of daunting. This world while kind of cheesy is really complex and unfortunately that explanation is given to you almost bombarded to you in the first few chapters. You have to get used to the terms, the imagery, the culture almost all in one go and yet it was really slow in the beginning. Then the action starts and the pace picks up and it becomes much easier to get sucked into what is going on. Basically, this book is about six mermaids who are brought together to learn about a prophecy and to defeat it before it comes true. It’s the setting up of the world, and the characters and what to expect with the rest of the series. It builds up what’s to come in the next books and ends with a bang. While the way the worldbuilding was set up wasn’t the best, I really appreciated how expansive it was. Think of it as the world we know but underwater. Similar kingdoms in the oceans of the countries that recide in our world with familiar but mermaid style slang that’s cute, funny yet sometimes annoying at the same time. There is so much diversity within the characters as each girl comes from a different underwater kingdom, each has a different gift and personality and each is battling with their own fears and set backs. There’s also a lot of feminist ideals woven in through the whole book, like matriarchal socities, which is pretty freaking awesome. I really enjoyed the ride.
Serafina is a poor teenager with a lot of responsability. As the heir to a matriarchal society, she has a lot on her shoulders and it only gets worse once her parents die and her world is turnd upside down. She’s never been 100% sure of what her life is going to be and if being queen is something she can really do and do well. She has a tendency toward indecision and nervousness but she constantly pushes past it to be strong because she knows she needs to be. She becomes the sort of leader in this band of six, subconsciously and reluctantly all at the same time. I feel like she’s the one who will have the most trials to go through in the series.
One of my favorite things about this book is the fact that there is no romance. I’m not saying there isn’t a love interest for a main character, but that’s not really something that matters in this first book. The girls have much more to worry about than boys to be honest, and it’s pretty awesome.
Overall, this series is really fun and I’m glad I read it. The plots are not that consistent, going from crazy action packed to sometimes lulling in movement, but they were all in general entertaining. I really liked the characters and how different they were and how much they grew throughout the series. But my favorite part of this series is how much the subject of girl power and female friendship was represented and made important. It was really refreshing and entertaining.
astraia_sun's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. it has a lot of potential, but it definitely suffered as a first novel info dump. regardless, I did enjoy it a lot for what it is.
halynah's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent, like every book of this author. Loved the plot, the characters, enjoyed an amazing and rich world-building and looking forward to the next installment! Highly recommended!!!
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
1.0
1/5
Just felt really rushed and couldn’t get into the world building and plot.
Just felt really rushed and couldn’t get into the world building and plot.
isabella1018's review against another edition
4.0
I expected this book to be more slow paced but I was wrong.
Such a good book!
I loved how there are all these different mermaid places and kingdoms.
The mythology in this book!
I really loved serafina and neela
Such a good book!
I loved how there are all these different mermaid places and kingdoms.
The mythology in this book!
I really loved serafina and neela
kbhayford's review against another edition
4.0
Good series. Always a good comfort read. A little death, a little destruction, but a good old fashion happy ending. The romance was cute and the character development was great
axellesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
arilynn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25