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guylc's review against another edition
Its simply
such slow reading, the author would list every item in a room, the stirrups, the saddles, the saddle polish, the saddle hook, the empty containter of old saddle polish etc. etc. etc.
such slow reading, the author would list every item in a room, the stirrups, the saddles, the saddle polish, the saddle hook, the empty containter of old saddle polish etc. etc. etc.
mousie_books's review against another edition
4.0
I ended up really liking this book, but the prose, though beautiful, made it slow going, which makes me hesitant to pick up the rest of the series.
nixwhittaker's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book but even before I finished reading the first book I knew I wouldn't like how it ends. If you like a happy ever after don't read these books if you like complicated relationships and twist of fate then this book is for you.
anovelstart's review against another edition
4.0
Second time I've read this book, I love the description. I like books that are heavy with description but do it in such a way that it isn't blab. A lovely story and a nice start to the series.
annasirius's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
I wanted to like this book due to the beautiful descriptions, yet I quickly started to skim over these in the vain attempt to find the story.
This is a novel centred around learning more about the protagonist's identity, and it is a story that assumes that the readers sticks with it because they are intrigued enough by this quest and empathetic enough towards the main character. However, because the protagonist is so featureless for a long time and literally everyone around them is hard-hearted, I neither cared for the main character nor developed an interest in the world, no matter how many words are beautifully (and sometimes excessively) strung together to describe it.
I believe my main problem is that the story was told from a third person perspective that gave us occasional glimpses into the main character's thoughts and feelings but always remained rather distant. Since the protagonist already knows so little about the world and the reader is rarely told more than the protagonist knows, why not at least let us intimately connect with their personal thoughts & feelings? This would also have created a three-dimensional character, rather than this sketch of a suffering, ill-treated person. The problem is in the title: 'The ill-made mute'. Really?
I wanted to like this book due to the beautiful descriptions, yet I quickly started to skim over these in the vain attempt to find the story.
This is a novel centred around learning more about the protagonist's identity, and it is a story that assumes that the readers sticks with it because they are intrigued enough by this quest and empathetic enough towards the main character. However, because the protagonist is so featureless for a long time and literally everyone around them is hard-hearted, I neither cared for the main character nor developed an interest in the world, no matter how many words are beautifully (and sometimes excessively) strung together to describe it.
I believe my main problem is that the story was told from a third person perspective that gave us occasional glimpses into the main character's thoughts and feelings but always remained rather distant. Since the protagonist already knows so little about the world and the reader is rarely told more than the protagonist knows, why not at least let us intimately connect with their personal thoughts & feelings? This would also have created a three-dimensional character, rather than this sketch of a suffering, ill-treated person. The problem is in the title: 'The ill-made mute'. Really?
twas's review against another edition
3.0
I do like what Thornton is trying to do with these books. Beginning with the first and continuing through the trilogy, folk tales of beautiful fey creatures and dangerous mythical beasts are interwoven with the adventures of the main character. In retrospect I did really enjoy the waterhorses and fairies with their false feasts and unending dances of doom.
What kept me rolling my eyes throughout the book is the fairy-tale way that things work out for the main character. It is by chance that s/he gets on an airship in the first place, that she finds a fabulous treasure, that she is rescued by a capable ruffian... and then to top it off, her rough looks are smoothed by a wise woman and she becomes an enviable beauty. (In this book or the next, she also regains her voice.) I mean, come on. I find it hard to believe that even in a world more enchanted than ours all of this good fortune would land in the lap of this humble creature.
But, of course, if you like fairy tales and happy endings perhaps this is your kind of thing.
What kept me rolling my eyes throughout the book is the fairy-tale way that things work out for the main character. It is by chance that s/he gets on an airship in the first place, that she finds a fabulous treasure, that she is rescued by a capable ruffian... and then to top it off, her rough looks are smoothed by a wise woman and she becomes an enviable beauty. (In this book or the next, she also regains her voice.) I mean, come on. I find it hard to believe that even in a world more enchanted than ours all of this good fortune would land in the lap of this humble creature.
But, of course, if you like fairy tales and happy endings perhaps this is your kind of thing.
themoonphoenix's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
anxiousarachnid's review against another edition
3.0
Since this book has the word, "mute" in the title you would be correct in assuming that the writing in this book is far more focused on description than on dialogue. This is a style of writing that appeals to some people, and puts others off. Unfortunately, I fall into the latter camp. I am one of those terrible people who get irritated by lush descriptions of each tree our protagonists wander past, and so ended up skimming over paragraphs and paragraphs of Cecilia Dart-Thornton's hard work.
The writing feels like purple prose at its worst, but I'll be generous and say that perhaps it was done purposefully to emphasise the protagonist's lack if speech, rather than the author simply wanting to prove that she knows a lot of "fancy" words.
The writing feels like purple prose at its worst, but I'll be generous and say that perhaps it was done purposefully to emphasise the protagonist's lack if speech, rather than the author simply wanting to prove that she knows a lot of "fancy" words.
astroneatly's review
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
slimikin's review
3.0
Cecilia Dart-Thornton's writing style takes some getting used to. She uses a surfeit of words where a handful would do and puts polysyllabic phrases in the mouth of her mentally handicapped protagonist. These stylistic tendencies are so aggravating, in fact, that I almost put the book down several times. But then, unexpectedly, the story began to shine through its clumsy writing, and the writing itself became a waterfall of rich sensory detail oddly suited to the world it describes. The story Dart-Thornton begins in The Ill-Made Mute makes use of a wealth of mythology and folklore, combining fey creatures with a quest and a romance for a compelling, if slightly disjointed, adventure.