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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
The reason i started reading this book was its cover. Its awesome. The reason i kept reading it was the fact that it was brilliantly written. Though it lacks humour, the author makes up for it by the plot twist at the end.
I love the characters. The story is easy to get into and the characters are easily relatable. The story is medium-paced and does not drag. Really excited for 'Rise of the Dawnstar'.
I love the characters. The story is easy to get into and the characters are easily relatable. The story is medium-paced and does not drag. Really excited for 'Rise of the Dawnstar'.
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I thought this one was okay. It started off kind of slow and picked up a bit of pace as we went through the story. But I did think it had some hiccups along the way. Including the romance and the mid-break for "training."
I'm not even going to touch on the human world to fantasy land stuff with the abusive family because I wasn't a fan of it. It was jarring and unsettling (and very familiar...).
So first, let me start off by saying that I love fantasy books, especially ones where we get to see the person train and learn magic and they aren't extremely good at it but learn it over time. But it was a little odd to me that Aurora would be this important Princess and start being trained by her uncle only to then go onto a magical academy. And have no one recognize her. And the staff knows about her but doesn't give her extra lessons until after she "proves" herself? No there is no way that would happen. She is a princess, she should have been given those extra lessons right away. I also thought that it was just awkwardly placed in the story. There was no flow between being in one place to the next except that the author obviously wanted the story to go some place else.
I liked some of the characters though. I am intrigued with the side characters more than the main characters, but I am also glad that there doesn't seem to be a love triangle yet. I do hope that there isn't one. But the romance portion was just okay. I like Rafe and think he is a good character, well written. However, he isn't swoonworthy in my opinion. But maybe that is because I never really felt a connection to Aurora. I thought she was kind of bratty and stuck up and we never really bonded.
What redeemed this for me was the world building and the magic. The world is HUGE and I am so glad that a map was included because there are so many places and people that get discussed without ever really being introduced. We meet so many different people throughout the novel, especially at the Ball, and I was having a hard time keeping them straight. But the politics was thoroughly explained and I found myself wanting to know more about the ruling of the land and how the areas all intertwined. I also thought that a lot of this was well explained without having too many info-dumps. And the magic was well written. I mean, of course, Aurora has incredible magic that is far superior than everyone else, but I am excited to see how fae magic works. I am a sucker for well written magic, and I do think this was up there in terms of well written magic. Better than some that I have read.
Overall: 3/5 stars. The pacing was off, the romance was meh, and it was pretty predictable. But it was still okay.
I thought this one was okay. It started off kind of slow and picked up a bit of pace as we went through the story. But I did think it had some hiccups along the way. Including the romance and the mid-break for "training."
I'm not even going to touch on the human world to fantasy land stuff with the abusive family because I wasn't a fan of it. It was jarring and unsettling (and very familiar...).
So first, let me start off by saying that I love fantasy books, especially ones where we get to see the person train and learn magic and they aren't extremely good at it but learn it over time. But it was a little odd to me that Aurora would be this important Princess and start being trained by her uncle only to then go onto a magical academy. And have no one recognize her. And the staff knows about her but doesn't give her extra lessons until after she "proves" herself? No there is no way that would happen. She is a princess, she should have been given those extra lessons right away. I also thought that it was just awkwardly placed in the story. There was no flow between being in one place to the next except that the author obviously wanted the story to go some place else.
I liked some of the characters though. I am intrigued with the side characters more than the main characters, but I am also glad that there doesn't seem to be a love triangle yet. I do hope that there isn't one. But the romance portion was just okay. I like Rafe and think he is a good character, well written. However, he isn't swoonworthy in my opinion. But maybe that is because I never really felt a connection to Aurora. I thought she was kind of bratty and stuck up and we never really bonded.
What redeemed this for me was the world building and the magic. The world is HUGE and I am so glad that a map was included because there are so many places and people that get discussed without ever really being introduced. We meet so many different people throughout the novel, especially at the Ball, and I was having a hard time keeping them straight. But the politics was thoroughly explained and I found myself wanting to know more about the ruling of the land and how the areas all intertwined. I also thought that a lot of this was well explained without having too many info-dumps. And the magic was well written. I mean, of course, Aurora has incredible magic that is far superior than everyone else, but I am excited to see how fae magic works. I am a sucker for well written magic, and I do think this was up there in terms of well written magic. Better than some that I have read.
Overall: 3/5 stars. The pacing was off, the romance was meh, and it was pretty predictable. But it was still okay.
Bibliophile Euphorian
This is a cliche story with an undertone of bland, but I somewhat enjoyed it. Let me first get the criticism out of the way. The characters, omg, did not feel real to me. A robot has more of a pulse than the people I met in the story. (Harsh? Yes, I know but it's how I feel). And, the writing is the most aggravating aspects of all. It is NOT the writing style of the story, but the WAY the story was told. Even though the book frustrated me and agitated This book has potential because as I was reading there were moments where I found myself chuckling here and there.
This is a cliche story with an undertone of bland, but I somewhat enjoyed it. Let me first get the criticism out of the way. The characters, omg, did not feel real to me. A robot has more of a pulse than the people I met in the story. (Harsh? Yes, I know but it's how I feel). And, the writing is the most aggravating aspects of all. It is NOT the writing style of the story, but the WAY the story was told. Even though the book frustrated me and agitated This book has potential because as I was reading there were moments where I found myself chuckling here and there.
**2.5 stars**
I decided to take a different approach with this review just to switch things up a little.
Pros
For someone who hasn't read a lot of fantasy, this book was easy to get into. It was also easy to follow along with.
The world, characters, and how everything is connected seems to be really well thought out. I never questioned the world or how everything worked in the world while reading.
Cons
All the characters were too trusting. No one, especially the main character, questioned anything that was said to them. I didn't find this very believable especially when you start to learn about the rivalry between family. This could have caused a lot more conflict than it did.
I don't think I've ever read a book where the main character makes as many bad decisions as Aurora does. It seems like whenever she has the opportunity came around she chose the wrong action, even when she knew it wasn't right.
There didn't seems to be any consistency in the timeline of the story. A certain even would happen then a few sentences later Aurora is talking about that same event like it happened a long time ago. For the most, the pacing for the story seemed to take place a day at a time so when I found out at the end that the entire book took place over 3 months I was confused.
Overall
I enjoyed the general story. Although the cons took away from the reading experience, I'm still interested in continuing this story and seeing what happens next.
I decided to take a different approach with this review just to switch things up a little.
Pros
For someone who hasn't read a lot of fantasy, this book was easy to get into. It was also easy to follow along with.
The world, characters, and how everything is connected seems to be really well thought out. I never questioned the world or how everything worked in the world while reading.
Cons
All the characters were too trusting. No one, especially the main character, questioned anything that was said to them. I didn't find this very believable especially when you start to learn about the rivalry between family. This could have caused a lot more conflict than it did.
I don't think I've ever read a book where the main character makes as many bad decisions as Aurora does. It seems like whenever she has the opportunity came around she chose the wrong action, even when she knew it wasn't right.
There didn't seems to be any consistency in the timeline of the story. A certain even would happen then a few sentences later Aurora is talking about that same event like it happened a long time ago. For the most, the pacing for the story seemed to take place a day at a time so when I found out at the end that the entire book took place over 3 months I was confused.
Overall
I enjoyed the general story. Although the cons took away from the reading experience, I'm still interested in continuing this story and seeing what happens next.
Oh dear. I was so excited for this book and I've just been so let down. I received this book through I think it was Kate Tilton's Author Services through Instagram and this was an immediate request. And I do feel lucky to have been granted a copy but I just didn't enjoy this book.
I'll start off with a positive comment though and that is that there is some beautiful description. Kudos to Farah Oomerbhoy for her world building as it's just excellent.
On the other side of the world building front...there's some strong Harry Potter similarities here. And during the school portion I had flashbacks to Trudi Canavan's Black Magician trilogy. Now, I'm usually the last person to care about similarities as I know there's only so many stories out there so of course it'll be similar to others. But though it made the book work in parts, in other places it was like really?
This book reads like a cross between YA and middle grade which makes it suitable for younger teens I feel. It also kinda feels like this one thick book should be several shorter books with more detail thrown in. As we get a lot of pointless exposition and redundant language which could have been replaced and expanded on.
Last thing I want to say is that I just wasn't fond of Aurora or Rafe. I did like Kalen, Erien and Vivienne though so I will point out there is some good characters.
This book just wasn't for me but if you're looking for a new book about someone having adventures in another world then you can give this one a go.
I'll start off with a positive comment though and that is that there is some beautiful description. Kudos to Farah Oomerbhoy for her world building as it's just excellent.
On the other side of the world building front...there's some strong Harry Potter similarities here. And during the school portion I had flashbacks to Trudi Canavan's Black Magician trilogy. Now, I'm usually the last person to care about similarities as I know there's only so many stories out there so of course it'll be similar to others. But though it made the book work in parts, in other places it was like really?
This book reads like a cross between YA and middle grade which makes it suitable for younger teens I feel. It also kinda feels like this one thick book should be several shorter books with more detail thrown in. As we get a lot of pointless exposition and redundant language which could have been replaced and expanded on.
Last thing I want to say is that I just wasn't fond of Aurora or Rafe. I did like Kalen, Erien and Vivienne though so I will point out there is some good characters.
This book just wasn't for me but if you're looking for a new book about someone having adventures in another world then you can give this one a go.
Received from: Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Received Via: NetGalley.com
THE REVIEW
Why this book?
It seemed like a book for me
What I thought
This was a really good book. It was thrilling and magical and kept you wanting more. Rafe was my favorite character by far and the mystery behind who he really is was exciting. The premise of this book was refreshing it was different from most books i've read. The only problem I had with the book was the main character. I loved all the rest of the characters, but couldn't connect with her. Aurora just fell flat for me. Overall it was an enjoyable read.
Received Via: NetGalley.com
THE REVIEW
Why this book?
It seemed like a book for me
What I thought
This was a really good book. It was thrilling and magical and kept you wanting more. Rafe was my favorite character by far and the mystery behind who he really is was exciting. The premise of this book was refreshing it was different from most books i've read. The only problem I had with the book was the main character. I loved all the rest of the characters, but couldn't connect with her. Aurora just fell flat for me. Overall it was an enjoyable read.