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mizwriterlady's review
5.0
Ugh SO GOOD. And I was tickled to see phrases I grew up with that I'm pretty sure most people have never heard of, or can't make heads or tails of. "If I had my druthers" comes to mind.
Fantastic story--great main character, great writing, great world. A package of greatness.
Fantastic story--great main character, great writing, great world. A package of greatness.
ulrikedg's review
3.0
Compelling characters, unfortunate world-building choice. Had Wrede set this book on another planet, it would have easily earned 4+ stars. Sadly, she chose to set it in a North America A/U without including American Indians.
Audiobook narrator Amanda Ronconi was mostly fine. Her voice fit the characters well, but she struggled sometimes with reading on autopilot and not noticing when her inflection didn't match the content.
Audiobook narrator Amanda Ronconi was mostly fine. Her voice fit the characters well, but she struggled sometimes with reading on autopilot and not noticing when her inflection didn't match the content.
scribesprite's review
4.0
I can see why some people might not really get excited about a book like this. The writing style is different from what most authors do now. Usually for a character like Eff there would be a chapter dedicated to back story, then they would jump right into the juicy stuff. I'd say maybe 60% of the book might be considered back story. However, if you think about real life this is how it is. Your life doesn't feel like a back story until this one important event in your life happens. It's got moments throughout that are noteworthy and that is what most of this book felt like. We follow Eff from when she is five years old until she is a young woman. Near the end there it feels a bit more like an adventure. Believe me I like that kind of story with suspense and excitement but this was a good change of pace.
Eff is definitely a unique character. She thinks very practically and you know characters who are practical and you can tell they are sad about it. Eff never questions her nature. Sure she has her fears, she gets angry and frustrated but doesn't question if she is adventurous enough and pretty enough. The biggest criticism she has on herself is that she will bring bad things to her family, which is what her relative told her when she was five years old. I liked the family dynamic. Her parents seem like very wise people and her siblings give the book a new dimension.
One aspect I didn't fully understand was magical part of the story. How does it work exactly? It's not as if I need a how to book but it was hard to keep track of all the different kinds of magic and how they work. Some of them use special equipment and some don't use any at all, even the powerful stuff sometimes.
So all in all it was interesting read and surprisingly I liked Eff. I've been trying to start reading the second book in the series but other books and life is getting in the way.
Eff is definitely a unique character. She thinks very practically and you know characters who are practical and you can tell they are sad about it. Eff never questions her nature. Sure she has her fears, she gets angry and frustrated but doesn't question if she is adventurous enough and pretty enough. The biggest criticism she has on herself is that she will bring bad things to her family, which is what her relative told her when she was five years old. I liked the family dynamic. Her parents seem like very wise people and her siblings give the book a new dimension.
One aspect I didn't fully understand was magical part of the story. How does it work exactly? It's not as if I need a how to book but it was hard to keep track of all the different kinds of magic and how they work. Some of them use special equipment and some don't use any at all, even the powerful stuff sometimes.
So all in all it was interesting read and surprisingly I liked Eff. I've been trying to start reading the second book in the series but other books and life is getting in the way.
kblincoln's review
4.0
In the beginning of the book I was like "oh no, not another special child who discovers their magic."
But as I read on, I discovered Wrede had a built a fascinating world in which to put this child, and had created very compelling characters in her family members to surround the character.
There are other people who've summarized the plot, so I won't here. But let me say that the particular way Eff goes about realizing her own worth, combined with the way Wrede give us information without veering from Eff's understanding of the world was terrific. For example, Eff notices her sister is absent more and more, but even as the reader picks up the clues about a young man paying court to her, Eff never realizes why her sister runs off suddenly to get married until after the baby is born.
I really enjoyed it and will definitely look for the next one.
But as I read on, I discovered Wrede had a built a fascinating world in which to put this child, and had created very compelling characters in her family members to surround the character.
There are other people who've summarized the plot, so I won't here. But let me say that the particular way Eff goes about realizing her own worth, combined with the way Wrede give us information without veering from Eff's understanding of the world was terrific. For example, Eff notices her sister is absent more and more, but even as the reader picks up the clues about a young man paying court to her, Eff never realizes why her sister runs off suddenly to get married until after the baby is born.
I really enjoyed it and will definitely look for the next one.
katmystery's review against another edition
5.0
This is the strangest feeling.
If I told you everything that happened, basically, it might sound like nothing special.
But if you read it, it's an entirely different story:
It is amazing.
Wrede wrote this in such a way that you cared about the characters by the middle of the book like you would care about characters at the end of a long beloved series. It really is a stunning piece of work and a great read.
If I told you everything that happened, basically, it might sound like nothing special.
But if you read it, it's an entirely different story:
It is amazing.
Wrede wrote this in such a way that you cared about the characters by the middle of the book like you would care about characters at the end of a long beloved series. It really is a stunning piece of work and a great read.
scorpiobookfairy's review against another edition
4.0
It started out pretty slow... in fact, the whole book reminded me of a diary of the main characters life than an epic story... Not usually my cup of tea but it was written well and keeps enough interested to want to get to the end. I probably wouldn't read any sequels just because the style of the author just didn't suit me, but I enjoyed it enough that I would tell anyone who wanted to read it that it was a good read :)
msseviereads's review
3.0
So I liked this book, but didn't love it. There was a lot of time spent on world building, and I could clearly tell that it was the first in a series.
I liked the idea of the book, and enjoyed Eff as a character. But it seemed like A LOT of time elapsed in the book without much action happening.
With all that being said... I was thrilled to see the second book in the series was already published and will be putting it on the "to-read" list.
I liked the idea of the book, and enjoyed Eff as a character. But it seemed like A LOT of time elapsed in the book without much action happening.
With all that being said... I was thrilled to see the second book in the series was already published and will be putting it on the "to-read" list.
madz2023's review
3.0
This book was pretty good. The main character, Eff, was interesting, but I felt she was kinda slow and not very funny or descriptive. He brother, Lan was way cooler to read about because he was a 7th son of a 7th son. This meant he was super powerful!! At some point they made you think that maybe Eff was actually powerful. Weird powerful, but hey aren't all main characters different in some way? In the end she just turned out to be normal. I also didn't absolutely love the setting. Sure it was a new idea, but it really didn't interest me. Old time setting with magic in the East and and old time setting that bans magic in the West. Frankly it was confusing most of the time. Lan was definitely the reason I actually finished the book.
brookerhees's review
3.0
I thought it was a fun take on mixing magic into historical fiction. The subtle word exchanges were my favorite part.
dawnoftheread's review
4.0
Delightful fresh fantasy, though flawed by missing any native culture references.