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sheyri's review against another edition
2.0
Content warning:
Cale is a Mary Sue and that makes it impossible to build tension once you realised that. Whatever he does, he succeeds in.
And what is it with the Redeemers? They're supposed to be those big bad warriors, the best of all, terrifying enemies on the battlefield. Trained since early childhood to be killing machines. Yet they don't seem to win any fight unless they're met with incompetence. The only good fighters are, of course, Cale and his friends.
I also don't understand how people can call this masterful writing. If your expectation is "knows how sentences work", then yes, I guess. But beyond that it's not really outstanding? Quite the contrary. I still have no idea what the world is supposed to look like, not even where the Sanctuary and Memphis are in relation to each other, and it took me about a hundred pages to even begin to suspect it's supposed to be alternate history of our world. Honestly, this feels like a Civ 6 campaign or something.
And on a more personal note:
I went into this book expecting graphic violence, because that's what the blurb promises, right? Yet I don't even get a decent whipping scene. We're told over and over how cruel the Redeemers are to the kids, but that's where it remains: telling. Give me some good graphic violence or don't make such promises!
Anyway, that's just a personal preference, but I've also read YA books with more detailed descriptions...
Spoiler
violence, gore, though not nearly as graphic as you would expect from the blurbCale is a Mary Sue and that makes it impossible to build tension once you realised that. Whatever he does, he succeeds in.
And what is it with the Redeemers? They're supposed to be those big bad warriors, the best of all, terrifying enemies on the battlefield. Trained since early childhood to be killing machines. Yet they don't seem to win any fight unless they're met with incompetence. The only good fighters are, of course, Cale and his friends.
I also don't understand how people can call this masterful writing. If your expectation is "knows how sentences work", then yes, I guess. But beyond that it's not really outstanding? Quite the contrary. I still have no idea what the world is supposed to look like, not even where the Sanctuary and Memphis are in relation to each other, and it took me about a hundred pages to even begin to suspect it's supposed to be alternate history of our world. Honestly, this feels like a Civ 6 campaign or something.
And on a more personal note:
I went into this book expecting graphic violence, because that's what the blurb promises, right? Yet I don't even get a decent whipping scene. We're told over and over how cruel the Redeemers are to the kids, but that's where it remains: telling. Give me some good graphic violence or don't make such promises!
Anyway, that's just a personal preference, but I've also read YA books with more detailed descriptions...
lvyino64's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed the concepts at the start, but the moment Cale began having feelings for Arbell (?) it got boring. Like when did they even like each other?? When did their relationship develop to the point of making love?? LIKE WHAT
akbrownie's review against another edition
4.0
It was good. This is the one with Thomas Cale where they are in the sactuary of the redeemers and they are strongly abused until the make a daring escape. First book felt like a lead up to read the second? It was good, but I'm not 100% sure about it
chontadurolector's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
fishface's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I can give this a lot of credit for how pacy and readable it is. Basically everything else about the story is a bit shit though lol. The characters are weak, especially the women, who exist exclusively to tempt and decieve the 14 (!) year old main charcter. Ew. The worldbuilding also frustrates me. The author has chosen to almost exclusively borrow names for countries, peoples and cities from real life ones, without paying any heed as far as I can tell to geography. It surely isn't trying to be an alternate timeline Earth... as all the locations wouldn't make sense... so why didn't the author just make up place-names? In addition the main religion is evidently a recreation of Christianity, complete with crusaders (the redeemers) so why not just commit and call it that when everything else has been given an Earth name.
However, I must (slightly shamefully) admit it was still a good time and fun read :))
However, I must (slightly shamefully) admit it was still a good time and fun read :))
nejtack's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Provocatively sloppy and generally a waste of time. At least Paul seems aware of his own lazy writing, as he is constantly prompting the reader to "consider x" or "imagine y", even if he does nothing to remedy it. Horrific world-building is accompanied by a general lack of structured plot and engaging, or even believable, characters. We are kept at a firm distance from our protagonist while the weird, omniscient narrator does all the heavy lifting for him; in fact, Thomas Cale is consistently referred to by his bloody surname, as if the author is afraid of us getting to know the character and connecting with him. The clunky prose ensures that the reader isn't given a moment of peace in the 400 pages of blind stumbling around the paper-thin, confusing story that even Hoffman himself doesn't seem able to explain.
If I had been religious in any capacity, I would have come away from this book an atheist. How this became a trilogy is utterly beyond me. Honestly. Is this really a finished work, fit for audiences to read? Is it suddenly a crime to edit and revise novels properly? Are there simply no standards for what is considered suitable for publication anymore?
If I had been religious in any capacity, I would have come away from this book an atheist. How this became a trilogy is utterly beyond me. Honestly. Is this really a finished work, fit for audiences to read? Is it suddenly a crime to edit and revise novels properly? Are there simply no standards for what is considered suitable for publication anymore?
auroramw's review against another edition
3.0
I am a little uncertain of what I feel about this book. I want to say that I love it, but I can't, and that is simply because I don't. I found the plot and characters interesting, but I think that Paul's writing style is simply not for me. Therefore, I probably won't continue with this series.
zieglera's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5