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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
3 1/2 stars
I honestly got a little bored with this story. There were a few issues.
1. I never really got into Armand and Rachelle's relationship. It just felt a little forced.
2. The majority of the story was about them looking for a sword. If there was ever an overused plot line...
3. The ending was really well done and concluded well, but all the action was at the end. Which makes this book not the type of novel I would read again because I would be bored most of the time.
However I cannot write a review of one of Rosamund Hodge's books without complementing her on her world building.
I honestly got a little bored with this story. There were a few issues.
1. I never really got into Armand and Rachelle's relationship. It just felt a little forced.
2. The majority of the story was about them looking for a sword. If there was ever an overused plot line...
3. The ending was really well done and concluded well, but all the action was at the end. Which makes this book not the type of novel I would read again because I would be bored most of the time.
However I cannot write a review of one of Rosamund Hodge's books without complementing her on her world building.
3.5
maybe i didn't feel as connected to this as i should have? it was good but not my favorite
maybe i didn't feel as connected to this as i should have? it was good but not my favorite
Loved it. A creative, fascinating, and engaging read. I'm not usually into world building but the lore that played a big part in the story was so creepy and awesome. The audiobook narrator Elizabeth Knowelden was one of the best I've ever heard with her gorgeous accent and her whisperingly intimate tone that made you feel like you were listening to a creepy tale around the fire.
I didn’t hate this book but I’ll forget about by the end of the day. It was interesting enough that I wanted to know how it ended but it was almost a chore. The characters were mostly unlikeable, the main Character Rachelle was very unlikeable and kinda bitchy to everyone else. I feel like the story was almost incomplete like there was basically no world building or depth just the main plot.
Great book but struggling to find its connection to Little Red.
Loved the premise - mainly because I crush on anything "Little Red Riding Hood." I guess I just kept waiting for "that" moment but it didn't ever reveal itself. Overall, I loved the character development and the setting with it's forest elements. I actually LIKED the love triangle - where as others have been grossed out, per-say. I found it to be a good contrast. Once we reached the Chateau it was interesting how Hodge tossed politics in. It was SUPER enjoyable and it felt good to get chills at certain moments and smile in others. Would definitely read it again but Cruel Beauty wins out in my Rosamund Hodge category.
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised by the outcome, seeing as this book is YA, but there are still many things I would have preferred to be different. This book was a spin on two fairytales - one of which is Little Red Riding Hood, a tale that is a favourite of a close friend of mine. I liked how this kept to the original version of the story, and made the MC much tougher than one would normally expect for the heroine of that tale.
Aside from that, I didn't really like her. She was . . . not whiny, exactly, but she was supposed to be "guilty" and "troubled" and "conflicted" and she never really felt like that. We were TOLD that that's how she was far to many times, but it was never shown.
I was almost turned off of the book immediately, because of the prologue and how the first chapter started. It wasn't handled well. The prologue either need to encompass much more, or it need to cut out a lot to fit with the first chapter and not make me go "I'm going to have to read this whole bloody book to get the great yet obvious reveal of what occurred and to have things explained". We either needed more information, so the questions weren't as great and annoying (yeah, I get it, it's supposed to draw you in, BUT ....) or it needed to cut out massive parts of it, and thus leave even bigger holes in one's knowledge of what occurred between the prologue and the first chapter. The way it is written now, does not work very well.
This is the downfall of the book. Far to much telling. I didn't feel like much was real. The only time it worked was in the parts that were another character literally telling a story. Then it was okay. It fit, it felt nice, it was well done. The rest of the time, the telling was bad. I never felt overly invested, or like what the characters felt were real.
I'll move on to what I hate the most: THE ROMANCE. This was just plain bad. It was in there purely because of YA cliches. That's it. I never once felt like the MC and her supposed love interest shared anything. There was one scene that they almost had chemistry, but guess what? IT WAS RUINED BY TELLING US DIRECTLY HOW THE MC FELT. There was no subtly to it at all. It was bad. That scene could have been good, but it was handle rather poorly. The rest of the time, I didn't see any chemistry between them, and the romance was so obvious I knew it would happen even before the characters had learnt each other's names.
The only part of this horrible cliche that was interesting, was the "love triangle" aspect, as that character WAS interesting. Heck, I didn't even expect the twist that was thrown in with him. I felt it was stupid and forced, but if things had been handled differently, it would have been a great twist. They made a villain into an anti-hero. Anti-heroes are great. This is why I enjoyed him, and enjoyed hating him.
Now for more things I hate: that the MC was resurrected. Why did she get this option? No clue! How does their realm of the dead work? No idea! Is there a separate soul and body, are they connected, are they the same thing? Dunno! It made no sense. The mythology of this world was never delved into enough to explain how this could in anything be possible. She should have stayed dead. Would it have sucked for her? Yes. Would it have been a good ending? Yes. Because victory does come at the price of sacrifice, and this book should have kept to that and not given us the "happy, everything will be okay" ending.
I also didn't like this thing at the very end with white threads. What does it mean? No idea. Heck, up until the climax, the red thread seemed like a one-off, very rare occurrence, but it kinda, sorta, wasn't? It was badly explained as to HOW, and the white threads were even more random. It was just a strange, unneeded detail to draw attention to. Could've deleted those bits and nothing would be lost.
Basically, the book had some okay moments, and I liked what it was trying to do, and it was an interesting plot. But the writing was bad, the characters were weak, and the plot had some issues at the ending, but mainly it's the writing and the characters. I liked the plot. The rest was tolerable. I suppose it's not the worst book, but neither is it the best.
Aside from that, I didn't really like her. She was . . . not whiny, exactly, but she was supposed to be "guilty" and "troubled" and "conflicted" and she never really felt like that. We were TOLD that that's how she was far to many times, but it was never shown.
I was almost turned off of the book immediately, because of the prologue and how the first chapter started. It wasn't handled well. The prologue either need to encompass much more, or it need to cut out a lot to fit with the first chapter and not make me go "I'm going to have to read this whole bloody book to get the great yet obvious reveal of what occurred and to have things explained". We either needed more information, so the questions weren't as great and annoying (yeah, I get it, it's supposed to draw you in, BUT ....) or it needed to cut out massive parts of it, and thus leave even bigger holes in one's knowledge of what occurred between the prologue and the first chapter. The way it is written now, does not work very well.
This is the downfall of the book. Far to much telling. I didn't feel like much was real. The only time it worked was in the parts that were another character literally telling a story. Then it was okay. It fit, it felt nice, it was well done. The rest of the time, the telling was bad. I never felt overly invested, or like what the characters felt were real.
I'll move on to what I hate the most: THE ROMANCE. This was just plain bad. It was in there purely because of YA cliches. That's it. I never once felt like the MC and her supposed love interest shared anything. There was one scene that they almost had chemistry, but guess what? IT WAS RUINED BY TELLING US DIRECTLY HOW THE MC FELT. There was no subtly to it at all. It was bad. That scene could have been good, but it was handle rather poorly. The rest of the time, I didn't see any chemistry between them, and the romance was so obvious I knew it would happen even before the characters had learnt each other's names.
The only part of this horrible cliche that was interesting, was the "love triangle" aspect, as that character WAS interesting. Heck, I didn't even expect the twist that was thrown in with him. I felt it was stupid and forced, but if things had been handled differently, it would have been a great twist. They made a villain into an anti-hero. Anti-heroes are great. This is why I enjoyed him, and enjoyed hating him.
Now for more things I hate: that the MC was resurrected. Why did she get this option? No clue! How does their realm of the dead work? No idea! Is there a separate soul and body, are they connected, are they the same thing? Dunno! It made no sense. The mythology of this world was never delved into enough to explain how this could in anything be possible. She should have stayed dead. Would it have sucked for her? Yes. Would it have been a good ending? Yes. Because victory does come at the price of sacrifice, and this book should have kept to that and not given us the "happy, everything will be okay" ending.
I also didn't like this thing at the very end with white threads. What does it mean? No idea. Heck, up until the climax, the red thread seemed like a one-off, very rare occurrence, but it kinda, sorta, wasn't? It was badly explained as to HOW, and the white threads were even more random. It was just a strange, unneeded detail to draw attention to. Could've deleted those bits and nothing would be lost.
Basically, the book had some okay moments, and I liked what it was trying to do, and it was an interesting plot. But the writing was bad, the characters were weak, and the plot had some issues at the ending, but mainly it's the writing and the characters. I liked the plot. The rest was tolerable. I suppose it's not the worst book, but neither is it the best.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Eh. It was not bad, but not as great either. People praised it the way they did with Cruel Beauty so I thought I would experience similar wonders when I read it, but it did nothing to me.
SPOILER
Rachelle is a great main character, though. But I can't feel anything between him and Armand. I am happy that they are together but I also don't understand the ending between them. He mourned for her so much when she died and kissed her as soon as she came back to life, but then he did not do much to her afterwards. I understand that he might be confused, but I thought the first thing he would do after all the mess would be asking her about it - if their feelings were still the same.
Also the way she faced the Devourer and killed him... I feel NOTHING about it. It's supposed to be exciting and scary, but I feel nothing. Threads and weaving? What the hell? It was so boring.
Weirdly enough, I feel things towards Erec. He's evil and cruel but he also loves Rachelle deeply and terribly. All he wanted was a life with her and even though I know it doesn't excuse his crimes, it still makes him more interesting than Armand.
This is a really disappointing experience, but maybe I have set my expectations too high after I read Cruel Beauty.
SPOILER
Rachelle is a great main character, though. But I can't feel anything between him and Armand. I am happy that they are together but I also don't understand the ending between them. He mourned for her so much when she died and kissed her as soon as she came back to life, but then he did not do much to her afterwards. I understand that he might be confused, but I thought the first thing he would do after all the mess would be asking her about it - if their feelings were still the same.
Also the way she faced the Devourer and killed him... I feel NOTHING about it. It's supposed to be exciting and scary, but I feel nothing. Threads and weaving? What the hell? It was so boring.
Weirdly enough, I feel things towards Erec. He's evil and cruel but he also loves Rachelle deeply and terribly. All he wanted was a life with her and even though I know it doesn't excuse his crimes, it still makes him more interesting than Armand.
This is a really disappointing experience, but maybe I have set my expectations too high after I read Cruel Beauty.