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nickoliver's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I had a bit of a hard time getting into this story. I found it weirdly confusing at first, with the history of the world being a bit too convoluted for me. If you asked me to summarise how the politics looked like, I wouldn't have a clue. It might be just a me-problem, since a lot was actually described quite in depth - maybe I'm just too stupid -, but I could never remember who had a problem with whom and especially why they had a problem with each other.
The pace was rather slow for the first 100 pages, and I always had an easy time to put the book down. It wasn't that it was boring at all - I did quite enjoy myself every time I did pick the novel up -, but I never found it so thrilling and absorbing that I desperately needed to know what happened next. Though I do have to say that the plot kept me on my toes a lot - there were a lot of plot lines I didn't see coming.
The characters were certainly interesting. Again, I was a bit confused at times because a lot of characters were mentioned by name but never really showed up themselves - like, for example, all the warlords in Jin-Sayeng. Talyien, the main character, was both really strong and quick on her feet but also too trustful sometimes. The way she kept wanting to save her husband despite learning some really despicable thing about him - and already knowing quite a few bad things about him - made me frustrated a lot. I often wanted her to put certain men in their places and she never did - which, to be fair, did make sense sometimes, but it didn't make it any less infuriating to see her be treated the way she was. In any way, her character didn't always make it easy to want to keep reading.
The rest of the cast was interesting. Some characters, like Loh Bahn, ended up acting differently than expected. Villoso didn't just paint characters as one-dimensional and then kept them like that, some of them did keep you guessing. Even some of the ones who weren't even portrayed as bad were hard to trust, since there a sense of betrayal was weaving its way throughout the entire story. My favourite one was Khine; he added a bit of lightheartedness that was otherwise lacking.
To my surprise, the story was a lot darker than I expected. To be fair, I did for some reason think this was a YA novel and not about a 26-year-old woman, so maybe that had to do with it. But there was a lot of violence, and also sexual assault (though "just" threatened and not actually on page), that I didn't know was in there. That certainly made me agitated a lot, because I wasn't quite sure how far Villoso would take it.
The ending was a bit frustrating to read, and there were still some plot points I didn't quite understand. But I will continue with the series at some point!
The pace was rather slow for the first 100 pages, and I always had an easy time to put the book down. It wasn't that it was boring at all - I did quite enjoy myself every time I did pick the novel up -, but I never found it so thrilling and absorbing that I desperately needed to know what happened next. Though I do have to say that the plot kept me on my toes a lot - there were a lot of plot lines I didn't see coming.
The characters were certainly interesting. Again, I was a bit confused at times because a lot of characters were mentioned by name but never really showed up themselves - like, for example, all the warlords in Jin-Sayeng. Talyien, the main character, was both really strong and quick on her feet but also too trustful sometimes. The way she kept wanting to save her husband despite learning some really despicable thing about him - and already knowing quite a few bad things about him - made me frustrated a lot. I often wanted her to put certain men in their places and she never did - which, to be fair, did make sense sometimes, but it didn't make it any less infuriating to see her be treated the way she was. In any way, her character didn't always make it easy to want to keep reading.
The rest of the cast was interesting. Some characters, like Loh Bahn, ended up acting differently than expected. Villoso didn't just paint characters as one-dimensional and then kept them like that, some of them did keep you guessing. Even some of the ones who weren't even portrayed as bad were hard to trust, since there a sense of betrayal was weaving its way throughout the entire story. My favourite one was Khine; he added a bit of lightheartedness that was otherwise lacking.
To my surprise, the story was a lot darker than I expected. To be fair, I did for some reason think this was a YA novel and not about a 26-year-old woman, so maybe that had to do with it. But there was a lot of violence, and also sexual assault (though "just" threatened and not actually on page), that I didn't know was in there. That certainly made me agitated a lot, because I wasn't quite sure how far Villoso would take it.
The ending was a bit frustrating to read, and there were still some plot points I didn't quite understand. But I will continue with the series at some point!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Moderate: Animal death, Stalking, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content
achingallover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Irritating main character making ridiculous choices with no character development and the twist at the end (reason the husband left) pissed me off beyond belief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
booksthatburn's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
THE WOLF OF OREN-YARO begins with a queen journeying to meet her estranged husband, then abruptly transforms into a flight from assassins and a struggle just to survive in a strange land where her name means nothing.
The world-building is excellent, with just the right combination of novelty and repetition to introduce and then reinforce ideas and details throughout the story without any one section feeling like infodumping. The convoluted machinations involved appeared at first to be simple, then were gradually questioned and complicated until the final reveal makes things suddenly make sense in a really cool way. While the politics matter, the heart of the story is how Talyien interacts with the ordinary people that she's around for the first time in her life, and what choices she makes under each new and trying circumstance. My favorite individual scenes were the scams, because I love heists, and my favorite secondary character is Khine. I love the way that he and Talyien build this friendship without feeling like the narrative is pushing them together romantically. He has his own baggage, she's literally trying to track down and possibly reconcile with her husband, and they just work really well as characters whenever they're in scenes together. It's either genuinely a platonic friendship or the slowest of slow burn romances, and either way it bodes well for the rest of the trilogy. As for Talyien herself, she's a fantastic narrator. While I was firmly on team "Rayyel isn't worth it" from the start of the book, I understand why she makes the choices she does even if they're definitely not the ones I would make.
I'm definitely interested in seeing where the rest of this series goes. It was a stressful read in places due to imminent danger to characters I like, and very good overall.
The world-building is excellent, with just the right combination of novelty and repetition to introduce and then reinforce ideas and details throughout the story without any one section feeling like infodumping. The convoluted machinations involved appeared at first to be simple, then were gradually questioned and complicated until the final reveal makes things suddenly make sense in a really cool way. While the politics matter, the heart of the story is how Talyien interacts with the ordinary people that she's around for the first time in her life, and what choices she makes under each new and trying circumstance. My favorite individual scenes were the scams, because I love heists, and my favorite secondary character is Khine. I love the way that he and Talyien build this friendship without feeling like the narrative is pushing them together romantically. He has his own baggage, she's literally trying to track down and possibly reconcile with her husband, and they just work really well as characters whenever they're in scenes together. It's either genuinely a platonic friendship or the slowest of slow burn romances, and either way it bodes well for the rest of the trilogy. As for Talyien herself, she's a fantastic narrator. While I was firmly on team "Rayyel isn't worth it" from the start of the book, I understand why she makes the choices she does even if they're definitely not the ones I would make.
I'm definitely interested in seeing where the rest of this series goes. It was a stressful read in places due to imminent danger to characters I like, and very good overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Racial slurs, and Rape
CW for sexism (graphic), misogyny (graphic), racism, racial slurs, xenophobia, grief, confinement (graphic), blood (graphic), attempted rape/sexual violence, violence (graphic), torture, murder, animal death, parental death (backstory), suicide, major character death, death.
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