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gayathiri_rajendran's review against another edition
2.0
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy. The below opinions are my own.
Crowning Soul is the first book in a Muslim inspired fantasy series. I read the blurb at first which promised an amazing story and the cover is absolutely fantastic.
I had a really difficult time in reading this book and the plot was confusing. I felt that there was too much happening in this book and too much of an information dump. Some parts of the book felt very repetitive and I couldn't connect with any of the characters even though tragedies occurred. The character development fell flat for me.
This book has Muslim representation and I liked that and I also enjoyed reading about the culture. An interesting premise but the execution could have been better.
Crowning Soul is the first book in a Muslim inspired fantasy series. I read the blurb at first which promised an amazing story and the cover is absolutely fantastic.
I had a really difficult time in reading this book and the plot was confusing. I felt that there was too much happening in this book and too much of an information dump. Some parts of the book felt very repetitive and I couldn't connect with any of the characters even though tragedies occurred. The character development fell flat for me.
This book has Muslim representation and I liked that and I also enjoyed reading about the culture. An interesting premise but the execution could have been better.
onepageatatime's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was a little confused by this book. The world itself was a little confusing so I had to put it down. So then I was scrolling through the reviews on Goodreads and the author said that the finished version was much better, so I bought it on Amazon. I do have to say that the finished version is more condensed and a little bit easier to follow. I had the same problem with Furyborn. So if you enjoyed Furyborn I am sure you will enjoy this book. I just felt like too much was going on and the jumping from character to character and having flashbacks were just too much for my brain to handle. The storyline is good but like I said a little muffled in my opinion.
I was a little confused by this book. The world itself was a little confusing so I had to put it down. So then I was scrolling through the reviews on Goodreads and the author said that the finished version was much better, so I bought it on Amazon. I do have to say that the finished version is more condensed and a little bit easier to follow. I had the same problem with Furyborn. So if you enjoyed Furyborn I am sure you will enjoy this book. I just felt like too much was going on and the jumping from character to character and having flashbacks were just too much for my brain to handle. The storyline is good but like I said a little muffled in my opinion.
deethereader's review
3.0
I requested this book based on the synopsis and had high expectations which was probably a bad move. Although it had all the elements that I am drawn to I found that it was too confusing and that there was too much going on. At times it was almost like there was multiple books being merged into one and not quite fitting. I did love the strong female lead and this is probably why I ended up finishing the book but it was a struggle to be honest. It was just not a book for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review
2.75*
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review
2.75*
kellen_green's review
2.0
I was hesitant to write this review since it has taken me so long to complete this book and was not sure if I was going to make it.
At first I was really excited to follow Nezha's mystical quest, see her elemental powers develop, learn more about the Muslim fantasy background, travel to a magical land filled with unicorns, angels and jinnis and in general, just have a blast. Still... that did not happen.
Although the basic idea of the book was great and would have lead to an amazing novel (maybe a series) its execution crash and burn it all.
The story started with an interesting atmospheric vibe but was soon rushed to the point that it became unbelievable and, regarding the antagonist, too repetitive.
A myriad of characters are introduced, one after another with no clear purpose or reason (or maybe it was there, well hidden behind tons of babble).
The author also tries a brave mix of magic and technology which, sadly doesn't come out so well ( I'm talking about unicorn's magical mobile phones that go accross dimensions and get calls from the human world...).
Finally the ending also let down as it just "end without a real ending".
Even though the experience was not the best, I would like to give the author a second chance in the future since this was her first nobel.
An ARC if this book was kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
At first I was really excited to follow Nezha's mystical quest, see her elemental powers develop, learn more about the Muslim fantasy background, travel to a magical land filled with unicorns, angels and jinnis and in general, just have a blast. Still... that did not happen.
Although the basic idea of the book was great and would have lead to an amazing novel (maybe a series) its execution crash and burn it all.
The story started with an interesting atmospheric vibe but was soon rushed to the point that it became unbelievable and, regarding the antagonist, too repetitive.
A myriad of characters are introduced, one after another with no clear purpose or reason (or maybe it was there, well hidden behind tons of babble).
The author also tries a brave mix of magic and technology which, sadly doesn't come out so well ( I'm talking about unicorn's magical mobile phones that go accross dimensions and get calls from the human world...).
Finally the ending also let down as it just "end without a real ending".
Even though the experience was not the best, I would like to give the author a second chance in the future since this was her first nobel.
An ARC if this book was kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
librarianlayla's review
3.0
I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3/3.5 stars.
This has some really beautiful world building moments in it, culturally rich with fantastical creatures thrown in.
However, the plot was a little all over the place. The best way I can try to put this into perspective is - you're watching one of your favourite shows, it's gearing up to something interesting, and then the adverts come on, so you run out of the room for a snack/toilet break ect but you were a minute or two too long taking that break and when you come back you've missed a section of what's happened and you have no idea how you've got to where you're at in the episode. That's what reading this book was like throughout. Now I'm not sure if this is just something that is due to it being an eARC and perhaps it will be tweaked and tightened for the final product but at times it caused the story flow to be very confusing.
The beginning felt quite rushed and then all of a sudden we had jumped into another world and things just kept speed jumping.
I really enjoyed the mythical creatures and the magic and I feel this story has so much potential but it got a little frustrating to read.
3/3.5 stars.
This has some really beautiful world building moments in it, culturally rich with fantastical creatures thrown in.
However, the plot was a little all over the place. The best way I can try to put this into perspective is - you're watching one of your favourite shows, it's gearing up to something interesting, and then the adverts come on, so you run out of the room for a snack/toilet break ect but you were a minute or two too long taking that break and when you come back you've missed a section of what's happened and you have no idea how you've got to where you're at in the episode. That's what reading this book was like throughout. Now I'm not sure if this is just something that is due to it being an eARC and perhaps it will be tweaked and tightened for the final product but at times it caused the story flow to be very confusing.
The beginning felt quite rushed and then all of a sudden we had jumped into another world and things just kept speed jumping.
I really enjoyed the mythical creatures and the magic and I feel this story has so much potential but it got a little frustrating to read.
zaheerah's review
1.0
Incoming a torpedo of spelling mistakes. I don't plan on posting this on my blog and I would like to forget this book asap. I apologise for this ramble of a rant. I usually hate writing extremely negative reviews as I would prefer not to post them. But I gave this the exception because I don't plan on editing the mess below. So what you're reading is literally my thoughts that I wrote in my phone as I read along. This book is a mess, but the potential was SO there and it made me so upset. I was a part of the book tour for this debut, but I obviously did not include this in the post. I did manage to find a few quotes that were okay to share. If you enjoyed this book, then look away, you'll find nothing here for you.
After reading the book description, I was initially very interested in this book. A girl who hides her ability to conjure fire finds herself in a land of magic and an array of jinns on her tail. But there was something nagging me at the back of my mind about the description. It felt blunt, and rather uninspiring, especially, now that I look back on it. And I feel like that should've been the first warning sign.
I took on this book because of the blog tour and I was unable to write a review for this book because, frankly, I don't think I have anything good to say about it. I felt annoyed when I finished this book, irritated that I should've trusted my gut feeling instead of choosing to go ahead with my participation, in hopes that the book would redeem itself. And it didn't. Not in the slightest of bits.
The story begins with Nezha and her family in celebration. They run the family store where they sell a variety of flowers and treats for any occasion. Aware of her fire skills, her parents are quiet about her secret and Nezha feels like her aunt is the only person who truly knows her. And in the midst of a party, she hears a voice that kept saying "fire elemental," which leads to her being cornered inside a maze by djinn. Nezha's aunt is soon killed off, which was so infuriating because if you know a djinn is after you, a djinn that is aware that you have a special power, why on earth would you let your defenceless family member leave your sight?
The perspective then changes over to our main villain, Zul Sharr, an Iron prince turned djinn, who is heartbroken after losing the love of his life. He gives into a djinn called Lexa, who swears she can help him gain the power she needs. I didn't understand what was happening, I didn't even think half of the chapters we get from their POVs were even necessary. There was no distinction at all between the voices of Nezha, Zul Sharr and Lexa and the other supporting character. It felt jarring when they were all together in some chapters because it read like an absolute mess.
Nezha ends up in the magical world of Noorenia in the strangest way possible. It begins with an earthquake, which leads to her grandfather swapping bodies with his brother, who resides in Noorenia. And the grand uncle brings her to Noorenia via a pond where she is faced with two unicorns. Sounds familar? Because that is where the book's official description ends and we've barely scratched the surface of the book. (In my e-copy, I believe it wasn't even 10% into the book?) If anyone that is a part of the team that worked on this book is reading this, please, I beg someone to rewrite the book description, because it is so bad. And I'm not even saying this to be rude, I JUST WANTED THIS BOOK TO BE BETTER.
Okay, now onto the unicorns, two siblings, Sapphire and Thunderbolt. Again, two new voices with zero colour in their voices. Thunderbolt acts like an annoying child, rather pretentious and Sapphire is very lacklustre. But we are told they are important so therefore, we have to go along with it. They encounter their first enemy djinn very soon, and this is where I first got really frustrated because we are about to be introduced to SO many villans whose roles in these stories are completely irrelevant. They're introduced to us to frighten Nezha but they are easily killed in the next page. There's NO pacing whatsoever, and it really brings this entire book down. Another example is not that far after fighting the "first" enemy, Nezha and co. enter this island where they are explicitly told not to trust what they can see because it's enchanted with tricker djinns. And guess what happens a few paragraphs later? A djinn disguises herself as a helpless girl, which Nezha basically falls for and scolds the unicorns when they tell her to be careful. This is straight-up terrible storytelling. I also forgot to mention that Nezha also has her pet cat that ended up in Noorenia too. Which conveniently disappears for times on end and then randomly mentioned in a line. Why even bother having it there? You could remove the cat and the story wouldn't change at all.
There was one specific moment where I genuinely thought I couldn't continue. Nezha and co. find themselves recovering from an encounter with the enemies so they decide to take a break? Literally, Nezha returns to her home in the human world and chills there as if there aren't multiple djinns chasing after her. After being told she possesses an angel's light, a power that is very important to the survival of Noorenia. Her aunt DIED in the beginning before she even entered Noorenia. I literally couldn't fathom WHY would you just return home and put your entire family at risk like that?
After all this confusion, Nezha finally faces her aunt's murderer and decides to let the djinn go. At first, I was like huh fair enough, you can forgive the murderer, that's your decision. I might not agree but you go girl. But to compare the murder of her aunt to her decision to not kill the djinn was a WACK comparison. And then we discover that Thunderbolt was *cue audience gasp* the old guard for Zul Sharr before he turned evil? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS WASN'T MENTION AT ALL? WHY IS THIS INFORMATION GIVEN TO US AT THE VERY END. WITH ZERO SUSPENSE. I actually wanted to cry, this is information that could've been SO good if it was given to us earlier. It gave us an interesting aspect of the twins and their link to Zul Sharr. It would have made it SO much more impactful in terms of the story. Except Thunderbolt SAYS NOTHING ABOUT IT. No even a sneer or a backhanded comment. ANYTHING that could've remotely suggested his connection to the prince.
There is also a love interest. Kayan, a boy who can control the wind, is conveniently introduced to us with a sad backstory about his sick father and sister. He joins the trio in hopes of finding a cure for his father. He is locked out of certain parts of the story because his power is basically too OP. The major battle at the end and this boy is literally not even there because he is conveniently not allowed to enter so his entire existence isn't even useful until their final escape. The final battle was a convoluted mess that even Nezha had to give a summary of what happened after it all ended.
There is an attempt for some semblance of a romantic relationship but it fails terribly because, again, the author chooses to tell us how to feel and react rather than show us. There is even a line where two characters joke about knowing the other so well and saying the line "your body language gave it away," I swear, I almost drop-kicked my phone. WHERE IS THIS BODY LANGUAGE? WE ARE THE READER. WE CAN'T SEE THESE CHARACTERS, SHOW US WHAT'S HAPPENING. And I cannot get over how quick to argument all these characters get because that seems to be the only way the author can make the story move along, by making them fight over insignificant things that made no sense to the story. And then rally the characters back together because ~teamwork makes the dream work~
And the ending again made no sense because Nezha returns home so she can finish her schooling but she agreed to be Noorenia's queen? Like, there was a whole fanfare moment where she promises the people to help them? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING??! I'm leaving this review (if you can call it that lol) here. The only good parts of the book was when Nezha would describe any food that was mention because more detail went into those than most of the book. I'll probably forget about this book in week, now that I've put all my thoughts here.
After reading the book description, I was initially very interested in this book. A girl who hides her ability to conjure fire finds herself in a land of magic and an array of jinns on her tail. But there was something nagging me at the back of my mind about the description. It felt blunt, and rather uninspiring, especially, now that I look back on it. And I feel like that should've been the first warning sign.
I took on this book because of the blog tour and I was unable to write a review for this book because, frankly, I don't think I have anything good to say about it. I felt annoyed when I finished this book, irritated that I should've trusted my gut feeling instead of choosing to go ahead with my participation, in hopes that the book would redeem itself. And it didn't. Not in the slightest of bits.
The story begins with Nezha and her family in celebration. They run the family store where they sell a variety of flowers and treats for any occasion. Aware of her fire skills, her parents are quiet about her secret and Nezha feels like her aunt is the only person who truly knows her. And in the midst of a party, she hears a voice that kept saying "fire elemental," which leads to her being cornered inside a maze by djinn. Nezha's aunt is soon killed off, which was so infuriating because if you know a djinn is after you, a djinn that is aware that you have a special power, why on earth would you let your defenceless family member leave your sight?
The perspective then changes over to our main villain, Zul Sharr, an Iron prince turned djinn, who is heartbroken after losing the love of his life. He gives into a djinn called Lexa, who swears she can help him gain the power she needs. I didn't understand what was happening, I didn't even think half of the chapters we get from their POVs were even necessary. There was no distinction at all between the voices of Nezha, Zul Sharr and Lexa and the other supporting character. It felt jarring when they were all together in some chapters because it read like an absolute mess.
Nezha ends up in the magical world of Noorenia in the strangest way possible. It begins with an earthquake, which leads to her grandfather swapping bodies with his brother, who resides in Noorenia. And the grand uncle brings her to Noorenia via a pond where she is faced with two unicorns. Sounds familar? Because that is where the book's official description ends and we've barely scratched the surface of the book. (In my e-copy, I believe it wasn't even 10% into the book?) If anyone that is a part of the team that worked on this book is reading this, please, I beg someone to rewrite the book description, because it is so bad. And I'm not even saying this to be rude, I JUST WANTED THIS BOOK TO BE BETTER.
Okay, now onto the unicorns, two siblings, Sapphire and Thunderbolt. Again, two new voices with zero colour in their voices. Thunderbolt acts like an annoying child, rather pretentious and Sapphire is very lacklustre. But we are told they are important so therefore, we have to go along with it. They encounter their first enemy djinn very soon, and this is where I first got really frustrated because we are about to be introduced to SO many villans whose roles in these stories are completely irrelevant. They're introduced to us to frighten Nezha but they are easily killed in the next page. There's NO pacing whatsoever, and it really brings this entire book down. Another example is not that far after fighting the "first" enemy, Nezha and co. enter this island where they are explicitly told not to trust what they can see because it's enchanted with tricker djinns. And guess what happens a few paragraphs later? A djinn disguises herself as a helpless girl, which Nezha basically falls for and scolds the unicorns when they tell her to be careful. This is straight-up terrible storytelling. I also forgot to mention that Nezha also has her pet cat that ended up in Noorenia too. Which conveniently disappears for times on end and then randomly mentioned in a line. Why even bother having it there? You could remove the cat and the story wouldn't change at all.
There was one specific moment where I genuinely thought I couldn't continue. Nezha and co. find themselves recovering from an encounter with the enemies so they decide to take a break? Literally, Nezha returns to her home in the human world and chills there as if there aren't multiple djinns chasing after her. After being told she possesses an angel's light, a power that is very important to the survival of Noorenia. Her aunt DIED in the beginning before she even entered Noorenia. I literally couldn't fathom WHY would you just return home and put your entire family at risk like that?
After all this confusion, Nezha finally faces her aunt's murderer and decides to let the djinn go. At first, I was like huh fair enough, you can forgive the murderer, that's your decision. I might not agree but you go girl. But to compare the murder of her aunt to her decision to not kill the djinn was a WACK comparison. And then we discover that Thunderbolt was *cue audience gasp* the old guard for Zul Sharr before he turned evil? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS WASN'T MENTION AT ALL? WHY IS THIS INFORMATION GIVEN TO US AT THE VERY END. WITH ZERO SUSPENSE. I actually wanted to cry, this is information that could've been SO good if it was given to us earlier. It gave us an interesting aspect of the twins and their link to Zul Sharr. It would have made it SO much more impactful in terms of the story. Except Thunderbolt SAYS NOTHING ABOUT IT. No even a sneer or a backhanded comment. ANYTHING that could've remotely suggested his connection to the prince.
There is also a love interest. Kayan, a boy who can control the wind, is conveniently introduced to us with a sad backstory about his sick father and sister. He joins the trio in hopes of finding a cure for his father. He is locked out of certain parts of the story because his power is basically too OP. The major battle at the end and this boy is literally not even there because he is conveniently not allowed to enter so his entire existence isn't even useful until their final escape. The final battle was a convoluted mess that even Nezha had to give a summary of what happened after it all ended.
There is an attempt for some semblance of a romantic relationship but it fails terribly because, again, the author chooses to tell us how to feel and react rather than show us. There is even a line where two characters joke about knowing the other so well and saying the line "your body language gave it away," I swear, I almost drop-kicked my phone. WHERE IS THIS BODY LANGUAGE? WE ARE THE READER. WE CAN'T SEE THESE CHARACTERS, SHOW US WHAT'S HAPPENING. And I cannot get over how quick to argument all these characters get because that seems to be the only way the author can make the story move along, by making them fight over insignificant things that made no sense to the story. And then rally the characters back together because ~teamwork makes the dream work~
And the ending again made no sense because Nezha returns home so she can finish her schooling but she agreed to be Noorenia's queen? Like, there was a whole fanfare moment where she promises the people to help them? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING??! I'm leaving this review (if you can call it that lol) here. The only good parts of the book was when Nezha would describe any food that was mention because more detail went into those than most of the book. I'll probably forget about this book in week, now that I've put all my thoughts here.
thewoollygeek's review against another edition
1.0
I am so sad to say that this book was disappointing for me and not what I was expecting, based on the synopsis and hype I was so eager to read this, but I found it so hard going , it was just an effort to get through this. It felt just unrealistic, in a not relatable way, overly far fetched ! Dialogue didn’t feel natural and was actually cheesy at times. It just wasn’t for me at all.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
melbsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Trigger warnings: violence, death of a loved one, fire
Oh boy. This cover is STUNNING and I was really hoping the book would be one hell of a good time. Uuuuuuuunfortunately, this was...chaotic. There is SO much going on that I honestly struggled to keep track of what was happening. Like...she has fire powers. There's an evil dude. There are unicorns. But they're not really unicorns. They're actually angels. There's a hot guy with wind powers. There's her cat. There's the grief over her aunt's death. There's collecting pieces of a soul. There's essentially an endless string of action scenes loosely strung together.
My main source of annoyance here is that it could have been a really fantastic middle grade story. Nezha is supposed to be 17, but she feels a lot more like she's 10 or 11. And if she'd BEEN 10 or 11, then the story would have been a perfect middle grade coming-into-her-powers type story. I wouldn't have eyerolled constantly over the gold and purple unicorns. I wouldn't have had such an issue with the episodic and disjointed feel of the story. But no. It's supposed to be YA. But I honestly have a hard time believing that any teenager would get more than 10% into this without giving up.
And having looked at other reviews, I've just found out that this started out on Wattpad and now everything makes perfect sense.
Oh boy. This cover is STUNNING and I was really hoping the book would be one hell of a good time. Uuuuuuuunfortunately, this was...chaotic. There is SO much going on that I honestly struggled to keep track of what was happening. Like...she has fire powers. There's an evil dude. There are unicorns. But they're not really unicorns. They're actually angels. There's a hot guy with wind powers. There's her cat. There's the grief over her aunt's death. There's collecting pieces of a soul. There's essentially an endless string of action scenes loosely strung together.
My main source of annoyance here is that it could have been a really fantastic middle grade story. Nezha is supposed to be 17, but she feels a lot more like she's 10 or 11. And if she'd BEEN 10 or 11, then the story would have been a perfect middle grade coming-into-her-powers type story. I wouldn't have eyerolled constantly over the gold and purple unicorns. I wouldn't have had such an issue with the episodic and disjointed feel of the story. But no. It's supposed to be YA. But I honestly have a hard time believing that any teenager would get more than 10% into this without giving up.
And having looked at other reviews, I've just found out that this started out on Wattpad and now everything makes perfect sense.
corienrielles's review against another edition
3.0
2,75/5
Nezha is a young girl with a secret: she has the power to control fire. After the mysterious death of her aunt, she is transported to another dimension. With the help of two unicorns, she must find and gather the pieces of an angel's soul and eventually confront the evil jinn who may be responsible for her aunt’s death.
I really wanted to get hyped by this book. It has everything I wanted : a strong female character, a found family and magic. But I guess Crowning Soul wasn’t for me.
I DNF’ed it at around 40 % because I had lost interest in the story. Too much was happening too fast and it became repetitive and confusing…
Well I was always confused while reading this book. At first, I thought it was because it was only the beginning, I didn’t know much about jinni, and as I read it everything would become clearer. It didn’t. The plot just became messier and messier ; I had the impression that the author never gave proper explanations and that she expected us to understand the backstory and her world-building without having to explain it to us.
I am pretty sure the arc I had wasn’t the edited version and I think the final version will be much better. There are several scenes that I didn't understand because they didn't make much sense but I think the author can easily edit that and I hope she has.
Just because Crowing's soul hasn't met my expectations doesn't mean it won't meet yours.
I’d recommend this book for an audience between the ages of 10 and 14. This book should be perfect for people who are a little to young for YA.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me this ARC.
Nezha is a young girl with a secret: she has the power to control fire. After the mysterious death of her aunt, she is transported to another dimension. With the help of two unicorns, she must find and gather the pieces of an angel's soul and eventually confront the evil jinn who may be responsible for her aunt’s death.
I really wanted to get hyped by this book. It has everything I wanted : a strong female character, a found family and magic. But I guess Crowning Soul wasn’t for me.
I DNF’ed it at around 40 % because I had lost interest in the story. Too much was happening too fast and it became repetitive and confusing…
Well I was always confused while reading this book. At first, I thought it was because it was only the beginning, I didn’t know much about jinni, and as I read it everything would become clearer. It didn’t. The plot just became messier and messier ; I had the impression that the author never gave proper explanations and that she expected us to understand the backstory and her world-building without having to explain it to us.
I am pretty sure the arc I had wasn’t the edited version and I think the final version will be much better. There are several scenes that I didn't understand because they didn't make much sense but I think the author can easily edit that and I hope she has.
Just because Crowing's soul hasn't met my expectations doesn't mean it won't meet yours.
I’d recommend this book for an audience between the ages of 10 and 14. This book should be perfect for people who are a little to young for YA.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me this ARC.