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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Reading this book for the second time after so many years was magical, it will forever be one of the best stories I've ever read and I'm so excited to (re)read the other two books of the series! Amazing as always I'm so in love!
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
While at the beginning of this book I thought that the story was a bit slow and not to my taste, after a few chapters I began to really enjoy watching the characters grow and mature. The author does an excellent job of portraying the difficulties of coming of age, the variety and flavors of love and what it means to be family. I also appreciate the portrayal of the difficulties faced by a young woman, in a society that believes that the value of a woman lies in being a wife and mother, when she wants and is capable of so much more. This is a complex and rich book with much to offer.
I give this book an A-.
While at the beginning of this book I thought that the story was a bit slow and not to my taste, after a few chapters I began to really enjoy watching the characters grow and mature. The author does an excellent job of portraying the difficulties of coming of age, the variety and flavors of love and what it means to be family. I also appreciate the portrayal of the difficulties faced by a young woman, in a society that believes that the value of a woman lies in being a wife and mother, when she wants and is capable of so much more. This is a complex and rich book with much to offer.
I give this book an A-.
I received a copy via NetGalley from the publisher for an honest review.
This is the story of Nihal of Salazar, a young girl with blue hair, purple eyes, and pointy ears. Unlike most girls her age, she enjoys sword play instead of daydreaming of her future husband & playing dress up. One day, she meets a boy who tricks her with magic during a duel. Determined to defeat this boy, she sets herself on quest to learn magic and eventually defeat her enemies and avenge her family.
My Thoughts
I was really looking forward to starting this fantasy novel. This is a high fantasy YA novel with dragons, sword fights, and magic. Everything in this book started out great and then ...
Total Fail!! I felt like I was reading one of those fairy tales. You know which ones I'm talking about!! The really popular ones right now that keep being retold.
Yup, those ones! So, if you're between the ages of 9-13 this is the story for you! Enjoy!!
This is the story of Nihal of Salazar, a young girl with blue hair, purple eyes, and pointy ears. Unlike most girls her age, she enjoys sword play instead of daydreaming of her future husband & playing dress up. One day, she meets a boy who tricks her with magic during a duel. Determined to defeat this boy, she sets herself on quest to learn magic and eventually defeat her enemies and avenge her family.
My Thoughts
I was really looking forward to starting this fantasy novel. This is a high fantasy YA novel with dragons, sword fights, and magic. Everything in this book started out great and then ...
Total Fail!! I felt like I was reading one of those fairy tales. You know which ones I'm talking about!! The really popular ones right now that keep being retold.
Yup, those ones! So, if you're between the ages of 9-13 this is the story for you! Enjoy!!
adventurous
medium-paced
2.4 ☆☆
This used to be my favourite book. How does it hold up now? Not good. Not good at all.
But now I know why I used to write so fucking depressive stories when I was twelve lmao
This used to be my favourite book. How does it hold up now? Not good. Not good at all.
But now I know why I used to write so fucking depressive stories when I was twelve lmao
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Davvero bello e profondo, per nulla scontata come storia.
Sto faticando col fantasy ultimamente ma per la prima volta da tanto ho voglia di leggere un seguito. Non vedo l’ora di leggere altri suoi libri
Sto faticando col fantasy ultimamente ma per la prima volta da tanto ho voglia di leggere un seguito. Non vedo l’ora di leggere altri suoi libri
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love me a capable female lead. And heck, who doesn't love an elf with a sword? Looks interesting, Hopefully will get an ARC from Netgalley!
YAY!!!!! Can't wait to read this. And SO SO SO glad the cover is better than the old version, though barf would have been an improvement over that metal chick... icky. Not pretty.
UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGG this was a good book. I really loved Nihal. She's awesome. I think what I liked is that things did not come easily for her, she had to work hard; she wasn't good at magic. She liked to fight. She struggled with emotional demons. She made mistakes but is a good person. Overall the book was engaging with great character building. There were some problems discussed below, but though they detracted a bit, they weren't enough to spoil my liking of this story.
So what we have here is a half-elf, the last of her kind, who experiences an idyllic childhood with a loving father who is a master arms-maker. At his knee Nihal first discovers her love of weapons and fighting. All her childhood games are centered around it. For the sake of wanting to be a better warrior, Nihal also becomes apprentice to her formidable but beautiful aunt, a powerful sorceress who teaches Nihal some basic magic. She also interacts there with Sennar, Soana's other student who has amazing magical abilities. She also meets Fen, Soana's love and Nihal's crush.
***slight spoiler***Though Nihal has a nice childhood, it abruptly ends with the death of her adopted father and the arrival of The Tyrant's destroying army. Nihal learns more about her heritage and begins to train to be a Dragon Knight like Fen, wishing to fight the Fammin who destroyed her family and her people.
Through all of this there was some nice character building that really held the story together. The world building was minimal; there were some great ideas about the four lands of Night, Wind, Days, and Sun. But unfortunately we were simply told a lot of things and shown very little. And the Tyrant's story is told a bit, but he is mostly a generic, faceless evil, destruction for destruction's sake.
When we get to see what Sennar has been up to, it's him describing it in dialogue to Nihal. I feel like it would have been much better if it would have just switched scenes and let us experience it with him instead of being told after the fact.
Also another thing that bothered me was once, she was in tears over something and it said she sobbed for the first time since her father died. Um, what about the like, ten times she was described as sobbing since then?
I also didn't get how isolated Nihal was while she trained. One boy did eventually befriend her, but I found it hard to believe that the only women in a compound of hundreds of men was treated so badly by EVERYONE there. And that the noble Dragon Knights were trained by such a reprehensible character as Raven. He has a couple of brief moments of humanity that weren't enough for me. And the whole thing with Malerba just confused me. I didn't understand the point of it. I kept feeling like the story would tie back to him somehow, and it never did. Maybe in the sequels.
Overall I would recommend this book wholeheartedly. I think Nihal has an interesting story to tell, and I love how strong and yet broken she is. It will be interesting to see how she heals; either to become a better person, or let her bitterness and sorrow destroy her capacity to love and see the good in the world.
YAY!!!!! Can't wait to read this. And SO SO SO glad the cover is better than the old version, though barf would have been an improvement over that metal chick... icky. Not pretty.
UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGG this was a good book. I really loved Nihal. She's awesome. I think what I liked is that things did not come easily for her, she had to work hard; she wasn't good at magic. She liked to fight. She struggled with emotional demons. She made mistakes but is a good person. Overall the book was engaging with great character building. There were some problems discussed below, but though they detracted a bit, they weren't enough to spoil my liking of this story.
So what we have here is a half-elf, the last of her kind, who experiences an idyllic childhood with a loving father who is a master arms-maker. At his knee Nihal first discovers her love of weapons and fighting. All her childhood games are centered around it. For the sake of wanting to be a better warrior, Nihal also becomes apprentice to her formidable but beautiful aunt, a powerful sorceress who teaches Nihal some basic magic. She also interacts there with Sennar, Soana's other student who has amazing magical abilities. She also meets Fen, Soana's love and Nihal's crush.
***slight spoiler***Though Nihal has a nice childhood, it abruptly ends with the death of her adopted father and the arrival of The Tyrant's destroying army. Nihal learns more about her heritage and begins to train to be a Dragon Knight like Fen, wishing to fight the Fammin who destroyed her family and her people.
Through all of this there was some nice character building that really held the story together. The world building was minimal; there were some great ideas about the four lands of Night, Wind, Days, and Sun. But unfortunately we were simply told a lot of things and shown very little. And the Tyrant's story is told a bit, but he is mostly a generic, faceless evil, destruction for destruction's sake.
Spoiler
There were a few things that bothered me, that I have no idea if it's a translation issue or poor editing. Time seems to pass very strangely. For instance, when Nihal leaves her training as a Dragon Knight after nearly killing herself on the battlefield, she stays with a family to try and find something besides vengeance and hatred to fight for. She said she fell into a routine with them, but then after that it says only a few days had passed. Then when she decides to stay with them, it feels like months or even years have passed, but when she goes back to Ido, it's still snowing and winter. So maybe only a few weeks or a few months have passed.When we get to see what Sennar has been up to, it's him describing it in dialogue to Nihal. I feel like it would have been much better if it would have just switched scenes and let us experience it with him instead of being told after the fact.
Also another thing that bothered me was once, she was in tears over something and it said she sobbed for the first time since her father died. Um, what about the like, ten times she was described as sobbing since then?
I also didn't get how isolated Nihal was while she trained. One boy did eventually befriend her, but I found it hard to believe that the only women in a compound of hundreds of men was treated so badly by EVERYONE there. And that the noble Dragon Knights were trained by such a reprehensible character as Raven. He has a couple of brief moments of humanity that weren't enough for me. And the whole thing with Malerba just confused me. I didn't understand the point of it. I kept feeling like the story would tie back to him somehow, and it never did. Maybe in the sequels.
Overall I would recommend this book wholeheartedly. I think Nihal has an interesting story to tell, and I love how strong and yet broken she is. It will be interesting to see how she heals; either to become a better person, or let her bitterness and sorrow destroy her capacity to love and see the good in the world.
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes