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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5?
This had a really exciting premise, and I think it’s one of those cases where the execution just wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, and I kept waiting for something more to happen. There was a lot of build up to the main plot, which left me fighting the urge to skim through sections. I’m the type of person who genuinely does enjoy the non-action scenes of fantasy books, but it felt like we were sort of being lead in circles due to the author not wanting to relent the plot and allow it to reach its climax sooner.
I enjoyed the characters for the most part, some more than others, but I couldn’t quite say I’m attached to them. Generally, I’m not quite sure how the book made me feel – it was enjoyable, and I was able to get through it quickly, but it didn’t really grip me until the latter few chapters.
All that being said, I don’t want to come off as too harsh. It’s the first book of a trilogy and in fantasy series, the first is often more lacklustre than the sequels. I see what the authors vision was and I think this has the potential to be a really strong trilogy as a whole, so I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt (hence why I rounded my star rating up instead of down). It’s a solid book, just didn’t quite give all that I thought it would!
This had a really exciting premise, and I think it’s one of those cases where the execution just wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, and I kept waiting for something more to happen. There was a lot of build up to the main plot, which left me fighting the urge to skim through sections. I’m the type of person who genuinely does enjoy the non-action scenes of fantasy books, but it felt like we were sort of being lead in circles due to the author not wanting to relent the plot and allow it to reach its climax sooner.
I enjoyed the characters for the most part, some more than others, but I couldn’t quite say I’m attached to them. Generally, I’m not quite sure how the book made me feel – it was enjoyable, and I was able to get through it quickly, but it didn’t really grip me until the latter few chapters.
All that being said, I don’t want to come off as too harsh. It’s the first book of a trilogy and in fantasy series, the first is often more lacklustre than the sequels. I see what the authors vision was and I think this has the potential to be a really strong trilogy as a whole, so I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt (hence why I rounded my star rating up instead of down). It’s a solid book, just didn’t quite give all that I thought it would!
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
No es solo que me haya gustado, es que encima me ha sorprendido. Pensaba que iba a ir por un lado, pero para nada, lo que me ha agradado porque hacía tiempo que un libro no me sorprendía de esta manera. Lo único malo ha sido que hay muchas palabras que no explican y, al ser de una cultura que no dominas, se hace complicado. Algunas las explican en el glosario final, pero tener que ir a buscarlas cuando aparecen las que no reconoces te saca un poco de la historia.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's been a long time since I've read a fantasy novel so I don't know if it's because of that that I found it a bit hard to find my way in this new world. Somehow the plot was moving forward quite fast but it also drags a bit on. I don't know why but I thought this would be enemies to lovers but this is not a romantasy
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Aparna Verma does an excellent job of bringing the world of The Phoenix King to life with her writing style. The slow burn romance is great, but it's not front and center - and sometimes you just need a book like that. However, the book is a little dense on the worldbuilding and mythology that it was difficult for me to read physically, so I ended up listening to the audiobook, which made it a lot easier to understand this first time around. The post-coronation story also really dragged, and I think it could have been saved for the next book as a first part, and then the second part picks up where The Phoenix King leaves off.
Found it boring and it couldn’t hold my interest despite multiple attempts to read it