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fflur_jones's review against another edition
4.0
Had been reading quite a few heavy books before this and felt like reading a YA book to take my mind off things.
I loved this book when I read it as a teenager, and still found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.
The world building is impeccable and very unique which I enjoyed since a lot of YA novels resemble each other nowadays. All the characters were well rounded and I particularly liked Katsa as a strong female lead that was still flawed (albeit sometimes her Grace did seem a little too powerful to be believable). I also loved Po and Katsa's romantic storyline, particularly the fact that marriage was not a goal for them. It offered a refreshing view of relationships as a partnership where both the male and female characters kept their identities intact.
The only bit that bothered me more this time around was the whole plotline that concerned King Leck, it just seemed to come out of nowhere and then formed such a huge part of the book it would have been nice to have it build up more organically. I also found the ending of that plotline similarly rushed. Having said that, it didn't really distract from the story and I would absolutely recommend this book to any young adult or anyone older looking for a short and sweet novel to read.
I loved this book when I read it as a teenager, and still found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.
The world building is impeccable and very unique which I enjoyed since a lot of YA novels resemble each other nowadays. All the characters were well rounded and I particularly liked Katsa as a strong female lead that was still flawed (albeit sometimes her Grace did seem a little too powerful to be believable). I also loved Po and Katsa's romantic storyline, particularly the fact that marriage was not a goal for them. It offered a refreshing view of relationships as a partnership where both the male and female characters kept their identities intact.
The only bit that bothered me more this time around was the whole plotline that concerned King Leck, it just seemed to come out of nowhere and then formed such a huge part of the book it would have been nice to have it build up more organically. I also found the ending of that plotline similarly rushed. Having said that, it didn't really distract from the story and I would absolutely recommend this book to any young adult or anyone older looking for a short and sweet novel to read.
phantomignis's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5.0 stars (rounded up for Goodreads). This was a very unique reading experience, where I listened to the audio book with a full audio cast per character. The execution was wonderful, it felt very entertaining and I even liked the small musical intermissions in between chapters. That being said, it was hard to accurately determine my enjoyment of this book specifically or if I rather just enjoyed listening to the cast.
The story overall was pretty interesting, following a world in which some individuals are born with a special ability, called a "grace", always have two eyes of a different color. Katsa, niece of a king, and graced with the ability to fight, joins another mysterious graced man to solve mystery across the kingdoms.
The story overall was pretty interesting, following a world in which some individuals are born with a special ability, called a "grace", always have two eyes of a different color. Katsa, niece of a king, and graced with the ability to fight, joins another mysterious graced man to solve mystery across the kingdoms.
amflesch's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
inae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
stuckinafictionaluniverse's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed it even more the second time around.
Great worldbuilding with a fun and intriguing plot. The writing is beautiful at times, and several qoutes made me shiver.
I expected to love the characters but I only mildly liked them. Most of the relationships were decent, but the romance never convinced me.
Though I've heard some bad things about the other books in the series, I'll still definitely read them.
Great worldbuilding with a fun and intriguing plot. The writing is beautiful at times, and several qoutes made me shiver.
I expected to love the characters but I only mildly liked them. Most of the relationships were decent, but the romance never convinced me.
Though I've heard some bad things about the other books in the series, I'll still definitely read them.
mizz_performer's review
4.0
My only warning do not start this book late at night late at night! I did and I ended up reading until like 5:00 in the morning because I just couldn't put it down.
mokleberry's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely adored this book. Amazing characters and fantastic story. I highly recommend this book.
drymming's review against another edition
2.0
Yeah that was a mess. The beginning was really interesting but the naïve main character in this made it REALLY hard to root for her. The relationship to me seemed so disgusting. Po is great. He’s respectful and calm and poised and kind. However Katsa is just too Naïve for this life. I didn’t understand the main objective of this story. We’re just looking for the thief of a kidnapped grandfather who isn’t kidnapped and who is safe but we still want to know who the thief was somehow???