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3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I feel like 3 stars is too generous for this. On the one hand, I did like it, but on the other I did skim read a bunch of it.
The characters were kind of flat and didn't really do anything super surprising. Kate had all these powers, but her using them was kind of just hand-waved away as intuition? It didn't really make sense. And sometimes the explanations of the world and history felt sort of all over the place.
Still, the ending got interesting, enough so that I would pick up the sequel for sure. Entertaining enough, but sort of simplistic for my tastes. 2.5 stars then?
The characters were kind of flat and didn't really do anything super surprising. Kate had all these powers, but her using them was kind of just hand-waved away as intuition? It didn't really make sense. And sometimes the explanations of the world and history felt sort of all over the place.
Still, the ending got interesting, enough so that I would pick up the sequel for sure. Entertaining enough, but sort of simplistic for my tastes. 2.5 stars then?
This was more a 3.8 for me - almost a 4 but not quite.
The last few chapters were by far the best. I found it hard to connect to the main character, the story is fast paced, but there is a lot of action and hardly any character development, so it's hard to really feel anything for the characters until the latter part of the book. Not sure if I will read the sequel or not, as I have so many other books on my TBR that are calling to me.
The last few chapters were by far the best. I found it hard to connect to the main character, the story is fast paced, but there is a lot of action and hardly any character development, so it's hard to really feel anything for the characters until the latter part of the book. Not sure if I will read the sequel or not, as I have so many other books on my TBR that are calling to me.
This is really young YA though I hesitate to label it middle grade. Either way, I kept waiting for something that never appeared. It's okay, but nothing brand new.
I loved the main character. She was scared and trying to face the unknown as well as her enemies, and she didn't always make the right choice. It was a really good story. The characters were well developed. I am just hoping that the rest of the trilogy is just as good.
Really Really Really Good! I Loved This World!
From the first paragraph, you are aware that you are about to embark on a dark and dangerous journey into a Gothic world where the dead and the living are only separated by a thin 'veil'. Kate Winters has the ability to bring life and death together and everyone wants to use her ability, stopping at nothing to get to her. Kate is thrust into a terrifying ordeal from the first few pages of the book and there is no time for her to catch a breath as she sets out to save her uncle Artemis, who has been kidnapped. She plays a constant cat and mouse game with her evil pursuers.
Jenna Burtenshaw has beautifully crafted her characters to make them not only believable but very real. Kate is a feisty lead character, who takes on her newly acquired powers with ease, as though she had unknowingly been waiting all her life to take that role. She is caring and thoughtful, yet brave and forthright. I absolutely loved Kate for her braveness, she stood up to some rather frightening characters that would have found me trembling with fear.
Daru is one of those frightening characters. Imagine a cross between Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmations and Mrs Marisa Coulter from Northern Lights,only scarier and you would have a perfect description of Daru. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She has the aroma of pure evil.
Silas is a fascinating character, who I loathed on page one and loved by the last page. He is dark, brooding and dangerous and I look forward to making his acquaintance again in future books within the trilogy. He is neither alive nor dead and fulfills such a complicated role beautifully.
The world created for this book is original in style. Even though it is a dark fantasy there are none of the usual characters found in that genre. You won't find a fairy or a vampire lurking amongst the scenes.
Jenna Burtenshaw has created a dark and creepy setting which is brought to life by her excellent use of imagery. In the following scene, I actually felt like I could see everything that Kate viewed before her. She attacked my senses with gusto. I could feel the pain and the fear seeping off the pages.
The Night Train stretched back endlessly down the track, no longer the grand funerary train of Albion's last age, created to carry the dead to their place of rest, but a twisted ruin of what it had once been: a symbol of terror instead of hope. Its carriage doors opened one by one, filling the air with the shriek of sliding metal, then the first cages were rolled forward and the throbbing sound of machinery echoed inside, sending many of the prisoners into a panic.
The station was in uproar. No one wanted to be put on that train and their shouts were deafening. People fought at their locks, tried to squeeze through the bars, and two cages crashed on to their sides as their occupants tried desperately to escape. The wardens ignored them and stood in silence along the platform, their daggers glinting in the lantern light . They did not care if people shouted or fought or begged or screamed. To them, Morvane was just another town and they had already won.
Jenna Burtenshaw has made a promising start to what I believe will be a wonderful trilogy. I can't wait until April 14th, when the second book is published.
Jenna Burtenshaw has beautifully crafted her characters to make them not only believable but very real. Kate is a feisty lead character, who takes on her newly acquired powers with ease, as though she had unknowingly been waiting all her life to take that role. She is caring and thoughtful, yet brave and forthright. I absolutely loved Kate for her braveness, she stood up to some rather frightening characters that would have found me trembling with fear.
Daru is one of those frightening characters. Imagine a cross between Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmations and Mrs Marisa Coulter from Northern Lights,only scarier and you would have a perfect description of Daru. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She has the aroma of pure evil.
Silas is a fascinating character, who I loathed on page one and loved by the last page. He is dark, brooding and dangerous and I look forward to making his acquaintance again in future books within the trilogy. He is neither alive nor dead and fulfills such a complicated role beautifully.
The world created for this book is original in style. Even though it is a dark fantasy there are none of the usual characters found in that genre. You won't find a fairy or a vampire lurking amongst the scenes.
Jenna Burtenshaw has created a dark and creepy setting which is brought to life by her excellent use of imagery. In the following scene, I actually felt like I could see everything that Kate viewed before her. She attacked my senses with gusto. I could feel the pain and the fear seeping off the pages.
The Night Train stretched back endlessly down the track, no longer the grand funerary train of Albion's last age, created to carry the dead to their place of rest, but a twisted ruin of what it had once been: a symbol of terror instead of hope. Its carriage doors opened one by one, filling the air with the shriek of sliding metal, then the first cages were rolled forward and the throbbing sound of machinery echoed inside, sending many of the prisoners into a panic.
The station was in uproar. No one wanted to be put on that train and their shouts were deafening. People fought at their locks, tried to squeeze through the bars, and two cages crashed on to their sides as their occupants tried desperately to escape. The wardens ignored them and stood in silence along the platform, their daggers glinting in the lantern light . They did not care if people shouted or fought or begged or screamed. To them, Morvane was just another town and they had already won.
Jenna Burtenshaw has made a promising start to what I believe will be a wonderful trilogy. I can't wait until April 14th, when the second book is published.
This book has a lot of pieces that I bet made the outline really sparkle and pop. There's an underground library, a train, slaves, magic, budding romance... But the book just couldn't hold me. The characters seemed like cut-outs, and I never really got a sense of what they cared about (other than surviving). Like in some action movies, the plot kept moving and the characters were forced to keep up. I probably won't read the next one.
I absolutely loved this book!
There was non-stop action and I never knew what was going to happen next. The plot was so new and fresh (compared to the somewhat similar plots of the 30+ books that I have read). The only thing that I hated about this book was that it was so short (310 pages)! I wish it didn't have to end so soon!
An absolute must read! I cannot wait for the next book in the series!
There was non-stop action and I never knew what was going to happen next. The plot was so new and fresh (compared to the somewhat similar plots of the 30+ books that I have read). The only thing that I hated about this book was that it was so short (310 pages)! I wish it didn't have to end so soon!
An absolute must read! I cannot wait for the next book in the series!
I really enjoyed this book! It was action-packed with an engaging plot and well-constructed world. I like that the history of the world Kate lives in is slowly revealed to the reader as Kate learns it.
The only thing keeping this book from being a 5-star book is that Kate and Edgar weren't quite as developed as I would have liked to have seen. They are two of the main characters, but they felt a little flat at times to me. Silas, however, was superb. He was the real star of this book. He is interesting and complex - and even when I probably wasn't supposed to like him much, I still did. I was impressed with Silas more than any other character.
Overall, this was a great book that I couldn't put down and I can't wait for the next one!
The only thing keeping this book from being a 5-star book is that Kate and Edgar weren't quite as developed as I would have liked to have seen. They are two of the main characters, but they felt a little flat at times to me. Silas, however, was superb. He was the real star of this book. He is interesting and complex - and even when I probably wasn't supposed to like him much, I still did. I was impressed with Silas more than any other character.
Overall, this was a great book that I couldn't put down and I can't wait for the next one!