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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this book and I think the tension in it was decadent and intense! It was definitely a hard book to put down and I read a little bit over most of my breaks just dying to get to the end of each chapter. I wish the ending wasn't quite so rushed though but I am intrigued to see how the second book goes!
The two stars are for Bastien, Ailesse, Marcel, and Birdie. The only characters I really liked.
All the other characters annoyed me to the core during the reading.
Even though the relationship between Bastien and Ailesse seemed like instant love to me, I liked the interaction between them, especially at the beginning, when they were enemies. If we ignore the fact that their love is not based on anything, the scenes with the two of them are really nice.
Odiva was the character I hated the most. I don't know if it was supposed to be the negative character in the book, or what she was supposed to be, but it didn't make any sense in the story but to mess it up in vain. I liked the idea the character was built on and why she was doing what she was doing, but I didn't like how that idea was put into practice.
Sabine is pretty indifferent to me, I couldn't connect with her character, she's just not my type of a character. Objectively speaking, I liked its evolution, the only evolution in the book that made sense and was based on some desires, feelings, etc. The most complex character in the book, but not my type.
Cas...I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS CHARACTER APPEARED FROM NOWHERE. His role was to ruin everything just for a volume two to be written.
Jules was another character set just to ruin everything for no reason. The typical character that is meant to be annoying, not to listen to anyone, and just create problems.
The fight scenes were too many and quite boring. I'm not a fan of fight scenes, but I can appreciate them if they make sense and aren't that long, and appear so often ...
I didn't like the ending at all. I had to put the book down and massage my head too many times for 15 pages ...
I liked the idea of the book, the staging was a bit problematic.
The book was pretty predictable, but I wasn't expecting anything else, so it didn't necessarily bother me. It fulfills the purpose of an easy book, with all the ticked elements from popular books: enemies-to-lovers, fight scenes, annoying characters just because they are annoying, various characters with different personalities, a plot twist at the end (which was not necessary I would say), an evil character who does everything to fulfill her "mission", etc.
If I have the opportunity, I will also read volume two when I am in the mood of reading something that does not require me to concentrate too much or to ask any questions.
All the other characters annoyed me to the core during the reading.
Even though the relationship between Bastien and Ailesse seemed like instant love to me, I liked the interaction between them, especially at the beginning, when they were enemies. If we ignore the fact that their love is not based on anything, the scenes with the two of them are really nice.
Odiva was the character I hated the most. I don't know if it was supposed to be the negative character in the book, or what she was supposed to be, but it didn't make any sense in the story but to mess it up in vain. I liked the idea the character was built on and why she was doing what she was doing, but I didn't like how that idea was put into practice.
Sabine is pretty indifferent to me, I couldn't connect with her character, she's just not my type of a character. Objectively speaking, I liked its evolution, the only evolution in the book that made sense and was based on some desires, feelings, etc. The most complex character in the book, but not my type.
Cas...I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS CHARACTER APPEARED FROM NOWHERE. His role was to ruin everything just for a volume two to be written.
Jules was another character set just to ruin everything for no reason. The typical character that is meant to be annoying, not to listen to anyone, and just create problems.
The fight scenes were too many and quite boring. I'm not a fan of fight scenes, but I can appreciate them if they make sense and aren't that long, and appear so often ...
I didn't like the ending at all. I had to put the book down and massage my head too many times for 15 pages ...
I liked the idea of the book, the staging was a bit problematic.
The book was pretty predictable, but I wasn't expecting anything else, so it didn't necessarily bother me. It fulfills the purpose of an easy book, with all the ticked elements from popular books: enemies-to-lovers, fight scenes, annoying characters just because they are annoying, various characters with different personalities, a plot twist at the end (which was not necessary I would say), an evil character who does everything to fulfill her "mission", etc.
If I have the opportunity, I will also read volume two when I am in the mood of reading something that does not require me to concentrate too much or to ask any questions.
This book was a fun read and I really liked the unique aspects of the Leurress
adventurous
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
This is just my opinion :)
I started this book with very high hopes. I thought the plot was interesting and had a lot of potential. The cover was also beautiful. I was excited for the romance and trying a fantasy book (don’t read this for your first fantasy book). While I enjoyed the world building and concept, the execution fell flat. I wasn’t invested for the majority of the book. Don’t get me wrong, there were some enjoyable parts but I ended up not finishing the final 40 pages with the exception of the last 3 pages.
I thought the romance was going to be an enemies to lovers packed with witty banter but this was not the case. I never found myself cheering for Bastien and Ailesse and felt the progression of there relationship to be bland and then extremely insta-lovey. I also wasn’t interested in the other characters and found Jules to be very annoying.
I will say the split perspectives were interesting but I wasn’t invested enough to enjoy what it offered to the book.
This book was also very YA. It’s not a bad thing, I just felt that it was aimed at a younger demographic (14ish)
I gave it 3 stars because the concept was interesting, the world building was enjoyable and there were some entertaining parts. I have a positive memory with acquiring this book so that’s why the rating is higher however, Without the memory it leans toward a 2.5/ 2 stars .
Mild Spoiler-
I will say that the plot twist completely blindsided me but was completely predictable at the same time. (Had I been invested at the time leading up I probably would have called it) It was also the books downfall (DNF shortly after). Though I wasn’t cheering for bastien and ailesse this twist seemed unnecessary and was just boring after the initial shock.
Spoilers-
Surprise Bastien is not Ailesses true mate/love...wow it’s riveting...
I would have much rather read about the “bond” between Ailesse and Bastien break or have them try and solve it. I felt like having Bastien not be the real true love was the easy way out. The author didn’t have to solve the bond issue she spent so much time building up.
Honestly, this book (in my opinion) does not need a sequel. I feel like it could have been wrapped up in nicely and been a 500 page stand alone.
The book ends on a “huge” cliff hanger... surprise surprise...ailesse “true love” takes her and then the book ends. Very underwhelming and quite annoying. I hate cliff hanger endings in book series I won’t finish but I can sleep just fine not knowing what will happen in this series.
★½
You're not missing from me. I'm not missing from you.
I cannot believe I slogged through nearly 500 pages of this. Welcome to another chapter in the Cass Doesn't Know How to DNF Books saga. I absolutely hate it here.
I have to believe that this is YA that veers on the younger end, because that would be the only decent explanation of the surface level...everything about this novel. The lore is not well explained, the love is as instantaneous as it can possibly be, and the characters are not drawn in any sort of detail. I have very few nice things to say.
Honestly, I only have one nice thing to say. The first third of this is fun, to some degree. High octane and entertaining, despite the lackluster characters and plotting. But again, we're talking about a book that's almost 500 pages. There's no way Purdie could have kept that house of cards standing.
The main issue with this book is that the characters are only described in relation to the mythology at the center of the world. Absolutely everything you learn about the characters is described in the synopsis. I'm not exaggerating — there is nothing else to gleam. Ailesse is desperate to become a Bone Crier. Sabine is squeamish about what is required to become one. Bastien hates the Bone Criers because one killed his father. And we have to read so many words with just that information to go by. How am I meant to care about any of these people?
So much of this story required my emotional investment even though I was never given the opportunity to form some. After that first third, I felt as if I was standing two blocks away watching two cardboard cutouts seemingly fall in love for absolutely no reason at all. Ailesse still wants to be a Bone Crier; Bastien still hates them. Why I'm supposed to think that their relationship is a great idea, I'll never know. They also, in typical YA fashion, fall in love after blinking at one another a few times, basically. On top of that, we get more caricatures in the form of Bastien's sidekicks, Jules and Marcel. Jules only exists to be mad about Ailesse and Bastien to extreme degrees, only just short of being a raving, shrieking stalker. Marcel just really, really likes to read. Riveting stuff.
Sabine is the character who experiences the most growth over the course of the book, but it all feels inauthentic. She starts the story pained to kill even a salamander and somehow becomes a huge force in the blink of an eye. Most annoyingly, she is quite literally guided to that point by the biggest perpetual plot convenience I've read about in quite some time.
The "big bad" of sorts is the biggest joke of all. Without getting into details, I really, really don't appreciate the fact that the vast majority of the female characters in the novel only exist to make foolish decisions because they're just so in love with some dude. The fact that Sabine is the only outlier is her one redeeming quality.
The one and a half stars here is for the little enjoyment I experienced at the beginning and the small promise that the lore presented at the start. I appreciate the French-inspired world and was pulled into the atmosphere on a couple occasions.
But, otherwise, nothing to write home about here.
You're not missing from me. I'm not missing from you.
I cannot believe I slogged through nearly 500 pages of this. Welcome to another chapter in the Cass Doesn't Know How to DNF Books saga. I absolutely hate it here.
I have to believe that this is YA that veers on the younger end, because that would be the only decent explanation of the surface level...everything about this novel. The lore is not well explained, the love is as instantaneous as it can possibly be, and the characters are not drawn in any sort of detail. I have very few nice things to say.
Honestly, I only have one nice thing to say. The first third of this is fun, to some degree. High octane and entertaining, despite the lackluster characters and plotting. But again, we're talking about a book that's almost 500 pages. There's no way Purdie could have kept that house of cards standing.
The main issue with this book is that the characters are only described in relation to the mythology at the center of the world. Absolutely everything you learn about the characters is described in the synopsis. I'm not exaggerating — there is nothing else to gleam. Ailesse is desperate to become a Bone Crier. Sabine is squeamish about what is required to become one. Bastien hates the Bone Criers because one killed his father. And we have to read so many words with just that information to go by. How am I meant to care about any of these people?
So much of this story required my emotional investment even though I was never given the opportunity to form some. After that first third, I felt as if I was standing two blocks away watching two cardboard cutouts seemingly fall in love for absolutely no reason at all. Ailesse still wants to be a Bone Crier; Bastien still hates them. Why I'm supposed to think that their relationship is a great idea, I'll never know. They also, in typical YA fashion, fall in love after blinking at one another a few times, basically. On top of that, we get more caricatures in the form of Bastien's sidekicks, Jules and Marcel. Jules only exists to be mad about Ailesse and Bastien to extreme degrees, only just short of being a raving, shrieking stalker. Marcel just really, really likes to read. Riveting stuff.
Sabine is the character who experiences the most growth over the course of the book, but it all feels inauthentic. She starts the story pained to kill even a salamander and somehow becomes a huge force in the blink of an eye. Most annoyingly, she is quite literally guided to that point by the biggest perpetual plot convenience I've read about in quite some time.
The "big bad" of sorts is the biggest joke of all. Without getting into details, I really, really don't appreciate the fact that the vast majority of the female characters in the novel only exist to make foolish decisions because they're just so in love with some dude. The fact that Sabine is the only outlier is her one redeeming quality.
The one and a half stars here is for the little enjoyment I experienced at the beginning and the small promise that the lore presented at the start. I appreciate the French-inspired world and was pulled into the atmosphere on a couple occasions.
But, otherwise, nothing to write home about here.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a wonderful ride! I had a great time reading this book! I can’t wait to jump into the sequel!