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booksandchai's review
2.0
I was provided with an r ARC from Netgalley for an honest review. The opinions presented below are my own.
I have to admit, I struggled with this book. It was hard to connect with the writing and it felt kind of… juvenile. It is meant for young adults, but I would say it’s a good book for a tween.
The story itself was okay it felt very one dimensional and I found it very predictable. I would recommend it to younger readers, but definitely not to advanced readers.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Teressa Barbosa, and Entangled Publishing for providing this copy of the book.
I have to admit, I struggled with this book. It was hard to connect with the writing and it felt kind of… juvenile. It is meant for young adults, but I would say it’s a good book for a tween.
The story itself was okay it felt very one dimensional and I found it very predictable. I would recommend it to younger readers, but definitely not to advanced readers.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Teressa Barbosa, and Entangled Publishing for providing this copy of the book.
_reedfish's review
3.0
I really wanted to love this book. I'm always looking for more books by Asian / Asian-Am Authors and I was really hoping that this was book was going to hit, but there was something that was missing for me.
Narra Jal enters trials at Bato-Ko in effors to save her mother. The trials are challenging and Narra has no magic, skills or training. I love a good under dog story and this reads like a lot of fantasy books that come before it. I'm not sure if it was because the beginning felt slow for me - but I had quite a bit of difficulty being really invested in the main story line. There is a romance sub plot, and I almost wanted more for it.
The characters them selves are really well done, I loved the intertwining of past and present stories, but the writing itself took me out of it a bit.
Thank you to NetGalley, Teressa Barbosa and Entangled Publishing for an EARC of this book.
Narra Jal enters trials at Bato-Ko in effors to save her mother. The trials are challenging and Narra has no magic, skills or training. I love a good under dog story and this reads like a lot of fantasy books that come before it. I'm not sure if it was because the beginning felt slow for me - but I had quite a bit of difficulty being really invested in the main story line. There is a romance sub plot, and I almost wanted more for it.
The characters them selves are really well done, I loved the intertwining of past and present stories, but the writing itself took me out of it a bit.
Thank you to NetGalley, Teressa Barbosa and Entangled Publishing for an EARC of this book.
_christinacreads's review
1.0
The Moonlight Blade by Tessa Barbosa was my most highly anticipated read for March and I'm pretty disappointed because it didn’t live up to the hype at all. It was also the first arc I ever received and so I am so sad that I just had a terrible time reading this. Thank you NetGalley, Tessa Barbosa, and Entangled Teen Publishing for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.
Let me start off with the good. I very much enjoyed reading another book by a Filipino author. I loved seeing Filipino words and Filipino culture reflected in the pages of a book. I also think the premise sounded interesting- I love stories that involve strong FMCs proving themselves as well as competition-trope stories.
That was it. I'm not trying to completely bring the book down- because if anything I would love for everyone to read more books by Filipino authors that are rich in my culture. But I do have to be true and honest with regards to my own thoughts and experiences.
The biggest issue I think the novel has is the lack of outline in terms of world building. I feel like the author wanted to do everything without realizing that readers aren't 1) Filipino and 2) don't live inside her head and therefore cannot understand the context of words, and names, in the same way that the author does.
Formulating an outline on how the world should unfold, as well as defining terms in the way that relates to the story would've helped clear up the majority of the confusion that even I, as someone who knows much about Filipino culture, ended up feeling. I do believe that a book, especially a YA book needs to stand on its own as a cohesive entity without a glossary and map and this book did not.
In addition to this I felt very detached from all the characters and the lack of emotional connection made for my first arc experience seem like work. There were so many characters, so many new names and terms that didn’t seem to be linked together that in the end I was just skimming and not really absorbing much of anything. I read a lot of Adult SciFi and Fantasy so I do not think this lack of understanding is my own fault as a reader.
Finally, the syntax and structure of the writing left a lot to be desired. It felt extremely unrefined and I felt that the author tried very hard to make sure all her ideas were coming across that instead, it came across as unpolished. I feel like words were repeated far too often in close proximity, there were just far too many conjunctions that made sentences confusing, and there were so many word choices that that made sentence structure feel very clunky.
I am no author and will never be one. But one of my favorite authors has said that beyond artistic integrity, a writer needs to be able to edit and narrow down their work, rewriting over and over again even if that means barely 20% of it matches what it was originally.
If you do want to read a book with a lot of Filipino culture in it, please pick this one up. I think Tessa Barbosa does have a lot of potential but overall I feel like this book would've worked so much better with an intense outline and a very a firm editorial hand.
Let me start off with the good. I very much enjoyed reading another book by a Filipino author. I loved seeing Filipino words and Filipino culture reflected in the pages of a book. I also think the premise sounded interesting- I love stories that involve strong FMCs proving themselves as well as competition-trope stories.
That was it. I'm not trying to completely bring the book down- because if anything I would love for everyone to read more books by Filipino authors that are rich in my culture. But I do have to be true and honest with regards to my own thoughts and experiences.
The biggest issue I think the novel has is the lack of outline in terms of world building. I feel like the author wanted to do everything without realizing that readers aren't 1) Filipino and 2) don't live inside her head and therefore cannot understand the context of words, and names, in the same way that the author does.
Formulating an outline on how the world should unfold, as well as defining terms in the way that relates to the story would've helped clear up the majority of the confusion that even I, as someone who knows much about Filipino culture, ended up feeling. I do believe that a book, especially a YA book needs to stand on its own as a cohesive entity without a glossary and map and this book did not.
In addition to this I felt very detached from all the characters and the lack of emotional connection made for my first arc experience seem like work. There were so many characters, so many new names and terms that didn’t seem to be linked together that in the end I was just skimming and not really absorbing much of anything. I read a lot of Adult SciFi and Fantasy so I do not think this lack of understanding is my own fault as a reader.
Finally, the syntax and structure of the writing left a lot to be desired. It felt extremely unrefined and I felt that the author tried very hard to make sure all her ideas were coming across that instead, it came across as unpolished. I feel like words were repeated far too often in close proximity, there were just far too many conjunctions that made sentences confusing, and there were so many word choices that that made sentence structure feel very clunky.
I am no author and will never be one. But one of my favorite authors has said that beyond artistic integrity, a writer needs to be able to edit and narrow down their work, rewriting over and over again even if that means barely 20% of it matches what it was originally.
If you do want to read a book with a lot of Filipino culture in it, please pick this one up. I think Tessa Barbosa does have a lot of potential but overall I feel like this book would've worked so much better with an intense outline and a very a firm editorial hand.
thenextgenlib's review against another edition
“All my life, I have been shunned, when my only crime is daring to exist.”
kimsey2899's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I got this book recommendation off of a TikTok filter. The book blurb made it sound wonderful and so did the quote on the back of the book. Sad reality is that it didn't do it for me and the promises that were made did not happen. I was told this was enemies to lovers but I couldn't agree less. The only thing is that the male love interest made the FMC nervous and otherwise it was a soulmate situation.
kkramar5's review against another edition
2.0
I want to start this review by thanking NetGalley, Tessa Barbosa, and Entangled Teen Publishing for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!
All thoughts are my own!!
***
I really really wanted to love this book, and I tried SO HARD. I thought the idea behind everything was super interesting, and I’m always a sucker for a pretty cover. I had a hard time understanding the magic system and world building that are the baseline of this novel.
I found myself skipping most of the long endless paragraphs for the dialogue, only to entirely not understand the dialogue so I had to go back and read the paragraphs anyways haha. I understand that things are out of my control and this book was definitely out of my usual little fantasy zone - but the plot of this confused me to the point I felt like I was drowning.
There were things that I either had too much information for as well as no information at all. I was lost and confused but I know that this book was easy and loved by others - so I’ll let it be that way.
I will say the way that Tessa writes scenery and flashback scenes is amazing, those were the parts of the novel that I really enjoyed and think back on when I think about the book. Tessa is a good writer but this story just didn’t feel fully fleshed out.
All thoughts are my own!!
***
I really really wanted to love this book, and I tried SO HARD. I thought the idea behind everything was super interesting, and I’m always a sucker for a pretty cover. I had a hard time understanding the magic system and world building that are the baseline of this novel.
I found myself skipping most of the long endless paragraphs for the dialogue, only to entirely not understand the dialogue so I had to go back and read the paragraphs anyways haha. I understand that things are out of my control and this book was definitely out of my usual little fantasy zone - but the plot of this confused me to the point I felt like I was drowning.
There were things that I either had too much information for as well as no information at all. I was lost and confused but I know that this book was easy and loved by others - so I’ll let it be that way.
I will say the way that Tessa writes scenery and flashback scenes is amazing, those were the parts of the novel that I really enjoyed and think back on when I think about the book. Tessa is a good writer but this story just didn’t feel fully fleshed out.
ely004's review
3.0
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Really good story! It was complex, and at times a little hard to follow, but I enjoyed it overall. The writing style was difficult to get into at first, but once you sink in you’re stuck.
Really good story! It was complex, and at times a little hard to follow, but I enjoyed it overall. The writing style was difficult to get into at first, but once you sink in you’re stuck.
jennfs10's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
carolinetvardy's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
jayra's review against another edition
2.0
My very first Filipino Fantasy.
Thank you NetGalley & publisher for this eARC.
Okay, first of all, I just wanted to say that the idea and the concept was interesting but not interesting enough to make me feel satisfied. I keep getting lost while reading the book because there were too much is happening at one time and they definitely don't give Nara a room to breathe. She's just a teenager man. I feel like it was too heavy focusing on Narra that I don't really care about other characters even I don't feel empathy on her mission which is to save her mother.
Also, there were words in tagalog that I did not understand and there were no explanations to it. I guess that is one of the letdown while reading,,, but overall this book was, lack of details. I was confused all the time, I wish there were more details and explanations in world-building fantasy book.
Thank you NetGalley & publisher for this eARC.
Okay, first of all, I just wanted to say that the idea and the concept was interesting but not interesting enough to make me feel satisfied. I keep getting lost while reading the book because there were too much is happening at one time and they definitely don't give Nara a room to breathe. She's just a teenager man. I feel like it was too heavy focusing on Narra that I don't really care about other characters even I don't feel empathy on her mission which is to save her mother.
Also, there were words in tagalog that I did not understand and there were no explanations to it. I guess that is one of the letdown while reading,,, but overall this book was, lack of details. I was confused all the time, I wish there were more details and explanations in world-building fantasy book.