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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
I very much liked crown duel and this book is similar in style. However, I think it just gets a bit confused with what direction it wants to head in the middle. The ending was satisfying and I was fine with it. I did not enjoy the character jewel, who was a bit annoying with not a lot of redeeming features since her importance comes from being the sister of a king. she gets kidnapped and is used for ransom and she annoys other characters and is the catalyst for a bunch of situations but she herself is very powerless. The Mc is cute and unambitious. I enjoyed the "villainous" bad girl actually, every time she snuck in a comment about how tiny and cute she was I laughed at how over the top it was. She's so one note it's entertaining.
I liked this book a lot. It's cozy and charming and the plot is wild: amnesia, wedding crashing, 3+ kidnappings, daring escapes, bad poetry readings—all in the first 100 or so pages. It's A Lot, but it worked for me.
The characters are very ... high concept? Rich heiress, wicked prince, dashing rebellious prince, grumpy king, snide court lady, and so on. Feels like they just leapt off their respective TV Tropes pages to have a high stakes brunch together. I'm also gonna go ahead and warn you that they are, without exception, badly named: Maxl (why). Jason (why). Jewel (stop). Garian (fine I guess but why). Flian (WHY??).
Some rainy day in the distant future, I will be rereading this one in print.
In print because it is hands-down the most baffling audiobook I've ever listened to. Flian is shy and reserved so she speaks exclusively in whispers. Everyone else speaks in horrid pseudo-Russian accents. Like ridiculously horrid. It features: guttural growling, ASMR, unintelligible lisps, voices so nasal you will instinctively try to plug your ears while forgetting you are wearing earbuds and instead shove them further into your head, causing mild to serve injury.
But I listened to it quite happily for 12 whole hours so make of that what you will.
The characters are very ... high concept? Rich heiress, wicked prince, dashing rebellious prince, grumpy king, snide court lady, and so on. Feels like they just leapt off their respective TV Tropes pages to have a high stakes brunch together. I'm also gonna go ahead and warn you that they are, without exception, badly named: Maxl (why). Jason (why). Jewel (stop). Garian (fine I guess but why). Flian (WHY??).
Some rainy day in the distant future, I will be rereading this one in print.
In print because it is hands-down the most baffling audiobook I've ever listened to. Flian is shy and reserved so she speaks exclusively in whispers. Everyone else speaks in horrid pseudo-Russian accents. Like ridiculously horrid. It features: guttural growling, ASMR, unintelligible lisps, voices so nasal you will instinctively try to plug your ears while forgetting you are wearing earbuds and instead shove them further into your head, causing mild to serve injury.
But I listened to it quite happily for 12 whole hours so make of that what you will.
Not quite as good as Crown Duel but this book is still wonderful.
Wrote this one in my early twenties, around the time I wrote Crown Duel.
The initial idea was to write up what happened to an ordinary princess (back in those days they all had raven locks (never black, always raven) and gemstone eyes (emerald, topaz, sapphire) so I'd put this totally ordinary princess in the biggest set of adventures I could contrive. Abductions? Two, no three! Sword fights and chases? Bring 'em on!
But as I wrote it, and thought about how an ordinary person would deal with extraordinary circumstances, it really became a story about choosing to take charge of one's life, rather than drifting along making nice right and left. Because when I was young, we were told that Ladies Make Nice . . . the problem was, life didn't always make nice back.
I have gained the rights back, polished it, and reissued it via Book View Cafe.
The initial idea was to write up what happened to an ordinary princess (back in those days they all had raven locks (never black, always raven) and gemstone eyes (emerald, topaz, sapphire) so I'd put this totally ordinary princess in the biggest set of adventures I could contrive. Abductions? Two, no three! Sword fights and chases? Bring 'em on!
But as I wrote it, and thought about how an ordinary person would deal with extraordinary circumstances, it really became a story about choosing to take charge of one's life, rather than drifting along making nice right and left. Because when I was young, we were told that Ladies Make Nice . . . the problem was, life didn't always make nice back.
I have gained the rights back, polished it, and reissued it via Book View Cafe.
adventurous
lighthearted
I re-read this last night, and everything is so much clearer now. My previous confusion over the story--and the characters--is probably due to my desperation then to finish reading it in one seating and so foregoing sleep. The pacing won't set you on your toes, but the unspoken dialogue between the characters make me think twice about what they're really saying. And despite the spare details, the build-up of the romance made me go kilig (butterflies in the stomach?) more than the slew of HRs I've been reading lately. Flian's magical abilities weren't much mentioned as much as I liked, as well as what became of Garian, the smug snake.
3.5 stars. I like it mainly for its politics part. I find Jewel ridiculous and funny. I like Maxl too, but I think it's because I have a tendency to like strong but reserved intellectual characters. I liked that Flian isn't a teenager However, I find the development of a bit lacking. I was a bit confused how But that's just me. Maybe it's because of the POV? I got confused a bit at the beginning because there were so many questions in my head that were not yet answered in the book, but I liked how I can see events in the story interpreted by Flian and by the other characters and compare and put them together.
3.5 stars. I like it mainly for its politics part. I find Jewel ridiculous and funny. I like Maxl too, but I think it's because I have a tendency to like strong but reserved intellectual characters. I liked that Flian isn't a teenager
Spoiler
and Jason's not a teenager either. Ugh, sometimes I really don't like teenage boy characters.Spoiler
Jason's feelings for FlianSpoiler
he fell in love with her. I get that, initially, he seemingly wanted to court her for her wealth, but I didn't find enough reason why he continued to pursue her (in his own way) and enough explanation how he really fell for her.
Pro:
Cute, fun world building, an eclectic group of characters. Flion’s heroine actions not too fantastical.
Nitpicking thoughts:
-Why even even start with that premise if it’s going to be discarded that quickly? I don’t feel like the plot would have lost anything from starting at the actual beginning with the first abduction/leaving home? Then could have seen before/after of Flion’s character change?
-I was kind of hoping for a whodoneit with Kings based on the premise (and a little disappointed as a result) but I would have read and enjoyed the story just fine if it had begun without the primary amnesia plot line
-Why nothing else about her magic powers? Might have been fun
-Every one of Jason’s plans made no sense to me? And they never worked! Him already liking her at the fire incident also seems to cheapen the relationship?
-What’s with Garion? Just what? He detained and beat Flion and no one mentions this- his plans also did not make sense to me? He’s at the end and she just dances with him...? That’s the end for that plot point?
-Why did she see Jason in the water at the beginning- it tastes like “fate” and I don’t like it
-I was rooting for Jason and all, but if you really think about it, there are some pretty big problems with him and his actions that are hard to swallow. A completed redemption arc would be nice. Less insta-love on his side or the implication that Flion’s interest began so soon (seemed unnecessary for relationship buy-in). Flion did not need to apologize she did nothing wrong (although being ok with assassination seems... strange for her character)?
-A cup of seeped leaves is tea. That is tea. Just call it tea. TEA. But that is nitpicking
Cute, fun world building, an eclectic group of characters. Flion’s heroine actions not too fantastical.
Nitpicking thoughts:
-Why even even start with that premise if it’s going to be discarded that quickly? I don’t feel like the plot would have lost anything from starting at the actual beginning with the first abduction/leaving home? Then could have seen before/after of Flion’s character change?
-I was kind of hoping for a whodoneit with Kings based on the premise (and a little disappointed as a result) but I would have read and enjoyed the story just fine if it had begun without the primary amnesia plot line
-Why nothing else about her magic powers? Might have been fun
-Every one of Jason’s plans made no sense to me? And they never worked! Him already liking her at the fire incident also seems to cheapen the relationship?
-What’s with Garion? Just what? He detained and beat Flion and no one mentions this- his plans also did not make sense to me? He’s at the end and she just dances with him...? That’s the end for that plot point?
-Why did she see Jason in the water at the beginning- it tastes like “fate” and I don’t like it
-I was rooting for Jason and all, but if you really think about it, there are some pretty big problems with him and his actions that are hard to swallow. A completed redemption arc would be nice. Less insta-love on his side or the implication that Flion’s interest began so soon (seemed unnecessary for relationship buy-in). Flion did not need to apologize she did nothing wrong (although being ok with assassination seems... strange for her character)?
-A cup of seeped leaves is tea. That is tea. Just call it tea. TEA. But that is nitpicking
Wonderful storytelling, but You'd think that Flian would have some sense not to get kidnapped every chapter
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I just keep coming back to this book, there is so much to love and appreciate. It's one of my top comfort re-reads.