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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
the best book I've read in a while!! intriguing from the beginning to the end
Kelsea reminds me so much of Lexa and Clarke from The 100, meaning that she shares the same traits and back story from both characters. Definitely a plus. Her killing Dhurn was very reminiscent of Clarke mercy-killing Atom and Finn; it also reminded me of Lexa killing Gustus for betraying her. Wow.
I liked that the book did not have any hints about a romantic story line and I hope the second and third books follow suit. It broke my heart when it was revealed that Barty and Carlin committed suicide in order to protect Kelsea.
I liked that the book did not have any hints about a romantic story line and I hope the second and third books follow suit. It broke my heart when it was revealed that Barty and Carlin committed suicide in order to protect Kelsea.
3.7?
This is a good book for fantasy readers who maybe wants something easy to read that isn’t so densely written and heavy in detail like LoTR or A Song of Ice &Fire.
I enjoyed reading this book although I do wish there were more magical elements to it besides just Kelsea’s necklace. I would have liked more backstory about the Crossing and more character development especially from Kelsea. I feel like the transition from her being a girl from a remote place to being a full fledged queen kind of happened too fast. I also think the red queen does not have much of a presence in the story even though she is presented as the main threat and as a result, is less menacing than intended to be. The book actually focuses more on Thorne instead.
Other than that, I recommend this book and am hoping to learn more about Mace’s character in the next one.
This is a good book for fantasy readers who maybe wants something easy to read that isn’t so densely written and heavy in detail like LoTR or A Song of Ice &Fire.
I enjoyed reading this book although I do wish there were more magical elements to it besides just Kelsea’s necklace. I would have liked more backstory about the Crossing and more character development especially from Kelsea. I feel like the transition from her being a girl from a remote place to being a full fledged queen kind of happened too fast. I also think the red queen does not have much of a presence in the story even though she is presented as the main threat and as a result, is less menacing than intended to be. The book actually focuses more on Thorne instead.
Other than that, I recommend this book and am hoping to learn more about Mace’s character in the next one.
It is a little slow at first, but it gets more and more exiting. And I love that she isn't a pretty, perfect queen. She is normal, a little more human.
My (new) official stance: If a book is slated to have sequels or to be part of a trilogy or somesuch crap, I'm skipping it. I'm sick sick sick of finishing a book (fantasy, you're the worst offender though not the only one) only to find that the past two, three, four hundred pages have been setting me up to buy the next book. It feels, frankly, disrespectful to the reader and I'm done with it -- if I wanted an advertisement, I know where to find those.
Now. This particular book. I can't speak about the plot since, like I just said, virtually nothing gets resolved. The premise (White Ship, collapse of humanity into medieval style) is neat and tidily handled. I like the idea of what this book could be. I just don't like what it is.
Now. This particular book. I can't speak about the plot since, like I just said, virtually nothing gets resolved. The premise (White Ship, collapse of humanity into medieval style) is neat and tidily handled. I like the idea of what this book could be. I just don't like what it is.
I had received this book as a gift many years ago and am just now finding myself picking it up off of my shelf. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but was pleasantly surprised to find it quite captivating (enough that I feel committed to reading the rest of the books in this series).
The world building and characters were very interesting and endearing, while also never completely revealing all. I couldn't tell for the longest time if this book was supposed to have taken place in the past or in the future, and in what part of the world. Everything is a bit of a slow reveal, as that is how our young heroine learns about her world and her role in the story as well. There's just enough action and intrigue to keep you invested, without allowing you to fully guess what's around the corner.
The world building and characters were very interesting and endearing, while also never completely revealing all. I couldn't tell for the longest time if this book was supposed to have taken place in the past or in the future, and in what part of the world. Everything is a bit of a slow reveal, as that is how our young heroine learns about her world and her role in the story as well. There's just enough action and intrigue to keep you invested, without allowing you to fully guess what's around the corner.
Surprised that I liked this one so much. There are so many flaws that normally drive me nuts, but I was able to overlook most of them.
I was a little confused about the world - it's on some new continent on Earth but there's really no good explanation about what happened to our existing civilizations. At first I thought maybe they had traveled through space to get to this world, but the book references a ship with all of the scientists that sank in a storm, and the survivors were in the ocean. Why were all of the critical scientists on one ship? Why did they lose the printing press technology but an adjacent kingdom has the ability to analyse genetics? The bits and pieces of our modern technology that survived just seem so random.
So the world building bugged me. Just like with Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series - we are in some future version of Earth with plenty of references to our history (like Christianity, famous books and philosophers, and so on). I'm wondering if this is just a lazy way to create a setting for a novel. It works better in Mark Lawrence's books, because those are set on an existing continent after some unexplained apocalypse.
And then there are her Queen's Guard, who know they are being hunted by elite assassins, yet they fail to set a watch when they make camp. Instead, they get stupidly drunk. And, when they realize the assassins are closing in, they split up individually to throw the assassins off their track. Because leaving your Queen basically alone and unguarded is way smarter than keeping her protected.
Those elite assassins? Turns out, not so much. One of her guards takes out 4 of them. Later, two join her enemy and appear to be nearly incompetent. Did I mention that these assassins wear red cloaks, because they are so fearsome and deadly there is no need to hide their identity.
Anyway, that aside, it was a decent read. I really liked the fact that the Queen in this story is not remotely attractive. She's smart. She's resourceful. But she's a little overweight and "plain". It disappoints her, but just makes her more interesting as a character. However, she does moon over the handsome thief who she meets once, after he kidnaps her and tells her she is too plain for his taste. But hey, he decided not to kill her. That seems to be a legitimate reason to fall in love, according to modern fantasy (ahem, Twilight).
Another gripe is that we get POVs from her enemies, and they are very one dimensional. The mark of good writer is understanding that most people who are evil actually think that they are doing good. The most interesting character is the gate guard who lost his wife to the slave lottery.
I was a little confused about the world - it's on some new continent on Earth but there's really no good explanation about what happened to our existing civilizations. At first I thought maybe they had traveled through space to get to this world, but the book references a ship with all of the scientists that sank in a storm, and the survivors were in the ocean. Why were all of the critical scientists on one ship? Why did they lose the printing press technology but an adjacent kingdom has the ability to analyse genetics? The bits and pieces of our modern technology that survived just seem so random.
So the world building bugged me. Just like with Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series - we are in some future version of Earth with plenty of references to our history (like Christianity, famous books and philosophers, and so on). I'm wondering if this is just a lazy way to create a setting for a novel. It works better in Mark Lawrence's books, because those are set on an existing continent after some unexplained apocalypse.
And then there are her Queen's Guard, who know they are being hunted by elite assassins, yet they fail to set a watch when they make camp. Instead, they get stupidly drunk. And, when they realize the assassins are closing in, they split up individually to throw the assassins off their track. Because leaving your Queen basically alone and unguarded is way smarter than keeping her protected.
Those elite assassins? Turns out, not so much. One of her guards takes out 4 of them. Later, two join her enemy and appear to be nearly incompetent. Did I mention that these assassins wear red cloaks, because they are so fearsome and deadly there is no need to hide their identity.
Anyway, that aside, it was a decent read. I really liked the fact that the Queen in this story is not remotely attractive. She's smart. She's resourceful. But she's a little overweight and "plain". It disappoints her, but just makes her more interesting as a character. However, she does moon over the handsome thief who she meets once, after he kidnaps her and tells her she is too plain for his taste. But hey, he decided not to kill her. That seems to be a legitimate reason to fall in love, according to modern fantasy (ahem, Twilight).
Another gripe is that we get POVs from her enemies, and they are very one dimensional. The mark of good writer is understanding that most people who are evil actually think that they are doing good. The most interesting character is the gate guard who lost his wife to the slave lottery.
I know this book got mixed reviews, but I really liked it a lot. I almost never give 5 stars , but this one is as close to deserving it as I've read in a while (if there were half-stars, this would probably get 4.5). I loved Kelsea and really admired her tenacity. Some people didn't like her body images issues, but I thought it made her a more honest and relatable character. It did seem like it was mostly building a world and setting up a situation for future books, but I loved the world and the creativity of the author! I would say also that it is a book for older young adults or adults, as some of the themes are pretty mature (I probably wouldn't give this to a 12-year-old . . .). The second in the series just came out and I got it right away. Although I have other books I had planned to read, I think I have to read "The Invasion of the Tearling" first! I can't wait to find out more!!
http://sessastories.tumblr.com/post/136650536273/book-story-this-book-was-recommended-by-jessalyn
Main character makes a point of being “not like other girls”, boring, predictable infatuation with a male main character who body shames her on first meeting (after which she is increasing self conscious about her appearance).