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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
If you're into epic fantasy and powerful female characters, then this book is your cup of tea. I definitely liked it. My only complaint is one I have for all epic fantasy series, and that is holy cow do they move slowly at first. So much history. So many character names. And things finally get exciting at the end and then ... bam. It's over. Read the next book if you want more.
Meh. 1.5 stars.
Good premise, bad execution.
To me, the dialogues came across as stunted (to say the least). The characters seemed to a) give a reply that didn't match the asked question; b) reply with sentences that seemingly had nothing to do with the actual conversation; c) reply with words that didn't match the conversation in general, especially in terms of context/tone (e.g. people using words like "bitch" and "bullshit" during regal audiences? Consider my willing suspension of disbelief suspended until further notice).
I am unwilling to leaf through this book again to find an actual example and will just provide you with one I made up:
A: What is your name?
B: You don't need to know.
A: Okay, what do you do for a living?
B: Bullsh*t! Why don't you ask me what my name is.
Or something like that.
The characters are dumb and flat. Especially our main character.
So here's a girl who is plain, but happens to be an heir apparent to the throne of the Tear.
Everyone tries to kill her, but whatever, she's mainly upset because she thinks she's ugly and a little chubby. Sigh.
Also, this kid was supposedly prepped for her role as queen her entire life, but learned nothing useful in terms of governing a country.
What she learned:
- reading
- hunting
- basic botany
- how to cook stew
- that's it.
What she didn't learn:
- how to fight with a sword or use a bow to protect your life (even though half of the world wants your head on a spike and it might be interesting to be able to protect yourself...)
- how to ride a horse (even though the road to the capital is a long one...)
- anything useful about her mother or her reign
- how to interact with people (she grew up in the company of TWO people)
- how to love oneself and look at people's qualities, regardless of their appearrance
- how to make logical decisions
But oh well, OF COURSE she turns out to be ideal queen material anyway.
95% of the other characters can be divided into the stereotypical categories of good and bad. Uncle: typical stupid baddy. Thorne: typical smart and inherently evil baddy. Mace: the brave, menacing, strong soldier. Pen: the sweet, brave soldier. The Fetch: the bad boy. Etc.
And then there's the world-building. Oh lord, what a weird disaster this turned out to be.
Am I really supposed to believe that after some sort of (climate?) catastrophe struck our world, Americans (I presumed) will cross the ocean in boats back to the Old World and revert back to a medieval society? That they lost ALL record of medical care, technology, etc.? That they really were stupid enough to put all the doctors/nurses on ONE and the same ship and watched them sink, taking all knowledge of healing with them? That a socialist utopian leader (abhorred by traditional power constructions) would start a new society based on a bloodline-determined MONARCHY????????? Really?
Now, this is only the first instalment of the series, but still: the lack of answers we get in terms of the pre-Tearling Crossing was just irritating. (Why did they cross? Where did they come from? What happened to the rest of the world? Why is there magic around suddenly? WE GET NO ANSWERS IN THIS BOOK.)
Logic? There is none?
- Why would the queen forbid her daughter to know ANYTHING about her or the man she spawned her with?
- A kid can only turn out strong if one of both (foster) parents behaves like a stone around it 24/7. Heaven forbid a kid is openly loved by both her foster parents.
- The slave trade shizzle. Does the Tearling really have that many people to send off every month? How do they reach all of them to let them know they're up for the next shipment? Am I really to believe that so few try to flee?
- Why an heir would only need a scar and a jewel as proof? Forgery, anyone?
Also, quotes like these:
"'What does [a female noble] see when she looks in the mirror?' Kelsea wondered. How could a woman who looked so old still place so much importance on being attractive? Kelsea saw now that there was something far worse than being ugly: being ugly and thinking you were beautiful."
(About a quite competent man:) "He was the ugliest creature Kelsea had ever seen in her life. 'Finally,' she thought, regretting her own unkindness even as it crossed her mind, 'someone who makes me look beautiful.'"
"'Women scream when they’re hurt', Barty’s voice echoed in her head. 'Men scream when they’re dying.'"
Need I explain my displeasure?
In a way, I would like to pick up the next instalments, just to see where the plot's going and if we get explanations in terms of the world-building. But the jury's still out whether or not I'm willing to put up with this awful writing anymore.
Good premise, bad execution.
To me, the dialogues came across as stunted (to say the least). The characters seemed to a) give a reply that didn't match the asked question; b) reply with sentences that seemingly had nothing to do with the actual conversation; c) reply with words that didn't match the conversation in general, especially in terms of context/tone (e.g. people using words like "bitch" and "bullshit" during regal audiences? Consider my willing suspension of disbelief suspended until further notice).
I am unwilling to leaf through this book again to find an actual example and will just provide you with one I made up:
A: What is your name?
B: You don't need to know.
A: Okay, what do you do for a living?
B: Bullsh*t! Why don't you ask me what my name is.
Or something like that.
The characters are dumb and flat. Especially our main character.
So here's a girl who is plain, but happens to be an heir apparent to the throne of the Tear.
Everyone tries to kill her, but whatever, she's mainly upset because she thinks she's ugly and a little chubby. Sigh.
Also, this kid was supposedly prepped for her role as queen her entire life, but learned nothing useful in terms of governing a country.
What she learned:
- reading
- hunting
- basic botany
- how to cook stew
- that's it.
What she didn't learn:
- how to fight with a sword or use a bow to protect your life (even though half of the world wants your head on a spike and it might be interesting to be able to protect yourself...)
- how to ride a horse (even though the road to the capital is a long one...)
- anything useful about her mother or her reign
- how to interact with people (she grew up in the company of TWO people)
- how to love oneself and look at people's qualities, regardless of their appearrance
- how to make logical decisions
But oh well, OF COURSE she turns out to be ideal queen material anyway.
95% of the other characters can be divided into the stereotypical categories of good and bad. Uncle: typical stupid baddy. Thorne: typical smart and inherently evil baddy. Mace: the brave, menacing, strong soldier. Pen: the sweet, brave soldier. The Fetch: the bad boy. Etc.
And then there's the world-building. Oh lord, what a weird disaster this turned out to be.
Am I really supposed to believe that after some sort of (climate?) catastrophe struck our world, Americans (I presumed) will cross the ocean in boats back to the Old World and revert back to a medieval society? That they lost ALL record of medical care, technology, etc.? That they really were stupid enough to put all the doctors/nurses on ONE and the same ship and watched them sink, taking all knowledge of healing with them? That a socialist utopian leader (abhorred by traditional power constructions) would start a new society based on a bloodline-determined MONARCHY????????? Really?
Now, this is only the first instalment of the series, but still: the lack of answers we get in terms of the pre-Tearling Crossing was just irritating. (Why did they cross? Where did they come from? What happened to the rest of the world? Why is there magic around suddenly? WE GET NO ANSWERS IN THIS BOOK.)
Logic? There is none?
- Why would the queen forbid her daughter to know ANYTHING about her or the man she spawned her with?
- A kid can only turn out strong if one of both (foster) parents behaves like a stone around it 24/7. Heaven forbid a kid is openly loved by both her foster parents.
- The slave trade shizzle. Does the Tearling really have that many people to send off every month? How do they reach all of them to let them know they're up for the next shipment? Am I really to believe that so few try to flee?
- Why an heir would only need a scar and a jewel as proof? Forgery, anyone?
Also, quotes like these:
"'What does [a female noble] see when she looks in the mirror?' Kelsea wondered. How could a woman who looked so old still place so much importance on being attractive? Kelsea saw now that there was something far worse than being ugly: being ugly and thinking you were beautiful."
(About a quite competent man:) "He was the ugliest creature Kelsea had ever seen in her life. 'Finally,' she thought, regretting her own unkindness even as it crossed her mind, 'someone who makes me look beautiful.'"
"'Women scream when they’re hurt', Barty’s voice echoed in her head. 'Men scream when they’re dying.'"
Need I explain my displeasure?
In a way, I would like to pick up the next instalments, just to see where the plot's going and if we get explanations in terms of the world-building. But the jury's still out whether or not I'm willing to put up with this awful writing anymore.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was written well but entirely too long and you feel every page. It doesn’t help that it’s told in third person POV with only 14 chapters across ~450 pages.
The plot…was the same the whole way through and extremely circular. You have a woman who is hunted down to be assassinated while she’s trying to take her rightful place as Queen. There’s a magic system that is not fleshed out AT ALL in this book - things just happen and you’re sort of left to figure it out. And by the end you don’t feel like there’s been any movement in the plot besides some character development.
And aside from a 19 yo main character, every one surrounding her is around double her age and mostly male except for maybe two side characters and children that she doesn’t interact with.
Oh and TRIGGERS for an unorthodox amount of off-page mentions of child rape, abuse, trafficking, and pedophilia. Like a LOT. I don’t really pay attention to triggers so that’s saying something for it to stand out enough to me to put into a review. Like, the amount of child harm in here felt personal.
Needless to say I have no interest in reading the rest of the series and will be selling my set. There was no cliffhanger and things ended neatly enough that I have need to continue.
The plot…was the same the whole way through and extremely circular. You have a woman who is hunted down to be assassinated while she’s trying to take her rightful place as Queen. There’s a magic system that is not fleshed out AT ALL in this book - things just happen and you’re sort of left to figure it out. And by the end you don’t feel like there’s been any movement in the plot besides some character development.
And aside from a 19 yo main character, every one surrounding her is around double her age and mostly male except for maybe two side characters and children that she doesn’t interact with.
Oh and TRIGGERS for an unorthodox amount of off-page mentions of child rape, abuse, trafficking, and pedophilia. Like a LOT. I don’t really pay attention to triggers so that’s saying something for it to stand out enough to me to put into a review. Like, the amount of child harm in here felt personal.
Needless to say I have no interest in reading the rest of the series and will be selling my set. There was no cliffhanger and things ended neatly enough that I have need to continue.
3.5 stars rounded down.
The world building was good, the politics were better than most fantasy’s I have read. It was just a very slow book where not a lot happened. There’s really only 3 scenes where I didn’t feel like there was a good stopping point and I should keep reading. It didn’t help that it’s 440 pages with only 14 chapters.
I might read the second to see if it picks up if I can rent it from the library but wouldn’t buy it in a book store
The world building was good, the politics were better than most fantasy’s I have read. It was just a very slow book where not a lot happened. There’s really only 3 scenes where I didn’t feel like there was a good stopping point and I should keep reading. It didn’t help that it’s 440 pages with only 14 chapters.
I might read the second to see if it picks up if I can rent it from the library but wouldn’t buy it in a book store
Maybe I’ll go back to it one day but right now I never find myself wanting to pick it up🙂
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.5 stars - I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I will definitely pick up the next book in the series.
I found myself a bit disconnected while reading this. Mostly, I never quite understood the setting or time. (Or genre?) I had to google to see where in time this book was happening. It is a strange mash up of future/post-apocalyptic and medieval - which is fine! But I think the setting falls to the wayside. Bits of this were very dense and a struggle to get through so I never felt truly attached to anything happening. Also. The description here alluded to a romance which - I don’t think there was any of? All in all, I think I wanted more from this. But I’m curious enough that I’ll read the others. This isn’t a binge reading series for me, though, and I’m going to read other things before continuing.
Meeeeeeh with a side of body-shaming and terrifically bad world-building. I want my $2 back.