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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
I manged about 40% of this book before giving up. It was just so boring. The pacing felt off, the characters were dull and uninteresting, I'm not sure there was even a plot in there and the stale 1st person POV really did not help.
3.5 stars - rounded up.
I'm not one for "Elves on a quest" stories, which is partly why this took so long to read. The other part is life got busy.
Frey turned out to be a decent read, and like most First In Series books, there isn't a lot of action and we are mostly left with questions.
I'm not one for "Elves on a quest" stories, which is partly why this took so long to read. The other part is life got busy.
Frey turned out to be a decent read, and like most First In Series books, there isn't a lot of action and we are mostly left with questions.
I'm torn over this book. In the beginning, I had a lot of optimism. The writing style had me engaged from at beginning, and if we were to focus entirely on the actual writing itself, I say the sentences were well constructed. I don't mean that as a joke or an underhanded insult. The actual writing itself was quite good. It was the plot that lost me.
Frey is about elves, which is a supernatural creature that I rarely read about. That's not because I avoid them but because I so rarely see them in books. I was excited to read a book all about them.
However, in the end, I found myself more confused and bored than anything else. The largest contributing fact to this, as far as I can tell, is how often the main character Frey passes out in this novel. You get everything from her POV, so when she's knocked out, she has no idea what's going on. Understandably, she wakes up in a fog each and every time. This could only happen so many times before I as a reader began to feel just as confused as Frey did. Maybe this would work for other readers. For me, I started to feel like there was too much confusion. I didn't understand what was happening, and it made me lose interest.
Frey never receives answers in this book except one towards the very end. I think there needed to be more (smaller) answers to various questions scattered throughout the novel. Without it, I never felt like my reading was paying off. I think part of the problem was also how few secrets there were, which meant there wasn't much to give away without giving away anything. Essentially, I suppose, the plot needed to be more complex. (Honestly, it makes no sense that the other characters don't reveal anything to her when they so easily could. Maybe there are reasons for it that are explained later, but I came out of the book feeling like they'd been stupid for not talking to her about what was going on with her.)
As it was, the twist at the end was so obvious that I hope it wasn't supposed to be a shocking moment, but I have countless other questions that I don't feel were adequately built up in the first book. Instead of coming out of the book excited to read the next and discover more, I came out of it feeling like I would continue to feel nothing but confusion with no pay off from later books in the series. Because of this, I don't think I'll be continuing with the series. I have others that I would much rather finish.
This book was well written on a surface level, but if you take the time to analyze the plot for even a moment, none of it makes sense. That's just too large of a problem to overlook or to try to deal with in a second book.
It is a shame though. I really need to find some more elf books.
http://hmweasley-blog.blogspot.com/2016/11/book-review-frey-frey-saga-1-by-melissa.html
Frey is about elves, which is a supernatural creature that I rarely read about. That's not because I avoid them but because I so rarely see them in books. I was excited to read a book all about them.
However, in the end, I found myself more confused and bored than anything else. The largest contributing fact to this, as far as I can tell, is how often the main character Frey passes out in this novel. You get everything from her POV, so when she's knocked out, she has no idea what's going on. Understandably, she wakes up in a fog each and every time. This could only happen so many times before I as a reader began to feel just as confused as Frey did. Maybe this would work for other readers. For me, I started to feel like there was too much confusion. I didn't understand what was happening, and it made me lose interest.
Frey never receives answers in this book except one towards the very end. I think there needed to be more (smaller) answers to various questions scattered throughout the novel. Without it, I never felt like my reading was paying off. I think part of the problem was also how few secrets there were, which meant there wasn't much to give away without giving away anything. Essentially, I suppose, the plot needed to be more complex. (Honestly, it makes no sense that the other characters don't reveal anything to her when they so easily could. Maybe there are reasons for it that are explained later, but I came out of the book feeling like they'd been stupid for not talking to her about what was going on with her.)
As it was, the twist at the end was so obvious that I hope it wasn't supposed to be a shocking moment, but I have countless other questions that I don't feel were adequately built up in the first book. Instead of coming out of the book excited to read the next and discover more, I came out of it feeling like I would continue to feel nothing but confusion with no pay off from later books in the series. Because of this, I don't think I'll be continuing with the series. I have others that I would much rather finish.
This book was well written on a surface level, but if you take the time to analyze the plot for even a moment, none of it makes sense. That's just too large of a problem to overlook or to try to deal with in a second book.
It is a shame though. I really need to find some more elf books.
http://hmweasley-blog.blogspot.com/2016/11/book-review-frey-frey-saga-1-by-melissa.html
Cover Thoughts-
It's perfect. The cover is so eye catching and colorful and the the next one in the series is like it too. The cursive leaves a bit of an antique and free feeling like the story. I also love the idea of putting Frey on the cover with a nature scene like that because throughout the whole book she is in the wilderness.
First Thought-
I'm expecting some sort of wizard or magic people? The summary sounds alright.
What I liked-
I loved it. As soon as I was done I went and bought the second one and I'm still reading it right now. My favorite scene in it is where she is being tutored by Chevelle because Junnie has been called on by their elf-kind Council and a bird dies. You would have to read it all to understand why! I loved how everything is connected flawlessly. There was so many twists and pieces of information that could have been left untouched or mistaken but everything came together nicely. My favorite character is certain elf fairy Ruby. Her fiery attitude, hair, whip, and dust make her so unique compared to everyone else. Basically you have Chevelle (sexy dark elf tutoring Freya), Grey (disappearing magic whiz and totally in love with Ruby), Anvil (tongue burned and lightening master), Rhys and Rider (serious followers of the wolves), Steed (another sexy dark elf that can make Freya smile), Ruby and Freya on a long journey to a place Freya has no idea. She has lost most of her memories, her mother is dead, her aunt is a lune, and she is accused of dark magic. That is just the beginning of this book. It is the diary that really starts to unraval everything.
What I disliked-
I honestly believe Freya plays the lost little girl with no idea card way too much. She seems like a cry baby on the brink of giving up most of the time. Sometimes I just wanna facepalm her becuase she can be such an innocent idiot. That is the only reason why she isnt my favorite charcter and why I like the BA Ruby instead. :) Other than that I can find no other uninteresting parts of the book.
Overall Readability-
It's fastpaced and easy to follow. Even thought Freya isn't one of my favorite characters I very much enjoy this series! The best part is Frey is unique. Elves are the main characters and humans are myths!
My Final Thought-
Oh my gosh she is what? That is awesome. She has one heck of a road in front of her!
4 out of 5 Haunted Roses
It's perfect. The cover is so eye catching and colorful and the the next one in the series is like it too. The cursive leaves a bit of an antique and free feeling like the story. I also love the idea of putting Frey on the cover with a nature scene like that because throughout the whole book she is in the wilderness.
First Thought-
I'm expecting some sort of wizard or magic people? The summary sounds alright.
What I liked-
I loved it. As soon as I was done I went and bought the second one and I'm still reading it right now. My favorite scene in it is where she is being tutored by Chevelle because Junnie has been called on by their elf-kind Council and a bird dies. You would have to read it all to understand why! I loved how everything is connected flawlessly. There was so many twists and pieces of information that could have been left untouched or mistaken but everything came together nicely. My favorite character is certain elf fairy Ruby. Her fiery attitude, hair, whip, and dust make her so unique compared to everyone else. Basically you have Chevelle (sexy dark elf tutoring Freya), Grey (disappearing magic whiz and totally in love with Ruby), Anvil (tongue burned and lightening master), Rhys and Rider (serious followers of the wolves), Steed (another sexy dark elf that can make Freya smile), Ruby and Freya on a long journey to a place Freya has no idea. She has lost most of her memories, her mother is dead, her aunt is a lune, and she is accused of dark magic. That is just the beginning of this book. It is the diary that really starts to unraval everything.
What I disliked-
I honestly believe Freya plays the lost little girl with no idea card way too much. She seems like a cry baby on the brink of giving up most of the time. Sometimes I just wanna facepalm her becuase she can be such an innocent idiot. That is the only reason why she isnt my favorite charcter and why I like the BA Ruby instead. :) Other than that I can find no other uninteresting parts of the book.
Overall Readability-
It's fastpaced and easy to follow. Even thought Freya isn't one of my favorite characters I very much enjoy this series! The best part is Frey is unique. Elves are the main characters and humans are myths!
My Final Thought-
Oh my gosh she is what? That is awesome. She has one heck of a road in front of her!
4 out of 5 Haunted Roses
Abandoned at 50%
The author prefers to tell us what is happening rather than showing us. The main character is undeveloped and hard to like. The overall plot had potential with Freya being an unaware antagonist.
The author prefers to tell us what is happening rather than showing us. The main character is undeveloped and hard to like. The overall plot had potential with Freya being an unaware antagonist.
It's really difficult for me to get into anything YA but I thought I would give this a try. It wasn't for me though.
This was an interesting concept and I can see a lot of reviews criticising. I see where they're coming from, and reviewers are making a lot of valid points. The storyline can be frustrating - we want answers, Frey wants answers and Chevelle etc are not giving them. It's jumpy and not all that much happens when you think about it, but at the time I did enjoy reading it and whilst I was mad at our heroine and hero for not communicating, it didn't make me hate the book. There could have been a few more things resolved. Frey spends the whole time thinking she's Chevelle's prisoner, and she never mentions it and if he picks up on her feeling, he's not disputing it. She thinks she is trapped and she quietly accepts this. Now, there's an explanation for why she doesn't ask more questions - she never gets clear answers. But her entrapment isn't a question and she stews on it privately, assuming Chevelle hates her without ever asking him, or insinuating as you would expect from this type of novel. I did spend most of my time waiting for the unveiling where he'd feel guilty she felt that way and give her more information but that never came. And whilst I think I figured out Frey and Chevelle's dynamic, I'm keeping shtum. My lips are sealed.
It may not be the best book you've ever read but if you enjoy fantasy and can overlook a bit of frustration and unanswered questions, then read it. It's not too long and it isn't a lot of people are giving it a harder time than it deserves.
It may not be the best book you've ever read but if you enjoy fantasy and can overlook a bit of frustration and unanswered questions, then read it. It's not too long and it isn't a lot of people are giving it a harder time than it deserves.
Lots of issues here. The first half is really dull, and Frey is really annoying. She whines so, so much.
In the second half, there's more action. Frey's just too timid, afraid, and untrusting of everyone. Frey is the narrator, and she doesn't know wtf is going on.. so the reader has no idea what's happening either. We're blindsided by developments just as Frey is. Really frustrating book.
In the second half, there's more action. Frey's just too timid, afraid, and untrusting of everyone. Frey is the narrator, and she doesn't know wtf is going on.. so the reader has no idea what's happening either. We're blindsided by developments just as Frey is. Really frustrating book.
The book premise was exciting and I was really excited to start it. As I went on, however, I found that the author had serious gaps in why her characters did anything. For instance, there are times when the heroine states that she has no choice because she is captive of so-and-so ( to keep spoilers to a minimum) when she is given ample opportunity to escape or fight back, or simply ask what's going on. (because it becomes clear that she is not a captive.) Frustrating, confusing, raised questions, forgot to answer them, brought back vague half-answers later, overall a swamp of forced character motivation and development. I hate to say it sucked, but it really sucked.
This book was not well crafted at all, from the characters to the setting. Being a writer myself, I don't really want to say this, but it felt very amateurish. It had a good premise, but things needed to be fleshed out a lot more and explained. I admit I did read some other negative reviews before reading this which may have impacted my perceptions, but all the same, the opening lines were not a great first impression as they were quite awkward:
"Crap! I stubbed my toe on a root, one of the pitfalls of living in a tree. It throbbed and I slammed the door in frustration as I left the tree."
This probably would have been okay if the "as I left the tree" part had been cut. But this describes what the writing was like throughout.
The whole story (what I read of it, anyway) was melodramatic and unbelievable. Frey is constantly running from her problems and not really thinking about things or questioning them. Things were happening quickly with no explanation, and there were also a few time jumps where hours went by but there was no indication in the story of this until later on. For instance, she was talking to this one person and then they left and Frey went home after what seemed like only a few minutes but apparently it was hours, because news of what happened during their conversation was able to spread across the village.
I also had a hard time grasping the world, as the worldbuilding was seriously lacking. I didn't understand why anything was the way it was, because it's never explained. It seems like Frey is kind of hated and condescended to by the people of the village because she can't really use magic, but it is told to us more than shown. Even her aunt is abusive toward her, and I wanted more information on all this, but apparently we couldn't get it because Frey herself doesn't remember things about her past. I also wondered why the author chose elves, especially since the culture doesn't seem well defined and I could easily see most of this being interchanged with witches and there wouldn't really be any difference. If we're getting elves, I want to know what sets them apart from us humans, what makes them special or worth talking about. Also there are apparently different groups of elves, as the Northern elves are mentioned, but we don't know what makes them different from those in this village other than the fact they look different, as Frey recognizes right away Chevelle must be from this group. If there's going to be a distinction between different groups, there should be different characteristics beyond just looks and cultural differences as well. We also don't get any info about what life is like outside the village and what else is in this world, whether it's just a world of elves or if there are humans there as well, or what the landscape looks like. Maybe this comes in later on, but I wanted to gradually get to know some of this as we are being introduced to the story.
Chevelle, the love interest, seems to be one of the dark and broody types that I don't tend to like. Also, Frey essentially falls in love with him when she first sees him, though it feels more like an obsession. In his presence she becomes tongue-tied and clumsy, and before she had even talked to him for the first time she was searching the library records for information about his family to find out who he is. I honestly did not see why it mattered, and it felt creepy and a bit stalkerish. it seems like she is interested in him just because he's hot. Frey ends up finding out something about him and then feels betrayed, even though she barely knows this guy, and I was rolling my eyes at her wanting to yell at her to get ahold of herself. That sealed my decision to dnf this.
"Crap! I stubbed my toe on a root, one of the pitfalls of living in a tree. It throbbed and I slammed the door in frustration as I left the tree."
This probably would have been okay if the "as I left the tree" part had been cut. But this describes what the writing was like throughout.
The whole story (what I read of it, anyway) was melodramatic and unbelievable. Frey is constantly running from her problems and not really thinking about things or questioning them. Things were happening quickly with no explanation, and there were also a few time jumps where hours went by but there was no indication in the story of this until later on. For instance, she was talking to this one person and then they left and Frey went home after what seemed like only a few minutes but apparently it was hours, because news of what happened during their conversation was able to spread across the village.
I also had a hard time grasping the world, as the worldbuilding was seriously lacking. I didn't understand why anything was the way it was, because it's never explained. It seems like Frey is kind of hated and condescended to by the people of the village because she can't really use magic, but it is told to us more than shown. Even her aunt is abusive toward her, and I wanted more information on all this, but apparently we couldn't get it because Frey herself doesn't remember things about her past. I also wondered why the author chose elves, especially since the culture doesn't seem well defined and I could easily see most of this being interchanged with witches and there wouldn't really be any difference. If we're getting elves, I want to know what sets them apart from us humans, what makes them special or worth talking about. Also there are apparently different groups of elves, as the Northern elves are mentioned, but we don't know what makes them different from those in this village other than the fact they look different, as Frey recognizes right away Chevelle must be from this group. If there's going to be a distinction between different groups, there should be different characteristics beyond just looks and cultural differences as well. We also don't get any info about what life is like outside the village and what else is in this world, whether it's just a world of elves or if there are humans there as well, or what the landscape looks like. Maybe this comes in later on, but I wanted to gradually get to know some of this as we are being introduced to the story.
Chevelle, the love interest, seems to be one of the dark and broody types that I don't tend to like. Also, Frey essentially falls in love with him when she first sees him, though it feels more like an obsession. In his presence she becomes tongue-tied and clumsy, and before she had even talked to him for the first time she was searching the library records for information about his family to find out who he is. I honestly did not see why it mattered, and it felt creepy and a bit stalkerish. it seems like she is interested in him just because he's hot. Frey ends up finding out something about him and then feels betrayed, even though she barely knows this guy, and I was rolling my eyes at her wanting to yell at her to get ahold of herself. That sealed my decision to dnf this.