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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
This is a challenging book because it is all setup and world building. I struggled at times and maybe should have taken my time a bit more. But that ending was surprising and exciting. Almost enough to elevate it to 5 stars.
This book is mostly about Cahan and the things he is running from, some of which are within himself. We learn that the power of the cowl is not how Cahan expected thanks to some help from his friends.
I'm still not in love with any of the characters but I appreciate the development of Cahan we see in this first book. I am excited to read the next book soon.
This book is mostly about Cahan and the things he is running from, some of which are within himself. We learn that the power of the cowl is not how Cahan expected thanks to some help from his friends.
I'm still not in love with any of the characters but I appreciate the development of Cahan we see in this first book. I am excited to read the next book soon.
Might get back to it. Interesting worldbuilding but that's all that really stood out to me. Also very confusing to keep track of initially.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
THIS DANG BOOK. I am so glad to wash my hands of it. Was it bad? Not at all. Was it way way way way way too long? Oh my good lord yes. If this had been a YA novel, it would have finished in half the time and been way better. And this is why I am so leary of adult high fantasy.
Overall, I did like the world. I am a cottagecore girlie at heart and the forest being semi-sentient and so much of magic being tangled up in the forest was very fun and interesting to me. The description of the cloud trees was also very cool. And the living armor Cahan has. *chef's kiss* Very cinematic. The characters were also...fine. Again, if the book wasn't so dang long and reptitive I would have liked them a lot more. The moments of action were very satisfying and gripping, but he takes so long to write things, I resented how into the story I was because it dragged on so much. I ultimately can't give it less than three stars because it is an impressive. I just don't think it was for me.
I didn't like the second person POV of Cahan as a kid. Why did it need to be in second person? It felt silly. Also, I am SOOOOO mad that at least 1/3 of the book was spent with a POV that ended up being so not important. Like the most useless POV. I guess she was so we could understand more of the politics behind the Cowl-Rai? But Cahan seemed to grasp those things just fine. She literally changed the storyline -10. Anyways, this book was not worth how long it was, and I would not have finished it if it wasn't for a class.
Overall, I did like the world. I am a cottagecore girlie at heart and the forest being semi-sentient and so much of magic being tangled up in the forest was very fun and interesting to me. The description of the cloud trees was also very cool. And the living armor Cahan has. *chef's kiss* Very cinematic. The characters were also...fine. Again, if the book wasn't so dang long and reptitive I would have liked them a lot more. The moments of action were very satisfying and gripping, but he takes so long to write things, I resented how into the story I was because it dragged on so much. I ultimately can't give it less than three stars because it is an impressive. I just don't think it was for me.
I didn't like the second person POV of Cahan as a kid. Why did it need to be in second person? It felt silly. Also, I am SOOOOO mad that at least 1/3 of the book was spent with a POV that ended up being so not important. Like the most useless POV. I guess she was so we could understand more of the politics behind the Cowl-Rai? But Cahan seemed to grasp those things just fine. She literally changed the storyline -10. Anyways, this book was not worth how long it was, and I would not have finished it if it wasn't for a class.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the first book I've gotten through in quite a while, so I did enjoy it. I've read all of RJ Barker's books so far, so I was excited for this, and the whole concept sounded interesting.
And truly this was a nice reading experience, RJ's writing style is approachable and somehow always had me reading more and more. However I think having read his past books put me at a little disadvantage where I could predict certain aspects of the characters and story. So ultimately I was a little disappointed in the story, but I still finished it and enjoyed it well enough.
And truly this was a nice reading experience, RJ's writing style is approachable and somehow always had me reading more and more. However I think having read his past books put me at a little disadvantage where I could predict certain aspects of the characters and story. So ultimately I was a little disappointed in the story, but I still finished it and enjoyed it well enough.