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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
3.50/5.00
Gods of the Wyrdwood, an atmospheric tale in the forests. A classic fight between good and evil, and the corruption of those in absolute power. I enjoyed a good amount of this book, with the ending being the best part. The worldbuilding is creative and beautiful at times. The plot is brilliantly designed to engage with the themes of this book, which do go beyond a classic good vs evil story. The author also brings in great representation for non-binary people in this story, which is a excellent addition to the fantasy genre.
RJ Barker's prose is disappointing in many ways. While he manages to clearly convey the story and the world, his dialogue is very simplistic and does not evoke a sense of poignant storytelling at any time. His narrative voice also feels very dry and with some characters voices being bland. The main character also falls pretty flat, as his journey in this book is underwhelming. Some characters, such as Udinny stand out very well.
It also feels like RJ Barker is reaching for a theme that has been done before brilliantly and spectacularly (there is a specific movie that this book will remind you of) and this world does not bring that level of vividness, nor does it carry the emotional weight of these prior works. The world of Crua, while being very good, feels like a lot of quantity and less quality.
Overall a good book.
Gods of the Wyrdwood, an atmospheric tale in the forests. A classic fight between good and evil, and the corruption of those in absolute power. I enjoyed a good amount of this book, with the ending being the best part. The worldbuilding is creative and beautiful at times. The plot is brilliantly designed to engage with the themes of this book, which do go beyond a classic good vs evil story. The author also brings in great representation for non-binary people in this story, which is a excellent addition to the fantasy genre.
RJ Barker's prose is disappointing in many ways. While he manages to clearly convey the story and the world, his dialogue is very simplistic and does not evoke a sense of poignant storytelling at any time. His narrative voice also feels very dry and with some characters voices being bland. The main character also falls pretty flat, as his journey in this book is underwhelming. Some characters, such as Udinny stand out very well.
It also feels like RJ Barker is reaching for a theme that has been done before brilliantly and spectacularly (there is a specific movie that this book will remind you of) and this world does not bring that level of vividness, nor does it carry the emotional weight of these prior works. The world of Crua, while being very good, feels like a lot of quantity and less quality.
Overall a good book.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
One of the most unique stories I have ever read, Cahan was brilliant, grumpy, moody but deep down a man with a golden heart.
The world was incredible and how the people and creatures interact with the environment was so complex but genius. I definitely missed things and I think thats the reason it doesn’t get the full 5 stars, at times it was so complex that it took me out of the story because I had to stop and try and work things out.
But overall a great book and will be picking up book 2 soon
The world was incredible and how the people and creatures interact with the environment was so complex but genius. I definitely missed things and I think thats the reason it doesn’t get the full 5 stars, at times it was so complex that it took me out of the story because I had to stop and try and work things out.
But overall a great book and will be picking up book 2 soon
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is going in my top 5… I’m absolutely staggered by this book that I picked up on a whim.