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applegnreads's review
4.0
Not totally related to the other stories in College of Magics. Merely in the same general world. Like them, the ending is not totally happy but not totally unhappy and getting to the ending is an adventure.
violinknitter's review
5.0
Loved this book. Loved the feisty, artistic Hail, loved the southern European Renaissance setting, loved the unexpected twists in the story.
fallingletters's review against another edition
1.0
Quick review originally posted on 5 May 2013 at Falling Letters.
I had a cautiously optimistic hope for this book! I stopped signing books out of the scifi/fantasy section of the library years ago because I could only find awful books, but somehow this caught my eye and the description on the dust jacket sounded very nice, just the sort of thing I would like to read. But...
Oooh, what a disappointment! It was alright for about 50 pages, then I thought it was going to get better, so I kept going, and by the time I realized it was going to stay awful I was so far in I decided to finish it. This is the only book I made any notes on because it frustrated me so much - here they are!
The first note I made was 'Nice little read, not too much to note - lots of art, a little too perfect and blissful' - hah!
There's no real conflict (a bit of teasing is the most we see) then BOOM out of nowhere about 60 pages in everything turns around and the main character's running away and she finds the alleged King and things start to go haywire. There's a number of weird plot things that don't make sense or seem pointless or are really weak. For example, one numerous occasions the MC continues to tag along because it's 'not convenient' for her to go home, as she is supposed to be doing - this isn't played as wishful thinking, like the MC wants to tag along so she pretends it isn't convenient; it's played as actually being inconvenient therefore she must stay. It seems like the author had to work so hard to make sure her MC stays the MC and so everything feels really forced and awkward and out of place. Most of my notes are comments on the poor plot; you get the idea so I won't post them all here.
I did like the writing style - nothing too fancy, fairly concise, but easy to read. I like to think it's the sort of style I write in.
I had a cautiously optimistic hope for this book! I stopped signing books out of the scifi/fantasy section of the library years ago because I could only find awful books, but somehow this caught my eye and the description on the dust jacket sounded very nice, just the sort of thing I would like to read. But...
Oooh, what a disappointment! It was alright for about 50 pages, then I thought it was going to get better, so I kept going, and by the time I realized it was going to stay awful I was so far in I decided to finish it. This is the only book I made any notes on because it frustrated me so much - here they are!
The first note I made was 'Nice little read, not too much to note - lots of art, a little too perfect and blissful' - hah!
There's no real conflict (a bit of teasing is the most we see) then BOOM out of nowhere about 60 pages in everything turns around and the main character's running away and she finds the alleged King and things start to go haywire. There's a number of weird plot things
Spoiler
I thought it was absolutely silly that this 'King' is not actually the King but his assistant and the King himself shows up a bit later, why bother, why not go straight to the King?I did like the writing style - nothing too fancy, fairly concise, but easy to read. I like to think it's the sort of style I write in.
windhover's review
3.0
The bad news first. The plot is pretty rough here. Lots of people show up at the right places at convenient times, plans just magically work out (sometimes literally), characters have knowledge (presumably so the dialogue is less clunky). For me, these problems were just confusing and broke immersion.
On the other hand, the setting and the characters were a delight! The setting is a fictional region of Renaissance(?) Europe. The story is narrated by Hail Rosamer, the elderly artist, telling about the adventures of her youth. From her apprenticeship with a certain Madame Carriera to the flight to the shrine of St. Istvan, Hail Rosamer is the sort of intrepid, often inept, often frustrating protagonist it is easy for me to like. Also it's a coming of age fantasy story that is not trying to be Tolkien. It's more like one of those quiet, earnest novels about hopeful young artists coming to grips with craft and love and friendship and family. At least, all of my favorite parts were like that. And I can forgive a lot of plot holes for that.
On the other hand, the setting and the characters were a delight! The setting is a fictional region of Renaissance(?) Europe. The story is narrated by Hail Rosamer, the elderly artist, telling about the adventures of her youth. From her apprenticeship with a certain Madame Carriera to the flight to the shrine of St. Istvan, Hail Rosamer is the sort of intrepid, often inept, often frustrating protagonist it is easy for me to like. Also it's a coming of age fantasy story that is not trying to be Tolkien. It's more like one of those quiet, earnest novels about hopeful young artists coming to grips with craft and love and friendship and family. At least, all of my favorite parts were like that. And I can forgive a lot of plot holes for that.
azurelunatic's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
readingtheend's review
3.0
apparently a prequel to the Scholar of Magic/College of magic books? it's about an apprentice artist who gets sort of embroiled in this whole terrifying necromantic scheme to bring this world's King Arthur figure back from the dead. could have been creepier, I have to say! the characters all had that very Caroline Stevermer downrightness.
karireads's review
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
katbond's review against another edition
4.0
Like her other books, really well-written and very fun to read. The plot was a fairly typical young adult fantasy plot however.
badmc's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A young girl growing up to be an artist finds herself in the middle of the weird happenings, people coming back from the dead, and it all seems to be linked to something she studies...
Well, Stevermer is one of the authors certain to write a book that I will find enjoyable. Interesting characters, meandering plot, deeper themes that come to the surface. I really liked the coming of age aspect of this, and having a main character that is headstrong and blunt. I was intrigued by hints of the time passed, things changed, and was a bit sorry it wasn't explored more. I would've also liked for the "magic" aspect to be a bit clearer in its execution, or being even more vague - this confused me a bit. Also, some parts of the story were skipped over and thus lessened the emotional impact.
Well, Stevermer is one of the authors certain to write a book that I will find enjoyable. Interesting characters, meandering plot, deeper themes that come to the surface. I really liked the coming of age aspect of this, and having a main character that is headstrong and blunt. I was intrigued by hints of the time passed, things changed, and was a bit sorry it wasn't explored more. I would've also liked for the "magic" aspect to be a bit clearer in its execution, or being even more vague - this confused me a bit. Also, some parts of the story were skipped over and thus lessened the emotional impact.