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chymerra's review against another edition
4.0
Fantasy is one of my favorite subjects to read. It is one genre that I will always read. So, when the author contacted me to read/review Odriel’s Heirs, I accepted. I am glad that I did. Odriel’s Heirs was a great read!!
The plotline for Odriel’s Heirs was fast-moving and well written. There were no dropped storylines or characters. There was a little lag right before the last battle, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.
I loved the lore in Odriel’s Heirs. Zombies, necromancers, mages, and gods (good and bad) were featured. I did want to know more about the different Heirs and that first battle. But that is a minor thing. I liked that the author took the past events and used them as vital learning tools for Kaia. She also left teasers about the past. I am hoping that she expands more on that in the oncoming books.
I wasn’t a massive fan of Kaia for most of the book. I thought she was impulsive, self-centered, and full of rage. I couldn’t connect with her. But after a specific scene on a mountain, I started to see her character morph and I began to like her. By the end of the book, I was in awe of her. I can’t wait to see where her character goes.
I liked that Kaia was portrayed as a real person. She had real issues (bullying and self-esteem were the main ones featured). Kaia had to work to get to where she was. In one battle scene, she exhausted herself and almost collapsed. Even her changing feelings for Klaus were realistic.
I will say that I wasn’t a fan of how a specific relationship did a 180. I get that romance sells, but in this case, eh. There was too much bad history between those two that made a romantic relationship yucky in my eyes.
I wish that the author had explained what the Shadow Heirs abilities were earlier in the book. I figured it was something to do with shadows and assassins, but it wasn’t fully revealed until Klaus went to rescue Kaia after she was kidnapped.
The secondary characters in this book (villains and heroes) were wonderfully written. None of them seemed out of place in this world, and they all added an extra depth to the storyline.
The end of Odriel’s Heirs was great. I had figured out what happened to the Time Heir about halfway through the book. I knew that Kaia would come into her own during that last battle. But it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of reading those scenes. The last chapter, though, seemed too good to be true. And then came the epilogue. That made me super excited to read book 2!!
The plotline for Odriel’s Heirs was fast-moving and well written. There were no dropped storylines or characters. There was a little lag right before the last battle, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.
I loved the lore in Odriel’s Heirs. Zombies, necromancers, mages, and gods (good and bad) were featured. I did want to know more about the different Heirs and that first battle. But that is a minor thing. I liked that the author took the past events and used them as vital learning tools for Kaia. She also left teasers about the past. I am hoping that she expands more on that in the oncoming books.
I wasn’t a massive fan of Kaia for most of the book. I thought she was impulsive, self-centered, and full of rage. I couldn’t connect with her. But after a specific scene on a mountain, I started to see her character morph and I began to like her. By the end of the book, I was in awe of her. I can’t wait to see where her character goes.
I liked that Kaia was portrayed as a real person. She had real issues (bullying and self-esteem were the main ones featured). Kaia had to work to get to where she was. In one battle scene, she exhausted herself and almost collapsed. Even her changing feelings for Klaus were realistic.
I will say that I wasn’t a fan of how a specific relationship did a 180. I get that romance sells, but in this case, eh. There was too much bad history between those two that made a romantic relationship yucky in my eyes.
I wish that the author had explained what the Shadow Heirs abilities were earlier in the book. I figured it was something to do with shadows and assassins, but it wasn’t fully revealed until Klaus went to rescue Kaia after she was kidnapped.
The secondary characters in this book (villains and heroes) were wonderfully written. None of them seemed out of place in this world, and they all added an extra depth to the storyline.
The end of Odriel’s Heirs was great. I had figured out what happened to the Time Heir about halfway through the book. I knew that Kaia would come into her own during that last battle. But it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of reading those scenes. The last chapter, though, seemed too good to be true. And then came the epilogue. That made me super excited to read book 2!!
bamjam's review against another edition
3.0
TW: violence, blood, mild gore, death of a child (not depicted), body horror, suicide, use of torture (not depicted), blood
Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy of this book from the author. Thank you to Hayley Reese Chow for the opportunity to provide an honest review.
Ms. Chow reached out to me with a copy of her novel, and because the premise promises a fun fantasy adventure, I jumped at the chance to give it a try.
What I Liked
-This book gives me such Sabriel vibes in the way the story structured and especially with the animal companions. It's a good ol' fashioned fantasy story, with a plot contained between the pages, with awesome battle scenes, but also with the promise of further evil on the horizon. I like to take breaks from serial fantasy series every once and awhile.
-Kaia may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but she doesn't let anyone take her agency from her and she's brash enough to keep trying to prove herself, even when those around her are losing hope. She isn't infallible, and her well-founded fears could certainly take over her thoughts and actions, but she's a hero you can easily root for! I hope she'll have the space to deal with the trauma she's faced; it sucked to watch her try to pretend she was fine in front of her allies.
-I definitely was hardcore shipping Kaia and Klaus! He was so tender with her and their rivalry admits chaos was light-hearted considering everything that was happened. They're a predictable couple but their romance didn't detract from the actual plot thankfully. I just wish their first kiss wasn’t literally before a battle because I hate the “first kiss intended to be the last kiss” trope. Just kiss when you're both safe and alive!
-The secondary characters were sweet but not really interesting. Dorinas was my favourite, though, 'cause I'm just a sucker for grumpy characters.
What I Didn't Like
-I often found myself a little confused by the world-building and by the different creatures that share the land with humans. A lot was thrown at you throughout the novel and I was just playing catch up.
-There were also pieces of the plot (ex., Odriel's Tooth) that felt like they were dropped in to overcome an obstacle. I would have preferred the characters to look at what they had and come up with a clever solution.
-The pacing could be off at times, where some parts moved a little too fast and some parts slowed down considerably.
-I was surprised by the early death of one of the smaller villains. I thought he'd be around longer. The pay off didn't really fit the build up of his character.
Conclusion
This book delivered on the promise of a fun fantasy that balanced the dark with the light. I'm glad I was given a chance to get an early glimpse!
My Rating: 3.5/5
Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy of this book from the author. Thank you to Hayley Reese Chow for the opportunity to provide an honest review.
Ms. Chow reached out to me with a copy of her novel, and because the premise promises a fun fantasy adventure, I jumped at the chance to give it a try.
What I Liked
-This book gives me such Sabriel vibes in the way the story structured and especially with the animal companions. It's a good ol' fashioned fantasy story, with a plot contained between the pages, with awesome battle scenes, but also with the promise of further evil on the horizon. I like to take breaks from serial fantasy series every once and awhile.
-Kaia may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but she doesn't let anyone take her agency from her and she's brash enough to keep trying to prove herself, even when those around her are losing hope. She isn't infallible, and her well-founded fears could certainly take over her thoughts and actions, but she's a hero you can easily root for! I hope she'll have the space to deal with the trauma she's faced; it sucked to watch her try to pretend she was fine in front of her allies.
-I definitely was hardcore shipping Kaia and Klaus! He was so tender with her and their rivalry admits chaos was light-hearted considering everything that was happened. They're a predictable couple but their romance didn't detract from the actual plot thankfully. I just wish their first kiss wasn’t literally before a battle because I hate the “first kiss intended to be the last kiss” trope. Just kiss when you're both safe and alive!
-The secondary characters were sweet but not really interesting. Dorinas was my favourite, though, 'cause I'm just a sucker for grumpy characters.
What I Didn't Like
-I often found myself a little confused by the world-building and by the different creatures that share the land with humans. A lot was thrown at you throughout the novel and I was just playing catch up.
-There were also pieces of the plot (ex., Odriel's Tooth) that felt like they were dropped in to overcome an obstacle. I would have preferred the characters to look at what they had and come up with a clever solution.
-The pacing could be off at times, where some parts moved a little too fast and some parts slowed down considerably.
-I was surprised by the early death of one of the smaller villains. I thought he'd be around longer. The pay off didn't really fit the build up of his character.
Conclusion
This book delivered on the promise of a fun fantasy that balanced the dark with the light. I'm glad I was given a chance to get an early glimpse!
My Rating: 3.5/5
daniellestarredpages's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5 Stars.
Check out my review here:
http://starredpages.com/2020/02/18/odriels-heir-arc-book-review/
I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for abd honest review.
Check out my review here:
http://starredpages.com/2020/02/18/odriels-heir-arc-book-review/
I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for abd honest review.
silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, I enjoyed this one. There were stretches toward the beginning where I wasn't very engaged with the story, even though I liked the idea of it--to be honest, it was really when the thread of romantic sub-plot showed up that I finally got super invested in the story. ;-)
Other than the slow bits (not really slow, just... not grabbing my interest?) and the bit where she gets life advice that ties everything together for her, that felt a bit cheesy to me, it was a really solid fantasy adventure with zombie raising bad guys and good guys with magical super powers, and a low-key (aka, sometimes you have to go save the world even when you're having emotions) but genuine feeling romance. (Because this is an ARC I didn't take the occasional proofreading errors into account in my rating--hopefully those will be long gone by the time most of you read this book.)
I would definitely like to read the sequel to this one!
Content is very reasonable for the intended age group, though I probably wouldn't recommend it for younger advanced readers for a few reasons: First, no one wants to explain the phrase 'orgiastic fury' to a small child. Second, there are some tense, gross and very sad bits including deaths (both on a broad scale and a very personal level), description of the injuries after torture, an emotional animal goodbye, and rotting flesh and such on zombies. There are also a couple of kisses, one of which briefly gets into descriptions of tongue and lips and all that.
Thanks to the author for providing a digital copy of the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Other than the slow bits (not really slow, just... not grabbing my interest?) and the bit where she gets life advice that ties everything together for her, that felt a bit cheesy to me, it was a really solid fantasy adventure with zombie raising bad guys and good guys with magical super powers, and a low-key (aka, sometimes you have to go save the world even when you're having emotions) but genuine feeling romance. (Because this is an ARC I didn't take the occasional proofreading errors into account in my rating--hopefully those will be long gone by the time most of you read this book.)
I would definitely like to read the sequel to this one!
Content is very reasonable for the intended age group, though I probably wouldn't recommend it for younger advanced readers for a few reasons: First, no one wants to explain the phrase 'orgiastic fury' to a small child. Second, there are some tense, gross and very sad bits including deaths (both on a broad scale and a very personal level), description of the injuries after torture, an emotional animal goodbye, and rotting flesh and such on zombies. There are also a couple of kisses, one of which briefly gets into descriptions of tongue and lips and all that.
Thanks to the author for providing a digital copy of the ARC in exchange for my honest review!
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