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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Beautiful. Very interesting journey for the mc and development. I was absolutely in love with Serik. One of my favorite male characters so far this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, War
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. What a beautifully written book! I absolutely loved it. It was said to be a Hunchback of Notre Dame retelling. Admittedly, I have only seen the Disney movie and that is where all of my knowledge of that story comes from. And this was barely comparable to that. Perhaps I'll have to try reading the original version someday.
This book had everything I could have asked for. An interesting magic system, a well-built world, crazy politics, two warring sides, twists and turns that shocked me, and a main character, Enebish, who is sympathetic and goes through so much growth in this book.
I'm really excited to see where this will go next. So glad I have the second book already!
This book had everything I could have asked for. An interesting magic system, a well-built world, crazy politics, two warring sides, twists and turns that shocked me, and a main character, Enebish, who is sympathetic and goes through so much growth in this book.
I'm really excited to see where this will go next. So glad I have the second book already!
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Graded By: Mandy C.
Cover Story: Art Class
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: Retelling?
Bonus Factors: Superpowers, Revolution
Anti-Bonus Factor: Name
Relationship Status: Possibilities
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Art Class
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: Retelling?
Bonus Factors: Superpowers, Revolution
Anti-Bonus Factor: Name
Relationship Status: Possibilities
Read the full book report here.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
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:
Complicated
I had very much fun reading this book.
I haven't read fantasy in a while and this book helped me remind how much I enjoy fantasy books.
The best part about this book is the character development that Enebish goes through. I loved seeing her et more confident on herself. I also think the characters from this book are very lovable. I loved Temujin, now I'm just very pissed off with him.
In the end there were 2 revelations that I was totally not expecting, I was very shocked.
In conclusion I liked this book a lot, I will certainly read the second one.
I haven't read fantasy in a while and this book helped me remind how much I enjoy fantasy books.
The best part about this book is the character development that Enebish goes through. I loved seeing her et more confident on herself. I also think the characters from this book are very lovable. I loved Temujin, now I'm just very pissed off with him.
In the end there were 2 revelations that I was totally not expecting, I was very shocked.
In conclusion I liked this book a lot, I will certainly read the second one.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
*ARC received from #Netgalley in return for an honest review*
Video Review: https://youtu.be/87fthk0TW1o
This is a hunchback of Notre Dame inspired story. instead of your traditional Quasimodo, you have a wounded ex warrior who's dealing with a lot of fallout and PST from things that have happened war. It is set in this very rich, lush, landscape, of a completely new world with completely new rules. There's a magic system here that has been very thoroughly set up in some fairly interesting ways. People can spin the night, control fire, manipulate ice and different elements such as these.
I started this book not very sure of what I was getting into or if I really liked what was going on and where it was headed. But by the end of the book, I was invested. There were things going on both action-wise and politically that I need to know the end results of. Thorley created this very rich world with a lot of lore and a magical system that I don't fully understand it yet, I want to know more, but built on faith and I find that intriguing.
She also managed to develop a lot of character depth. In the beginning, I wasn't entirely sure about Enebish. I struggled with the fact that she was supposed to be this battle-hardened warrior but she was acting very meek and mild. She was invested in the war efforts but there were a lot of things that made her feel like she wasn't a true warrior. She wasn't acting like I expected a warrior to act. As the series progressed and started to understand that maybe because of everything that she has gone through and everything that was happening, this has changed her in ways and shifted her back into this very weak state. Throughout her journey, as she is starting to rely more on herself and starting to discover some of these truths, she started to grow and become more of what I would expect that this warrior was supposed to be at the very beginning. I like seeing that character arc. And with Enebish, you have her adopted sister Ghoa, adopted cousin Serik, and this whole band of criminals that also grow and morph and shift as different plot points happen in very unexpected ways.
I like it when I can read a story and start to try and guess where the plot is going but then it twists and morphs into something that I wasn't expecting. And this story does that very well. There were hints and bits and pieces of what the ending was going to be. And these little inklings of, maybe things aren't quite what you're expecting them to be, but it was hard to see how that actually was going to fall out until the very end. So I think Thorley did a very good job of giving enough of that anxiety to keep on pushing through and not being sure of anything. This coincides very well with everything that was going on with Enebish as she's struggling to decide who to help, how to help and what she is doing throughout this war.
There's a little bit of romance in it as well. There's a line within this story that just pinpoints how this romance goes and I liked it so much for it.
"This is no time for kissing."
I'm excited to see where all this finally wraps up.
Video Review: https://youtu.be/87fthk0TW1o
This is a hunchback of Notre Dame inspired story. instead of your traditional Quasimodo, you have a wounded ex warrior who's dealing with a lot of fallout and PST from things that have happened war. It is set in this very rich, lush, landscape, of a completely new world with completely new rules. There's a magic system here that has been very thoroughly set up in some fairly interesting ways. People can spin the night, control fire, manipulate ice and different elements such as these.
I started this book not very sure of what I was getting into or if I really liked what was going on and where it was headed. But by the end of the book, I was invested. There were things going on both action-wise and politically that I need to know the end results of. Thorley created this very rich world with a lot of lore and a magical system that I don't fully understand it yet, I want to know more, but built on faith and I find that intriguing.
She also managed to develop a lot of character depth. In the beginning, I wasn't entirely sure about Enebish. I struggled with the fact that she was supposed to be this battle-hardened warrior but she was acting very meek and mild. She was invested in the war efforts but there were a lot of things that made her feel like she wasn't a true warrior. She wasn't acting like I expected a warrior to act. As the series progressed and started to understand that maybe because of everything that she has gone through and everything that was happening, this has changed her in ways and shifted her back into this very weak state. Throughout her journey, as she is starting to rely more on herself and starting to discover some of these truths, she started to grow and become more of what I would expect that this warrior was supposed to be at the very beginning. I like seeing that character arc. And with Enebish, you have her adopted sister Ghoa, adopted cousin Serik, and this whole band of criminals that also grow and morph and shift as different plot points happen in very unexpected ways.
I like it when I can read a story and start to try and guess where the plot is going but then it twists and morphs into something that I wasn't expecting. And this story does that very well. There were hints and bits and pieces of what the ending was going to be. And these little inklings of, maybe things aren't quite what you're expecting them to be, but it was hard to see how that actually was going to fall out until the very end. So I think Thorley did a very good job of giving enough of that anxiety to keep on pushing through and not being sure of anything. This coincides very well with everything that was going on with Enebish as she's struggling to decide who to help, how to help and what she is doing throughout this war.
There's a little bit of romance in it as well. There's a line within this story that just pinpoints how this romance goes and I liked it so much for it.
"This is no time for kissing."
I'm excited to see where all this finally wraps up.
Where is everyone getting 4 and 5 stars from?!?!?
I was so bored. Everyone was boring. And I thought this girl was supposed to have these evil powers but she didn't do anything!
I was so bored. Everyone was boring. And I thought this girl was supposed to have these evil powers but she didn't do anything!
Check out my review of this amazing story here, https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1IHCG5BML829Z/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1624148883.
I absolutely adored this book. I normally don't love retellings but this story didn't feel like a cookie cutter retelling; instead, I was able to pick up on threads of the original story that were woven into the plot structure in interesting ways. I loved the magic system and world building within the story. I loved Enebish's story arc and growth towards self acceptance. I enjoyed the plot twists (some were predictable and some caught me by surprise). This was a thrilling read from start to finish.