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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
I want to start by saying that I love fanfiction. I would not be nearly as much of a reader as I am now without fanfiction. It has permanently altered my brain chemistry and I am better off (maybe) for it. But fanfiction can't always have the names changed and exist as original fiction.
Rose in Chains has a lot of the major pitfalls that occur when you're publishing fanfic (and this is Dramione fanfic without a doubt).
1. Introducing way too many characters way too quickly.
The first three chapters of this book introduce dozens of characters by their full government name, many of which are background characters of the rest of the story. I didn't need to know every characters Briony recognized while the castle was being seized, in fact it would have added to the story if she realized she recognized so many people but couldn't put a name to them in the rush, much like a crowded hallway during the changing of classes. It's way more evocative of the situation without needing so many name drops that I am for sure forgetting. This is fine in fanfic because I already know these people. It is deeply confusing and distracting when these are strangers.
2. Building a world for the plot, not show casing a story in a world.
In fanfic, the world is built. You can change it as much as you want, but at it's core, the world is still built. This means, as an author, the focus for this fantasy story is on the plot. The problem is that this is not fanfiction.
It's very clear that this world was created such that: (1) the auction could take place and (2) Briony and Toven went to school together but must be on different sides of this auction.
This didn't come across as a happenstance, as a world where these things are true and this is just a story of what happened in that world. It was clear that this is the story the author wanted to tell and she needed a world to make that happen.
I think part of this issue is that we are seemingly starting in Act 2 of this story. Sure, we get flashbacks of when Briony was in school, but this isn't enough when so much of the plot and current relationships rely on the relationships these characters had before the war. This brings me to...
3. Relying on a pre-established relationship that we don't see (or only see in small glimpses).
Ok, this one is what really got me. Throughout this book, Briony reacts to Toven as if she is receiving the flashbacks at the same time we are. If she had as much information as she should have had at the beginning of this book, she should not have a reason to fear Toven and his family. I'm not saying they should be besties, and she has plenty of reason to distrust them, but Toven and his father saved her life about two weeks before Briony sees Toven kill "innocents" in the woods. If she had asked one question, one "why?" in that moment (which Toven deserved considering he already saved her life), this would be made clear. Briony doesn't even show herself to be someone who jumps to negative conclusions about Toven historically (see when she is chasing him in the woods and she is more scared of the image of them alone, unchaperoned v.s. being scared for her safety while they're alone, unchaperoned) (see also her never equating Toven to his friends, but explicitly pointing out that he was never that bad and it was simply his friends who were the issue. That he stopped others when things crossed a line.), so it's unclear why she seems to suddenly make her final judgement about Toven and base it so much on the acts of Toven's friends.
If Briony cannot consider a double crosser, she didn't deserve a place in the war room like she wants the reader to believe.
Toven is never shown being cruel. He is never shown being a really bad person. His way of "bullying" Briony is flirting with her. The extent that Briony distrusts him at the beginning of the story does not make sense. Briony trusts Toven more as we see flashbacks of all the reasons she has to trust him. Again, we never see or hear of him crossing the line. Every bad thing he does is so clearly explained away immediatly. The author is scared to make him an actually bad person because then it would be much harder to keep the audience on his side. Simultaneously, Briony treats Toven as if he is unambiguously terrible, which just makes her seem dumb.
Anyway, the twists in this were very obvious. Briony comes across as unintelligent often. The world is hallow and built for this specific set of circumstances. The relationships were fueled by trauma-bonding. I'll probably still read the rest of the books in the series as they come out, but I'm not totally sold. I really hope book two brings more life to the series.
Rose in Chains has a lot of the major pitfalls that occur when you're publishing fanfic (and this is Dramione fanfic without a doubt).
1. Introducing way too many characters way too quickly.
2. Building a world for the plot, not show casing a story in a world.
It's very clear that this world was created such that: (1) the auction could take place and (2) Briony and Toven went to school together but must be on different sides of this auction.
This didn't come across as a happenstance, as a world where these things are true and this is just a story of what happened in that world. It was clear that this is the story the author wanted to tell and she needed a world to make that happen.
I think part of this issue is that we are seemingly starting in Act 2 of this story. Sure, we get flashbacks of when Briony was in school, but this isn't enough when so much of the plot and current relationships rely on the relationships these characters had before the war. This brings me to...
3. Relying on a pre-established relationship that we don't see (or only see in small glimpses).
If Briony cannot consider a double crosser, she didn't deserve a place in the war room like she wants the reader to believe.
Toven is never shown being cruel. He is never shown being a really bad person. His way of "bullying" Briony is flirting with her. The extent that Briony distrusts him at the beginning of the story does not make sense. Briony trusts Toven more as we see flashbacks of all the reasons she has to trust him. Again, we never see or hear of him crossing the line. Every bad thing he does is so clearly explained away immediatly. The author is scared to make him an actually bad person because then it would be much harder to keep the audience on his side. Simultaneously, Briony treats Toven as if he is unambiguously terrible, which just makes her seem dumb.
Anyway, the twists in this were very obvious. Briony comes across as unintelligent often. The world is hallow and built for this specific set of circumstances. The relationships were fueled by trauma-bonding. I'll probably still read the rest of the books in the series as they come out, but I'm not totally sold. I really hope book two brings more life to the series.
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
A rosa acorrentada foi uma grande decepção para mim, pois da forma que estava divulgando parecia que seria um grande romantasia, onde eles se odeiam e devido a tudo o que aconteceu eles ter que conviver na mesma casa. Mas o que ganhei foi um livro com personagens chatos e com uma história desinteressante.
A Briony é um personagem que achei chata, sem carisma e um pouco burra, ela toma umas decisões bem questionáveis durante a história ou ter algumas reações nada ver com que estava acontecendo. Pior do que ela temos o Toven, que supostamente deveria ser o para romântico da Briony, mas ele mal aparece no livro ou interage com a personagem. Além de ele ser um grandíssimo chato.
Outra coisa que me irritou no livro foi o quanto a autora focava na virgindade da personagem, teve momentos que isso me irritou muito, porque não era necessário ficar focando isso na história, já que não ia fazer diferença nenhuma se ela fosse virgem ou não.
Apesar de tudo isso, a escrita da autora foi bem fácil de acompanhar e fez com que a leitura se tornasse mais facil. E como esse é o meu segundo contato com a autora, sendo que o primeiro eu simplesmente abandonei a história, decidi que não irei mais ler livros dela.
A Briony é um personagem que achei chata, sem carisma e um pouco burra, ela toma umas decisões bem questionáveis durante a história ou ter algumas reações nada ver com que estava acontecendo. Pior do que ela temos o Toven, que supostamente deveria ser o para romântico da Briony, mas ele mal aparece no livro ou interage com a personagem. Além de ele ser um grandíssimo chato.
Outra coisa que me irritou no livro foi o quanto a autora focava na virgindade da personagem, teve momentos que isso me irritou muito, porque não era necessário ficar focando isso na história, já que não ia fazer diferença nenhuma se ela fosse virgem ou não.
Apesar de tudo isso, a escrita da autora foi bem fácil de acompanhar e fez com que a leitura se tornasse mais facil. E como esse é o meu segundo contato com a autora, sendo que o primeiro eu simplesmente abandonei a história, decidi que não irei mais ler livros dela.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
⚡️🌹⛓️🖤🔥📖✨🌒
Okay, so Rose in Chains was one of my most anticipated reads, and honestly? It totally delivered. I’d heard it started out as a Harry Potter fanfic of Draco & Hermione, which immediately made me curious, and now Julie Soto is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors! After reading Forget Me Not earlier this year and loving it too 💕
The slow burn in this book was so good 🔥 I was glued to the pages just waiting for the next little moment. And I loved the dual timeline, it really let the story, world and relationships feel more fleshed out. Briony was such a standout for me, strong & so witty. Her sass and comebacks had me living 👑
And the world? Magical, dark, emotional ✨🖤😢 The author blended those darker themes with romance and magic in a way that felt addictive and kept me hooked. And that ending 😱😱 can’t wait for book 2!
If you 🩷 a swoony slow burn wrapped in a magical, slightly dark world I would highly recommend!
Okay, so Rose in Chains was one of my most anticipated reads, and honestly? It totally delivered. I’d heard it started out as a Harry Potter fanfic of Draco & Hermione, which immediately made me curious, and now Julie Soto is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors! After reading Forget Me Not earlier this year and loving it too 💕
The slow burn in this book was so good 🔥 I was glued to the pages just waiting for the next little moment. And I loved the dual timeline, it really let the story, world and relationships feel more fleshed out. Briony was such a standout for me, strong & so witty. Her sass and comebacks had me living 👑
And the world? Magical, dark, emotional ✨🖤😢 The author blended those darker themes with romance and magic in a way that felt addictive and kept me hooked. And that ending 😱😱 can’t wait for book 2!
If you 🩷 a swoony slow burn wrapped in a magical, slightly dark world I would highly recommend!
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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:
No