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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
The best parts of the book were the animals. But then they barely played any role after the beginning! Leskai/Tristan was annoying. And the romance was so insta love. Bunny is my fav.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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:
Yes
This was a difficult book to get through. Not a slog, exactly, but it circled around itself so much that it didn't feel very engaging. The story itself was beautiful, with Oneira finding herself, healing herself, and the last dash of hope at the end. But I'm not the biggest fan of books where not much happens, and this one is a prime example of that. The writing was really nice, though both old and new at the same time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an eALC in exchange for my honest review.
This was an amazing story from start to finish and was made even better by the narration! A slow-burn both in terms of the romance and the climax of the conflict, the lush writing style made the story very easy to visualize and feel as though I was a part of it. The narrators did a great job of embodying how the characters acted and sounded like and I definitely think that Never the Roses would be a great read no matter if you're listening or reading it.
I loved the characters, especially Oneira and Stearanos of course, since they were the main characters. I felt like Oneira's urge to isolate herself from the world, not out of selfishness but out of guilt for her past actions, is heartbreakingly relatable on some level and throughout the whole story I found myself rooting for her to be able to accept herself for who she is. Stearanos plays a big part in showing Oneira that she is still capable of being loved and that there are still people who like her for who she is and what she can do. I loved the relationship between the two of them and, especially in the beginning, the teasing and pushing and pulling that eventually brings them together. They're cute together, but at the same time it's clear that they deeply care and respect each other too.
The world-building was great, especially when listened to, because the world felt so real and well thought-out. Especially for a debut fantasy novel, it was complex enough to feel realistic without being overly imagined and confusing. While the war that is the backbone for conflict in this story doesn't provide a lot of epic battle scenes, I really liked seeing the "other side" of fantasy battles of the planning and strategy, especially with the twists and turns of loyalties.
I really enjoyed this listen and, especially after the ending, would love to read more books from this world!
This was an amazing story from start to finish and was made even better by the narration! A slow-burn both in terms of the romance and the climax of the conflict, the lush writing style made the story very easy to visualize and feel as though I was a part of it. The narrators did a great job of embodying how the characters acted and sounded like and I definitely think that Never the Roses would be a great read no matter if you're listening or reading it.
I loved the characters, especially Oneira and Stearanos of course, since they were the main characters. I felt like Oneira's urge to isolate herself from the world, not out of selfishness but out of guilt for her past actions, is heartbreakingly relatable on some level and throughout the whole story I found myself rooting for her to be able to accept herself for who she is. Stearanos plays a big part in showing Oneira that she is still capable of being loved and that there are still people who like her for who she is and what she can do. I loved the relationship between the two of them and, especially in the beginning, the teasing and pushing and pulling that eventually brings them together. They're cute together, but at the same time it's clear that they deeply care and respect each other too.
The world-building was great, especially when listened to, because the world felt so real and well thought-out. Especially for a debut fantasy novel, it was complex enough to feel realistic without being overly imagined and confusing. While the war that is the backbone for conflict in this story doesn't provide a lot of epic battle scenes, I really liked seeing the "other side" of fantasy battles of the planning and strategy, especially with the twists and turns of loyalties.
I really enjoyed this listen and, especially after the ending, would love to read more books from this world!
emotional
reflective
slow-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:
Yes
emotional
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gorgeous fairytale that I can’t stop thinking about
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This unfortunately just wasn't for me. This book's major fault is that it begins at the end of Oneira's life as a mage. We are told of how her past life has affected her, but we don't get to live it with her - neither do we get to see what Stearanos' connection to her was like before, as they had no connection prior to letters that serve as very flimsy relationship development. It bothered me severely that it quickly became very insta-lovey and that Stearanos came off as too strong right away with the whole "I know what you want and you don't" shtick I absolutely abhor in any romantasy. I just honestly didn't find him very interesting.
It felt like the plot was more vibes than actual substance. There wasn't enough meat here for me to sink my teeth into besides the fact that both of them were mages who were used as weapons and they found understanding with each other in that. They were both very lonely and nobody else could possibly understand them, and none of this really worked for me, I suppose. It might have if they had actual substantial history together that wasn't just the fact they were pit against each other in the past, but the only interesting parts about this book for me were when there was an exploration of guilt, depression, and loneliness. The moment we got the cliche scenes between Stearanos and Oneira's romance, I just couldn't bring myself to care. I was honestly hoping this would be a bit of a pining, sweet romance that took its time to develop, but because we spend so little time with the characters and so much time in this book is dedicated on their letter exchanges and cat and mouse game for way too long, it just feels like it meanders, and the romance bursts far too quickly after all of that without neither of them really knowing each other. But Stearanos acts like they're made for each other from the get-go as soon as he sees her. I'm honestly so disappointed because I do like tragic romances but I genuinely can't care if we don't spend sufficient time making the romance feel genuine and hard-earned.
This book just kind of feels like a bunch of promising themes stitched together in a very unsatisfying way. It should have worked in theory, but it was just stitched together wrong. Tristan was kind of fun bc he was so dumb, even though the scenes with him were really cringe (and his integration into the story was so pointless in hindsight), and the author's writing was beautiful, but unfortunately it drones on and on and does feel super slow the first half, only to dramatically speed up in the second half. It mostly felt like a slog. The whole war subplot honestly feels quite half-baked. Romantasy generally isn't for me because it just doesn't have enough fantasy meat in it and I genuinely end up not caring for the characters most of the time, but it was my first Owlcrate book so I was hopeful about this one and was unfortunately let down.
Also literally what was the point of all of the animals the book spends plenty of time introducing in the beginning of the book only to not do anything with them? Especially because like two of them are literally deities? The book does nothing substantial with them. The plot of the book wouldn't change if they were cut out of the story.
It felt like the plot was more vibes than actual substance. There wasn't enough meat here for me to sink my teeth into besides the fact that both of them were mages who were used as weapons and they found understanding with each other in that. They were both very lonely and nobody else could possibly understand them, and none of this really worked for me, I suppose. It might have if they had actual substantial history together that wasn't just the fact they were pit against each other in the past, but the only interesting parts about this book for me were when there was an exploration of guilt, depression, and loneliness. The moment we got the cliche scenes between Stearanos and Oneira's romance, I just couldn't bring myself to care. I was honestly hoping this would be a bit of a pining, sweet romance that took its time to develop, but because we spend so little time with the characters and so much time in this book is dedicated on their letter exchanges and cat and mouse game for way too long, it just feels like it meanders, and the romance bursts far too quickly after all of that without neither of them really knowing each other. But Stearanos acts like they're made for each other from the get-go as soon as he sees her. I'm honestly so disappointed because I do like tragic romances but I genuinely can't care if we don't spend sufficient time making the romance feel genuine and hard-earned.
This book just kind of feels like a bunch of promising themes stitched together in a very unsatisfying way. It should have worked in theory, but it was just stitched together wrong. Tristan was kind of fun bc he was so dumb, even though the scenes with him were really cringe (and his integration into the story was so pointless in hindsight), and the author's writing was beautiful, but unfortunately it drones on and on and does feel super slow the first half, only to dramatically speed up in the second half. It mostly felt like a slog. The whole war subplot honestly feels quite half-baked. Romantasy generally isn't for me because it just doesn't have enough fantasy meat in it and I genuinely end up not caring for the characters most of the time, but it was my first Owlcrate book so I was hopeful about this one and was unfortunately let down.
Also literally what was the point of all of the animals the book spends plenty of time introducing in the beginning of the book only to not do anything with them? Especially because like two of them are literally deities? The book does nothing substantial with them. The plot of the book wouldn't change if they were cut out of the story.