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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
fast-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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts
What if the first quest you go on leaves you as the soul survivor? What if you are left emotional scarred? What if you then are forced into a second quest, retreading your first and reliving your fears?
A reluctant hero taking on a quest is a fairly standard Fantasy trope, but this story manages to twist it in an interesting way with this basic premise. Kell Kessia has no interest in being a hero. Having quested to the far North and returned successful, but the only survivor he is content to live out the rest of his life as an anonymous farmer. When the threat he encountered on his first quest re-emerges however, he is brought out of retirement by the King and manipulated into returning to the North. Along the way he picks up various companions who have their own motivations.
The Coward is a fun and lively read, and I devoured it easily. The characters are flawed but generally likeable. The stakes are high enough to keep you engaged. The monsters original enough as well. I am not sure if the side story of what was going on back home added hugely to the story but I kind of get the need to explain some of the quest conclusion. An enjoyable light fantasy read for the most part.
A reluctant hero taking on a quest is a fairly standard Fantasy trope, but this story manages to twist it in an interesting way with this basic premise. Kell Kessia has no interest in being a hero. Having quested to the far North and returned successful, but the only survivor he is content to live out the rest of his life as an anonymous farmer. When the threat he encountered on his first quest re-emerges however, he is brought out of retirement by the King and manipulated into returning to the North. Along the way he picks up various companions who have their own motivations.
The Coward is a fun and lively read, and I devoured it easily. The characters are flawed but generally likeable. The stakes are high enough to keep you engaged. The monsters original enough as well. I am not sure if the side story of what was going on back home added hugely to the story but I kind of get the need to explain some of the quest conclusion. An enjoyable light fantasy read for the most part.
adventurous
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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:
Yes
This is a well-built, believable, emotional story set in an interesting fantasy world! The characters' motivations are all interesting and are revealed in ways that are well-paced and emotional, the villains are deliciously evil and it's fun to hate them, and the action scenes are fast and scary.
Being generic to avoid spoilers, I appreciate how none of the party members felt like they had 'plot armor' -- the danger feels very real and especially once the party was closing in on the destination there was a lot of well-built-up tension. I both felt surprised by some of the events that happened but also felt like there was enough buildup that nothing felt like it came out of totally nowhere. Good stuff!
As a kind of nitpicky thing, I would say that I think this book could use another edit -- sometimes the way punctuation and grammar are used seems incorrect and was distracting, especially in the action scenes which need to be super fast paced.
Good stuff!
Being generic to avoid spoilers, I appreciate how none of the party members felt like they had 'plot armor' -- the danger feels very real and especially once the party was closing in on the destination there was a lot of well-built-up tension. I both felt surprised by some of the events that happened but also felt like there was enough buildup that nothing felt like it came out of totally nowhere. Good stuff!
As a kind of nitpicky thing, I would say that I think this book could use another edit -- sometimes the way punctuation and grammar are used seems incorrect and was distracting, especially in the action scenes which need to be super fast paced.
Good stuff!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is the best epic fantasy I've read in years.
adventurous
emotional
tense
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
CW/TW at end of review
Even if it had ended as a stand-alone I would've loved it. I'm nervous about the next book, but excited!
CW/TW: death, murder, blood, graphic description of violence, graphic description of gore, attempted rape, sexual assault, religious zealotism, self-harm, ableist slurs, racism, graphic animal death, hunting, corpse reanimation, hypothermia, animal attack, mention of spousal physical abuse, mention of intimate partner abuse, parental death, child neglect, emotional abandonment, knives/knife violence, sword/sword violence, vomiting, head wounds, graphic description of wounds, grief/mourning, PTSD, anxiety/anxiety disorder, social anxiety, depression, mental health illnesses, mention of child death, war, invasion, war camps
Even if it had ended as a stand-alone I would've loved it. I'm nervous about the next book, but excited!
CW/TW: death, murder, blood, graphic description of violence, graphic description of gore, attempted rape, sexual assault, religious zealotism, self-harm, ableist slurs, racism, graphic animal death, hunting, corpse reanimation, hypothermia, animal attack, mention of spousal physical abuse, mention of intimate partner abuse, parental death, child neglect, emotional abandonment, knives/knife violence, sword/sword violence, vomiting, head wounds, graphic description of wounds, grief/mourning, PTSD, anxiety/anxiety disorder, social anxiety, depression, mental health illnesses, mention of child death, war, invasion, war camps