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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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:
No
Too slow and very hard to get into. Also I was reading for the romance but it just was not well written. The Dragon also insults Agnieska a bit too much for my liking.
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
No
I literally bought this but it is too boring to finish rn. FMC is stupid. Like her personality traits are that she is dirty and stupid. What. She throws a fit about learning basic magic spells, and then is happy to go downstairs and cook for the MMC by hand.. ew. Magic system and world building not developed. Book is boring. Mad I have to finish it because I bought it. There is no romance. About a third of the way through they kiss out of no where and then nothing happens
This book was beautiful and lovely and I hated that it had to end too soon. The story was so intricate and enthralling, the world just melted away while I was reading this book. I made myself read this slow just so I could savor it but alas, it did end which only made me go back to the beginning and read it again. This is one of those books I can read over and over and never get tired of it.
Update/Extended Review
I'm starting this off by saying I've never read anything by Naomi Novik. I know she has this extensive backlog of books that mostly include books from her Temeraire series but I haven't gotten around to reading them. I saw this on a few lists of most anticipated reads and just loved the cover art so I planned on getting a copy from the library. Instead, I found a really great deal at the store for the release and bought my own copy. Once I started reading it, I fell in love with everything from the writing style, to the characters, to the world and its legends and superstitions and magic. The entire novel worked for me and I admit, I carried this around with me for a while, opening it at random to start reading it because I just loved all of it and it didn't matter where I started reading it from, so long as I was reading part of this book.
The story follows Agnieszka, a young woman from a village near a strange Wood, a place that has a terrible power inside it. To keep their village safe, the people are protected by a powerful wizard known only as the Dragon, and as payment for his protection, he asks for a young woman from the village to serve him for ten years. Agnieszka believes that the Dragon will come for Kasia, her best friend and one of the most beautiful young women in the village. Instead, the Dragon takes Agnieszka.
That's only the first few chapters. The book moves on in detail to show just what purpose the Dragon has for the girls he takes from the village and there are various dangerous quests that deal with what goes into the dangerous Wood and what manages to come back out, all leading to the origin of what created the malevolent forces inside it. I've seen this book categorized into the romance section, and while the fairytale elements lend it a whimsical, magical atmosphere and the characters of Agnieszka and the Dragon lend themselves to a Pride and Prejudice setup, I think one of the best parts of this novel is the strength of the relationship between Agnieszka and Kasia. I'm a sucker for books that have two strong, incredible female characters that are devoted to their friendship, letting nothing come between them.
Agnieszka does what she can and more to make sure her dearest friend is safe and Kasia does the same in return when the opportunity comes. It all helps to cement the fact that there is so much more to this book than what meets the eye. The young women from traditional fairytales has grown into a woman with strong friendships and a good head on her shoulders, inspiring and intelligent at the same time. So while I agree that the romance is a draw for this book, at the same time this is a book about a woman who finds the strength to be her own damned hero and go off and save everyone from a terrible fate, which in the end makes this book one hell of a journey and adventure.
The text of this extended review is available on my blog, written under the name Maire Grimm. Use this link to see it there.
http://breakingoutofdreams.blogspot.com/2016/05/reading-challenge-reviews-on-holders.html
Update/Extended Review
I'm starting this off by saying I've never read anything by Naomi Novik. I know she has this extensive backlog of books that mostly include books from her Temeraire series but I haven't gotten around to reading them. I saw this on a few lists of most anticipated reads and just loved the cover art so I planned on getting a copy from the library. Instead, I found a really great deal at the store for the release and bought my own copy. Once I started reading it, I fell in love with everything from the writing style, to the characters, to the world and its legends and superstitions and magic. The entire novel worked for me and I admit, I carried this around with me for a while, opening it at random to start reading it because I just loved all of it and it didn't matter where I started reading it from, so long as I was reading part of this book.
The story follows Agnieszka, a young woman from a village near a strange Wood, a place that has a terrible power inside it. To keep their village safe, the people are protected by a powerful wizard known only as the Dragon, and as payment for his protection, he asks for a young woman from the village to serve him for ten years. Agnieszka believes that the Dragon will come for Kasia, her best friend and one of the most beautiful young women in the village. Instead, the Dragon takes Agnieszka.
That's only the first few chapters. The book moves on in detail to show just what purpose the Dragon has for the girls he takes from the village and there are various dangerous quests that deal with what goes into the dangerous Wood and what manages to come back out, all leading to the origin of what created the malevolent forces inside it. I've seen this book categorized into the romance section, and while the fairytale elements lend it a whimsical, magical atmosphere and the characters of Agnieszka and the Dragon lend themselves to a Pride and Prejudice setup, I think one of the best parts of this novel is the strength of the relationship between Agnieszka and Kasia. I'm a sucker for books that have two strong, incredible female characters that are devoted to their friendship, letting nothing come between them.
Agnieszka does what she can and more to make sure her dearest friend is safe and Kasia does the same in return when the opportunity comes. It all helps to cement the fact that there is so much more to this book than what meets the eye. The young women from traditional fairytales has grown into a woman with strong friendships and a good head on her shoulders, inspiring and intelligent at the same time. So while I agree that the romance is a draw for this book, at the same time this is a book about a woman who finds the strength to be her own damned hero and go off and save everyone from a terrible fate, which in the end makes this book one hell of a journey and adventure.
The text of this extended review is available on my blog, written under the name Maire Grimm. Use this link to see it there.
http://breakingoutofdreams.blogspot.com/2016/05/reading-challenge-reviews-on-holders.html
Great fantasy that I thought MIGHT show up on the Alex list so I wanted to take a look. It's perfect for those of you who want medieval-ish worlds, dragons, and magic.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
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:
Yes
Twas a DNF for me. A friend described it as “I remember thinking it was like the book equivalent of having a little bit of water in your ear so everything sounds a little muffled” and I couldn’t describe it better… I’d say I’m sure it’s great just not for me but I’m not sure of that at all…
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No