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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
This book was so good… it got me out of my reading slump. I could not put the book down. I can’t wait for book two!
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I did enjoyed the premise of The Viridian Priestess and found some of the characters compelling. August and Calliope stood out, their depth and interactions enriching the narrative. Even Mary, despite her brief appearance, left a lasting impression.
The backstory and world-building, particularly the exploration of the religion spanning the three planets, was intriguing but could have been more refined. A stronger focus on polishing these aspects would have elevated the story further.
One character I struggled with initially was the main female character, Ferren. At the beginning of the book, Ferren is depicted as meek, quiet, and subservient—a woman afraid to leave the safety of her home planet. However, this characterisation changes abruptly after the death of her mentor, Mary. Ferren suddenly becomes combative, opinionated, and even quite arrogant. While it seems this shift was intended as part of her character arc, it felt jarring and rushed, occurring over the span of just a page when I feel it should have developed over the course of the whole book.
The initial interactions between Ferren and 99 start as polite and professional, with a hint of sexual tension but they too take an inexplicably abrupt turn. The revelation of Ferren’s powers, and her accidental use of them on 99, introduces a mutual distrust that feels sudden and lacks the buildup necessary to feel natural.
Fortunately, Ferren’s characterisation stabilises after this initial rocky development once they make it through the forest and to Calliope's village. Once the story progresses, her portrayal as a powerful and confident priestess is more consistent and aligns better with the pacing of the narrative. However, the rushed nature of her early transformation detracted from my immersion in the story.
Overall, The Viridian Priestess offers a fascinating premise and some memorable characters, but the initial uneven development of Ferren’s character and some underdeveloped world-building hold it back from its full potential, but wouldn't prevent me from reading any sequels.
The beginning was slow. The ending was slow. I couldn’t ever get invested in the world building. Will I still read the next one? Yes.
Dnf: 77%
Ugh. The writing is so bad I literally had to read it out load to understand, and even that is a stretch because i suck reading out loud but it somehow still helped. The wording is very confusing and bad.
I honestly can’t believe i read as much as I did but I really hate to dnf a book… but there’s only so much much I can take…
Ugh. The writing is so bad I literally had to read it out load to understand, and even that is a stretch because i suck reading out loud but it somehow still helped. The wording is very confusing and bad.
I honestly can’t believe i read as much as I did but I really hate to dnf a book… but there’s only so much much I can take…
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:
N/A
Whaat, seriously can't believe this is the author's first published book!
The book contains quite a few editing errors, but I can look past that.
The plot is refreshingly intriguing - magically gifted priestess, hot masked man giving major Mandalorian vibes, the promise of some smut, yay. I got hooked and couldn't put it down after she started being sassy on the ship.
The book contains quite a few editing errors, but I can look past that.
The plot is refreshingly intriguing - magically gifted priestess, hot masked man giving major Mandalorian vibes, the promise of some smut, yay. I got hooked and couldn't put it down after she started being sassy on the ship.
I was so excited for this book, but it ended up being SUCH a disappointment. It was marketed as a mandalorian inspired / enemies to lovers / found family romance and I got NONE of that.
First off, the enemies to lovers bit felt so contrived. Ferren hated 99 (don't even get me started about how we never even get a real name for this man), but he was literally so nice to her the entire time. The only "mean" thing he did to her was put her in handcuffs for a little while after she almost killed him on accident, but he didn't know if it was an accident or not. This is supposed to be seen as a major transgression on his part, but it fell so flat for me.
We're supposed to see Ferren as strong and capable, but she just bumbles around for most of the story. She's going on a trip where she knows she'll have to be basically camping for a period of time, and she literally just brings candy. Also, ferren can literally read people's minds but she never has a clue about anything?? How?? She also seems completely uninterested in personally connecting with anyone in her group, but this is supposed to be a found family type of situation? They seem more like distant coworkers.
Vickers is so insane and unhinged. I found his whole character to be very...odd? I felt like there was almost no buildup to his rabid attack. It was SO hilarious to me when he told Ferren to read his mind and he was just thinking about killing her though.
Also the scenes in the woods were so lackluster for me. I feel like the author was trying to build tension, but literally -nothing- happened. The 'monsters' just watched them from a distance and mimicked them. I guess one character did get stung by a bee... so there's that. I feel like we could have saved Mary's death for the woods, and the tension would have felt so much higher. Instead she just croaked in the middle of the night in the most bland and uninteresting way possible.
ALSO am I stupid or was August queer baiting us all? He seemingly hints at being gay for the whole first half of the book, but then immediately falls deeply in love with basically the first woman he sees that isn't ferren.
The romance between 99 and ferren was a slow burn, but i felt NO tension or buildup between them. I also wish him removing his helmet was more of a big deal...he just casually whipped it off and then stared at her for a while and then nothing. Like I want him to barely be able to look in her eyes! I want blushing! I want a stuttering, nervous mess of a man, but I just got
First off, the enemies to lovers bit felt so contrived. Ferren hated 99 (don't even get me started about how we never even get a real name for this man), but he was literally so nice to her the entire time. The only "mean" thing he did to her was put her in handcuffs for a little while after she almost killed him on accident, but he didn't know if it was an accident or not. This is supposed to be seen as a major transgression on his part, but it fell so flat for me.
We're supposed to see Ferren as strong and capable, but she just bumbles around for most of the story. She's going on a trip where she knows she'll have to be basically camping for a period of time, and she literally just brings candy. Also, ferren can literally read people's minds but she never has a clue about anything?? How?? She also seems completely uninterested in personally connecting with anyone in her group, but this is supposed to be a found family type of situation? They seem more like distant coworkers.
Vickers is so insane and unhinged. I found his whole character to be very...odd? I felt like there was almost no buildup to his rabid attack. It was SO hilarious to me when he told Ferren to read his mind and he was just thinking about killing her though.
Also the scenes in the woods were so lackluster for me. I feel like the author was trying to build tension, but literally -nothing- happened. The 'monsters' just watched them from a distance and mimicked them. I guess one character did get stung by a bee... so there's that. I feel like we could have saved Mary's death for the woods, and the tension would have felt so much higher. Instead she just croaked in the middle of the night in the most bland and uninteresting way possible.
ALSO am I stupid or was August queer baiting us all? He seemingly hints at being gay for the whole first half of the book, but then immediately falls deeply in love with basically the first woman he sees that isn't ferren.
The romance between 99 and ferren was a slow burn, but i felt NO tension or buildup between them. I also wish him removing his helmet was more of a big deal...he just casually whipped it off and then stared at her for a while and then nothing. Like I want him to barely be able to look in her eyes! I want blushing! I want a stuttering, nervous mess of a man, but I just got
medium-paced