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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Full review on my blog, Storied Adventures!
4.5 Stars!
I LOVED this book! It was cheesy, yes, but good cheese! The feel good kind. I loved the main characters. I loved the fight scenes, magic scenes, and the deathly plot waiting to be hatched! I felt for the characters, there was adventure, romance, secrets, and a cinnamon roll character, Bel. I love him. He deserves happiness.
4.5 Stars!
I LOVED this book! It was cheesy, yes, but good cheese! The feel good kind. I loved the main characters. I loved the fight scenes, magic scenes, and the deathly plot waiting to be hatched! I felt for the characters, there was adventure, romance, secrets, and a cinnamon roll character, Bel. I love him. He deserves happiness.
Interesting world but FMC was boring and conversations between MMC and FMC were repetitive
The first book in a long time (outside of Charlain Harris's) that I read through in one day. I should have bought the second book at the same time, although at least I can get some sleep this week. After having bought this book at Dragon*Con and meeting the author, I was afraid I might not like it, but I am happy to say I how much I did like it.
I had a little trouble getting into the world in this book, but once I did I was hooked. The plot may be a tiny bit predictable (poor, adopted child is elevated to great heights; which probably should have been her birthright anyway), but Wilson does it really well. The characters are likeable, and you can see them grow throughout the book.
I had a little trouble getting into the world in this book, but once I did I was hooked. The plot may be a tiny bit predictable (poor, adopted child is elevated to great heights; which probably should have been her birthright anyway), but Wilson does it really well. The characters are likeable, and you can see them grow throughout the book.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
DNF @ 47%
I was sooo brave and so strong for getting through almost half of this book
Someone recommended it when I asked for fantasy romance recs, and I was a fool. I Looked Away from that God awful cover (
I was sooo brave and so strong for getting through almost half of this book
Someone recommended it when I asked for fantasy romance recs, and I was a fool. I Looked Away from that God awful cover (
This is a totally awesome book!! It totally, completely captivated me from the beginning to the end. C.L. Wilson is just and awesome author!
slow-paced
Whole lot of nothing with a non existent plot and very poorly thought out magic system
Also not a fan of Ellie basically being forced to be I love with Rain just because they are truemates, she’s just pushed around by him the whole time and it’s somehow justified by him trying to keep her safe.
Also not a fan of Ellie basically being forced to be I love with Rain just because they are truemates, she’s just pushed around by him the whole time and it’s somehow justified by him trying to keep her safe.
I'm going to start off by saying I know lots of people love this series (I myself tried it because of several recommendations) and that's valid! I read another book by this author recently and enjoyed it overall! Just because I didn't like this one doesn't mean it's not the perfect book for someone else.
On paper, this book/series had all the ingredients I would love. But for me, the execution was sorely lacking. This first book feels like slogging through inexpert world-building that should/could have been explained in a fraction of the time and with more clarity. Also, NOTHING is happening. The first 60% of the book (which is as far as I could make myself read) is just: Rain has vision of Ellie. Rain finds Ellie. Rain tries to convince Ellie to like him. Ellie feels plain and awkward. Rinse and repeat.
And even though Rain and Ellie drive me a little nuts, at least the moments in their perspectives have the benefit of focusing on somewhat likable characters. The points of view of anybody other than Rain or Ellie are somehow both boring and extremely unlikable, and I think the story would have HUGELY benefited from eliminating any other POVs and showing the antagonist's actions instead through smaller hints in Rain and Ellie's POVs. It totally eliminated any tension in the story to SEE evil people thinking evil things.
(This story also suffers from Vain and Important Courtly Lady Being Mean and Jealous of Female Protagonist For Dumb Reasons and Deciding To Make Her Life Hell Because That's What Mean Girls Do I Guess syndrome, as did the other book I've read by this author.)
The other things that bothered me (and these are more of subjective opinions for sure) is the author's use of 1) a "Fey" language, 2) fantasy diction, and 3) pointless excerpts at the beginning of some chapters.
Ex. of 1: Characters saying "nei" for no and "aiyah" for yes was just embarrassing. The first is just archaic English "no." Aiyah was a bizarre choice, as it's commonly used as an exclamation showing exasperation and that's all I could think about when reading it. And the thing about language in fantasy is that if it's not serving an actual Fantasy Purpose (such as the word shei'tani in this book, which connotes the unique concept of this world's truemate), and instead is just a substitute for perfectly acceptable "yes" and "no," you Don't Need to Do It.
Ex. of 2: Similar to the "You Don't Need to Do It" fantasy words, the author has decided hours and minutes are boring. Instead, this world operates on "bells" and "chimes," to the point where a character calls "Just a chime!" when they can't come to the door right away. Uh, what? Bells are CLEARLY meant to be hours, and minutes are chimes. In many fantasy worlds, a character might say "meet me at three bells," and it works because the world is still operating on a system of HOURS and MINUTES. If they want someone to meet them in 15 minutes, they would still say "meet me in 15 minutes." "Meet me at three bells" might mean 3pm/3 hours after noon, when you hear the timekeeping bells ring three times. But the "bells" are referring to the timekeeping mechanisms, not to TIME ITSELF, as is the case in this book. Is this a small thing? Yes. Does it bother only me? Probably. But every time they said chime or bell I was dragged out of the story because of how stupid I thought it was.
Ex. of 3: Some chapters--not all chapters, only those referencing some in-world piece of art/media/ceremony--are preceded by excerpts of said in-world art/media/ceremony. This means that 4 chapters in a row might have excerpts at the beginning of the chapter, and then the next 3 don't because the author forgot/didn't insert a reference into those chapters. And the excerpts are, without exception, Pretty Cringe. They're mostly awkward poems that are somehow lauded in the fantasy world culture when in our reality, they're just kind of bad. I'm also honestly at a loss for why they had to be excerpts at the beginning of each chapter, rather than being inserted in the actual scene where someone was singing the song/mentioning the poem/etc. Or better yet, just allude to there being a beautiful, lyrical song so readers have to use their imagination rather than reading the author's attempt at a beautiful, lyrical song that is actually just cringey.
I sound very negative! I'm sorry! I have read books that are MUCH WORSE than this, and if you love this book, and I am happy for you! The end!
On paper, this book/series had all the ingredients I would love. But for me, the execution was sorely lacking. This first book feels like slogging through inexpert world-building that should/could have been explained in a fraction of the time and with more clarity. Also, NOTHING is happening. The first 60% of the book (which is as far as I could make myself read) is just: Rain has vision of Ellie. Rain finds Ellie. Rain tries to convince Ellie to like him. Ellie feels plain and awkward. Rinse and repeat.
And even though Rain and Ellie drive me a little nuts, at least the moments in their perspectives have the benefit of focusing on somewhat likable characters. The points of view of anybody other than Rain or Ellie are somehow both boring and extremely unlikable, and I think the story would have HUGELY benefited from eliminating any other POVs and showing the antagonist's actions instead through smaller hints in Rain and Ellie's POVs. It totally eliminated any tension in the story to SEE evil people thinking evil things.
(This story also suffers from Vain and Important Courtly Lady Being Mean and Jealous of Female Protagonist For Dumb Reasons and Deciding To Make Her Life Hell Because That's What Mean Girls Do I Guess syndrome, as did the other book I've read by this author.)
The other things that bothered me (and these are more of subjective opinions for sure) is the author's use of 1) a "Fey" language, 2) fantasy diction, and 3) pointless excerpts at the beginning of some chapters.
Ex. of 1: Characters saying "nei" for no and "aiyah" for yes was just embarrassing. The first is just archaic English "no." Aiyah was a bizarre choice, as it's commonly used as an exclamation showing exasperation and that's all I could think about when reading it. And the thing about language in fantasy is that if it's not serving an actual Fantasy Purpose (such as the word shei'tani in this book, which connotes the unique concept of this world's truemate), and instead is just a substitute for perfectly acceptable "yes" and "no," you Don't Need to Do It.
Ex. of 2: Similar to the "You Don't Need to Do It" fantasy words, the author has decided hours and minutes are boring. Instead, this world operates on "bells" and "chimes," to the point where a character calls "Just a chime!" when they can't come to the door right away. Uh, what? Bells are CLEARLY meant to be hours, and minutes are chimes. In many fantasy worlds, a character might say "meet me at three bells," and it works because the world is still operating on a system of HOURS and MINUTES. If they want someone to meet them in 15 minutes, they would still say "meet me in 15 minutes." "Meet me at three bells" might mean 3pm/3 hours after noon, when you hear the timekeeping bells ring three times. But the "bells" are referring to the timekeeping mechanisms, not to TIME ITSELF, as is the case in this book. Is this a small thing? Yes. Does it bother only me? Probably. But every time they said chime or bell I was dragged out of the story because of how stupid I thought it was.
Ex. of 3: Some chapters--not all chapters, only those referencing some in-world piece of art/media/ceremony--are preceded by excerpts of said in-world art/media/ceremony. This means that 4 chapters in a row might have excerpts at the beginning of the chapter, and then the next 3 don't because the author forgot/didn't insert a reference into those chapters. And the excerpts are, without exception, Pretty Cringe. They're mostly awkward poems that are somehow lauded in the fantasy world culture when in our reality, they're just kind of bad. I'm also honestly at a loss for why they had to be excerpts at the beginning of each chapter, rather than being inserted in the actual scene where someone was singing the song/mentioning the poem/etc. Or better yet, just allude to there being a beautiful, lyrical song so readers have to use their imagination rather than reading the author's attempt at a beautiful, lyrical song that is actually just cringey.
I sound very negative! I'm sorry! I have read books that are MUCH WORSE than this, and if you love this book, and I am happy for you! The end!
Cute! Going to read the second one. The world is interesting and the story keeps me wanting more. Not very spicy but not nothing. Big scary fae man magical mates with timid human (?) lady and evil magic people try to take over the world. Humans are the big L for being so easily distrustful and self serving.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes