You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
It was refreshing that the main character wasn’t actually the center figure in the larger story. It made her more relatable and I felt like it gave the story more depth. Excited for the sequel!
This was ~okay~, imo you can really tell this is a debut novel. A lot of ideas are re-explored in Ross’s later novels (two warring peoples, rediscovered heritage, Gaelic-inspired fantasy and magic, lovers communicating via written letters, etc.) While I wanted to be really into the main couple I don’t understand why a teacher/student relationship was essentially depicted as unproblematic. Sure they weren’t together while in an OFFICIAL learning situation, but the guy literally says he’d been in love with her for a long time. Idk, I think their relationship could have been set up differently in a way that didn’t put him in a position of power over her. I mean, it’s literally an issue that he favors her even though she denies it.
Other things that seemed half-baked: Brienna’s secret identity enables her to try out different paths of study even though NOBODY else does that. She’s somehow supposed to become a master after 3 years of study. Why is “knowledge” grouped with 4 other artistic studies? And then it doesn’t even really end up mattering at all that she studied “knowledge” for 3 years, once the real action gets going. I didn’t buy how quickly Brienna came to care about the whole Maevan cause. She drops EVERYTHING just because she saw a queen’s portrait in a history book and thought it looked sick. Later, her relationship with her adopted brother and father develops awfully quickly. They barely knew each other and were suddenly willing to die for each other and having weepy reunions.
Ross hadn’t quite got the hang of writing a cliffhanger for her duology yet. This seemed wrapped up pretty tidily, but there’s another one! Something about her writing is so enjoyable to me, so I’ll read it even though I thought the plot of this one was kinda weak. I think it’s just the way she writes people being passionate about each other (even if I find the circumstances sus or dumb lol) (AND NO PUN INTENDED)
Other things that seemed half-baked: Brienna’s secret identity enables her to try out different paths of study even though NOBODY else does that. She’s somehow supposed to become a master after 3 years of study. Why is “knowledge” grouped with 4 other artistic studies? And then it doesn’t even really end up mattering at all that she studied “knowledge” for 3 years, once the real action gets going. I didn’t buy how quickly Brienna came to care about the whole Maevan cause. She drops EVERYTHING just because she saw a queen’s portrait in a history book and thought it looked sick. Later, her relationship with her adopted brother and father develops awfully quickly. They barely knew each other and were suddenly willing to die for each other and having weepy reunions.
Ross hadn’t quite got the hang of writing a cliffhanger for her duology yet. This seemed wrapped up pretty tidily, but there’s another one! Something about her writing is so enjoyable to me, so I’ll read it even though I thought the plot of this one was kinda weak. I think it’s just the way she writes people being passionate about each other (even if I find the circumstances sus or dumb lol) (AND NO PUN INTENDED)
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
Wonderful! Loved how the main character is seemingly more a support to the lead player in the novel instead of everything revolving around her. Most fantasy novels follow a character that is usually the One, or the chosen or the must save the world by herself and it is refreshing to see a character that is important but more of a support <3
TW: Grooming.
The book was a great story. I liked the main character okay (not the best character development), and the descriptions/scenery were really beautiful. My biggest qualm that took away a whole star is the blatant grooming in this book. Underage relationships? No thanks. Suuuuper unnecessary and gross.
The book was a great story. I liked the main character okay (not the best character development), and the descriptions/scenery were really beautiful. My biggest qualm that took away a whole star is the blatant grooming in this book. Underage relationships? No thanks. Suuuuper unnecessary and gross.
medium-paced
I think this is a very solid debut novel. I liked the "world", liked the characters, and especially what the passions represented.
I really wanted to like this book, I really did. The first 1/3 of the book was about her preparing for her patron, which wasn't bad, except I already knew where it was going to go because of the summary. I thought it was going to get better from there, but nothing happened. The entire book could've been condensed down to a 1/4 of its size.
I had fun reading this, but I can’t say it’s anything special.
The plot was so predictable. The author very obviously hints at supposed big reveals. Nothing about brienna or cartier actually surprised me. I also hate how perfect the ending was. How is it that a war and revolution occurs, but there are no losses on the winning side. The loose ends are wrapped way too nicely.
There were a lot of other things that didn’t quite make sense for me.
Firstly, Cartier started teaching Brienna when she was 14 and he was an adult. At what point did he fall in love with her? Are we really not asking any questions about this?
I also really don’t get the world building in this book. The author created two stereotypes for each of the countries in the book, and decided that nothing else matters. Valenia is prim and proper, whereas maevana is rough and violent. I hate how simple that is. I find that annoying in the same way i would find an author describing all canadians as polite or all americans as illiterate. Thats just lazy writing.
I also found it weird that these revolutionaries were so stuck on bringing back an old document and artifact to reinstate a certain lineage. Founding documents lose meaning all the time, how were they so sure that everything would be ok if they had the original writing. Also, it is so weird that the first ruler only wanted there to be queens. Its not even a real matriarchy, because the other houses have lords.
Anyways…many inconsistencies, but I made it through.
The plot was so predictable. The author very obviously hints at supposed big reveals. Nothing about brienna or cartier actually surprised me. I also hate how perfect the ending was. How is it that a war and revolution occurs, but there are no losses on the winning side. The loose ends are wrapped way too nicely.
There were a lot of other things that didn’t quite make sense for me.
Firstly, Cartier started teaching Brienna when she was 14 and he was an adult. At what point did he fall in love with her? Are we really not asking any questions about this?
I also really don’t get the world building in this book. The author created two stereotypes for each of the countries in the book, and decided that nothing else matters. Valenia is prim and proper, whereas maevana is rough and violent. I hate how simple that is. I find that annoying in the same way i would find an author describing all canadians as polite or all americans as illiterate. Thats just lazy writing.
I also found it weird that these revolutionaries were so stuck on bringing back an old document and artifact to reinstate a certain lineage. Founding documents lose meaning all the time, how were they so sure that everything would be ok if they had the original writing. Also, it is so weird that the first ruler only wanted there to be queens. Its not even a real matriarchy, because the other houses have lords.
Anyways…many inconsistencies, but I made it through.