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wealhtheow's review
2.0
Sara has a boring office job and lives as mundane a life as she can manage, but her innate magical ability will not stay tamped down. One fateful nap under a tree attracts the attention of a hot elf, and soon she's embroiled in the dangerous magical world she tried to leave behind.
Boring main character in a not well thought out world. I got about halfway through and realized I didn't care about anyone or believe in the story, so I dropped it. If I had more patience for romance tropes and lower expectations for fantasy I might have liked this more.
Boring main character in a not well thought out world. I got about halfway through and realized I didn't care about anyone or believe in the story, so I dropped it. If I had more patience for romance tropes and lower expectations for fantasy I might have liked this more.
ninaabhawan's review
3.0
I received a copy of this book through read it and review it.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity.
Hmm was not thoroughly impressed with this one. The synopsis was very intriguing, however, the book did not come through. Well for me at least. It was a decent read but if i did not read it in one sitting i probably would have ignored it.
Sara lives in structured society where the practice of magic is forbidden. Through her dreams she meets a beautiful man who isnt just a fantasy anymore but a real life Elf. Sara's brother has been held captive by a few "peace keepers" trying to drain their family power.
Its not a horrible book, Provost has a painted a great picture of a world with silverkins and elves. I just dont think i connected well with it.
3 readable stars <3
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity.
Hmm was not thoroughly impressed with this one. The synopsis was very intriguing, however, the book did not come through. Well for me at least. It was a decent read but if i did not read it in one sitting i probably would have ignored it.
Sara lives in structured society where the practice of magic is forbidden. Through her dreams she meets a beautiful man who isnt just a fantasy anymore but a real life Elf. Sara's brother has been held captive by a few "peace keepers" trying to drain their family power.
Its not a horrible book, Provost has a painted a great picture of a world with silverkins and elves. I just dont think i connected well with it.
3 readable stars <3
pokeybear1's review
1.0
It had the elements of a good book, both fantasy and dystopian. But it was like everything was a sketch, nothing was filled out. The characters are basic, not enough backstory to make them interesting. The story also doesn't have enough details. Sections of narrative would be interrupted by italicized passages explaining backstory, but they were jarring at best with the way they were (not) introduced. I could pick on details of the story, too, weaknesses and confusing issues, but it isn't worth my time, nor yours. Not worth it.
kelly13's review against another edition
3.0
Starts off seeming like a weird romance novel, but quickly broadens into family and societal concerns. Ends rather abruptly, but not in a bad place.
prationality's review against another edition
3.0
Prelim Review: This was, for the most part, very enjoyable. It took a little while for me to get past the beginning narrative though. I couldn't tell at first if Provost was just info-dumping REALLY BAD or if it was meant to be outside of the narrative sort of. How I finally decided to take it was like this: Sara was telling a story to us (its in first person so this makes sense) and like most people during stories they tend to get sidetracked or digress into an explanation of something, these were the parts that were italicized and often 'info dumps'. And some of them were really unneeded because Provost had Sara explain them later on (like about Max disappearing or Sadie being serious-minded or the War Against Magic), so passages became redundant.
I did however like Provost's "metal" Elementals. That was fascinating as was some of the politics of the Otherworld. Micah came off as too good to be true (even when he was angry) and he's given a broad stroke in terms of his backstory (this is part of a series though, so that may be explored later on).
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First things first, the copper raven up there is in the wrong spot--Sara describes it as a tramp stamp so that's a bit high (and for anyone who has the paperback version, the picture of Micah on the back cover has his silver tattoos pretty much on point I think). As for the book itself...the narrative took some getting used to. The best way I can describe it is like this: Sara is telling the story to someone (its in first person POV). Just like in any story being told, the teller will digress or add in tidbits to help the listener understand why this or that piece of the story is important, while in the middle of telling the story. Provost did this a lot.
It made reading awkward at times because Sara would get into the middle of the 'present' action and suddenly it would divert into the first time her older brother Max tried to teach her (and their younger sister Sadie) magic. It felt like info-dumps and read like info-dumps. Sometimes interesting information, but a good percentage would than be organically built into the story later on. Her father's disappearance, Max's disappearance, Sadie's studious nature--Sara would explain this all to us, but a couple chapters later we would read about it again in a much more genuine manner.
What I did like was that Sara wasn't quite the pushover she begins the story as. Once you untangle the narrative to figure out the history of the world, it becomes quickly apparent that Sara plays the peon to avoid bringing the consequences down on what's left of her family. She's quick to decisions, which is both a strength and a weakness. And once I learned why she was so tetchy about trusting Micah, it made a lot more sense why she reacted as she did.
Let me talk about Micah for a second. This guy. Other than the aggravating use of 'My Sara' constantly, he's pretty awesome. The one time he is at all jerky he has every right to be. Sara basically threw him under the bus by not giving him all the necessary information, which in turn hurt her position as well. I'm uncertain why that scene with the Iron Queen had to occur since the solution Sara comes upon could have just as easily been something Micah could have mentioned.
This is the beginning of the series, but the end felt a bit more hurried than it should have. The end result of the stand off comes not because of cleverness on Sara or Micah's part, but because of a whimsy of another character who took a shine to Sara. Its difficult to imagine that if this character hadn't shown up, things would have turned out so well.
I'm intrigued by the world and Maeve (Sara's mother) certainly proved herself more interesting than her first impression. There's a couple mysteries left to solve, as well as a promise Micah makes that had me grinning (I'm not sure Sara found it quite as amusing), so the next book should be interesting as a follow up. In all worth reading and checking out.
I did however like Provost's "metal" Elementals. That was fascinating as was some of the politics of the Otherworld. Micah came off as too good to be true (even when he was angry) and he's given a broad stroke in terms of his backstory (this is part of a series though, so that may be explored later on).
-------
First things first, the copper raven up there is in the wrong spot--Sara describes it as a tramp stamp so that's a bit high (and for anyone who has the paperback version, the picture of Micah on the back cover has his silver tattoos pretty much on point I think). As for the book itself...the narrative took some getting used to. The best way I can describe it is like this: Sara is telling the story to someone (its in first person POV). Just like in any story being told, the teller will digress or add in tidbits to help the listener understand why this or that piece of the story is important, while in the middle of telling the story. Provost did this a lot.
It made reading awkward at times because Sara would get into the middle of the 'present' action and suddenly it would divert into the first time her older brother Max tried to teach her (and their younger sister Sadie) magic. It felt like info-dumps and read like info-dumps. Sometimes interesting information, but a good percentage would than be organically built into the story later on. Her father's disappearance, Max's disappearance, Sadie's studious nature--Sara would explain this all to us, but a couple chapters later we would read about it again in a much more genuine manner.
What I did like was that Sara wasn't quite the pushover she begins the story as. Once you untangle the narrative to figure out the history of the world, it becomes quickly apparent that Sara plays the peon to avoid bringing the consequences down on what's left of her family. She's quick to decisions, which is both a strength and a weakness. And once I learned why she was so tetchy about trusting Micah, it made a lot more sense why she reacted as she did.
Let me talk about Micah for a second. This guy. Other than the aggravating use of 'My Sara' constantly, he's pretty awesome. The one time he is at all jerky he has every right to be. Sara basically threw him under the bus by not giving him all the necessary information, which in turn hurt her position as well. I'm uncertain why that scene with the Iron Queen had to occur since the solution Sara comes upon could have just as easily been something Micah could have mentioned.
This is the beginning of the series, but the end felt a bit more hurried than it should have. The end result of the stand off comes not because of cleverness on Sara or Micah's part, but because of a whimsy of another character who took a shine to Sara. Its difficult to imagine that if this character hadn't shown up, things would have turned out so well.
I'm intrigued by the world and Maeve (Sara's mother) certainly proved herself more interesting than her first impression. There's a couple mysteries left to solve, as well as a promise Micah makes that had me grinning (I'm not sure Sara found it quite as amusing), so the next book should be interesting as a follow up. In all worth reading and checking out.
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