Reviews

In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power

alwaysellana's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

elineedsmoreshelves's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a lot of fun. Very unique world building and magic system, great descriptive writing, good cast of characters to root for and against. I see this being billed as the author adult fantasy debut, but it did still read very YA to me. Will read the second in the duology. 

jenhurst's review against another edition

2.0

Rory powers first two books were YA mystery/thrillers and switching age range and genres is hard. I think Rory Powers’ writing itself is really good but I found most of this book full of info dumping and exposition. The characterization wasn’t great either. The twins appear 20 but are supposed to be a 1000 years old, which didn’t really make sense with how they acted. The last 25% really picked up but the lead up was so slow and boring.
I’m still interested in picking up the 2nd and more books if Rory powers publishes more adult books because this has potential. It just needed some fine tuning.

blemishedhearth's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

gracie_0319's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

rilester's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

morgob's review

5.0

This was recommended to me by a friend from college, and I'm so glad I picked it up at the library. What a good read! I only realized that pun after I typed it. It has everything: a forbidden romance, political intrigue, betrayal, magic, new and interesting cultures, the burden of immortality. It was just great from start to finish. From the beginning, it just seemed like such a new and unique idea (maybe it's not, but it was to me) and I was hooked almost instantly. I was partial to Rhea's story rather than Alexandros's, but all of it was so interesting to read. Just the concept: a family trapped in immortality and a system that both benefits and harms the people in their kingdom. The whole system made me so angry and I definitely wanted to do away with it, but I really enjoyed the characters that made up that system (except Baba). I can't wait for the sequel to come out.

laelyn's review

3.0

This is such a hard book to review, to be honest. It's very different from Power's former novels, which is what intrigued me the most. The writing is exquisite once again, and there is so much creativity, so much potential in this first part of a new series that I just really really wanted to love it.
The setting is unique, high fantasy with lots of Greek culture and (which I ALWAYS adore) a good dash of political intrigue. The god-like magic system is fascinating and the characters want to be complex but don't quite manage. Honestly, there is a lot to like and a lot to be intrigued by, and the ending sets up a really exciting sequel. But there were just too many things that make it most likely that I won't pick said sequel up after all.

For one, the whole world building is very convoluted and, honestly, confusing. I don't think I really get all the magical powers, even after rereading part of the novel to understand them better. They just aren't explained very well, and that's a bit of a problem with most of the lore, really. Written beautifully, but in a very distracting kind of way that distances the reader from the world.

The characters are definitely interesting and fleshed out, but they are not as complex as they are obviously intended to be. Rhea, for example, changed certain convictions way too easily, and Lexos was, in the end, pretty one-dimensional. Nitsos is probably the most interesting one of the siblings (the fourth one is just there to be there, she has no bearing on the story at all) but his development is also very predictable. The relationships aren't as fleshed out as they need to be in order to get me to feel invested in them, especially the twin relationship between Rhea and Lexos - There is a whole lot of telling, but no real showing of just how close they are and I simply didn't feel it.
The plot itself is nothing new, the twists aren't really surprising, but it's still an enjoyable read. I think the book could have been improved by condensing the plotline a bit more, because the pacing is rather slow and invited me to skim-read through entire pages at times, especially in the beginning.

All in all this is an okay start to a new series and I know it'll have many fans, and it is written really beautifully. I can't give it more than 3 stars. it's probably closer to a 2,5 for me personally.

irenebxx's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

marieintheraw's review

3.0

This breaks the mold for Rory Power books in terms of genre. Honestly, I was not a fan of the pacing as a result, but the themes of her books stay keeping me hooked.

I received an ecopy of this through Netgalley; however, all opinions are my own.