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3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story started off strongly and stayed interesting throughout - it did have many cliches and the characters were predictable and somewhat shallow (the brother just left the princess at the end without making an effort, the princess gets jealous for no reason, the best friend won't talk to the princess because she's marrying who she's supposed to then won't talk to the princess because she doesn't want to marry who she's supposed to, etc.), but the setting was good and I enjoyed the chapters being from different characters' perspectives. Overall a quick and easy read, seems like it might be great for a pre-teen and young teen audience.
I love this book! I am very pleased that I chose to read this book. The story is fantastic, fast pacing and chapters filled with plot twists. This book offers a great reading experience. Itās been a long time since I enjoyed a young adult novel as much as I enjoyed this book. Filled with well-defined characters, unpredictable plots, battles after battles and political strategies, this book is a gem! I am so excited to read what the author plans for us next! I cannot recommend this book enough! Please read this!
Full review here: http://itsareadlief.com/book-review/young-adult/kingdom-cold
Full review here: http://itsareadlief.com/book-review/young-adult/kingdom-cold
This book was given to me by NetGalley for an honest review.
I felt like this book lacked adventure, excitement and a bit rushed. It was difficult to connect with any of the characters.
I felt like this book lacked adventure, excitement and a bit rushed. It was difficult to connect with any of the characters.
i want to read this so bad & the author actually sent me a review request in january but being the stupid person i am, i opened the email six months late and the link to my review copy has already expired šš
update [7/7/2019]: i'm so, so excited omg - the author's the kindest, and she sent me a new review copy! can't wait to begin reading this ā”
ā my thoughts
i received a review copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. all opinions below are my own.
kingdom cold was a short, fun read, and i liked it.
the book features characters from a wide range of ethnic groups ā thereās so much diversity, and i loved it! on top of that, the story is told from the perspectives of different characters, and i was completely engrossed. i enjoyed reading about how different characters deal with their internal struggles (maybe except for prince emmett ā that guyās a real douchebag, more on that later), and they actually sound different from each other ā iāve read other stories told from multiple points of view, where every single character sounds exactly the same, and i sometimes got confused about which pov iām reading, but that did not happen for me this time.
the story is strikingly similar to the 2019 remake of aladdin ā a princess being courted, a handmaiden whoās also the princessās best friend, war and princes competing for the princessās hand in marriage. the 9-year-old fairytale-obsessed girl in me was screaming in joy. i loved reading about the castles and royalty from faraway lands and dungeons and knights. i also really liked the small reference to camelot, and canāt wait to find out more about it in the next book. (will there be a new character named king arthur? what about the excalibur sword? i need to know.) BIG YES to the fairytale feels.
but ā there were some things i disliked.
princess charlotte is my age, but as much as i wanted to, i could not relate to her at all. sheās so immature and overmature at the same time ā her ways of dealing with the problems she comes across are really childish, yet her somewhat serious attitude is comparable to that of an adult. also, i hated her whining. i consider myself a highly tolerant person, but at one point i found her complaining so unbearable i had the urge to reach through my kindle screen and punch her in the face.
also, in my opinion, the author could have handled prince emmettās racist and sexist comments more properly. i mean, putting those words in the villainās mouth might (really, really subtly) imply they are problematic, but i think it would be much more appropriate to address the problem more clearly. just, look at these sentences, taken from the book:
the authorās definitely going in the right direction by including characters from different backgrounds and (attempting to) address problems such as racism and sexism. but yeah, i wish it could have been done better. (āÆĀ·ā°)
still, i liked the overall outline of the story, and i loved! loved! loved! the diversity! iām looking forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy (i heard one of them will be about prince minseo? i canāt wait!)
this review first appeared on my blog, marshmallow pudding
https://marshmallowpudding.home.blog/2019/07/09/book-review-kingdom-cold-by-brittni-chenelle/#more-703
update [7/7/2019]: i'm so, so excited omg - the author's the kindest, and she sent me a new review copy! can't wait to begin reading this ā”
ā my thoughts
i received a review copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. all opinions below are my own.
kingdom cold was a short, fun read, and i liked it.
the book features characters from a wide range of ethnic groups ā thereās so much diversity, and i loved it! on top of that, the story is told from the perspectives of different characters, and i was completely engrossed. i enjoyed reading about how different characters deal with their internal struggles (maybe except for prince emmett ā that guyās a real douchebag, more on that later), and they actually sound different from each other ā iāve read other stories told from multiple points of view, where every single character sounds exactly the same, and i sometimes got confused about which pov iām reading, but that did not happen for me this time.
the story is strikingly similar to the 2019 remake of aladdin ā a princess being courted, a handmaiden whoās also the princessās best friend, war and princes competing for the princessās hand in marriage. the 9-year-old fairytale-obsessed girl in me was screaming in joy. i loved reading about the castles and royalty from faraway lands and dungeons and knights. i also really liked the small reference to camelot, and canāt wait to find out more about it in the next book. (will there be a new character named king arthur? what about the excalibur sword? i need to know.) BIG YES to the fairytale feels.
but ā there were some things i disliked.
princess charlotte is my age, but as much as i wanted to, i could not relate to her at all. sheās so immature and overmature at the same time ā her ways of dealing with the problems she comes across are really childish, yet her somewhat serious attitude is comparable to that of an adult. also, i hated her whining. i consider myself a highly tolerant person, but at one point i found her complaining so unbearable i had the urge to reach through my kindle screen and punch her in the face.
also, in my opinion, the author could have handled prince emmettās racist and sexist comments more properly. i mean, putting those words in the villainās mouth might (really, really subtly) imply they are problematic, but i think it would be much more appropriate to address the problem more clearly. just, look at these sentences, taken from the book:
she looked older up close, with laugh lines around her eyes and her mouth. what did she have to be happy about?
she was a worthy reward for ruling over besmium.
no, iād destroy them all. if i couldnāt have charlotte, no one could. if i didnāt sit on the besmian throne, no one would.
ājust look at you.ā he grinned. āand more importantly, look at me.ā
i blinked with disbelief.
āfair skin, eyes the color of beryl stone, golden locks.ā
i huffed. āso, i imagine in your world thatās superior somehow?ā
āin every world thatās superior.ā
the authorās definitely going in the right direction by including characters from different backgrounds and (attempting to) address problems such as racism and sexism. but yeah, i wish it could have been done better. (āÆĀ·ā°)
still, i liked the overall outline of the story, and i loved! loved! loved! the diversity! iām looking forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy (i heard one of them will be about prince minseo? i canāt wait!)
this review first appeared on my blog, marshmallow pudding
https://marshmallowpudding.home.blog/2019/07/09/book-review-kingdom-cold-by-brittni-chenelle/#more-703
I received a copy of Kingdom Cold free from Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of this novel.
Kingdom Cold is an easy and fast-paced YA fantasy novel set against an Arthurian back-drop. Brittni Chenelle has a nice writing style that flows easily, and allows the reader to fly through the book pretty quickly.
However, I felt like this novel could have done with some heavier editing. There was one too many POVs in Kingdom Cold and, with none of the characterās voices feeling particularly distinctive, it sometimes became a little confusing if I forgot to check whose chapter it was when reading ā especially when a fair portion of the first part of book was dual-perspective, and then suddenly three more perspectives were added out of the blue. The pacing was also an issue for me, with the timing making little sense (like how fast journeys were made), and many of the scene changes feeling clunky and abrupt.
Lastly, Kingdom Cold suffered heavily from insta-love, which I really canāt stand when reading novels. Plenty of YA authors have managed to write realistic, fleshed-out romances without resorting to this awful trope, and I wish more would take note. I also found it difficult to connect with the characters, and that made their adoration for each other all the less believable.
Overall, I think Kingdom Cold had the potential to be a decent YA fantasy novel but, in the end, fell short and failed to bring anything new to the table.
Kingdom Cold is an easy and fast-paced YA fantasy novel set against an Arthurian back-drop. Brittni Chenelle has a nice writing style that flows easily, and allows the reader to fly through the book pretty quickly.
However, I felt like this novel could have done with some heavier editing. There was one too many POVs in Kingdom Cold and, with none of the characterās voices feeling particularly distinctive, it sometimes became a little confusing if I forgot to check whose chapter it was when reading ā especially when a fair portion of the first part of book was dual-perspective, and then suddenly three more perspectives were added out of the blue. The pacing was also an issue for me, with the timing making little sense (like how fast journeys were made), and many of the scene changes feeling clunky and abrupt.
Lastly, Kingdom Cold suffered heavily from insta-love, which I really canāt stand when reading novels. Plenty of YA authors have managed to write realistic, fleshed-out romances without resorting to this awful trope, and I wish more would take note. I also found it difficult to connect with the characters, and that made their adoration for each other all the less believable.
Overall, I think Kingdom Cold had the potential to be a decent YA fantasy novel but, in the end, fell short and failed to bring anything new to the table.
Thank you Netgalley for the ebook ARC of this book. I reallllllllly tried to read this book but I cannot finish it. The writing is a bit juvenile for me and the fact that the princess is flighty is on my nerves. I mean in my mind as a royal you know what is expected of you and at the very beginning she is throwing a temper tantrum about being betrothed to a prince and then the next thing you know she is shooting an arrow at him to kill him. Then when she meets him in person she wants him?? I canāt
The first several chapters of this book were fun because it felt like the author was having loads of fun writing it. Then we ran into the same problem as Court of Ruins, namely that the author either needs her money back or needs to pay her editor more, depending on the rates involved.
Obviously this book gets a little more leeway because it is self published, but words mean things. When they are consistently used incorrectly there is a problem.
Further, while the beginning was super fun, right around the time Drethen attacked the main castle I realized that the author and the book had no idea about things like castle walls, battle tactics, or indeed weaponry in general. All of this could be forgiven if so much time wasn't dedicated to talking about them. For future reference, folks: stay in your fortress. It's much more likely to end well for you than sending every single soldier you have out through the front gates to fight a gigantic army.
That's only one example. There are myriad.
Anyway I was also tired of Everything Being All About Charlotte All The Time. There was a war on. Maybe think about your romantic drama later when your citizens are safe, or possibly just think about your citizens at all ever, and while we're here pay attention to your mother, the only person other than Leon with a brain cell for more than one chapter.
Obviously this book gets a little more leeway because it is self published, but words mean things. When they are consistently used incorrectly there is a problem.
Further, while the beginning was super fun, right around the time Drethen attacked the main castle I realized that the author and the book had no idea about things like castle walls, battle tactics, or indeed weaponry in general. All of this could be forgiven if so much time wasn't dedicated to talking about them. For future reference, folks: stay in your fortress. It's much more likely to end well for you than sending every single soldier you have out through the front gates to fight a gigantic army.
That's only one example. There are myriad.
Anyway I was also tired of Everything Being All About Charlotte All The Time. There was a war on. Maybe think about your romantic drama later when your citizens are safe, or possibly just think about your citizens at all ever, and while we're here pay attention to your mother, the only person other than Leon with a brain cell for more than one chapter.