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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
3.5
Post-apocalypse, Dine (Navajo) nation.
The not great first:
This book had draggy moments and the plot was propelled in a way that I didn't really care about the "quest" Many of the key traits of characters felt.. trope-y and I was anticipating an unsatisfying ending.
BUT the author thanks someone in the acknowledgements for asking her "to consider a third way"-The book is better for it- but I wish that hints of it had been earlier in coming.
The other great thing about this is the world- the myths, the monsters.
glad this book exists. I want this author to keep writing, and keep getting better at writing.
Post-apocalypse, Dine (Navajo) nation.
The not great first:
This book had draggy moments and the plot was propelled in a way that I didn't really care about the "quest" Many of the key traits of characters felt.. trope-y and I was anticipating an unsatisfying ending.
BUT the author thanks someone in the acknowledgements for asking her "to consider a third way"-The book is better for it- but I wish that hints of it had been earlier in coming.
The other great thing about this is the world- the myths, the monsters.
glad this book exists. I want this author to keep writing, and keep getting better at writing.
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A quick pace made it easy to read but something about the order of events and how it felt things just kept “happening” to the characters felt off to me. Maybe I just don’t like plot driven books. I don’t read many of them.
This was a fun, dark, and imaginative read about a bad ass female Native American monster-hunter in a post-apocalyptic setting, written by an apparently pretty bad ass author (from what I can glean from the bio).
Well, that was really good. I liked the touch of the Diné culture that is present in Jane Yellowrock, but this is way better. It's unique, interesting and action-packed. Just wow. I didn't expect to read anything this wonderful today, and I'm so grateful that I picked this one up. Now, on to the sequel.
#1: Trail of Lightning ★★★★★
#2: Storm of Locusts ★★★★
This review can also be found on my blog.
I’m familiar with Rebecca Roanhorse because she was a panelist at the sci-fi/fantasy convention I went to last year. While there, I heard a lot of praise for Trail of Lightning and added it to my TBR (along with 100 more books). After seeing some great reviews and seeing that the Dragons and Tea Book Club had chosen it for their November read, I checked it out from the library and absolutely blew through it.
The world-building here is just fantastic. This is a near(?) future version of the US, where the oceans have risen and the world is in minor chaos. Maggie Hoskie lives in what was formerly a Navajo reservation and is now one of the only places safe from the Big Water. In this new world, the gods and monsters of old have arisen again, and Maggie has made a career out of hunting them. Along with gods and monsters, we have a great deal of magic floating around. It’s all based on Navajo legend, which is really cool. Some of the characters have “clan magic” and I loved seeing all the varieties that existed.
I had conflicted feelings about Maggie as a character, honestly. I found her quite irritating at times, but a lot of her flaws came from her struggles with PTSD and were kind of realistic in that way -- and it’s great seeing her work through her trauma in order to get to a place where she can start healing. She was a fun character to follow, but I also just wanted to shake her and help her make better decisions. The romance was also quite obvious from the start, but I thought it was really well-done regardless and enjoyed seeing her and Kai interact.
The plot itself was somewhat intriguing but felt secondary to the characters. I got a little lost in it towards the end and felt some of the twists required a bit too much suspension of disbelief, but I was still absolutely glued to the pages. This is one of those books where the flaws are far outweighed by the things I loved.
I was confused when I went to shelve this as “adult” and saw that it had been shelved mostly as “young adult.” I couldn’t recall an age being mentioned, but definitely got adult vibes, although I was waffling on whether this could be considered “new adult.” I happened to come across an interview with Roanhorse where she admits she intentionally left Maggie’s age vague but that she’s “more like 20” and is definitely not a teen. So I guess just a heads up that the author would not classify her book as YA and respectfully asks that others not do so.
Anyway, I really loved this book and am excited to pick up the sequel! I have minimal experience with urban fantasy, but after this I’m thinking I may have to explore the genre a bit more.
#2: Storm of Locusts ★★★★
This review can also be found on my blog.
I’m familiar with Rebecca Roanhorse because she was a panelist at the sci-fi/fantasy convention I went to last year. While there, I heard a lot of praise for Trail of Lightning and added it to my TBR (along with 100 more books). After seeing some great reviews and seeing that the Dragons and Tea Book Club had chosen it for their November read, I checked it out from the library and absolutely blew through it.
The world-building here is just fantastic. This is a near(?) future version of the US, where the oceans have risen and the world is in minor chaos. Maggie Hoskie lives in what was formerly a Navajo reservation and is now one of the only places safe from the Big Water. In this new world, the gods and monsters of old have arisen again, and Maggie has made a career out of hunting them. Along with gods and monsters, we have a great deal of magic floating around. It’s all based on Navajo legend, which is really cool. Some of the characters have “clan magic” and I loved seeing all the varieties that existed.
I had conflicted feelings about Maggie as a character, honestly. I found her quite irritating at times, but a lot of her flaws came from her struggles with PTSD and were kind of realistic in that way -- and it’s great seeing her work through her trauma in order to get to a place where she can start healing. She was a fun character to follow, but I also just wanted to shake her and help her make better decisions. The romance was also quite obvious from the start, but I thought it was really well-done regardless and enjoyed seeing her and Kai interact.
The plot itself was somewhat intriguing but felt secondary to the characters. I got a little lost in it towards the end and felt some of the twists required a bit too much suspension of disbelief, but I was still absolutely glued to the pages. This is one of those books where the flaws are far outweighed by the things I loved.
I was confused when I went to shelve this as “adult” and saw that it had been shelved mostly as “young adult.” I couldn’t recall an age being mentioned, but definitely got adult vibes, although I was waffling on whether this could be considered “new adult.” I happened to come across an interview with Roanhorse where she admits she intentionally left Maggie’s age vague but that she’s “more like 20” and is definitely not a teen. So I guess just a heads up that the author would not classify her book as YA and respectfully asks that others not do so.
Anyway, I really loved this book and am excited to pick up the sequel! I have minimal experience with urban fantasy, but after this I’m thinking I may have to explore the genre a bit more.
I love the setting of this book. It's dystopian but without a heavy emphasis on the dystopia. We're in a near future where flooding has wiped out large swaths of the country, and the rest has partitioned into semi-isolated territories. Among those territories is Navajo land, where this story takes place. And with the devastation to the world comes the return of Navajo gods and folklore figures to physical form, returning to interact and impact the world of the "five-fingered." Cool premise. And I liked that the apocalypse helped to create the setting, but that it's not the point of the story.
That said, I found the story itself to be weak. The plot wanders, with several plot points that seemed significant lost in the shuffle and left unexplained. I think some of this has to do with the characters, who had intriguing abilities but were emotionally flat. Without interesting character motivations driving the story forward, the thread got lost. Or sometimes the story advanced and motivations were tossed in after the fact to help explain things, but not in a satisfactory way. The characters each had basically one defining emotional setting. In that way it felt a bit like some stereotypical YA novels, even though I didn't see it marketed as such. And the story certainly suffers from certain cliches--must there always be a love triangle?--common to the YA market.
At the end of the day, I was disappointed. I understand that this is the first of a series, and so maybe subsequent novels will improve on these issues to better deliver on the promising world this author has created. But this book doesn't quite get there.
That said, I found the story itself to be weak. The plot wanders, with several plot points that seemed significant lost in the shuffle and left unexplained. I think some of this has to do with the characters, who had intriguing abilities but were emotionally flat. Without interesting character motivations driving the story forward, the thread got lost. Or sometimes the story advanced and motivations were tossed in after the fact to help explain things, but not in a satisfactory way. The characters each had basically one defining emotional setting. In that way it felt a bit like some stereotypical YA novels, even though I didn't see it marketed as such. And the story certainly suffers from certain cliches--must there always be a love triangle?--common to the YA market.
At the end of the day, I was disappointed. I understand that this is the first of a series, and so maybe subsequent novels will improve on these issues to better deliver on the promising world this author has created. But this book doesn't quite get there.
This was good.
Some parts were predictable in a good way. Fun, action packed with monsterslayers, monsters and gods.
I'll keep up the series.
Some parts were predictable in a good way. Fun, action packed with monsterslayers, monsters and gods.
I'll keep up the series.