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3.01 AVERAGE
3.01 AVERAGE
The world that Lauren Mansy has created is unique and exciting. I was swept right into the world of Craewick with the gifted, ungifted, collectors, and theives. I love when I have the opportunity to read an indie author's debut novel because I am always so impressed by their talent and creativity.
Etta is our main character and I loved her right away. Like most of the MC we know and love she is constantly trying to protect the ones she loves. The main difference with Etta is that she is real and never claims to be anywhere near perfect. She knows she has made mistakes in her past that will haunt her forever and she isn't always making the best choices. I loved going on the journey of self-discovery with her and uncovering truths about her past. Character development is usually lacking in a shorter book, but Mansy managed to allow Etta some serious growth in less than 400 pages.
The love interest was realistic, lovable, and I was rooting for him the entire time! I love a classic friends to lovers trope and this one was done well! I also really appreciated that things weren't always perfect between the two of them and they had to make a choice to look beyond their mistakes in order for things to workout. Normally I love when the romance is prevalent in the story, but in this case I am glad it was more subtle because the world building and story development was much more interesting and important!
Overall I really enjoyed this book, my favorite part had to be that I was constantly trying to discern if something was reality vs planted memories. The fact that memories are a currency and anyone could be living a lie and be unaware was so intriguing to me. It had me constantly second guessing everyone and their motives. Great debut, looking forward to more from this local author!
Etta is our main character and I loved her right away. Like most of the MC we know and love she is constantly trying to protect the ones she loves. The main difference with Etta is that she is real and never claims to be anywhere near perfect. She knows she has made mistakes in her past that will haunt her forever and she isn't always making the best choices. I loved going on the journey of self-discovery with her and uncovering truths about her past. Character development is usually lacking in a shorter book, but Mansy managed to allow Etta some serious growth in less than 400 pages.
The love interest was realistic, lovable, and I was rooting for him the entire time! I love a classic friends to lovers trope and this one was done well! I also really appreciated that things weren't always perfect between the two of them and they had to make a choice to look beyond their mistakes in order for things to workout. Normally I love when the romance is prevalent in the story, but in this case I am glad it was more subtle because the world building and story development was much more interesting and important!
Overall I really enjoyed this book, my favorite part had to be that I was constantly trying to discern if something was reality vs planted memories. The fact that memories are a currency and anyone could be living a lie and be unaware was so intriguing to me. It had me constantly second guessing everyone and their motives. Great debut, looking forward to more from this local author!
I received an advanced copy ebook from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts are all my own. The world that Lauren Mansy has created is unique and exciting. I was swept right into the world of Craewick with the gifted, ungifted, collectors, and theives. I love when I have the opportunity to read an indie author's debut novel because I am always so impressed by their talent and creativity.
Etta is our main character and I loved her right away. Like most of the MC we know and love she is constantly trying to protect the ones she loves. The main difference with Etta is that she is real and never claims to be anywhere near perfect. She knows she has made mistakes in her past that will haunt her forever and she isn't always making the best choices. I loved going on the journey of self-discovery with her and uncovering truths about her past. Character development is usually lacking in a shorter book, but Mansy managed to allow Etta some serious growth in less than 400 pages.
The love interest was realistic, lovable, and I was rooting for him the entire time! I love a classic friends to lovers trope and this one was done well! I also really appreciated that things weren't always perfect between the two of them and they had to make a choice to look beyond their mistakes in order for things to workout. Normally I love when the romance is prevalent in the story, but in this case I am glad it was more subtle because the world building and story development was much more interesting and important!
Overall I really enjoyed this book, my favorite part had to be that I was constantly trying to discern if something was reality vs a planted memory. The fact that memories are a currency and anyone could be living a lie and be unaware was so intriguing to me. It had me constantly second guessing everyone and their motives. Great debut, looking forward to more from this local author!
Etta is our main character and I loved her right away. Like most of the MC we know and love she is constantly trying to protect the ones she loves. The main difference with Etta is that she is real and never claims to be anywhere near perfect. She knows she has made mistakes in her past that will haunt her forever and she isn't always making the best choices. I loved going on the journey of self-discovery with her and uncovering truths about her past. Character development is usually lacking in a shorter book, but Mansy managed to allow Etta some serious growth in less than 400 pages.
The love interest was realistic, lovable, and I was rooting for him the entire time! I love a classic friends to lovers trope and this one was done well! I also really appreciated that things weren't always perfect between the two of them and they had to make a choice to look beyond their mistakes in order for things to workout. Normally I love when the romance is prevalent in the story, but in this case I am glad it was more subtle because the world building and story development was much more interesting and important!
Overall I really enjoyed this book, my favorite part had to be that I was constantly trying to discern if something was reality vs a planted memory. The fact that memories are a currency and anyone could be living a lie and be unaware was so intriguing to me. It had me constantly second guessing everyone and their motives. Great debut, looking forward to more from this local author!
This book was extremely disappointing. It started out great and then went in fast forward mode loosing all momentum. I feel like it was rushed, that parts were very choppy and there was no real climax. I’m also not a big fan of explaining how things were won to the person who completed the task. There was no real description just you did this. I would rather picture it through the eyes of the narrator.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Author: Lauren Mansy
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3/5
Publication Date: October 1, 2019
Recommended Age: 15+ (lots of romance, some violence, some language)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Blink
Synopsis: In the city of Craewick, memories reign. The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.
Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city’s asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a “criminal's" memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier.
To prove her allegiance to the Shadows and rescue her mother, Etta must steal a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. So she sets out on a journey in which she faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and, above all, her own past in order to set things right in her world.
Review: I really loved the idea for this story and I thought that the premise behind it is great. I liked the world building and I liked the writing, it was smooth and easy to read.
However, I felt like this book was really too slow for me. The pacing is super slow and I got really distracted while reading it. I felt that the book would have been better without the romance aspect and there were a couple of mistakes with a character being in two places at once.
Verdict: A good concept but bad exposition for me.
Author: Lauren Mansy
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3/5
Publication Date: October 1, 2019
Recommended Age: 15+ (lots of romance, some violence, some language)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Blink
Synopsis: In the city of Craewick, memories reign. The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.
Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city’s asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a “criminal's" memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier.
To prove her allegiance to the Shadows and rescue her mother, Etta must steal a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. So she sets out on a journey in which she faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and, above all, her own past in order to set things right in her world.
Review: I really loved the idea for this story and I thought that the premise behind it is great. I liked the world building and I liked the writing, it was smooth and easy to read.
However, I felt like this book was really too slow for me. The pacing is super slow and I got really distracted while reading it. I felt that the book would have been better without the romance aspect and there were a couple of mistakes with a character being in two places at once.
Verdict: A good concept but bad exposition for me.
DNF. I was so bored listening to this one. The narration was subpar and the story itself wasn’t exciting enough to hold up on its own. Great idea, but wasn’t for me.
The book was very enjoyable! I feel like the characters were interesting, as well as the premise of the story (very unique!). I did feel like the story-telling was rushed at some times and could have been fleshed out more and spanned more than just this book, but it was a good read! I would recommend.
I should say in advance that I did finish the book and it kept me interested enough to keep plodding through. My main issue was simply that with a little more time and development, it could have moved from mostly decent to absolutely excellent. I really liked the *idea* of this book and the way the whole memory thing worked had a lot of potential. I mostly enjoyed reading it, but it all felt so very easy and convenient (and just a bit predictable).
The idea is that people in this world fall into three main categories, those who are nothing special, those who can transfer memories by touch, and the powerful who can give and take memories simply by looking at you. The main character is extra special: she has an unreadable mind. When her mother's life is under threat, she makes a pact with the rebel group to go on a mission for them to steal a memory from a tyrant ruler in exchange for the rebels saving her mother. It's not a bad story, and the idea of the world had me pretty excited.
The characters themselves were ok, but nothing special. Apart from her unreadable mind, there was nothing particularly memorable about Etta. It was one of those things where you feel like you've met all the characters before and just changed their names and the setting. They were fine and the dynamics were mostly fine, but there wasn't anyone or anything that stood out. I *did* appreciate that though Reid wasn't the most trusting, he was a genuinely good and caring guy, rather than the Dark and Brooding, borderline abusive boys you often find in YA. I did kinda find myself enjoying their developing friendship, even if the romance was a bit on the fast side (the book only really takes place over about a week).
For fun, before the spoilers, here were some things that made me pause:
- how do you smirk angrily??
- what on earth does it mean to 'slit' someone's kneecaps?
- and, just to let you know Reid, Etta was never at risk of losing too much blood just from a cut on her cheek (some guy punched her in a fight)
Unfortunately, there were a few things that I just didn't find believable. First off, (and here the spoilers begin) Etta betrayed the leader of the rebels four years previously in order to save her mother. Believable. But it turns out the man she betrayed was her dad and she loved him but betrayed him anyway. How does that make any sense? Especially when it's revealed later that he would have given himself up to save Etta's mother anyway? If that's not enough, she was thirteen at the time and had been off on dangerous missions for the rebels for some time before this all occurred. At thirteen (and I'm positive, because I was so confused I flipped back to double check).
Then we have the fact that she was in love with her mission partner (also thirteen-ish) at the time. As in, they read like they're at least in their late teens. It would have worked far better if Etta and Co. had been aged up even a few years. The idea of her being sent on dangerous missions, being in (real) love, and bargaining with a merciless tyrant at that age is something of a stretch, especially since she seems to have had her gift for quite a while, but it's mentioned that it only begins to show around 10-12yrs old).
My last believability issue was that Etta arrives at the tyrant king's city to steal the memory she needs only to find out that lo and behold, she's his granddaughter, and in the last four years, he's repented and become a giant teddy bear and now he's going to help her free the land and save her mother (and, bonus, her dad isn't even dead, they're friends and it's all good). This *could* have worked if it had been done with a little more foreshadowing. As it stands, it gave me a bit of whiplash.
This is *not* a terrible book. If you can overlook a few believability issues and a few typos, it's an entertaining adventure in an interesting world. I'd love to see the author write more stories set in this world and develop its potential a bit more.
The idea is that people in this world fall into three main categories, those who are nothing special, those who can transfer memories by touch, and the powerful who can give and take memories simply by looking at you. The main character is extra special: she has an unreadable mind. When her mother's life is under threat, she makes a pact with the rebel group to go on a mission for them to steal a memory from a tyrant ruler in exchange for the rebels saving her mother. It's not a bad story, and the idea of the world had me pretty excited.
The characters themselves were ok, but nothing special. Apart from her unreadable mind, there was nothing particularly memorable about Etta. It was one of those things where you feel like you've met all the characters before and just changed their names and the setting. They were fine and the dynamics were mostly fine, but there wasn't anyone or anything that stood out. I *did* appreciate that though Reid wasn't the most trusting, he was a genuinely good and caring guy, rather than the Dark and Brooding, borderline abusive boys you often find in YA. I did kinda find myself enjoying their developing friendship, even if the romance was a bit on the fast side (the book only really takes place over about a week).
For fun, before the spoilers, here were some things that made me pause:
- how do you smirk angrily??
- what on earth does it mean to 'slit' someone's kneecaps?
- and, just to let you know Reid, Etta was never at risk of losing too much blood just from a cut on her cheek (some guy punched her in a fight)
Unfortunately, there were a few things that I just didn't find believable. First off, (and here the spoilers begin) Etta betrayed the leader of the rebels four years previously in order to save her mother. Believable. But it turns out the man she betrayed was her dad and she loved him but betrayed him anyway. How does that make any sense? Especially when it's revealed later that he would have given himself up to save Etta's mother anyway? If that's not enough, she was thirteen at the time and had been off on dangerous missions for the rebels for some time before this all occurred. At thirteen (and I'm positive, because I was so confused I flipped back to double check).
Then we have the fact that she was in love with her mission partner (also thirteen-ish) at the time. As in, they read like they're at least in their late teens. It would have worked far better if Etta and Co. had been aged up even a few years. The idea of her being sent on dangerous missions, being in (real) love, and bargaining with a merciless tyrant at that age is something of a stretch, especially since she seems to have had her gift for quite a while, but it's mentioned that it only begins to show around 10-12yrs old).
My last believability issue was that Etta arrives at the tyrant king's city to steal the memory she needs only to find out that lo and behold, she's his granddaughter, and in the last four years, he's repented and become a giant teddy bear and now he's going to help her free the land and save her mother (and, bonus, her dad isn't even dead, they're friends and it's all good). This *could* have worked if it had been done with a little more foreshadowing. As it stands, it gave me a bit of whiplash.
This is *not* a terrible book. If you can overlook a few believability issues and a few typos, it's an entertaining adventure in an interesting world. I'd love to see the author write more stories set in this world and develop its potential a bit more.
Great little book with refreshing originality and tons of good lessons about love, loyalty, and forgiveness. Apparently, the story is semi-autobiographical for the author as a part of her own journey to heal, and I'm grateful to have taken it with her.
That being said, this is a Dystopian tale that is along the likes of Divergent and Maze Runner, at least in my impression as I've never read either. In this world, memory is currency, and it is easy for certain rogue people to steal memories from others unsuspecting. You have a society of folks who are able to use the power for evil, for their own selfish ends, and even for good. The MC Etta is faced with a problem of her mother's bed going up for auction. Mother is in a coma following a severely traumatic event that unfolded years ago which still haunted Etta to that day as she suffered several major losses in that one event. Because the ruler of the land, Madame, is power hungry and ruthless, Etta feels as if her mother is no longer safe and needs to get her out of the city. Unfortunately, she would need the help of a group of rebels of whom she was once a part of. And thus begins out story...
Like I said, there were many things I loved about this book. The concept is original. You have this amazing world building with many types of magical folk. As the story progresses, the trauma of Etta's past unravels, which at times sends you back and forth from past and present, which can be disorienting, but it works well here as memories are a major aspect of the plotline, and the story becomes more and more clear about how the past and present collide and what happened to Etta long ago. I loved how it was revealed little by little as it explains so much, since in the beginning, I have many questions about Etta and her past. There are many twists and turns here that shocked me and kept me guessing, and where the twists initially seem to come out of nowhere, they really don't--and they have a good explanation, adding yet another intricate layer to the story. I enjoyed the romance between Reid and Etta, and loved reading how their relationship changed and evolved over time. Even though it appeared to be instalove at first, even THAT is not what it seems and had a shocking reason behind it. Through Etta and the other characters you see alot of themes of bravery, the power of love and forgiveness, and the dire consequences of selfishness and mistrust of the world.
So why four stars instead of five?
For one, there are moments in the story where everything is explained nearly to death, making it hard to really engage and follow along at times. Other times, the way scenes are written are either vague or rely on summarizing and just explaining, and that at times slowed down the momentum of excitement.
Still, the author shows so much talent with this highly imaginative world in her stunning debut and I'm hoping she creates future works based on this universe.
That being said, this is a Dystopian tale that is along the likes of Divergent and Maze Runner, at least in my impression as I've never read either. In this world, memory is currency, and it is easy for certain rogue people to steal memories from others unsuspecting. You have a society of folks who are able to use the power for evil, for their own selfish ends, and even for good. The MC Etta is faced with a problem of her mother's bed going up for auction. Mother is in a coma following a severely traumatic event that unfolded years ago which still haunted Etta to that day as she suffered several major losses in that one event. Because the ruler of the land, Madame, is power hungry and ruthless, Etta feels as if her mother is no longer safe and needs to get her out of the city. Unfortunately, she would need the help of a group of rebels of whom she was once a part of. And thus begins out story...
Like I said, there were many things I loved about this book. The concept is original. You have this amazing world building with many types of magical folk. As the story progresses, the trauma of Etta's past unravels, which at times sends you back and forth from past and present, which can be disorienting, but it works well here as memories are a major aspect of the plotline, and the story becomes more and more clear about how the past and present collide and what happened to Etta long ago. I loved how it was revealed little by little as it explains so much, since in the beginning, I have many questions about Etta and her past. There are many twists and turns here that shocked me and kept me guessing, and where the twists initially seem to come out of nowhere, they really don't--and they have a good explanation, adding yet another intricate layer to the story. I enjoyed the romance between Reid and Etta, and loved reading how their relationship changed and evolved over time. Even though it appeared to be instalove at first, even THAT is not what it seems and had a shocking reason behind it. Through Etta and the other characters you see alot of themes of bravery, the power of love and forgiveness, and the dire consequences of selfishness and mistrust of the world.
So why four stars instead of five?
For one, there are moments in the story where everything is explained nearly to death, making it hard to really engage and follow along at times. Other times, the way scenes are written are either vague or rely on summarizing and just explaining, and that at times slowed down the momentum of excitement.
Still, the author shows so much talent with this highly imaginative world in her stunning debut and I'm hoping she creates future works based on this universe.
I enjoyed the concept of this book and the mythic world built by Mansy is unique. However, I found it very challenging to connect with the characters who came across lacking depth. I agree with many other reviewers that the characters seem flat and the book is too short to show any real character development amongst the main characters.
DNF at 27%. The premise sounded interesting, but the world-building and characters fell flat for me. Plus it was so info dumpy and the first few chapters were so hard to keep up with.
*Advanced copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion*
*Advanced copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion*