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joana_stormblessed's review against another edition
5.0
Boy have I been looking forward for this book!!
I saw this on a blog post as a book to keep on your radar for 2017 and they were right.
This book follows Fallon, a young princess who loves being a woman warrior for her tribe. She is looking forward to joining her father's war band when unexpected events change her life around.
Fallon is sold into slavery and becomes a gladiatrix in Rome.
I don't really want to say more because I don't want to spoil this book for anyone, but let's just say that I inhale read this. If you look at how "long" it took me from start date to finish date you might think "yeah right it took you a very long time to read it" but in that period I only picked this up three or for times. I read 70% of the book in one sitting! I couldn't put it down. Even though I predicted some events, I still loved this novel and I am so glad I read it!
Looking forward to the sequel
I saw this on a blog post as a book to keep on your radar for 2017 and they were right.
This book follows Fallon, a young princess who loves being a woman warrior for her tribe. She is looking forward to joining her father's war band when unexpected events change her life around.
Fallon is sold into slavery and becomes a gladiatrix in Rome.
I don't really want to say more because I don't want to spoil this book for anyone, but let's just say that I inhale read this. If you look at how "long" it took me from start date to finish date you might think "yeah right it took you a very long time to read it" but in that period I only picked this up three or for times. I read 70% of the book in one sitting! I couldn't put it down. Even though I predicted some events, I still loved this novel and I am so glad I read it!
Looking forward to the sequel
astheplotthickens24's review against another edition
3.0
"I will endure to be burned . . . to be bound . . . to be beaten . . . and to be killed by the sword."
This was a promising start to a new series, the fact that it was about the female gladiators of Ancient Rome made it even more interesting. I never knew that such thing existed.
The Valiant, was one of those books that once you started, you could never put down. You could easily get lost to the author's writing style and be absorbed by the world that you've been reading.
Fallon, was a strong female character but she needs to grow more as one. She was mostly okay but she annoys me for so many reasons I couldn't really point out because I don't know them myself, all I know is that I dislike her sometimes.
The romance of this book was lousy, it was rushed and two dimensional. Two people who fell in love with each other just because the author said so. There was no development towards their feelings. One moment they were enemies then afterwards they were not.
Some scenes were overly done, others were quick and hastily made. There were some inconsistencies but it was still a good read.
The first book was an okay read, it was entertaining and educational. I'm looking forward to the second book. I hope it was better than the first one.
greyc5's review against another edition
2.0
It was a router start for me, not going to lie, but it aged like fine wine and progressively got better and better. It felt like the after half of the book was the meat and dreams of the author coming through. As if the second half of the book was the original inspiration and the first half was just filler to set it all up. Not that the first part of the book was bad. I just felt like there could have been more time spent on expanding and fleshing out the characters and events leading to Fallon's capture and journey as a gladiator. The ending was good. It left some situations unresolved that are presumably going to be resolved in the second book, but nothing too exciting to where I absolutely read the second book ASAP. I will read the second but I'm in no rush. Overall, I was happy with the story that was told and the glimpse into the Roman culture that readers got.
m_bbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
alyssaindira's review
3.0
*no spoilers were harmed in the making of this review*
"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the Valiant never taste of death but once."
Hey guys, so I finished The Valiant (The Valiant, #1) by Lesley Livingston and it was a nice enough read. I appreciate certain aspects within this novel, however, I feel like I personally did not give it my all on this novel. i felt like I was just reading it on the surface level. I mean, I wanted to get sucked into Fallon's world. I kind of was. But I kind of wasnt. I don't know what my problem was, but something about the book kept making me read it with one foot in the world, one foot out. Now,the book wasnt bland or anything. It had a lot of action. The action was actually my fav parts. The battle/fight scenes were wonderfully written. I did not feel confused or turned about at all while reading them. I knew what was happening, and experienced it right alongside the character. The battle description and the inner thought descriptions were the best of the story, in my opinion. The heavyish description of the scenery...not as much of my favorite. I did find myself skimming that part unless it had Fallon's personal remarks about them. But yeah...Other than that, the writing was pretty good. The storyline was not lackluster. It was swell enough. And the storyline certainly did not lack death/violence, killing. Whew. But hey, it was too be expected. Though the first death of the novel shocked me, truly. And then everything drifted from there. One of the only other things that I just wasnt feeling about this novel was the romance. I thought the characters would have tangible chemistry. I thought there would be more agony and choices and just painful love. But in my opinion, there wasnt really much time for that to build up. If it did at all really. Honestly, the man goes from speaking a few words to her, to wanting her and loving her and vowing to wait, i was just like, slow your roll. You only knew her for a month maybe. And you wanna do all this for her? I was thinking the same in regards to Fallon. Like seriously, you exchange a few words with this man, then suddenly your like goo gaga, like what happened. There honestly wasnt much inner emotions about the romance, in my opinion. It was just kind of there. Forced almost. Like, I have these two characters, they might as well kiss. So yeah, totally was not feeling the romance element at all. The story did have a few plottwists. I think they could have been great plottwists, really shocking ones. Sadly, in my opinion, there just wasnt much suspense or build up. They were just dropped into the story and the reader is just suppose to go along with it. Honestly, the best thing about this story, was Fallon herself. I admire her so much. She is fierce and she is brave and she never gives up. She doesnt let fear rule her. She doesnt let herself become any less than what she is, and what she always will be. She never lets them tell her what she can and cannot do. She rebels in her own manners. And looks good while doing it. She doesnt entirely lose sight of her endgoal, it just kind of shifts to a more worthyish cause. But no matter the cause or her motives, Fallon is badass and she is triumphant. She is Valiant. I also really liked Charon, for some strange reason. He was just a mystery. Dark and twisted. Tortured in a way. So yeah, he was...interesting to say the least. Cai, who is the male love interest, kind of reminded me of Chaol from Throne of Glass. But Cai, he is just kind of there. Bland. Plain. Not really dynamic. He gives reasons for his actions, but they just felt...eh. I didnt really feel em, I dunno if he even believed them himself. Ha. Honestly I would have taken Mael over him. Mael was bae. Poor Mael....And A ended up being kind of...something. Of course there was also Cleo and Julius, who were nice. So yeah, most of the chracters were alright, some better than others. Similar like this novel, some aspects to it were better than others. Alright, as always, if you guys have any questions or comments, drop em below. Till next time. Bye
"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the Valiant never taste of death but once."
Hey guys, so I finished The Valiant (The Valiant, #1) by Lesley Livingston and it was a nice enough read. I appreciate certain aspects within this novel, however, I feel like I personally did not give it my all on this novel. i felt like I was just reading it on the surface level. I mean, I wanted to get sucked into Fallon's world. I kind of was. But I kind of wasnt. I don't know what my problem was, but something about the book kept making me read it with one foot in the world, one foot out. Now,the book wasnt bland or anything. It had a lot of action. The action was actually my fav parts. The battle/fight scenes were wonderfully written. I did not feel confused or turned about at all while reading them. I knew what was happening, and experienced it right alongside the character. The battle description and the inner thought descriptions were the best of the story, in my opinion. The heavyish description of the scenery...not as much of my favorite. I did find myself skimming that part unless it had Fallon's personal remarks about them. But yeah...Other than that, the writing was pretty good. The storyline was not lackluster. It was swell enough. And the storyline certainly did not lack death/violence, killing. Whew. But hey, it was too be expected. Though the first death of the novel shocked me, truly. And then everything drifted from there. One of the only other things that I just wasnt feeling about this novel was the romance. I thought the characters would have tangible chemistry. I thought there would be more agony and choices and just painful love. But in my opinion, there wasnt really much time for that to build up. If it did at all really. Honestly, the man goes from speaking a few words to her, to wanting her and loving her and vowing to wait, i was just like, slow your roll. You only knew her for a month maybe. And you wanna do all this for her? I was thinking the same in regards to Fallon. Like seriously, you exchange a few words with this man, then suddenly your like goo gaga, like what happened. There honestly wasnt much inner emotions about the romance, in my opinion. It was just kind of there. Forced almost. Like, I have these two characters, they might as well kiss. So yeah, totally was not feeling the romance element at all. The story did have a few plottwists. I think they could have been great plottwists, really shocking ones. Sadly, in my opinion, there just wasnt much suspense or build up. They were just dropped into the story and the reader is just suppose to go along with it. Honestly, the best thing about this story, was Fallon herself. I admire her so much. She is fierce and she is brave and she never gives up. She doesnt let fear rule her. She doesnt let herself become any less than what she is, and what she always will be. She never lets them tell her what she can and cannot do. She rebels in her own manners. And looks good while doing it. She doesnt entirely lose sight of her endgoal, it just kind of shifts to a more worthyish cause. But no matter the cause or her motives, Fallon is badass and she is triumphant. She is Valiant. I also really liked Charon, for some strange reason. He was just a mystery. Dark and twisted. Tortured in a way. So yeah, he was...interesting to say the least. Cai, who is the male love interest, kind of reminded me of Chaol from Throne of Glass. But Cai, he is just kind of there. Bland. Plain. Not really dynamic. He gives reasons for his actions, but they just felt...eh. I didnt really feel em, I dunno if he even believed them himself. Ha. Honestly I would have taken Mael over him. Mael was bae. Poor Mael....And A ended up being kind of...something. Of course there was also Cleo and Julius, who were nice. So yeah, most of the chracters were alright, some better than others. Similar like this novel, some aspects to it were better than others. Alright, as always, if you guys have any questions or comments, drop em below. Till next time. Bye
bridget_books's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I think I would have rated this book 5 stars if I read it when I got it back in 2015. It was fast paced and full of action. The characters were interesting and there was a lot happening. Unfortunately it was missing something to create the same attachment I may have to characters and while I saw their struggles I felt I didn’t fully understand all of them enough to fully root for them (other than our main character).
amybraunauthor's review against another edition
5.0
Holy hell, this book was AWESOME. Seriously, I expected it to be good, but it totally blew my mind. I'll admit it––there are some definite comparisons to this book and the film Gladiator we all know and love, but honestly, those were afterthoughts for me. I was completely immersed right from the start by the historic world-building and enthralling characters. Fallon is without question one of my favourite female heroes in YA fiction. She has her flaws, yes, but more than that, she's strong, smart, brave, determined and crushingly honourable. Speaking of crushes, Caius is another favourite character I hope to be seeing more of in the future. While most of the questions and plot holes were wrapped up, there is definitely room for a sequel, and that can't come fast enough. I loved the action, the story, the suspense, the romance, the twists I didn't see coming (and even the ones I did). I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It was utterly fantastic and is just what any YA fan needs on their shelf. Seriously, you can't go wrong with feisty female gladiators!
esmeem's review against another edition
5.0
This was the first ever book I listened to on audiobook, and I think it kind of tainted my experience of this book. Since this was my first experience with audio, I will first review my experience, and then get into my review of the book itself. I got my audiobook as a part of my free Audible trail. I really wanted to read this book, and I wanted to try if I would like the format of an audiobook. It started off as a bit of a disappointment, as it took me some time to get into both the format and the story. I quickly found that the reading was too slow for my taste, and played the entire book in a 1.25x speed. Furthermore, I did not really enjoy the voice of the narrater, and was a bit annoyed by how she did the voices for the characters. However, after a while I got used to the format, and I actually found it quite convenient. This way, I could enjoy a book even when I was cooking, walking to class, or doing something else that normally wouldn't combine well with reading.
I think the story was epic, and I know if I would have read the physical copy I would have enjoyed it even more. Therefore, I have decided to rate my experience based on the story itself. I ended up enjoying the book more than I thought I would. It started off as a 3 star read, okay but not very special, but throughout the story I started getting more engaged. About halfway through, it became a solid 4 star read, and towards the end it got so awesome that I rated it 5 stars and added it to my favourite books. I am a big fan of "epic" books with a strong female lead, such as Queen of Shadows, ACOMAF, Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Illuminae, and I think this book can be added to that list. Fallon was a great main character, because she was strong, smart and flawed, and from halfway through the book I was really rooting for her.
Overall, this turned out to be a great read. I loved Fallon and Cai, and I am highly anticipating the next book. Even though I didn't really like the format, the story made up for it big time. I might even buy the physical copy of the book to re-read it, because I am sure I will enjoy it even more then.
I think the story was epic, and I know if I would have read the physical copy I would have enjoyed it even more. Therefore, I have decided to rate my experience based on the story itself. I ended up enjoying the book more than I thought I would. It started off as a 3 star read, okay but not very special, but throughout the story I started getting more engaged. About halfway through, it became a solid 4 star read, and towards the end it got so awesome that I rated it 5 stars and added it to my favourite books. I am a big fan of "epic" books with a strong female lead, such as Queen of Shadows, ACOMAF, Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Illuminae, and I think this book can be added to that list. Fallon was a great main character, because she was strong, smart and flawed, and from halfway through the book I was really rooting for her.
Spoiler
The plottwists in this book were awesome and very well done. When Mael's character was introduced, I was afraid this book would revolve around a love triangle between Fallon's "long time best friend" and a new character (Hunger Games style), but that was not the case at all. I felt that the writer dealt with a lot of these could-have-been-chliche-plotlines really well (I was a bit afraid Fallon would fall in love with her slave trader tbh). And then THE plottwist. It was so well done. I loved it. The identity of Lady Achillea and her story with Charon was one of the reasons this book ended up being a favourite. Another reason was definitely Caius Varro. I loved him. His reaction after Fallon's final winning was so cute, I really hope he's more present in the next book.Overall, this turned out to be a great read. I loved Fallon and Cai, and I am highly anticipating the next book. Even though I didn't really like the format, the story made up for it big time. I might even buy the physical copy of the book to re-read it, because I am sure I will enjoy it even more then.