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booknerdlyn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
lareske's review
adventurous
medium-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
4.5
shminsington's review against another edition
3.0
I came across this book as a free e-book on Barnes and Noble's website and opened it up for the first time a couple of days ago while I was helping run a convention table. Young adult hasn't been my thing for a while, so at the outset I wasn't terribly interested, but I literally had nothing else to do. As it went on, I was surprised at how engaging it became and how much I wanted to know what happened next. It definitely does a fair job of bringing you along. It does this so well, in fact, that I finished it in a (collective) few hours.
However, this book is part of a series, which I was not aware of, and because of this, the book ends on a cliffhanger with basically no resolution for any of the things I just read. Now, normally, that wouldn't necessarily put me off, but in this case I felt that a.) the pacing of the previous events was retroactively degraded by this lack of resolution and b.) the various things set up in this first installment are so many that I can't help but think reading further would be a big time investment for little payoff. Like I could read the whole second book and still find no real answers or neatly tied off plot points.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but I don't think I'm inspired to read any further.
However, this book is part of a series, which I was not aware of, and because of this, the book ends on a cliffhanger with basically no resolution for any of the things I just read. Now, normally, that wouldn't necessarily put me off, but in this case I felt that a.) the pacing of the previous events was retroactively degraded by this lack of resolution and b.) the various things set up in this first installment are so many that I can't help but think reading further would be a big time investment for little payoff. Like I could read the whole second book and still find no real answers or neatly tied off plot points.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but I don't think I'm inspired to read any further.
lindzy's review
3.0
Original Review Here
Despite being my usual genre, White Hart was a disappointment.
It’s a YA fantasy about a young girl with hidden powers. It’s a coming of age story as Mae learns about who she is, finds love and friendship in unexpected places and has to grow up if she is to survive.
Mae misses her potential, especially as a main character. She is powerful: her magic connects to nature and is entwined with the fate of the kingdom. But she seems to conveniently remember about her power at odd times: she doesn’t use it when you feel like she could, then she goes to extreme.
She is scornful of Cas – with good reason at the beginning. But her feelings mellow and it doesn’t take long before she starts to care for him. Halfway through the book, however, she reverts back into thinking he is useless and not her problem, before going through the whole process again. It was as if the author needed a quick reset to stop these emotions from going too far. Mae can be harsh to Cas, and to others, despite having no reason to be so. It undermined her character and I felt she was shallow for most of the book.
Mae rides a white stag. This is never explored properly and what the significance might mean. He doesn’t appear to have any special traits about from bearing Mae.
Cas is likeable – I much preferred his character. He, at least, seems consistent. He also, however, is head over heels in love with his future bride; that he met the same day she was kidnapped. He is due to marry her because he believes she has Mae’s gift and this deception is kept up throughout the book.
Mae’s gift has been kept a secret throughout her life. She lives apart from the village and we are led to believe the villagers treat her like an outsider. The interactions we do witness, however, does not enforce this idea and I was left feeling at odds about her relationship with them: telling and showing were two separate stories here.
It makes sense why she wants to keep her powers a secret from Cas. But when she does reveal all, he laughs at her. Rather than proving him wrong and getting them out of their current mess, Mae withdraws, becomes afraid and ashamed, and goes back to it being a big secret.
I don’t get it: she told him. Why are we then pretending this conversation never took place? Again, it feels like a quick reset in order to allow the plot to continue at its previous pace.
The pacing felt quite slow, only for there to be a final twist at the end that makes no sense unless you continue to read the second book. Despite being intrigued by the ending, I found the character development and pacing problematic and can’t bring myself to read the second.
I wanted to like this, but it just had some problems for me.
Despite being my usual genre, White Hart was a disappointment.
It’s a YA fantasy about a young girl with hidden powers. It’s a coming of age story as Mae learns about who she is, finds love and friendship in unexpected places and has to grow up if she is to survive.
Mae misses her potential, especially as a main character. She is powerful: her magic connects to nature and is entwined with the fate of the kingdom. But she seems to conveniently remember about her power at odd times: she doesn’t use it when you feel like she could, then she goes to extreme.
She is scornful of Cas – with good reason at the beginning. But her feelings mellow and it doesn’t take long before she starts to care for him. Halfway through the book, however, she reverts back into thinking he is useless and not her problem, before going through the whole process again. It was as if the author needed a quick reset to stop these emotions from going too far. Mae can be harsh to Cas, and to others, despite having no reason to be so. It undermined her character and I felt she was shallow for most of the book.
Mae rides a white stag. This is never explored properly and what the significance might mean. He doesn’t appear to have any special traits about from bearing Mae.
Cas is likeable – I much preferred his character. He, at least, seems consistent. He also, however, is head over heels in love with his future bride; that he met the same day she was kidnapped. He is due to marry her because he believes she has Mae’s gift and this deception is kept up throughout the book.
Mae’s gift has been kept a secret throughout her life. She lives apart from the village and we are led to believe the villagers treat her like an outsider. The interactions we do witness, however, does not enforce this idea and I was left feeling at odds about her relationship with them: telling and showing were two separate stories here.
It makes sense why she wants to keep her powers a secret from Cas. But when she does reveal all, he laughs at her. Rather than proving him wrong and getting them out of their current mess, Mae withdraws, becomes afraid and ashamed, and goes back to it being a big secret.
I don’t get it: she told him. Why are we then pretending this conversation never took place? Again, it feels like a quick reset in order to allow the plot to continue at its previous pace.
The pacing felt quite slow, only for there to be a final twist at the end that makes no sense unless you continue to read the second book. Despite being intrigued by the ending, I found the character development and pacing problematic and can’t bring myself to read the second.
I wanted to like this, but it just had some problems for me.
kirstieellen's review
4.0
Initial Thoughts on Finishing
This was actually so good! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book - it's a wicked tale of adventure with intriguing characters and an outcome that you WON'T see coming. I loved Mae so much, she's such a great character and I seriously cannot wait to pick up book two and continue the story!!
White Hart by Sarah Dalton
So this book surprised me with how awesome it was, let’s start with that. There is exactly one reason why I decided to pick this one up (and when I say pick it up, I mean download it off iBooks because it was the free book of the week - don’t you love that?) was because of that cover. Have you seen it? Are you looking at it? Are you drooling? I’m in love with this cover - the green coloured one, not the greyscale one. It’s so vibrant and beautiful and a really good match for the story that is inside. I loved the characters in this book, especially Mae because I’ve been obsessed with that name with that exact spelling since forever, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the tricky little challenges that they came across. People, we need to be talking about this book more.
White Hart is a fantasy YA novel about a young girl called Mae who’s a bit of an oddball in her village. It’s set in a medieval world where she and her father are very poor and collect wood from a supposedly haunted woods (or at least, potentially dangerous woods) to trade at market. Because they go into these woods the rest of the town treats them like a smelly sock. Which is a shame because Mae is obviously very cool and (brace yourself) she has a white stag. Or a white hart (it’s a thing, I Googled it - it’s a old term for the creature). Obviously he looks magnificent and obviously I now need my own horse-sized white stag to gallop around on. His name is Anta, naw.
Sadly, Mae’s mother died when she was young (in fact it might’ve been in childbirth, but I forget. Don’t quote me on that) so she’s been raised by her dad alone. She’s also harbouring a bit of a secret because she’s craftborn - in other words, she has MAGIC. Except she doesn’t tell anyone that because in this land the prince is to marry the craftborn (there is only one each generation) for the land needs the magic of the craftborn to thrive and thus sustain the population. But Mae doesn’t want to marry a prince so only her dad knows.rude interesting and therefore already building a friendship with her) and Mae discover this treachery and set off on a quest to seek vengeance! Marvellous, yes? Indeed.
Why I Loved This
I went into this book 100% blind and didn’t really know what to expect from it. I was mostly hoping that there would be lots of cool things and some magic because those were the vibes I was getting from the cover. But the plot is so wicked and the characters are super funny and I just loved Mae to pieces. This is exactly the type of book that I go weak at the knees for - they travel through the forest/woods following this group who kidnapped Ellen and as it turns out the forest is magical and plays tricks on them. Think of The Hunger Games in the final book (no spoilers, relax) with the different segments of the arena - yeah? Got it? No? Oh. Well basically different parts of the forest have different creatures, do different things, and pose different threats. And our beautifully idiotic characters must confront all of these if they are to save Ellen and avenge Mae’s father’s death.
And also Casimir (the prince) is adorkable.
Mae
So why is Mae so awesome? She’s a stubborn, feisty, loveable, badass, kindhearted heroine who ain’t gunna let anyone tell her what to do. Her situation is certainly trying as she tries to keep her magical abilities a secret from the prince and keep them alive whilst struggling with inner self doubts about herself. Having grown up her whole life in a village where everyone treats who poorly has got to have a serious knock on your confidence. But Casimir, ever the valiant knight (well, not really, but shh) treats her kindly and like and equal and I love how he took all her insults in his stride. I also can’t even express how anguishing that almost romance is between them - YOU BOTH CLEARLY NEED TO HAVE A SNOG AND WORK THINGS OUT. Sheesh.
The other thing I really liked about Mae’s character is the way that even though she’s the poor girl in this book the confrontation of wealth and nobility doesn’t render her speechless or overly spiteful. She remains true to herself and adapts to her surroundings. Perhaps this is a small and insignificant point, but I appreciated it.
Quests
The best thing in a fantasy book has got to be a plain and simple wicked quest. I love how stimulating this book is for the imagination - an artist would have a heyday drawing all the beautiful images in this book. I love the way you can practically feels Dalton’s imagination seeping through the pages because, *chortles*, it’s just plain awesome and seasoned with just the right amount of the fantastical.
It made for such compelling reading the way each step of the journey threw something new in the faces of our characters, strengthening them and testing their limits. We slowly learn things about their characters and get to yell angrily at them when they make foolish decisions. I’m also quite the fan of Sasha (not that I’m telling you who she is).
I just need to get a few things off my chest. Firstly, I’m almost very frustrated about the lack of romantic development between Mae and Casimir - I really did have a major swing with having gone through a whole book to not get the guy very nearly being the breaking point of the book. But with things ending the way they did and the still tangible awkwardness between them my hopes have been restored that things are going to end in a satisfactory way.
I thought the way that Mae and Casimir discover how much bigger the world is than they originally thought was cleverly done too. Both didn’t really think anyone lived in the forest because that’d be ridiculous right? WRONG. That’s just because that’s how they’ve been taught to think. Open your mind, children, the world is endless. (But omg those native sacrificial people were terrifying (and could Mae really not have just used her magic early? Gawsh)).
Also, that ending was WICKED. I loved it. The book was plodding along very decently and then just when I was ready to throw a tantrum at Mae not getting what she deserved, BOOM, that spiderweb time freeze happened. I need to know what happens next guys, I neeeeedd to. (Good thing I’ve already bought the next book then, hey?).
Summary
I am so so so excited to continue this series and find out what happens next. We’re left on such a humongous cliff hanger it’s practically inducing a fear of heights in me. I loved this book so much more than I thought I would and everything happens just how you need it to. I highly recommend this book for people who enjoy fantasy and adventure and some superb learning experiences.
Happy reading!
This was actually so good! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book - it's a wicked tale of adventure with intriguing characters and an outcome that you WON'T see coming. I loved Mae so much, she's such a great character and I seriously cannot wait to pick up book two and continue the story!!
White Hart by Sarah Dalton
So this book surprised me with how awesome it was, let’s start with that. There is exactly one reason why I decided to pick this one up (and when I say pick it up, I mean download it off iBooks because it was the free book of the week - don’t you love that?) was because of that cover. Have you seen it? Are you looking at it? Are you drooling? I’m in love with this cover - the green coloured one, not the greyscale one. It’s so vibrant and beautiful and a really good match for the story that is inside. I loved the characters in this book, especially Mae because I’ve been obsessed with that name with that exact spelling since forever, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the tricky little challenges that they came across. People, we need to be talking about this book more.
"We are not always shaped by our parents, Cas. We're shaped by our choices."What Happens
White Hart is a fantasy YA novel about a young girl called Mae who’s a bit of an oddball in her village. It’s set in a medieval world where she and her father are very poor and collect wood from a supposedly haunted woods (or at least, potentially dangerous woods) to trade at market. Because they go into these woods the rest of the town treats them like a smelly sock. Which is a shame because Mae is obviously very cool and (brace yourself) she has a white stag. Or a white hart (it’s a thing, I Googled it - it’s a old term for the creature). Obviously he looks magnificent and obviously I now need my own horse-sized white stag to gallop around on. His name is Anta, naw.
Sadly, Mae’s mother died when she was young (in fact it might’ve been in childbirth, but I forget. Don’t quote me on that) so she’s been raised by her dad alone. She’s also harbouring a bit of a secret because she’s craftborn - in other words, she has MAGIC. Except she doesn’t tell anyone that because in this land the prince is to marry the craftborn (there is only one each generation) for the land needs the magic of the craftborn to thrive and thus sustain the population. But Mae doesn’t want to marry a prince so only her dad knows.
"When you live on the edge of a cursed forest, you do a lot of staring into the dark."So what’s the plot of this story? Another girl in the village is pretending to have these powers and so get’s promised to the prince BUT a band of brigands charge in to steal her (Ellen) and in the process also murder Mae’s father. *much gasping*. So the prince (who is in town and chatting to Mae because Mae is
Why I Loved This
I went into this book 100% blind and didn’t really know what to expect from it. I was mostly hoping that there would be lots of cool things and some magic because those were the vibes I was getting from the cover. But the plot is so wicked and the characters are super funny and I just loved Mae to pieces. This is exactly the type of book that I go weak at the knees for - they travel through the forest/woods following this group who kidnapped Ellen and as it turns out the forest is magical and plays tricks on them. Think of The Hunger Games in the final book (no spoilers, relax) with the different segments of the arena - yeah? Got it? No? Oh. Well basically different parts of the forest have different creatures, do different things, and pose different threats. And our beautifully idiotic characters must confront all of these if they are to save Ellen and avenge Mae’s father’s death.
And also Casimir (the prince) is adorkable.
Mae
So why is Mae so awesome? She’s a stubborn, feisty, loveable, badass, kindhearted heroine who ain’t gunna let anyone tell her what to do. Her situation is certainly trying as she tries to keep her magical abilities a secret from the prince and keep them alive whilst struggling with inner self doubts about herself. Having grown up her whole life in a village where everyone treats who poorly has got to have a serious knock on your confidence. But Casimir, ever the valiant knight (well, not really, but shh) treats her kindly and like and equal and I love how he took all her insults in his stride. I also can’t even express how anguishing that almost romance is between them - YOU BOTH CLEARLY NEED TO HAVE A SNOG AND WORK THINGS OUT. Sheesh.
The other thing I really liked about Mae’s character is the way that even though she’s the poor girl in this book the confrontation of wealth and nobility doesn’t render her speechless or overly spiteful. She remains true to herself and adapts to her surroundings. Perhaps this is a small and insignificant point, but I appreciated it.
Quests
The best thing in a fantasy book has got to be a plain and simple wicked quest. I love how stimulating this book is for the imagination - an artist would have a heyday drawing all the beautiful images in this book. I love the way you can practically feels Dalton’s imagination seeping through the pages because, *chortles*, it’s just plain awesome and seasoned with just the right amount of the fantastical.
It made for such compelling reading the way each step of the journey threw something new in the faces of our characters, strengthening them and testing their limits. We slowly learn things about their characters and get to yell angrily at them when they make foolish decisions. I’m also quite the fan of Sasha (not that I’m telling you who she is).
"Welhewan is charming us,' Sasha says in an unsure voice. 'It is trying to soothe us with its lullaby. Do not let yourself . . . Oh, a butterfly. Look how beautiful it is! No, don't look. The forest is making us happy, and we cannot let it."A Quick Dip into Spoilers
I thought the way that Mae and Casimir discover how much bigger the world is than they originally thought was cleverly done too. Both didn’t really think anyone lived in the forest because that’d be ridiculous right? WRONG. That’s just because that’s how they’ve been taught to think. Open your mind, children, the world is endless. (But omg those native sacrificial people were terrifying (and could Mae really not have just used her magic early? Gawsh)).
Also, that ending was WICKED. I loved it. The book was plodding along very decently and then just when I was ready to throw a tantrum at Mae not getting what she deserved, BOOM, that spiderweb time freeze happened. I need to know what happens next guys, I neeeeedd to. (Good thing I’ve already bought the next book then, hey?).
Summary
I am so so so excited to continue this series and find out what happens next. We’re left on such a humongous cliff hanger it’s practically inducing a fear of heights in me. I loved this book so much more than I thought I would and everything happens just how you need it to. I highly recommend this book for people who enjoy fantasy and adventure and some superb learning experiences.
Happy reading!
lixard's review against another edition
3.0
Finished in one sitting because I was reading it on my phone... You know what it does, don't judge me.
The book was different from what I've read but the pacing is really not syncing up. It seems like Mae and Cas have gone through at least a month of adventures but it's only been a week???
Also there are parts of the book that could have been fleshed out a lot but weren't touched on. Like right after what you think is the climax, another plot point jumps up and grabs the story to pull it through more. It seemed all too rushed and could have been less.
Additionally, there are a LOT of unanswered questions. What the hell is the Waerg Woods? Why is her nickname White Hart? Why are the woods so dangerous but so many people have survived? Why is the King such a bastard? etc.
Loved Mae's attitude at the beginning when they just meet. And when she tricks him into thinking that Ellen was a pig, lol. Though it is pretty shallow of Cas to be so caught up in the looks and not the personality. My heart broke for Mae thousands of times in this too so the emotions writing was great.
Cas was okay... I mean shallow prince who ends up being kinda nice but also selfish. There wasn't much of a character arc for him in the book.
Sasha and Finn were great characters though that I think could have been built on a lot more before we left to a different part of the story.
All in all though, it was pretty entertaining and I do want to find out what happens next for Mae.
The book was different from what I've read but the pacing is really not syncing up. It seems like Mae and Cas have gone through at least a month of adventures but it's only been a week???
Also there are parts of the book that could have been fleshed out a lot but weren't touched on. Like right after what you think is the climax, another plot point jumps up and grabs the story to pull it through more. It seemed all too rushed and could have been less.
Additionally, there are a LOT of unanswered questions. What the hell is the Waerg Woods? Why is her nickname White Hart? Why are the woods so dangerous but so many people have survived? Why is the King such a bastard? etc.
Loved Mae's attitude at the beginning when they just meet. And when she tricks him into thinking that Ellen was a pig, lol. Though it is pretty shallow of Cas to be so caught up in the looks and not the personality. My heart broke for Mae thousands of times in this too so the emotions writing was great.
Cas was okay... I mean shallow prince who ends up being kinda nice but also selfish. There wasn't much of a character arc for him in the book.
Sasha and Finn were great characters though that I think could have been built on a lot more before we left to a different part of the story.
All in all though, it was pretty entertaining and I do want to find out what happens next for Mae.
hessionsreadingworld's review against another edition
2.0
I had to give up on this book. It was a free eBook download via Book bub. I never got into it and decided it is past time to throw in the towel.
cherime's review
5.0
I love unconventional heroines. Girls with grit under their fingernails and a brain. I loved this one enough to stay up way too late last night reading. I picked up this book as a part of an anthology. Can't wait to read the rest of what's in the set. The first one was great.
isalavinia's review
3.0
ARC provided by the author through Netgalley
Mae and her father gather wood from the edge of the Waerg Woods. Poor, dark-skinned, and supposedly tainted by the woods' curse, they live as pariahs in Halts-Walden.
Mae is the craft-born, the one whose nature-connected magic can revive the kingdom - only Mae has to try her hardest to keep her powers secret, for the King has decreed that the craft-born shall marry his son, Prince Casimir.
It seems Mae is in luck: Ellen, the miller's daughter, pretends to be the craft-born and the Prince is coming to get her.
While venturing into the Waerg Woods with the Prince, to convince him not to hunt her white stag Anta, Wanderers from the Waerg Woods come into Halts-Walden to steal Ellen, whom they believe to be the craft-born, and end up killing Mae's father in the struggle.
This is an odd book to rate, and I struggled with it for quite some time.
As a YA book it's mediocre. However, once I chose to read it as Middle-Grade, it's quite good.
It's an entertaining fairytale-like story, but the characters' dialogue and actions, the very descriptions and world building, only work if it's read as MG. It's perfectly fine and reminiscent, in fact, of classical fairytales in its simplicity: this is the heroine, the heroine does this for straight-forward simple reason, heroine announces her thought-processes, we're told a lot because the audience is not meant to have the ability to analyse things in depth.
This may sound critical, but I'm not trying to be. I'm trying to point out how this is being marketed to the wrong audience. As a YA book it doesn't work. As a MG book it's pretty good.
So that rating is the balance of the two. If I were to rate this as YA, I would give it 2 stars, as MG I'd give it 4 stars, so here we are, at 3 stars.
There is a lot to recommend this book, chief of all the Waerg Woods. They are well written and creepy in a sort of la Motte-Fouqué way (for those of you who've read his Undine). The Waerg Woods are divided in sections, each harbouring a new evil: malevolent black birds that swoop into the sky and form clouds that pour down burning rain, a creature that attacks by preying on your fears, deadly cold fog that tries to lure you to a sleepy death, clinging vines that attempt to drain you of your blood.
This book is worth reading for the Waerg Woods alone.
However, there are also good things about the characters - if one reads them as MG, Mae goes from a whiny, arrogant, impetuous and tstl YA-type adolescent, to a young girl who doesn't know better and goes through the usual fairy tale tropes to learn valuable lessons. It's also nice that she never wanted to be Queen and wanted only to live close to nature, being true to herself.
One thing I can't help pointing out, be it YA or MG, is that if you're placing your story in a fantasy realm with a Medieval or Renaissance feel to it, do NOT use the word "okay" in dialogue! It's really, really absurd.
But quibbles aside, I really want to read the next one!
So, in conclusion, if you plan to read this as MG, I recommend it!