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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I absolutely loved this book. It was almost a five star read but the conclusion was very slightly anti-climactic. The story was beautifully told, incredibly engaging, and I was immediately swept up in the story. You won't be able to put it down.
Ultimately, I gave this three stars because I enjoyed reading this, but it was a super cliched fantasy novel with the eye roll love plot and meh villain, but I was in the mood for fantasy.
I felt like the development moved at a pace I didn't love, like it was pretty steady then it was like everyone dying and walking all the time. I also kind of felt like the Jaga story could have gone somewhere, but did not. The wood story I felt was a bit meh as far as evil goes. The ending was anti-climactic in my opinion.
Also, I felt disappointed because I picked this up knowing NOTHING about it, other than general fantasy. As I read, I got it in my head that this was a queer book, because she clearly had feelings for Kaisa. Instead, of course that is not the case. It is definitely not queer, but instead the typical somewhat unhealthy relationship of the younger, essentially slave, student falling for the pseudo abusive older teacher.
I felt like the development moved at a pace I didn't love, like it was pretty steady then it was like everyone dying and walking all the time. I also kind of felt like the Jaga story could have gone somewhere, but did not. The wood story I felt was a bit meh as far as evil goes. The ending was anti-climactic in my opinion.
Also, I felt disappointed because I picked this up knowing NOTHING about it, other than general fantasy. As I read, I got it in my head that this was a queer book, because she clearly had feelings for Kaisa. Instead, of course that is not the case. It is definitely not queer, but instead the typical somewhat unhealthy relationship of the younger, essentially slave, student falling for the pseudo abusive older teacher.
I was immediately hooked and loved this one. One weakness was that the battle scene went on and on and on and on...Interesting premise, interesting characters, very engaging.
Beautiful story and complicated characters make this one of the best fantasy novels I have read in a long time. I love that this story champions embracing difference, courage, patience, understanding and care for others over destruction and self-centered egotism.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
World- 9/10
Characters- 10/10
Plot- 8.5/10
Writing- 9/10
Feels- 8.5/10
Overall- 9/10 90% (A/A+)
WOWW!! This is a book that I have been highly anticipating for the LONGEST time, especially since the premise of it seemed like the kind of book that I would fall in love with. I kept putting it off, since I was so worried that I wouldn't love it as much as I desperately wanted to. But I absolutely loved it.
The world was so rich and well built, and although a little hard to understand, I could still picture it quite clearly for the most part. The tone and atmosphere that the author created really complimented the world as well, and made it feel more like a dark fairytale, which was wonderful. The writing was also beautiful, and made me really want to read more of Naomi Novik's books.
The plot is very very twisty and did not end up in the way that I thought it would, and it took a little while in the middle of the book to get used to it. Different problems would arise, which caused the story to go in completely different ways, leaving me with absolutely no idea about how it would end. But I did love the way it ended. I loved how dark and creepy it got at times, while still feeling kind of like a fairytale. The way the folklore was loosely weaved into the story was also very interesting. But whenever the plot dipped a bit, the characters more than made up for it. Agnieszka is one of my new favourite female characters, because of how head-strong and stubborn she was. She felt so real, despite being in such a magical book. I loved the relationship between her and the Dragon, as well as her relationship with her best friend. I also appreciated how the Wood was its own character.
This book just ticked a lot of boxes for me in terms of tropes that I love, while also reminding me of some of my other favourite fantasy books. I can understand why some people wouldn't like it, as it is a fairly polarising book, but I think that mainly comes down to preferences with certain types of fantasy. I thought it was a wonderful, unique and refreshing fantasy read, and I can't wait to read it again!
Characters- 10/10
Plot- 8.5/10
Writing- 9/10
Feels- 8.5/10
Overall- 9/10 90% (A/A+)
WOWW!! This is a book that I have been highly anticipating for the LONGEST time, especially since the premise of it seemed like the kind of book that I would fall in love with. I kept putting it off, since I was so worried that I wouldn't love it as much as I desperately wanted to. But I absolutely loved it.
The world was so rich and well built, and although a little hard to understand, I could still picture it quite clearly for the most part. The tone and atmosphere that the author created really complimented the world as well, and made it feel more like a dark fairytale, which was wonderful. The writing was also beautiful, and made me really want to read more of Naomi Novik's books.
The plot is very very twisty and did not end up in the way that I thought it would, and it took a little while in the middle of the book to get used to it. Different problems would arise, which caused the story to go in completely different ways, leaving me with absolutely no idea about how it would end. But I did love the way it ended. I loved how dark and creepy it got at times, while still feeling kind of like a fairytale. The way the folklore was loosely weaved into the story was also very interesting. But whenever the plot dipped a bit, the characters more than made up for it. Agnieszka is one of my new favourite female characters, because of how head-strong and stubborn she was. She felt so real, despite being in such a magical book. I loved the relationship between her and the Dragon, as well as her relationship with her best friend. I also appreciated how the Wood was its own character.
This book just ticked a lot of boxes for me in terms of tropes that I love, while also reminding me of some of my other favourite fantasy books. I can understand why some people wouldn't like it, as it is a fairly polarising book, but I think that mainly comes down to preferences with certain types of fantasy. I thought it was a wonderful, unique and refreshing fantasy read, and I can't wait to read it again!
I loved the first part! Then it lost me. I wasn’t interested in the story anymore and it rambled a lot. This is my second book by this author and I think I’m done giving out chances
Starts out feeling like a typical YA romance/fantasy, turns out to be significantly more interesting and complicated than that.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated