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alyssacreechie 's review for:
A Legend of Golden Shadows
by Victoria Vredevoogd
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a lot to say about this book and most of it is negative. However, I do realize that this is her debut novel, so I will have some grace. While I was reading, I made little notes of what I was thinking in that moment so I am just going to copy and paste them here:
1. I noticed some issues with past tense (mostly just early on, I think).
2. The dump of info at beginning was interesting/different. I’m not sure how I feel about all the background information being given that way. I like that it got a lot of the world-building out of the way quickly. I also like how the narrator directly addressed the reader in the prologue. It kind of felt like the beginning of the first Descendants movie lol.
3. I feel like a lot of the writing consisted of telling us rather than showing us. I felt like I was hearing someone tell me a story rather than watching it in real time/like watching a movie.
4. There were also a lot of inconsistencies with the characters. Rhia is introduced as a “no remorse” assassin but in the next scene, she is waving to the servants in the hallway? Bennett also completely switched personalities half way through. One day he hates Rhia then the next he’s holding her hand and picking her up and spinning her in a circle? We are told that Bennett is this cold, rude, dark and mysterious guy but he literally isn’t 😭. He started to act more like Miles than himself. Honestly most of the characters had the same exact personality…
5. Again with the inconsistencies, Rhia has “sticks for arms” but overpowered five men? and can carry two 50lb bags across a room 3 times in a row? 😭
6. The modern phrases like “solid ab workout, “matched my energy,” and “swooning at my fictional crush” had me cringing a little bit.
7. There were a lot of typos which is kind of understandable for an indie author but also kind of annoying. 😭
8. I like that the author used new names for things that aren’t directly intuitive like “Lanue” and “Artis.” That means she trusts that her readers aren’t idiots and can use context clues lol.
6. The modern phrases like “solid ab workout, “matched my energy,” and “swooning at my fictional crush” had me cringing a little bit.
7. There were a lot of typos which is kind of understandable for an indie author but also kind of annoying. 😭
8. I like that the author used new names for things that aren’t directly intuitive like “Lanue” and “Artis.” That means she trusts that her readers aren’t idiots and can use context clues lol.
9. I like the creativity. This story didn’t feel like a mix of popular fantasy/dystopian books (ahem, powerless) so I really appreciated the originality. Okay said that too early because “You will always hold my heart, Rhia; you’ve always held it. It was always yours to break and only yours to take. My heart only wants what you want, so do what you please with it” is giving “Break my heart. Break it a thousand times if you like. It was only ever yours to break anyway… every beat of my heart is yours…”
I’ll let it slide though because that was only one thing that I found to be similar to another book whereas Powerless had complete lines stolen from Shatter Me.
Edit: Other reviewers have said that it wasn’t very original, so I guess I just haven’t read the books this was inspired by.
10. I’m feeling some Tangled inspiration which I like because it’s not in really obvious ways. It just vaguely reminds me of it. For example, there was the lantern festival in Vesper, and when they were dancing in the square, the “Kingdom Dance” song was playing in my head.
11. Bennett did not really have a good solid reason for hating Rhia. This really did not have to be an “enemies” to lovers romance. I wish their romance had been more of a slowburn, and I think it would have been if Bennett had a better reason for hating Rhia.
12.I feel like Miles was a little dramatic when he found out Rhia was the assassin because he should know how important it is for Rhia not to tell anyone. I feel like this was just to set up a plot point in the next book.
13. I liked the plottwist involving Mendex at the end.
14. Rhia is so gullible, and I don’t think she should be considering her position.
15. I don’t remember if this was explained but how did Bennett just become the prince/king of Vesper?
Those were all my thoughts… There were a lot of problems but I thought the concept, plot, and originality were good. I will most likely be reading the second because I am curious to see Victoria’s development as a writer. I’ve been following her on TikTok for a while, so I am rooting for her. I really see the potential and know that she could one day be a top writer in the YA fantasy genre. However, I am giving this book 2.5 stars because I think I liked this book just as much as I disliked it.
Those were all my thoughts… There were a lot of problems but I thought the concept, plot, and originality were good. I will most likely be reading the second because I am curious to see Victoria’s development as a writer. I’ve been following her on TikTok for a while, so I am rooting for her. I really see the potential and know that she could one day be a top writer in the YA fantasy genre. However, I am giving this book 2.5 stars because I think I liked this book just as much as I disliked it.