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shelfgremlin 's review for:
The Aspect of Essence
by Samantha Amstutz
DID NOT FINISH: 68%
I - the final straw was when she exploded a rabbit for *funsies.* Yes, I know that's a generalization and that there's more to the story, she still agreed to explode a rabbit for no good reason. You're not going to convince me there aren't other ways to practice. The others didn't have to do it.
These characters were boring as hell. The only one I even kinda liked for a minute was Vesryn (our elf prince) because he wasn't a two dimensional cardboard cutout. I've been trying to read this book for the past week or two and every time I picked it up it felt like a chore. Serenna, the human/elf hybrid, was very bland as a FMC. You meet this girl and it's like the only thing she thinks about is elves and how cool they are. Her emotions are all over the place, which, fair, but at some point her wild emotions begin to feel like a cop out for the bad character development. Instead of going through a journey of growth, lets just *whoopsie* completely change our mind again with no actual justification for what is happening.
Not to mention, she's *just now* learning to use her powers half way thorough the book and is somehow an instant master. Oh, Mary Jane, how I missed thee...
Jassyn, another of the major male characters, wasn't too bad. He takes the role of a sort of mentor/reliable friend and he has an interesting back story but at times it seems like there is so much focus on his trauma (literally every time he's on page) that all he is is his trauma, ya know? ~Plot Device~
The world was interesting and there were some unique elements to the development of the elven realm as a setting. I can't say the magic system was anything special, but it was consistent and there were rules, which is more than I can say for a lot of romantasy, so I will give the author kudos on that front. I really did enjoy the author's visualization of this world and that is one of the elements that kept me wanting to read more even after I knew I should have given it up.
What made this book even more difficult is that this *seems* to be about a girl who goes to an elven magic school to learn to fight the bad guys and is then stuck in close proximity to someone she hates but then catches feelings. However, she didn't even get to the school until about 30% of the way through the book, she's exploding rabbits at 58%, and there is still no romance or major plot development toward fighting the bad guys, aka the wraith.
So I'm now over half way through this dark romantasy novel, there's no romance, there's no attraction or heated arguing, there's no fighting, she's just now learning about her powers, and all the characters are boring as hell. Nothing is happening. It's a DNF for me.
These characters were boring as hell. The only one I even kinda liked for a minute was Vesryn (our elf prince) because he wasn't a two dimensional cardboard cutout. I've been trying to read this book for the past week or two and every time I picked it up it felt like a chore. Serenna, the human/elf hybrid, was very bland as a FMC. You meet this girl and it's like the only thing she thinks about is elves and how cool they are. Her emotions are all over the place, which, fair, but at some point her wild emotions begin to feel like a cop out for the bad character development. Instead of going through a journey of growth, lets just *whoopsie* completely change our mind again with no actual justification for what is happening.
Not to mention, she's *just now* learning to use her powers half way thorough the book and is somehow an instant master. Oh, Mary Jane, how I missed thee...
Jassyn, another of the major male characters, wasn't too bad. He takes the role of a sort of mentor/reliable friend and he has an interesting back story but at times it seems like there is so much focus on his trauma (literally every time he's on page) that all he is is his trauma, ya know? ~Plot Device~
The world was interesting and there were some unique elements to the development of the elven realm as a setting. I can't say the magic system was anything special, but it was consistent and there were rules, which is more than I can say for a lot of romantasy, so I will give the author kudos on that front. I really did enjoy the author's visualization of this world and that is one of the elements that kept me wanting to read more even after I knew I should have given it up.
What made this book even more difficult is that this *seems* to be about a girl who goes to an elven magic school to learn to fight the bad guys and is then stuck in close proximity to someone she hates but then catches feelings. However, she didn't even get to the school until about 30% of the way through the book, she's exploding rabbits at 58%, and there is still no romance or major plot development toward fighting the bad guys, aka the wraith.
So I'm now over half way through this dark romantasy novel, there's no romance, there's no attraction or heated arguing, there's no fighting, she's just now learning about her powers, and all the characters are boring as hell. Nothing is happening. It's a DNF for me.