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A review by bookishjournal1
Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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? Yes
3.5
I received this book as an e-ARC on Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Dauntless is a lush and beautiful of example of fantasy world-building that drops readers immediately into the action. We are not being handheld through this world, rather we are expected to immerse ourselves and learn along the way.
I really enjoyed the way Eliasa Bonnin writes their characters. Seri, Tsana, and Eshai are such interesting and complicated people and I liked getting the multiple viewpoints to see what each of them were thinking and feeling. I loved that there is sapphic representation in this book but I did feel like Tsana was slightly underdeveloped compared to Seri and Eshai. However I did enjoy seeing the push and pull of Seri and Tsana's own version of history and lore and when they come to a head, they are both trying to desperately hold on to their version whole grappling with a different truth. I think that will always be a fascinating conflict to have in a story.
This book has been marketed as being inspired by Filipino folklore and mythology and while I did see some traces of inspiration I think it might be difficult to spot for some others. My other gripe with this book is the pacing. For me, it does start off too slow but then speed runs through some of the plot so it felt uneven in some places. However the battle sequences in this book are really well-written and vivid which I appreciated.
I think this book does a good job of being an action packed and emotional entry that will satisfy a lot of reader's desire for a diverse YA story. I really enjoyed Bonnin's writing and look forward to their future works!
Dauntless is a lush and beautiful of example of fantasy world-building that drops readers immediately into the action. We are not being handheld through this world, rather we are expected to immerse ourselves and learn along the way.
I really enjoyed the way Eliasa Bonnin writes their characters. Seri, Tsana, and Eshai are such interesting and complicated people and I liked getting the multiple viewpoints to see what each of them were thinking and feeling. I loved that there is sapphic representation in this book but I did feel like Tsana was slightly underdeveloped compared to Seri and Eshai. However I did enjoy seeing the push and pull of Seri and Tsana's own version of history and lore and when they come to a head, they are both trying to desperately hold on to their version whole grappling with a different truth. I think that will always be a fascinating conflict to have in a story.
This book has been marketed as being inspired by Filipino folklore and mythology and while I did see some traces of inspiration I think it might be difficult to spot for some others. My other gripe with this book is the pacing. For me, it does start off too slow but then speed runs through some of the plot so it felt uneven in some places. However the battle sequences in this book are really well-written and vivid which I appreciated.
I think this book does a good job of being an action packed and emotional entry that will satisfy a lot of reader's desire for a diverse YA story. I really enjoyed Bonnin's writing and look forward to their future works!