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A review by aotora
The Elders by Inbali Iserles
1.0
I loved the first book. In fact, it was one of my favourite books I've read this year. I loved the characters, loved the magic and I loved the story. But then... this one came along.
As much as I loved the first one I hated this one. There were a few moments that I enjoyed- but they were few and far between and they couldn't redeem the book for me.
In the first book we meet Isla. Her family was killed off by a skulk of Mage's foxes (the Taken) - it was an interesting backstory, it gave her the motivation for fighting The mage - but then in this book - we have 3 more main characters... with the exact same backstory and it just became boring and repetitive and uninteresting really fast.
This book also introduced a lot of new characters that had the potential to be interesting and different... only for them to either disappear for the rest of the book soon after they were introduced or be killed off pages after they were introduced. And I feel like Mox was the worst one in my opinion. Mox was born prematurely and he looked like a cub even though he was an adult. He couldn't fight, he couldn't hunt but he was really smart- so I really thought that okay maybe Isla will either find a way to teach him foxcraft despite of his weaker state - especially because he really, really wants to go with them and learn - but then his aunts make him stay behind and he is killed off whilst Isla goes away with his siblings to teach them foxcraft. I was kind of expecting him to go with them and at least watch - it would be an interesting dynamic if they went to the journey to the Elders with him - like how would they keep him alive? If he died on the journey it would be so much better than him being killed off off screen when his entire skulk is either killed off either taken by the army - maybe the Elders could find a way to heal him, maybe the group could use his brains - I don't know, something would've been better than what we got.
Haiki's betrayal - nah I didn't feel this one. He gave no indication of ever being evil and him suddenly turning on Isla and the group revealing that he was evil all along and that he tricked them just felt so unearned and stupid, especially because he runs away never to be seen again in this book right after he leads the army to the rock. I know that he redeems himself in the last book - but I would more expect Siffrin to turn out to be the traitor than him because he gave no indication whatsoever that he was one until he suddenly was. I don't buy it and I hate the fact that they ruined his character this badly.
Foxcraft- I loved foxcraft in the first book but here.. Isla can just learn it super fast, break all the rules and not have any consequences. Like, the Elders specifically tell her that she shouldn't shape shift into a bird, she does anyways, she flies, falls down from pretty high up into the icy river but she somehow still gets out unharmed - yeah sure, of course she does. And she basically wastes all the maa the Elders gave her right away. She is also showing over and over throughout the entire book that she is immature and reckless and not ready so I am not sure why they decided to trust her with this magic at all.
All in all- I loved the first book, hated this one and I hope that the third book redeems the series for me because I love the idea and the lore so I am really looking forward to the third book and the wolves and the dynamic between wolves and foxes.
As much as I loved the first one I hated this one. There were a few moments that I enjoyed- but they were few and far between and they couldn't redeem the book for me.
In the first book we meet Isla. Her family was killed off by a skulk of Mage's foxes (the Taken) - it was an interesting backstory, it gave her the motivation for fighting The mage - but then in this book - we have 3 more main characters... with the exact same backstory and it just became boring and repetitive and uninteresting really fast.
This book also introduced a lot of new characters that had the potential to be interesting and different... only for them to either disappear for the rest of the book soon after they were introduced or be killed off pages after they were introduced. And I feel like Mox was the worst one in my opinion. Mox was born prematurely and he looked like a cub even though he was an adult. He couldn't fight, he couldn't hunt but he was really smart- so I really thought that okay maybe Isla will either find a way to teach him foxcraft despite of his weaker state - especially because he really, really wants to go with them and learn - but then his aunts make him stay behind and he is killed off whilst Isla goes away with his siblings to teach them foxcraft. I was kind of expecting him to go with them and at least watch - it would be an interesting dynamic if they went to the journey to the Elders with him - like how would they keep him alive? If he died on the journey it would be so much better than him being killed off off screen when his entire skulk is either killed off either taken by the army - maybe the Elders could find a way to heal him, maybe the group could use his brains - I don't know, something would've been better than what we got.
Haiki's betrayal - nah I didn't feel this one. He gave no indication of ever being evil and him suddenly turning on Isla and the group revealing that he was evil all along and that he tricked them just felt so unearned and stupid, especially because he runs away never to be seen again in this book right after he leads the army to the rock. I know that he redeems himself in the last book - but I would more expect Siffrin to turn out to be the traitor than him because he gave no indication whatsoever that he was one until he suddenly was. I don't buy it and I hate the fact that they ruined his character this badly.
Foxcraft- I loved foxcraft in the first book but here.. Isla can just learn it super fast, break all the rules and not have any consequences. Like, the Elders specifically tell her that she shouldn't shape shift into a bird, she does anyways, she flies, falls down from pretty high up into the icy river but she somehow still gets out unharmed - yeah sure, of course she does. And she basically wastes all the maa the Elders gave her right away. She is also showing over and over throughout the entire book that she is immature and reckless and not ready so I am not sure why they decided to trust her with this magic at all.
All in all- I loved the first book, hated this one and I hope that the third book redeems the series for me because I love the idea and the lore so I am really looking forward to the third book and the wolves and the dynamic between wolves and foxes.