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vi_isreading 's review for:
Crown of Earth and Sky
by Emberly Ash
Unfortunately, this was such a slog for me. Two stars because it is just so long, and I know that the issue was my taste as a reader. But for me, the writing was just too tedious, and I didn’t love the first-person narration (though I usually do like dual-POV), and I found it difficult to connect with either Veyka or Arran.
In Crown of Earth and Sky, we follow Vekya, the unwilling Queen of the Elemental fae, as she struggles to deal with the new responsibilities of a life she did not ask for. Arran, the Brutal Prince (I’m not sure if he’s actually a prince or if he earned the title, but I’m sure it was explained, and I just missed it in between the passages and passages of his lust for Vekya’s massive honkers), joins Vekya at her court as her betrothed and thus begins what is at least 400 pages of mass confusion.
I was never really sure where the author was trying to lead me in the plot, it felt like so many subjects would be brought up with very little relevance to the story overall. The writing was very matter-of-fact, with very little showing and mostly just telling. Additionally, as this is first person, there were several times when Arran or Vekya referred to their abilities as “fae”. But seeing as they are fae, these enhanced abilities should be their norm. For example, Arran refers to the ability to hear well and calls his ears “fae ears”, disconnecting them completely from the fact that they ARE fae. There were times when Arran/Vekya would explain their abilities in a way that was almost insulting to the reader. We are aware they are not humans. Again, there needed to be less telling and more showing.
Now, let’s talk about it. If I had a nickel for every time I had to read the word “buxom”, I would have two nickels. Which is not a lot nickels, but it is weird that it happened twice. The word breasts appears exactly 50 times throughout the novel, 42% of these times is Arran discussing Vekya’s curves. In conjunction with this, the word “my beast” appears 74 times. Very few of Arran’s opinions regarding Vekya were separate from his appreciation of her physical features. Listen, I also love a great pair of tits, but it makes Arran’s POV so aggravating to read.
All in all, for me, the slow pacing was excruciating, and the characters were too annoying to be likable. And while this is definitely not my style of fantasy, it is one that I can see being appealing to others.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
In Crown of Earth and Sky, we follow Vekya, the unwilling Queen of the Elemental fae, as she struggles to deal with the new responsibilities of a life she did not ask for. Arran, the Brutal Prince (I’m not sure if he’s actually a prince or if he earned the title, but I’m sure it was explained, and I just missed it in between the passages and passages of his lust for Vekya’s massive honkers), joins Vekya at her court as her betrothed and thus begins what is at least 400 pages of mass confusion.
I was never really sure where the author was trying to lead me in the plot, it felt like so many subjects would be brought up with very little relevance to the story overall. The writing was very matter-of-fact, with very little showing and mostly just telling. Additionally, as this is first person, there were several times when Arran or Vekya referred to their abilities as “fae”. But seeing as they are fae, these enhanced abilities should be their norm. For example, Arran refers to the ability to hear well and calls his ears “fae ears”, disconnecting them completely from the fact that they ARE fae. There were times when Arran/Vekya would explain their abilities in a way that was almost insulting to the reader. We are aware they are not humans. Again, there needed to be less telling and more showing.
Now, let’s talk about it. If I had a nickel for every time I had to read the word “buxom”, I would have two nickels. Which is not a lot nickels, but it is weird that it happened twice. The word breasts appears exactly 50 times throughout the novel, 42% of these times is Arran discussing Vekya’s curves. In conjunction with this, the word “my beast” appears 74 times. Very few of Arran’s opinions regarding Vekya were separate from his appreciation of her physical features. Listen, I also love a great pair of tits, but it makes Arran’s POV so aggravating to read.
All in all, for me, the slow pacing was excruciating, and the characters were too annoying to be likable. And while this is definitely not my style of fantasy, it is one that I can see being appealing to others.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.