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A review by rachaeljanae
Guardian by Lexie Winston
2.0
The first thing that really put me off this book was the Author's Note at the very beginning. I get the whole debate on whether or not to include content warnings, since it can spoil some things but also can be a good advertiser for people who want certain things out of their books. But if you think that it is not necessary/wanted in your own books, don't include them. Don't say "Author's Note: Snowflake edition." That is condescending and unnecessary and very dismissive of people who may have legitimate concerns about certain content. And that was all on page two, so I was already starting the book with a negative view of this experience.
There was basically no world-building at the beginning of this book, and I mean I was not sure if we were on Earth for at least four chapters. They have this odd mix of technology and historical things, such as one character randomly wearing a full-on Victorian dress with corset and everything, but others wearing super sleek, futuristic battle-wear. They also had hover-carriages and the ability to portal, but also horse-drawn carriages for no apparent reason. If there's a way to get around like hovercrafts and portals, why do we still use horses??? And if there's a real reason, I can get on board, but this was not explained and felt like the author decided on it just because it feels steampunk. Steampunk still needs to make cohesive sense, and the way this was incorporated didn't. The entire world in which the book takes place isn't really fully explained until the end of the book through whatever bits and pieces were described throughout the book, but still difficult to get a full picture as we are experiencing the plot.
The overall plot was pretty predictable, both in this book and throughout the series. Does it get better? A bit, but it's not a ground-breaking series. On a personal note, there is a point at which the main character showers like four times in one day and I was really confused as to why since it wasn't like she was working out or in battle or anything.
There was basically no world-building at the beginning of this book, and I mean I was not sure if we were on Earth for at least four chapters. They have this odd mix of technology and historical things, such as one character randomly wearing a full-on Victorian dress with corset and everything, but others wearing super sleek, futuristic battle-wear. They also had hover-carriages and the ability to portal, but also horse-drawn carriages for no apparent reason. If there's a way to get around like hovercrafts and portals, why do we still use horses??? And if there's a real reason, I can get on board, but this was not explained and felt like the author decided on it just because it feels steampunk. Steampunk still needs to make cohesive sense, and the way this was incorporated didn't. The entire world in which the book takes place isn't really fully explained until the end of the book through whatever bits and pieces were described throughout the book, but still difficult to get a full picture as we are experiencing the plot.
The overall plot was pretty predictable, both in this book and throughout the series. Does it get better? A bit, but it's not a ground-breaking series. On a personal note, there is a point at which the main character showers like four times in one day and I was really confused as to why since it wasn't like she was working out or in battle or anything.