Take a photo of a barcode or cover
alix_withan_i 's review for:
Capture the Crown
by Jennifer Estep
DID NOT FINISH
This is a review of an ARC that I am grateful to have received. This is an honest review.
Capture the Crown follows the story of a princess-turned-spy to help her country. When Gemma notices the disappearance of tearstone, she disguises herself as a miner in her country to learn who is stealing the tearstone. On her search, she bumps into a prince of Morta, her country's enemy. When they were younger, they despised each other but now she might have to work with him to ensure the safety of her country.
I genuinely do not like DNFing a book, but I was three-quarters through and I couldn't read any longer. The book's pacing is incredibly slow and by slow, I mean that at the point I stopped approximately three to four days had gone by in the book. Estep also spends a lot of time describing food and more, but it felt like it dragged on. These descriptions pulled me out of the story. Overall, the plot's idea was interesting, but the pacing and events didn't hold my interest enough. The inciting incident didn't even spark an ounce of excitement in me.
At the point I stopped at, I didn't see any real development in the arcs of the characters. They stayed pretty consistent, including Gemma. While she was questioning her perspectives, I didn't see much of a difference in her character. Leonidas also wasn't given a chance at character development. The characters were enjoyable and they had depth, they just lacked the development I would have loved to see in them. I also question whether or not Gemma should have been the main character because Leonidas' sisters, Delmira, seemed to have a more interesting story to tell.
In terms of world-building, it felt unimaginative. The world-building felt like something I could find in almost any fantasy book. There was nothing that denoted it as being unique in my opinion. On top of that, I felt that the first one hundred pages were dedicated to a whole lot of exposition. Instead of being thrust into the world, it felt like I was being talked at with a boring history of the world.
I enjoyed what I read, but it wasn't giving what I thought it would give. And that's fine! While this book may not have been for me, I hope that this doesn't detract from anyone's enjoyment or interest in the book!
Capture the Crown follows the story of a princess-turned-spy to help her country. When Gemma notices the disappearance of tearstone, she disguises herself as a miner in her country to learn who is stealing the tearstone. On her search, she bumps into a prince of Morta, her country's enemy. When they were younger, they despised each other but now she might have to work with him to ensure the safety of her country.
I genuinely do not like DNFing a book, but I was three-quarters through and I couldn't read any longer. The book's pacing is incredibly slow and by slow, I mean that at the point I stopped approximately three to four days had gone by in the book. Estep also spends a lot of time describing food and more, but it felt like it dragged on. These descriptions pulled me out of the story. Overall, the plot's idea was interesting, but the pacing and events didn't hold my interest enough. The inciting incident didn't even spark an ounce of excitement in me.
At the point I stopped at, I didn't see any real development in the arcs of the characters. They stayed pretty consistent, including Gemma. While she was questioning her perspectives, I didn't see much of a difference in her character. Leonidas also wasn't given a chance at character development. The characters were enjoyable and they had depth, they just lacked the development I would have loved to see in them. I also question whether or not Gemma should have been the main character because Leonidas' sisters, Delmira, seemed to have a more interesting story to tell.
In terms of world-building, it felt unimaginative. The world-building felt like something I could find in almost any fantasy book. There was nothing that denoted it as being unique in my opinion. On top of that, I felt that the first one hundred pages were dedicated to a whole lot of exposition. Instead of being thrust into the world, it felt like I was being talked at with a boring history of the world.
I enjoyed what I read, but it wasn't giving what I thought it would give. And that's fine! While this book may not have been for me, I hope that this doesn't detract from anyone's enjoyment or interest in the book!