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A review by esmeem
The Valiant by Lesley Livingston
5.0
This was the first ever book I listened to on audiobook, and I think it kind of tainted my experience of this book. Since this was my first experience with audio, I will first review my experience, and then get into my review of the book itself. I got my audiobook as a part of my free Audible trail. I really wanted to read this book, and I wanted to try if I would like the format of an audiobook. It started off as a bit of a disappointment, as it took me some time to get into both the format and the story. I quickly found that the reading was too slow for my taste, and played the entire book in a 1.25x speed. Furthermore, I did not really enjoy the voice of the narrater, and was a bit annoyed by how she did the voices for the characters. However, after a while I got used to the format, and I actually found it quite convenient. This way, I could enjoy a book even when I was cooking, walking to class, or doing something else that normally wouldn't combine well with reading.
I think the story was epic, and I know if I would have read the physical copy I would have enjoyed it even more. Therefore, I have decided to rate my experience based on the story itself. I ended up enjoying the book more than I thought I would. It started off as a 3 star read, okay but not very special, but throughout the story I started getting more engaged. About halfway through, it became a solid 4 star read, and towards the end it got so awesome that I rated it 5 stars and added it to my favourite books. I am a big fan of "epic" books with a strong female lead, such as Queen of Shadows, ACOMAF, Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Illuminae, and I think this book can be added to that list. Fallon was a great main character, because she was strong, smart and flawed, and from halfway through the book I was really rooting for her.
Overall, this turned out to be a great read. I loved Fallon and Cai, and I am highly anticipating the next book. Even though I didn't really like the format, the story made up for it big time. I might even buy the physical copy of the book to re-read it, because I am sure I will enjoy it even more then.
I think the story was epic, and I know if I would have read the physical copy I would have enjoyed it even more. Therefore, I have decided to rate my experience based on the story itself. I ended up enjoying the book more than I thought I would. It started off as a 3 star read, okay but not very special, but throughout the story I started getting more engaged. About halfway through, it became a solid 4 star read, and towards the end it got so awesome that I rated it 5 stars and added it to my favourite books. I am a big fan of "epic" books with a strong female lead, such as Queen of Shadows, ACOMAF, Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Illuminae, and I think this book can be added to that list. Fallon was a great main character, because she was strong, smart and flawed, and from halfway through the book I was really rooting for her.
Spoiler
The plottwists in this book were awesome and very well done. When Mael's character was introduced, I was afraid this book would revolve around a love triangle between Fallon's "long time best friend" and a new character (Hunger Games style), but that was not the case at all. I felt that the writer dealt with a lot of these could-have-been-chliche-plotlines really well (I was a bit afraid Fallon would fall in love with her slave trader tbh). And then THE plottwist. It was so well done. I loved it. The identity of Lady Achillea and her story with Charon was one of the reasons this book ended up being a favourite. Another reason was definitely Caius Varro. I loved him. His reaction after Fallon's final winning was so cute, I really hope he's more present in the next book.Overall, this turned out to be a great read. I loved Fallon and Cai, and I am highly anticipating the next book. Even though I didn't really like the format, the story made up for it big time. I might even buy the physical copy of the book to re-read it, because I am sure I will enjoy it even more then.