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A review by bpgorence
Taken by Erin Bowman
2.0
This book was very okay. Not good, not bad, just very okay. The premise was interesting, at least at the start, and some of the characters were worth investing in. I have two big problems with this book, though.
The first is that I kept reading, especially the first half, due to curiosity about many plot elements and what information the main character would learn next. Unfortunately, almost every revelation was either predictable or just not very exciting. I either knew already what was going to be revealed, or just kind of shrugged and said "yeah, that's interesting I guess." I'm a sucker though, so I pressed on hoping that the next reveal would be a good one. The book even ends with a big mystery to be revealed in the sequel, but I haven't decided if I want to continue with this series or not.
My second problem is that one of the characters ONLY exists to participate in a love triangle. That is her entire purpose in the story. And if there's one thing I hate more than love triangles, it's characters that don't serve a purpose beyond their love triangle. It's especially irritating since the time spent with her could be time spent letting the reader know more about Claysoot and feel attached to the town and the people, so they feel the main character's devotion to his town. Instead we waste time on a girl with little personality and zero purpose. As a result of this, I don't care about Claysoot or the people who live there. As a result of THAT, I don't care about that the main character cares about Claysoot or the people who live there. This all ends up making me not care about the main character's motivations, and when you don't care about the quest you're not going to care about the story.
Overall, this book wasn't the worst but it certainly wasn't the best. I'm debating picking up the second one, but for now I need a break.
The first is that I kept reading, especially the first half, due to curiosity about many plot elements and what information the main character would learn next. Unfortunately, almost every revelation was either predictable or just not very exciting. I either knew already what was going to be revealed, or just kind of shrugged and said "yeah, that's interesting I guess." I'm a sucker though, so I pressed on hoping that the next reveal would be a good one. The book even ends with a big mystery to be revealed in the sequel, but I haven't decided if I want to continue with this series or not.
My second problem is that one of the characters ONLY exists to participate in a love triangle. That is her entire purpose in the story. And if there's one thing I hate more than love triangles, it's characters that don't serve a purpose beyond their love triangle. It's especially irritating since the time spent with her could be time spent letting the reader know more about Claysoot and feel attached to the town and the people, so they feel the main character's devotion to his town. Instead we waste time on a girl with little personality and zero purpose. As a result of this, I don't care about Claysoot or the people who live there. As a result of THAT, I don't care about that the main character cares about Claysoot or the people who live there. This all ends up making me not care about the main character's motivations, and when you don't care about the quest you're not going to care about the story.
Overall, this book wasn't the worst but it certainly wasn't the best. I'm debating picking up the second one, but for now I need a break.