Take a photo of a barcode or cover
melissaraereads 's review for:
Lord of the White Hell: Book one
by Ginn Hale
“To fear what you do not understand is to mistake ignorance for safety.”
As always, a disclaimer. You do not have to share my thoughts and opinions on this book. If you loved the book, then I am so happy. Unfortunately, there are some things that I didn’t like that people might disagree with, but I need to say it in order to write an honest review.
Okay, so here is the thing. I had to wait half a day before I could finally get myself in the right mindset to write this review as honestly as possible. Because the truth is, I loved 90% of this book. I really did. But that final chapter? Had me ranting and raving and unable to finish it for at least 45 minutes. More on that later though.
Okay so what is this story about?
This is the story of Kiram, who is a Haldiim of extreme intellectual capabilities that is invited to attend the prestigious Sagrada Academy for his schooling. He is the second Haldiim to be enrolled, and if successful the first one to graduate from the academy. He is assigned to be Javier’s underclassmen and roommate, mostly because no one wants to room with either of them. (Haldiim are considered dirty and below the consideration of the Cadeleonians, while Javier, who is a Duke is considered cursed by his own people with something known as the White Hell). This is their story of instant attraction, lurking shadows, and untold secrets.
Plot wise, this book is slow. It’s not as fast-paced as some of the other books I have read, but it doesn’t exactly bore me to tears either. I found myself compelled by the story and interested in the characters. There were a lot of unanswered questions throughout the book, and often I found myself getting an answer that just led to three more questions. Which is why I am not that surprised that after the book ended I was less informed than I thought.
The characters of Javier and Kiram were interesting for different reasons. Javier, who is a Duke and cursed with the White Hell, is sort of the leader of the "cool kids/hooligans" club. I found his character interesting in the sense that he has two faces. He has the over-cocky, arrogant and confident side of himself that he uses in public. Then he has the slightly melancholy, wise and aloof side that he shows to Kiram. Interwoven through both facades is his moments of kindness and caring, such as with the way he treats his cousin or even his oldest friends.
But that doesn’t mean he is without flaws. Because this character is seriously flawed. He is almost too arrogant, especially in the first chapter where he assumes Kiram will (as Kiram said) become his bathhouse whore or his insane jealousy and possessive nature towards anyone female that Kiram mentions or even interacts with. I mean, I liked the subtle character growth but felt that growth was diminished in that final chapter. (I am serious when I say the final chapter had me hating him so much.)
Kiram is a smart and independent young man who I felt showed so much promise as a character but was slowly diminished into some swoony teenager who is constantly battling his internal attraction to Javier. I mean in the first few chapters I loved how he was this intelligent person who didn’t care what other people thought of him, who just wanted to be the best he could be at the academy. He was shrewd and resilient, and I loved him early on. But when his character growth was more focused on his relationship with Javier and trying to help Javier, I became less invested in the character.
The writing of this book was amazing, although sometimes I found it pretentious. The descriptions were sometimes too drawn out and made some of the scenes slightly boring and unnecessarily long. But I liked the universe, even if sometimes I struggled to read the names or keep track of the many characters, I soon got into the flow of it.
This was my first book by this author, and I have mixed feelings about it. I loved a lot of the story, but I hated the way the book was concluded. A lot of the time I wanted the author to just get to the point while simultaneously loving the writing style and descriptions. I guess I am just full of contradictions for this book. I guess I will be reading the next book, regardless of how much I didn’t like the ending to the first book. But unless the second book is a saving grace, I don’t think I will be reading this book again soon.
Overall, 2.5 stars rather than 3 rating.
As always, a disclaimer. You do not have to share my thoughts and opinions on this book. If you loved the book, then I am so happy. Unfortunately, there are some things that I didn’t like that people might disagree with, but I need to say it in order to write an honest review.
Okay, so here is the thing. I had to wait half a day before I could finally get myself in the right mindset to write this review as honestly as possible. Because the truth is, I loved 90% of this book. I really did. But that final chapter? Had me ranting and raving and unable to finish it for at least 45 minutes.
Spoiler
Because in my honest opinion, the brothel scene was just not needed! There must have been another way to cause conflict, right? I know Javier isn’t gay, more bisexual, but the fact that he got sexual gratification from a female prostitute all while his male lover, Kiram, was watching, and then told Kiram that Kiram didn’t have to feel ashamed about leaving? I was honest to God fuming mad.Okay so what is this story about?
This is the story of Kiram, who is a Haldiim of extreme intellectual capabilities that is invited to attend the prestigious Sagrada Academy for his schooling. He is the second Haldiim to be enrolled, and if successful the first one to graduate from the academy. He is assigned to be Javier’s underclassmen and roommate, mostly because no one wants to room with either of them. (Haldiim are considered dirty and below the consideration of the Cadeleonians, while Javier, who is a Duke is considered cursed by his own people with something known as the White Hell). This is their story of instant attraction, lurking shadows, and untold secrets.
Plot wise, this book is slow. It’s not as fast-paced as some of the other books I have read, but it doesn’t exactly bore me to tears either. I found myself compelled by the story and interested in the characters. There were a lot of unanswered questions throughout the book, and often I found myself getting an answer that just led to three more questions. Which is why I am not that surprised that after the book ended I was less informed than I thought.
The characters of Javier and Kiram were interesting for different reasons. Javier, who is a Duke and cursed with the White Hell, is sort of the leader of the "cool kids/hooligans" club. I found his character interesting in the sense that he has two faces. He has the over-cocky, arrogant and confident side of himself that he uses in public. Then he has the slightly melancholy, wise and aloof side that he shows to Kiram. Interwoven through both facades is his moments of kindness and caring, such as with the way he treats his cousin or even his oldest friends.
But that doesn’t mean he is without flaws. Because this character is seriously flawed. He is almost too arrogant, especially in the first chapter where he assumes Kiram will (as Kiram said) become his bathhouse whore or his insane jealousy and possessive nature towards anyone female that Kiram mentions or even interacts with. I mean,
Spoiler
he glares down anyone who gives Kiram too much attention. But he himself slept with a female prostitute, and then went on to say he did nothing wrong and Kiram was the one with a problem. Like, dude. Stop being a contradicting dick.Kiram is a smart and independent young man who I felt showed so much promise as a character but was slowly diminished into some swoony teenager who is constantly battling his internal attraction to Javier. I mean in the first few chapters I loved how he was this intelligent person who didn’t care what other people thought of him, who just wanted to be the best he could be at the academy. He was shrewd and resilient, and I loved him early on. But when his character growth was more focused on his relationship with Javier and trying to help Javier, I became less invested in the character.
Spoiler
In the final chapter though, where he breaks things off with Javier because of the whole brothel thing, I loved him again. I was so proud of him for standing up for himself and telling Javier off. I mean, I went full on cheer squad for him. I just hope he won’t run back to Javier ASAP in the next book. In fact, a part of me wants him to just leave and not look back.The writing of this book was amazing, although sometimes I found it pretentious. The descriptions were sometimes too drawn out and made some of the scenes slightly boring and unnecessarily long. But I liked the universe, even if sometimes I struggled to read the names or keep track of the many characters, I soon got into the flow of it.
This was my first book by this author, and I have mixed feelings about it. I loved a lot of the story, but I hated the way the book was concluded. A lot of the time I wanted the author to just get to the point while simultaneously loving the writing style and descriptions. I guess I am just full of contradictions for this book. I guess I will be reading the next book, regardless of how much I didn’t like the ending to the first book. But unless the second book is a saving grace, I don’t think I will be reading this book again soon.
Overall, 2.5 stars rather than 3 rating.