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A review by ninebookishlives
The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma
Did not finish book. Stopped at 21%.
It's not often I post negative reviews and even more rare for me to talk about books I DNF (do not finish), but with this being highly anticipated for me last year and an ARC sent by the publisher, I felt I had to acknowledge it.
Sadly, this book just suffered from pacing. I had been reading for 110 pages and could not tell you much about the world, magic, or characters. It started out interesting, and I really thought we would pick-up after a couple of POVs, but sadly it didn't.
We had three POVs and only one I found interesting, which was the King. It felt like all the information about the world and magic were in his chapters. Maybe that would change if I had continued to read, but I felt strained from those first hundred pages. I did a quick look at reviews and most said things didn't pick up until 50% in. The fact that it took me 2 days to get that far,felt lost, and could feel a slump coming on, I couldn't continue on.
I can say that the book had promise and I was so sad to have to face up. Aparna's felt promising, like something I could enjoy in a smaller book. Or, and I've been wondering this, maybe I'm just not an epic fantasy-girly like I think I am lol.
Despite DNFing this, I would still try another standalone or series from Aparna, as I said I did enjoy the writing - it's just either pacing or the subgenre that wasn't working for me.
Sadly, this book just suffered from pacing. I had been reading for 110 pages and could not tell you much about the world, magic, or characters. It started out interesting, and I really thought we would pick-up after a couple of POVs, but sadly it didn't.
We had three POVs and only one I found interesting, which was the King. It felt like all the information about the world and magic were in his chapters. Maybe that would change if I had continued to read, but I felt strained from those first hundred pages. I did a quick look at reviews and most said things didn't pick up until 50% in. The fact that it took me 2 days to get that far,felt lost, and could feel a slump coming on, I couldn't continue on.
I can say that the book had promise and I was so sad to have to face up. Aparna's felt promising, like something I could enjoy in a smaller book. Or, and I've been wondering this, maybe I'm just not an epic fantasy-girly like I think I am lol.
Despite DNFing this, I would still try another standalone or series from Aparna, as I said I did enjoy the writing - it's just either pacing or the subgenre that wasn't working for me.