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A review by ninascozydayreads
The Guardian by Elizabetta Holcomb
5.0
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
Rating: 4,5I
So, a while ago I received this book as an ARC. Or well... it would've been an ARC, had I replied earlier which I didn't so I received it as an ebook on the release date. Since Elizabetta was kind enough to send it to me, I started reading it right after I finished A Dance With Dragons (the whole series took me almost a year, but so worth it). She also sent me like promo pics with quotes from the book and when I read them, I wasn't sure what to think. Like, one of the quotes on the pictures I received was “She was a lioness, and she belonged to him.” That's just a quote which I'm not sure what to think of. But I read it anyways and I loved the book.
I loved the writing style. It was quite a refreshment. I had just finished a series with a pretty dense writing style, and this was just so much easier to read (please note this isn't a bad thing). It was light, it was fast-paced, it was just perfect. I also loved how 'short' the book was and I would have finished it sooner if I had had the time.
I also I really loved the characters. Elizabet is just such a cutie who should be protected from everything at all costs. And despite her struggles and own problems she manages to get through life and I admire her for that kind of courage. Also Minh and Gabriel... They don't make a lot of appearances, but I did get attached to them... I get attached way too fast.
Then there's Jareth and he's.... not your typical guy. Now, let's do keep in mind that he's from another century like 700 years ago, so he's old fashioned and maybe a little too old fashioned? Like even Edward Cullen was more modern than Jareth Tremaine. Why, you ask? Well Jareth is a male, 14th century England. And in that time the role for women and men was a lot different. And he does show that, he's.. he's pretty dominant which put me off a little at first. But he can also be very charming and sweet and he's incredibly smart so this does make him a great character.
The book was really fast paced. There were a lot of things happening, one action followed the other and it was awesome. I don't think there was ever a moment where I was like “ugghh, this is so boring I can't do this” because it's action packed which makes it great.
I do have one thing I didn't like that much. And that's more a general thing than a specific thing. See, this is the first book in the Chronicles of Amalgam series. And usually, when you have first books, things get explained. If something is not like the real world, the why is usually explained in that first book to set ground for the series. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of that in The Guardian. I have no idea what the Amalgam is, why host are needed and why they need guardians. I have no idea why they are doing what they do, why they are time traveling and why (spoiler alert maybe) someone is trying to kill Jareth. Could be I read over it, or maybe forgot it but I am pretty sure I didn't see much of an explanation in the book which I do think is a shame. Why? Because now I really have no idea what will happen in the next book. What will they fight for, what will they fight against?
This book would have been perfect if there had been a little more ground for the next book, a little more clearance on everything.
But despite that minor thing of not really explaining everything (you think I would count this heavier than a half star, but the thing is that you don't really get confused despite not knowing some stuff. Maybe because it's so fast paced and you don't really have time to think about that sort of stuff, I don't know) it was still a great read, honestly.
I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to people who like time travel books since time traveling is a huge element. And if you want to get started with that genre, this is a great start. Also a side note; this wasn't only my first 'ARC', but also my first time travel book and I'm honestly happy that this was the first book in that genre I got to read.
Rating: 4,5I
So, a while ago I received this book as an ARC. Or well... it would've been an ARC, had I replied earlier which I didn't so I received it as an ebook on the release date. Since Elizabetta was kind enough to send it to me, I started reading it right after I finished A Dance With Dragons (the whole series took me almost a year, but so worth it). She also sent me like promo pics with quotes from the book and when I read them, I wasn't sure what to think. Like, one of the quotes on the pictures I received was “She was a lioness, and she belonged to him.” That's just a quote which I'm not sure what to think of. But I read it anyways and I loved the book.
I loved the writing style. It was quite a refreshment. I had just finished a series with a pretty dense writing style, and this was just so much easier to read (please note this isn't a bad thing). It was light, it was fast-paced, it was just perfect. I also loved how 'short' the book was and I would have finished it sooner if I had had the time.
I also I really loved the characters. Elizabet is just such a cutie who should be protected from everything at all costs. And despite her struggles and own problems she manages to get through life and I admire her for that kind of courage. Also Minh and Gabriel... They don't make a lot of appearances, but I did get attached to them... I get attached way too fast.
Then there's Jareth and he's.... not your typical guy. Now, let's do keep in mind that he's from another century like 700 years ago, so he's old fashioned and maybe a little too old fashioned? Like even Edward Cullen was more modern than Jareth Tremaine. Why, you ask? Well Jareth is a male, 14th century England. And in that time the role for women and men was a lot different. And he does show that, he's.. he's pretty dominant which put me off a little at first. But he can also be very charming and sweet and he's incredibly smart so this does make him a great character.
The book was really fast paced. There were a lot of things happening, one action followed the other and it was awesome. I don't think there was ever a moment where I was like “ugghh, this is so boring I can't do this” because it's action packed which makes it great.
I do have one thing I didn't like that much. And that's more a general thing than a specific thing. See, this is the first book in the Chronicles of Amalgam series. And usually, when you have first books, things get explained. If something is not like the real world, the why is usually explained in that first book to set ground for the series. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of that in The Guardian. I have no idea what the Amalgam is, why host are needed and why they need guardians. I have no idea why they are doing what they do, why they are time traveling and why (spoiler alert maybe) someone is trying to kill Jareth. Could be I read over it, or maybe forgot it but I am pretty sure I didn't see much of an explanation in the book which I do think is a shame. Why? Because now I really have no idea what will happen in the next book. What will they fight for, what will they fight against?
This book would have been perfect if there had been a little more ground for the next book, a little more clearance on everything.
But despite that minor thing of not really explaining everything (you think I would count this heavier than a half star, but the thing is that you don't really get confused despite not knowing some stuff. Maybe because it's so fast paced and you don't really have time to think about that sort of stuff, I don't know) it was still a great read, honestly.
I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to people who like time travel books since time traveling is a huge element. And if you want to get started with that genre, this is a great start. Also a side note; this wasn't only my first 'ARC', but also my first time travel book and I'm honestly happy that this was the first book in that genre I got to read.