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leeseenboekpannenkoek 's review for:
Among the Beasts & Briars
by Ashley Poston
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Oh my, this book. I have a lot of feelings about this book.
First of all, the writing style. It's very pleasant to read. There's a nice variety in the length of the sentences, and the author takes care not to repeat words too often. It's a very dynamic read that way. The writer can also describe scenes very vividly, which made me shiver during tense scenes. It really reads like you play a game and they're building tension for a jumpscare. Goosebumps, especially when they're in that bloody cabin in the woods.
Every now and then I got the idea that the author got a bit carried away with describing the environments, but that happened rarely, and even then it keeps your attention.
The characters are very well-rounded. In the beginning I felt like it was a little bit stiff, still, like the author had to make absolutely sure that the reader understands the bond between the protagonist and her best friend, her dad, etc. etc. It's important to the story, and the rigidity of it melts away within the first two chapters or so; the chapter where you get the flashback to eight years ago especially helps with that.
I'm especially a big fan of the friendly bickering between Daisy and Fox; it starts before Fox becomes human, which definitely helps. I love that there's no unnatural hiccup where the author easily could have picked one. It shows you Daisy's character all the better and very quickly makes you root for their mutual and, frankly, adorable crush on each other. Even if they don't realize it.
And that's kind of the thing about this book. It takes a couple of tropes that are used often in stories and films, like the aforementioned "has a crush but doesn't (want to) realize it", but handles it in a way so that it'll fit the story and supports the main line, rather than take the crown. (Ha, see what I did there?)
The story itself is pretty creative. There were a couple of plot points I called early on, but there were some nice plot twists, like the crown turning out to be what it really was, and the insinuation that the original Grandmaster of Voryn was Cerys's grandmother. Or at least that's what made sense to me, but they didn't really dig into that storyline deeper. It wouldn't have made a difference for the story, anyway.
What I also liked was that there were a couple of LGBTQ+ moments sneaked into the story. I'm so not used to that in fantasy stories, I had to turn back a couple of pages because I realized only then that it was a wedding between two women. And ugh, how cute was that tiny sequel we got for Anwen and Petra? Adorable!
The book did leave me with a couple of questions, though.
1. Why did they need the crown in the first place? To me it sounded like there were more downsides to the thing than profits, so why hold onto it if you (as in, the royal family) knew the truth about it?
2. How did EVERYONE live? Vala was freaking impaled by roots, everyone turned into bone eaters... but in the end everyone was alive and mostly fine. I was glad to read most characters lived, but it would have been more realistic to have some of them die off. I know it's probably by the hand of the Lady of the Woods, but mmmeh.
TO SUMMARIZE
1. Cute power couple who saves the world.
2. Excellent writing style. Gave me goosebumps every now and then.
3. Creative plotting.
4. Well-written characters.
5. Buy this book, you will not regret it.
Oh my, this book. I have a lot of feelings about this book.
First of all, the writing style. It's very pleasant to read. There's a nice variety in the length of the sentences, and the author takes care not to repeat words too often. It's a very dynamic read that way. The writer can also describe scenes very vividly, which made me shiver during tense scenes. It really reads like you play a game and they're building tension for a jumpscare. Goosebumps, especially when they're in that bloody cabin in the woods.
Every now and then I got the idea that the author got a bit carried away with describing the environments, but that happened rarely, and even then it keeps your attention.
The characters are very well-rounded. In the beginning I felt like it was a little bit stiff, still, like the author had to make absolutely sure that the reader understands the bond between the protagonist and her best friend, her dad, etc. etc. It's important to the story, and the rigidity of it melts away within the first two chapters or so; the chapter where you get the flashback to eight years ago especially helps with that.
I'm especially a big fan of the friendly bickering between Daisy and Fox; it starts before Fox becomes human, which definitely helps. I love that there's no unnatural hiccup where the author easily could have picked one. It shows you Daisy's character all the better and very quickly makes you root for their mutual and, frankly, adorable crush on each other. Even if they don't realize it.
And that's kind of the thing about this book. It takes a couple of tropes that are used often in stories and films, like the aforementioned "has a crush but doesn't (want to) realize it", but handles it in a way so that it'll fit the story and supports the main line, rather than take the crown. (Ha, see what I did there?)
The story itself is pretty creative. There were a couple of plot points I called early on, but there were some nice plot twists, like the crown turning out to be what it really was, and the insinuation that the original Grandmaster of Voryn was Cerys's grandmother. Or at least that's what made sense to me, but they didn't really dig into that storyline deeper. It wouldn't have made a difference for the story, anyway.
What I also liked was that there were a couple of LGBTQ+ moments sneaked into the story. I'm so not used to that in fantasy stories, I had to turn back a couple of pages because I realized only then that it was a wedding between two women. And ugh, how cute was that tiny sequel we got for Anwen and Petra? Adorable!
The book did leave me with a couple of questions, though.
1. Why did they need the crown in the first place? To me it sounded like there were more downsides to the thing than profits, so why hold onto it if you (as in, the royal family) knew the truth about it?
2. How did EVERYONE live? Vala was freaking impaled by roots, everyone turned into bone eaters... but in the end everyone was alive and mostly fine. I was glad to read most characters lived, but it would have been more realistic to have some of them die off. I know it's probably by the hand of the Lady of the Woods, but mmmeh.
TO SUMMARIZE
1. Cute power couple who saves the world.
2. Excellent writing style. Gave me goosebumps every now and then.
3. Creative plotting.
4. Well-written characters.
5. Buy this book, you will not regret it.