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A review by kaylyn_loves_fantasy
House of Ash and Shadow by Leia Stone
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.0
Stars: 0/5
Writing/verbage: 0/5
Romance: 1/5
Plot: 0/5
Characters: 0/5
Age: 9+
Review:
DNF. Before reading this book I tried another book by Leia Stone called ‘The Last Dragon King.’ Both of these books were DNF.
Good:
…
Bad:
The dialogue and verbiage. The dialogue reminded me of my stories that I wrote in elementary school. There was no personality to the speech and oftentimes I would have rather there been no dialogue because it was so cringe worthy and pointless. The verbiage was so juvenile that I honestly believed it was written by a middle schooler with a limited vocabulary. For example, I could not tell you have many times the phrase ‘that was mean’ was used!
The ‘telling not showing’. In any good book there is description of actions that shows the emotions of the character. In this book, I was told what the main character and everyone around her felt or acted in situations. It was painful.
The lack of physical description. Throughout the book I had no idea what anyone looked like. What was the main characters hair color? Couldn’t tell you. The love interest’s race? No idea. If the best friend has freckles or not? You know as much as I do.
The characters. All of the characters within the book were lifeless and annoying. Everyone seemed to love the main character even though she was ridiculous and self absorbed. They seemed to all share the same personality traits.
The relationships between the characters. Everyone had such a basic relationship with each other. Obviously everyone is instant friends with the main character and love her to death, and that is pretty much the entirety of their relationship. The dad especially was feminine and annoying, always crying and complaining despite the description of him as being tough and stone faced.
The misplaced use of modern technology. It was like the author couldn’t think of other ways to do certain things such as obtain electricity. Some things within the books were rudimentary, while others were advanced, created a mixed environment that was not easily understandable. Also lived was the language, in which the characters would use slang as well as old-timey verbiage, which was confusing to say the least.
The description of cultural aspects. I felt that everyone was mentioning things in passing and never explaining it to the readers. I never knew what was going on. Take the aspect of the Nightlings for example. They were mentioned in passing and then the main character was told that she would turn into one. How would she turn into one? Why hadn’t she already? What even is it? I never found out.
The pacing. The pacing was way too fast. Within the first ten pages so much had happened that I had no idea how to keep track of time. It seems like her dad was happy, then dying, and then healed all in the same sentence.
The school aspect. This felt like High School Musical with all of the dramatics going on. I’m surprised they didn’t break out in song. There was a classic mean girl and a ‘nice’ girl, a tough ‘I’m not like the other girls’ best friend, and a mysterious and gross love interest. Boring!
Fallon’s strange obsession with Ariyon. From the moment they first met she was admiring him creepily and talking about how good his back felt as they were riding a horse. Creepy! This continued throughout the book and icky romance scenes. I just couldn’t stand reading it!
The main character. This was easily the most annoying main character I have ever read. She was self centered and had no awareness whatsoever. She was such the stereotypical main character, complete with dramatic, self-absorbed scenes and everything! Take when she found out her lineage for example. When the teacher told her about that she literally got up on a desk and opened a window in order to breathe fresh air. Like, what?
Finally:
Overall this book was a wreck. It felt like a first draft. If rewritten and expanded upon, it could possibly be ok, but I do not recommend.
Writing/verbage: 0/5
Romance: 1/5
Plot: 0/5
Characters: 0/5
Age: 9+
Review:
DNF. Before reading this book I tried another book by Leia Stone called ‘The Last Dragon King.’ Both of these books were DNF.
Good:
…
Bad:
The dialogue and verbiage. The dialogue reminded me of my stories that I wrote in elementary school. There was no personality to the speech and oftentimes I would have rather there been no dialogue because it was so cringe worthy and pointless. The verbiage was so juvenile that I honestly believed it was written by a middle schooler with a limited vocabulary. For example, I could not tell you have many times the phrase ‘that was mean’ was used!
The ‘telling not showing’. In any good book there is description of actions that shows the emotions of the character. In this book, I was told what the main character and everyone around her felt or acted in situations. It was painful.
The lack of physical description. Throughout the book I had no idea what anyone looked like. What was the main characters hair color? Couldn’t tell you. The love interest’s race? No idea. If the best friend has freckles or not? You know as much as I do.
The characters. All of the characters within the book were lifeless and annoying. Everyone seemed to love the main character even though she was ridiculous and self absorbed. They seemed to all share the same personality traits.
The relationships between the characters. Everyone had such a basic relationship with each other. Obviously everyone is instant friends with the main character and love her to death, and that is pretty much the entirety of their relationship. The dad especially was feminine and annoying, always crying and complaining despite the description of him as being tough and stone faced.
The misplaced use of modern technology. It was like the author couldn’t think of other ways to do certain things such as obtain electricity. Some things within the books were rudimentary, while others were advanced, created a mixed environment that was not easily understandable. Also lived was the language, in which the characters would use slang as well as old-timey verbiage, which was confusing to say the least.
The description of cultural aspects. I felt that everyone was mentioning things in passing and never explaining it to the readers. I never knew what was going on. Take the aspect of the Nightlings for example. They were mentioned in passing and then the main character was told that she would turn into one. How would she turn into one? Why hadn’t she already? What even is it? I never found out.
The pacing. The pacing was way too fast. Within the first ten pages so much had happened that I had no idea how to keep track of time. It seems like her dad was happy, then dying, and then healed all in the same sentence.
The school aspect. This felt like High School Musical with all of the dramatics going on. I’m surprised they didn’t break out in song. There was a classic mean girl and a ‘nice’ girl, a tough ‘I’m not like the other girls’ best friend, and a mysterious and gross love interest. Boring!
Fallon’s strange obsession with Ariyon. From the moment they first met she was admiring him creepily and talking about how good his back felt as they were riding a horse. Creepy! This continued throughout the book and icky romance scenes. I just couldn’t stand reading it!
The main character. This was easily the most annoying main character I have ever read. She was self centered and had no awareness whatsoever. She was such the stereotypical main character, complete with dramatic, self-absorbed scenes and everything! Take when she found out her lineage for example. When the teacher told her about that she literally got up on a desk and opened a window in order to breathe fresh air. Like, what?
Finally:
Overall this book was a wreck. It felt like a first draft. If rewritten and expanded upon, it could possibly be ok, but I do not recommend.