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sonyajilani 's review for:
The Viridian Priestess
by Katrina Calandra
Sooooo. This book had a lot of potential. Good bones for an epic story, but it was unfortunately poorly executed. I could overlook a lot of the issues in the first half because the pacing was decent, and I was interested, but…
Telepathy. Sigh. I’ve read a lot of sci fi and fantasy and what I’ve learned is that 99% of the time, telepathy as a plot device is just laziness. I mean why spend time on dialogue and interpersonal relationships when I can just shoot thoughts from the FMC to the MMC, right?
There was also waaaaaaay too much telling and not enough showing in this book. One of the many examples is Calliape. The author just tells us that Calliape is Ferren’s bff now, but shows us zero relationship building. Mmmmokay.
Pacing was off. Way off. The first 56% of the book was pretty well paced, the next approximate half was a mess. Why did we spend three chapters in the village with NOTHING happening???? And the final confrontation is smashed into one chapter? No. Not good.
I think this author had just discovered the term “holding space” when she was writing this book. Every time I read it, it rips me out of the story.
Also the romance was awkwardly paced. They go from slow burn tension to basically being in love in the space of a few chapters. Is it a slow burn or not? Pick one.
I wish that this story had had beta readers and decent editing. I don’t know if I’ll read the next one, because if it has the same issues, it would be a waste of time.
Telepathy. Sigh. I’ve read a lot of sci fi and fantasy and what I’ve learned is that 99% of the time, telepathy as a plot device is just laziness. I mean why spend time on dialogue and interpersonal relationships when I can just shoot thoughts from the FMC to the MMC, right?
There was also waaaaaaay too much telling and not enough showing in this book. One of the many examples is Calliape. The author just tells us that Calliape is Ferren’s bff now, but shows us zero relationship building. Mmmmokay.
Pacing was off. Way off. The first 56% of the book was pretty well paced, the next approximate half was a mess. Why did we spend three chapters in the village with NOTHING happening???? And the final confrontation is smashed into one chapter? No. Not good.
I think this author had just discovered the term “holding space” when she was writing this book. Every time I read it, it rips me out of the story.
Also the romance was awkwardly paced. They go from slow burn tension to basically being in love in the space of a few chapters. Is it a slow burn or not? Pick one.
I wish that this story had had beta readers and decent editing. I don’t know if I’ll read the next one, because if it has the same issues, it would be a waste of time.