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A review by miny03rd
Tideborn by Eliza Chan
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
2.25⭐️
I, unfortunately, was not a fan of this book. I liked the first book well enough, I could definitely see the author’s vision, but this one just fell completely flat and did not improve in the ways I was hoping the author would improve from book one.
The thing I disliked most about this book was the way the Fathomfolk were depicted as being just as hateful and bigoted against the humans. The Folk are seen as a underclass to the humans, they are structurally at a disadvantage within society, and even with the introduction of humans having gills now, they are still the underclass. I’m not saying there wouldn’t be bitterness there but I hated the fact that Folk were coming up with derogatory terms/slurs for the humans now that they had gills.
I also just could not connect with Mira. I didn’t really like her in the first book and absolutely did not like her in this book. She’s just so righteously full of herself All. The. Time. and I never felt like she had any growth with that. She’s just always right and no one could ever understand her, not the Tiankawians or the Yonakunish. I was just so over it.
I also didn’t like the split timelines in this. I actually love a split timeline when it’s well-done and feel like both POVs advance the story and they meet up in a satisfying way but I was not satisfied here. The convergence just felt sloppy and over as quickly as it started. I also felt like some of the POVs were completely unnecessary and just jumbled the story up. There was just too many moving parts, in my opinion.
I honestly really wanted to like this book and see Chan grow as an author but “Tideborn” seems to just not be for me.
2.25⭐️
I, unfortunately, was not a fan of this book. I liked the first book well enough, I could definitely see the author’s vision, but this one just fell completely flat and did not improve in the ways I was hoping the author would improve from book one.
The thing I disliked most about this book was the way the Fathomfolk were depicted as being just as hateful and bigoted against the humans. The Folk are seen as a underclass to the humans, they are structurally at a disadvantage within society, and even with the introduction of humans having gills now, they are still the underclass. I’m not saying there wouldn’t be bitterness there but I hated the fact that Folk were coming up with derogatory terms/slurs for the humans now that they had gills.
I also just could not connect with Mira. I didn’t really like her in the first book and absolutely did not like her in this book. She’s just so righteously full of herself All. The. Time. and I never felt like she had any growth with that. She’s just always right and no one could ever understand her, not the Tiankawians or the Yonakunish. I was just so over it.
I also didn’t like the split timelines in this. I actually love a split timeline when it’s well-done and feel like both POVs advance the story and they meet up in a satisfying way but I was not satisfied here. The convergence just felt sloppy and over as quickly as it started. I also felt like some of the POVs were completely unnecessary and just jumbled the story up. There was just too many moving parts, in my opinion.
I honestly really wanted to like this book and see Chan grow as an author but “Tideborn” seems to just not be for me.