You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
tiareleine 's review for:
Stolen Songbird
by Danielle L. Jensen
I wasn't sure what to expect from Stolen Songbird. I'm not quite sure what drew me to it in the first place, but somehow it caught my attention, so I had my local Barnes & Noble order a copy (they didn't stock it on the shelves) and I tried to go into it with an open mind. I'd heard nothing about it, good or bad, but I was feeling like reading an experimental book. (A lot of the time I only pick up books that have rave reviews). In the end, I wasn't wowed, but I didn't find myself too disappointed, either.
But I have some complaints.
I don't understand the trolls. Not really. Why are some deformed and some not? Tristan's parents are both... um... not quite normal, and yet he's über hot. Why? I mean, the first few trolls we're introduced to are Marc (who has that weird split face thing), Tristan's parents (his dad being massive and his mom being conjoined with this aunt) which establishes that trolls are weird. And then there's Tristan. Who's supposed to be really attractive. Where's the logic in that? Oh, right, he's the love interest, so he has to be really hot even if it doesn't make any sense.
There were also some weird lapses of logic in troll society. For example, at the same time girls were treated mostly equal (they all went to school, they had the same jobs, it was power and not age or gender that decided who had a higher standing in society, etc.) Tristan also said "But she's his wife. She is duty bound to go wherever he wants her to go." Uh. What? What happened to all the forward thinking? Aside from the fact that that's a pretty offensive thing to say, it doesn't match up with the way their society seemed to work.
Let's talk about the magic. The troll magic system was interesting, and it appeared well thought out. But I didn't really get why they all had balls if light floating around them all the time. Just because they could? Also, they could lift things with their minds, but they couldn't fly? Why couldn't they just lift themselves with their minds. Also, spirit as the fifth element, the element that trolls use for magic. This sounds to me like a rip-off of Vampire Academy's magic system. Although it's not the similar concept that bothers me, it's the fact that the same words are used. Obviously Richelle Mead wasn't the first to come up with the concept of elemental magic coming from within, but Danielle L. Jensen should have been more careful about what words she used, because spirit as the fifth element of magic is awfully... exactly the same as in Vampire Academy.
Last on my list of complaints: Can you say Stockholm Syndrome? Because that's what Cécile has. I'm sorry (actually, I'm not sorry), but I just can't believe the love in a story where a girl is kidnapped only to fall in love with her captor. And by "can't believe" I don't mean I think it's unrealistic. I mean I know it's not real love. She was so adamant that she loved Tristan, but there was no amount of sexual tension that could have convinced me that was true.
But it wasn't all bad.
I really liked some of the secondary characters. Marc and Anaïs, especially, but also Christophe, Vincent and Victoria, Élise and Zoé, and Tips. They had believable motivations and personalities. I also like that Marc was the one with the tragic backstory, not Tristan. It would have been so easy to give Tristan a sad childhood so he could be angsty (though he was a little angsty anyway).
I also liked the little hints throughout about what the trolls really were. I don't think it was ever said, but it was clear that they're actually. It makes sense that, after 500 years, humans would make up myths about them and come up with a different name than what they really were.
Like I said before, I did like the magic system. The trolls getting their power from spirit, while human witches got their power from the elements. It was a good way to give the characters magic without making them all-powerful.
Overall, it was an entertaining read, but it wasn't extraordinary. I know my complaints look longer, but that's just because I'm better at complaining than praising. It's sort of right in the middle for how much I liked it, though I will definitely be picking up the sequel when it comes out.
But I have some complaints.
I don't understand the trolls. Not really. Why are some deformed and some not? Tristan's parents are both... um... not quite normal, and yet he's über hot. Why? I mean, the first few trolls we're introduced to are Marc (who has that weird split face thing), Tristan's parents (his dad being massive and his mom being conjoined with this aunt) which establishes that trolls are weird. And then there's Tristan. Who's supposed to be really attractive. Where's the logic in that? Oh, right, he's the love interest, so he has to be really hot even if it doesn't make any sense.
There were also some weird lapses of logic in troll society. For example, at the same time girls were treated mostly equal (they all went to school, they had the same jobs, it was power and not age or gender that decided who had a higher standing in society, etc.) Tristan also said "But she's his wife. She is duty bound to go wherever he wants her to go." Uh. What? What happened to all the forward thinking? Aside from the fact that that's a pretty offensive thing to say, it doesn't match up with the way their society seemed to work.
Let's talk about the magic. The troll magic system was interesting, and it appeared well thought out. But I didn't really get why they all had balls if light floating around them all the time. Just because they could? Also, they could lift things with their minds, but they couldn't fly? Why couldn't they just lift themselves with their minds. Also, spirit as the fifth element, the element that trolls use for magic. This sounds to me like a rip-off of Vampire Academy's magic system. Although it's not the similar concept that bothers me, it's the fact that the same words are used. Obviously Richelle Mead wasn't the first to come up with the concept of elemental magic coming from within, but Danielle L. Jensen should have been more careful about what words she used, because spirit as the fifth element of magic is awfully... exactly the same as in Vampire Academy.
Last on my list of complaints: Can you say Stockholm Syndrome? Because that's what Cécile has. I'm sorry (actually, I'm not sorry), but I just can't believe the love in a story where a girl is kidnapped only to fall in love with her captor. And by "can't believe" I don't mean I think it's unrealistic. I mean I know it's not real love. She was so adamant that she loved Tristan, but there was no amount of sexual tension that could have convinced me that was true.
But it wasn't all bad.
I really liked some of the secondary characters. Marc and Anaïs, especially, but also Christophe, Vincent and Victoria, Élise and Zoé, and Tips. They had believable motivations and personalities. I also like that Marc was the one with the tragic backstory, not Tristan. It would have been so easy to give Tristan a sad childhood so he could be angsty (though he was a little angsty anyway).
I also liked the little hints throughout about what the trolls really were. I don't think it was ever said, but it was clear that they're actually
Spoiler
fairies. Think about it. Magic. True Names. Summer and Winter.Like I said before, I did like the magic system. The trolls getting their power from spirit, while human witches got their power from the elements. It was a good way to give the characters magic without making them all-powerful.
Overall, it was an entertaining read, but it wasn't extraordinary. I know my complaints look longer, but that's just because I'm better at complaining than praising. It's sort of right in the middle for how much I liked it, though I will definitely be picking up the sequel when it comes out.