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A review by crosswarrior7
The Novice by Taran Matharu
3.0
This book very much reads as a product of its time, if not earlier since I believe it was written much earlier and then published in part because of its internet popularity (don't quote me on that). It's not a bad book so much as very basic, both in its plot and in its writing. Nothing shocking, nothing that breaks the mold. Very typical YA Fantasy male protagonist who stands up to the bullies and is adored by the outcasts + has special circumstances. It's very telly, it's very fast paced, it's very surface level, so overall probably lower young adult target range.
All of this said, though, it's a fun enough book. It's a fun typical fantasy book. The magic system is well implemented, I liked the monster collecting sort of aspect (I'm a Pokemon/Digimon fan, and this tickled that fancy), I liked the demons. Was this book extremely formulaic? Sure. But that formula became a formula because it's a fun one, and Matharu executed it pretty well.
I'd read on, likely just because I really like the demon companion system (darn you, Pokemon fan side of me!) as well as the fact that this is one of the only book reads I will have in common with a friend of mine. It's a low 3 star though, probably a 2.5 rounded up. Nothing painfully wrong with it, though. It's just painfully YA Fantasy formulaic instead.
All of this said, though, it's a fun enough book. It's a fun typical fantasy book. The magic system is well implemented, I liked the monster collecting sort of aspect (I'm a Pokemon/Digimon fan, and this tickled that fancy), I liked the demons. Was this book extremely formulaic? Sure. But that formula became a formula because it's a fun one, and Matharu executed it pretty well.
I'd read on, likely just because I really like the demon companion system (darn you, Pokemon fan side of me!) as well as the fact that this is one of the only book reads I will have in common with a friend of mine. It's a low 3 star though, probably a 2.5 rounded up. Nothing painfully wrong with it, though. It's just painfully YA Fantasy formulaic instead.