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A review by merieshenanigans
Masters and Beginners by Daley Downing
3.0
I liked this book!
Being such an avid lover of fantasy, I expect a lot out of them. For instance, I'm glad to say that The Order of the Twelve Tribes wouldn't exactly count as a high or epic fantasy book. It's got some nice realistic concepts in it. It was well thought out. The world building was thorough and creative, nicely done. I liked this book.
MASTERS AND BEGINNERS is about the Driscolls, a family who belong to the mysterious and magical Order of the Twelve Tribes, who are a secret organization that deals with magic in the world where it's hidden from society. The Driscolls move in to a brand-new life full of unexpected surprises-- those of which include sith, fey, elves, and extremely powerful neighbors.
I really loved the Driscoll family. Sophie was a relatable heroine, except she didn't actually do anything the length of the story. By comparison it was usually someone outside the Driscoll family who actually did stuff. Which then naturally made the other characters endear themselves to me. Gwen and Alex were cool, and so were Jules and Sammy, although of course I'd want to see more of them. I did like seeing the few scenes from Emma's perspective though, probably because of how... important she was to the story. *cough cough*
I liked the world-building a lot, even though it was executed in more of a telling way rather than by showing. I don't hold any grudges against the author for that, because of how understandably difficult it would have been to really show all the world-building in this case. However, I do feel that a little more development and explanation could have gone into the part about magic, and its relationship to the supernatural (some of the beings were... rather... confounding to read about and kind of uneasy). And the part that I don't really appreciate reading about "magic" without being able to tell what exactly it counts as in a story.
There was some questionable content in this book, a few very mild swearing words that I hurried over. Also, one part I most certainly did NOT like was the romance. It was clean... for the most part (^^), with nothing beyond slightly suggestive, but it was quite superficial in the way it was formed. Like, it wasn't very realistic at all-- a little forced, but mostly rushed. There is an explanation for that in the book, but I still could have done happily without the insta-love, or even without romance at all, for that matter. There was also some violence, but none of it was overly gory or graphic or glorified in any way, and even though the story takes place around Halloween (what is it with me and unsuspectingly reading Halloween-themed books during October??), it wasn't at all creepy or whatever.
All in all, this was a pretty good book. It did have some minor typos and even some grammatical errors (which kept popping up everywhere in the book, by the way), but I certainly enjoyed my time reading it. However, this book is not for everyone and I did have some issues with it.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Stellae Books. A positive review was not required. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*
Being such an avid lover of fantasy, I expect a lot out of them. For instance, I'm glad to say that The Order of the Twelve Tribes wouldn't exactly count as a high or epic fantasy book. It's got some nice realistic concepts in it. It was well thought out. The world building was thorough and creative, nicely done. I liked this book.
MASTERS AND BEGINNERS is about the Driscolls, a family who belong to the mysterious and magical Order of the Twelve Tribes, who are a secret organization that deals with magic in the world where it's hidden from society. The Driscolls move in to a brand-new life full of unexpected surprises-- those of which include sith, fey, elves, and extremely powerful neighbors.
I really loved the Driscoll family. Sophie was a relatable heroine, except she didn't actually do anything the length of the story. By comparison it was usually someone outside the Driscoll family who actually did stuff. Which then naturally made the other characters endear themselves to me. Gwen and Alex were cool, and so were Jules and Sammy, although of course I'd want to see more of them. I did like seeing the few scenes from Emma's perspective though, probably because of how... important she was to the story. *cough cough*
I liked the world-building a lot, even though it was executed in more of a telling way rather than by showing. I don't hold any grudges against the author for that, because of how understandably difficult it would have been to really show all the world-building in this case. However, I do feel that a little more development and explanation could have gone into the part about magic, and its relationship to the supernatural (some of the beings were... rather... confounding to read about and kind of uneasy). And the part that I don't really appreciate reading about "magic" without being able to tell what exactly it counts as in a story.
There was some questionable content in this book, a few very mild swearing words that I hurried over. Also, one part I most certainly did NOT like was the romance. It was clean... for the most part (^^), with nothing beyond slightly suggestive, but it was quite superficial in the way it was formed. Like, it wasn't very realistic at all-- a little forced, but mostly rushed. There is an explanation for that in the book, but I still could have done happily without the insta-love, or even without romance at all, for that matter. There was also some violence, but none of it was overly gory or graphic or glorified in any way, and even though the story takes place around Halloween (what is it with me and unsuspectingly reading Halloween-themed books during October??), it wasn't at all creepy or whatever.
All in all, this was a pretty good book. It did have some minor typos and even some grammatical errors (which kept popping up everywhere in the book, by the way), but I certainly enjoyed my time reading it. However, this book is not for everyone and I did have some issues with it.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Stellae Books. A positive review was not required. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*