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A review by tsunni
The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I had a really rough time with this one. I powered through but I don’t think it was worth it for me.
The story started out strong. Livira and Evar felt like great characters initially and the story set up both in really interesting and different ways, with tragedy and mystery. Both characters came across somewhat contrived, but the settings and the beginnings of their heroes journeys overcame any character flaws, at least initially.
The world and setting are probably a highlight that remain great throughout the entire book. Lawrence is also really good at firing off powerful quotable lines or strong interesting scenes in isolation; one in particular near the end managed to get my interest back for a short time.
Unfortunately the story lost me after the first third or so and continued losing me more and more til the end. The characters turned out to be pretty shallow and emotionally empty; vehicles for plot contrivances more than anything else. They certainly go through a lot, but they lacked the emotional depth to have impact for me, no matter what happened to them or what they were doing. Frequent time skips added to this feeling; the characters simply didn’t seem to develop over time. Livira in particular, as much as I like the idea of her, made me think of the term Mary Sue a few times; I don’t think she actually is, but the plot does give her what the plot needs to move along at times.
Less I say about the romance the better.
The writing itself also became a huge slog; this is not a short book, and when I was done it felt like a good 50% of the middle was padding that wasn't necessary and didn’t bring much new. Certain scenes that stood out on their own would also feel disconnected from each other; good on its own but lacking a sense of an overarching connectivity. I could see what the story was trying to do across multiple viewpoints and time jumps, but it wasn’t coming together well.
This book also ends on a cliffhanger, so keep that in mind if you’re hooked and want to line the next book up.
I think this is just not the kind of writing that worked for me. This still does some interesting things settings wise which I think could be really appealing, but if non shallow characters or a more cohesive concise plot is a requirement, this probably isn't the book for you.
The story started out strong. Livira and Evar felt like great characters initially and the story set up both in really interesting and different ways, with tragedy and mystery. Both characters came across somewhat contrived, but the settings and the beginnings of their heroes journeys overcame any character flaws, at least initially.
The world and setting are probably a highlight that remain great throughout the entire book. Lawrence is also really good at firing off powerful quotable lines or strong interesting scenes in isolation; one in particular near the end managed to get my interest back for a short time.
Unfortunately the story lost me after the first third or so and continued losing me more and more til the end. The characters turned out to be pretty shallow and emotionally empty; vehicles for plot contrivances more than anything else. They certainly go through a lot, but they lacked the emotional depth to have impact for me, no matter what happened to them or what they were doing. Frequent time skips added to this feeling; the characters simply didn’t seem to develop over time. Livira in particular, as much as I like the idea of her, made me think of the term Mary Sue a few times; I don’t think she actually is, but the plot does give her what the plot needs to move along at times.
Less I say about the romance the better.
The writing itself also became a huge slog; this is not a short book, and when I was done it felt like a good 50% of the middle was padding that wasn't necessary and didn’t bring much new. Certain scenes that stood out on their own would also feel disconnected from each other; good on its own but lacking a sense of an overarching connectivity. I could see what the story was trying to do across multiple viewpoints and time jumps, but it wasn’t coming together well.
This book also ends on a cliffhanger, so keep that in mind if you’re hooked and want to line the next book up.
I think this is just not the kind of writing that worked for me. This still does some interesting things settings wise which I think could be really appealing, but if non shallow characters or a more cohesive concise plot is a requirement, this probably isn't the book for you.