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A review by felicitydarke
The Beholder by Anna Bright
2.0
2.25 Stars!
I'm more that a bit conflicted about this one. The first thing that I'm just going to go ahead and say is that it is really quite enjoyable. If you're just looking for a light(ish) read with fast pacing and a sort-of love triangle, then definitely check this out.
However, there were one too many issues that stopped me from enjoying it to its fullest, I think. The main one is that for the life of me, I cannot work out when this is supposed to be set. I understand that this is fantasy, but it is heavily based in at least the bones of the real world, making reference to real-life events that happened in history. The tempting thing to think would be to accept this as a sort of generic heavily monarchical-based society, but then there are just small things that throw this off, like a character called Homer recounting the tale of Odysseus as if he were a real and very much alive individual. I found that this really takes you out of the story, which is such as shame. This sounds a little bit silly because of course, the story is based around fairy tales, but there were a lot of direct references to fairy tales written into the story. Not as in there's a clear influence on X fairy tale on the story, but rather that XYZ are all fairy tales talked about in the story, which felt a bit too on-the-nose to be enjoyable. No spoilers here, but the name of one character in particular had me eye-rolling hard.
So, about the characters, then. I quite enjoyed reading from Selah's perspective - she was perhaps not the strongest of protagonists, but then again, I guess that she led a very sheltered life up until the start of the story and was never prepared for something like this to happen. Yes, her voice did feel a little whiny at times because of this, but all things considered, it's probably fair enough. My main issue was with the love interests. There are two (with a third one sort-of implied), and the problem with all of them was that they seemed rather same-y? Of course, their interests were different, but in terms of their personalities and relationships with Selah, they were actually quite indistinguishable, which was a shame. Add this to the fact that they only spent two weeks each with Selah, and I just wasn't entirely convinced by either, which was a shame. Having said that, Anna Bright does have a way of establishing connections between characters very early on that makes their interactions feel natural in a way that they perhaps might not have if written differently.
In terms of the plot, you get what is implied on the tin, really; a young woman is forced to go on a tour abroad to find a suitor, and she will not be allowed to return until she has one. This book covers the first two stops on the tour. There is a side plot that I believe will come more into play in book two, but to be honest, it wasn't all that well-handled. The scattering of clues that we get about it are few and far between, which then makes it a bit sudden and jarring when it crops up in full force much later in the book. Having said that, there were some other twists that I did enjoy (even if they were slightly predictable), and the story is well-paced enough that you don't get bogged down in every minor detail.
Overall: An enjoyable enough fantasy which is let down by its confusing setting, uninteresting sub-plot, and very similar love interests.
I'm more that a bit conflicted about this one. The first thing that I'm just going to go ahead and say is that it is really quite enjoyable. If you're just looking for a light(ish) read with fast pacing and a sort-of love triangle, then definitely check this out.
However, there were one too many issues that stopped me from enjoying it to its fullest, I think. The main one is that for the life of me, I cannot work out when this is supposed to be set. I understand that this is fantasy, but it is heavily based in at least the bones of the real world, making reference to real-life events that happened in history. The tempting thing to think would be to accept this as a sort of generic heavily monarchical-based society, but then there are just small things that throw this off, like a character called Homer recounting the tale of Odysseus as if he were a real and very much alive individual. I found that this really takes you out of the story, which is such as shame. This sounds a little bit silly because of course, the story is based around fairy tales, but there were a lot of direct references to fairy tales written into the story. Not as in there's a clear influence on X fairy tale on the story, but rather that XYZ are all fairy tales talked about in the story, which felt a bit too on-the-nose to be enjoyable. No spoilers here, but the name of one character in particular had me eye-rolling hard.
So, about the characters, then. I quite enjoyed reading from Selah's perspective - she was perhaps not the strongest of protagonists, but then again, I guess that she led a very sheltered life up until the start of the story and was never prepared for something like this to happen. Yes, her voice did feel a little whiny at times because of this, but all things considered, it's probably fair enough. My main issue was with the love interests. There are two (with a third one sort-of implied), and the problem with all of them was that they seemed rather same-y? Of course, their interests were different, but in terms of their personalities and relationships with Selah, they were actually quite indistinguishable, which was a shame. Add this to the fact that they only spent two weeks each with Selah, and I just wasn't entirely convinced by either, which was a shame. Having said that, Anna Bright does have a way of establishing connections between characters very early on that makes their interactions feel natural in a way that they perhaps might not have if written differently.
In terms of the plot, you get what is implied on the tin, really; a young woman is forced to go on a tour abroad to find a suitor, and she will not be allowed to return until she has one. This book covers the first two stops on the tour. There is a side plot that I believe will come more into play in book two, but to be honest, it wasn't all that well-handled. The scattering of clues that we get about it are few and far between, which then makes it a bit sudden and jarring when it crops up in full force much later in the book. Having said that, there were some other twists that I did enjoy (even if they were slightly predictable), and the story is well-paced enough that you don't get bogged down in every minor detail.
Overall: An enjoyable enough fantasy which is let down by its confusing setting, uninteresting sub-plot, and very similar love interests.