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seraphjewel 's review for:
Ashlords
by Scott Reintgen
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.
I'm a simple girl: I see a horse on the cover, I request it. Though the idea of phoenix horses did propel my interest in this book even more. It's an amazingly cool idea, and I think for the most part the world was established well. I got a pretty good sense of who all three of the main characters were-- their personalities, how they saw themselves and the world around them, their goals, et cetera. I usually do my critiques first, so let's get on with it.
The book is broken down into three main POVs: Pippa, Adrian, and Imelda. Except for some reason Pippa is in second person while the other two are in first person. It always bugs me a little when authors single out one of the POVs like this; there never seems to be a purpose and only makes that one narrative stand out. There's no reason or purpose behind Pippa's section being in second person. It's constantly distracting whenever it cuts to her.
Also, this is going to sound weird, but I feel like there was too much plot going on. It's pitched as a mesh between Red Rising and The Scorpio Races. I've only read a few pages of Red Rising, so I was seeing more Hunger Games, but it's still the same idea: some group is being suppressed by the ruling class, there's a violent competition that is entered every year where people pay big money to watch and gamble on the winner, someone from the suppressed class enters said game, there's talk of revolution and war... I don't want to spoil, but there are definitely a lot of comparisons. My problem is that this book would've been just fine if it was a cool race between these athletes from different walks of life. The rebellion and war was adding stuff that wasn't needed, nor did I really get why it would spark war if Adrian won.
There are some pretty big plot holes with the world created here. As much as I loved the gods being involved, it feels like there could be a lot of bad consequences. Murder is treated like a non-issue if it's handled in the right way. There's actually a scene where someone is poisoned during a party and nobody even bats an eye. Yet things like that are not really explored in depth.
I admit I was wanting to see the bond between rider and horse a bit more. Since this is all about the horses needing to die and be reborn every day, I was hoping the book would show the connection. But we don't really get that. I don't mind the focus on the race since it was cool and exciting, and all the creative ways the phoenix horses were used was really fun to imagine. Also, all the characters are interesting but their arcs feel like they all happened very suddenly. They each reach a moment where their thinking shifts, but it's very quick. Also, the climax and resolution happened very quick as well. It honestly felt rushed. Again, if it'd just been about the race, we wouldn't have that problem.
But the world-building is very cool. All the different gods are interesting and I'm very intrigued by how involved they are in the world. They actually go down in "person" to interact with people. I would honestly read another book just about the gods. The phoenix horses are extremely creative and the race itself is exciting. My heart was actually pounding when I read through those parts. I really wanted to see who won and what would happen next. The society is pretty interesting as well. If this is just going to be a duology, that's a shame, because there is so much going on in this world that it can really grow and become richer with more books. Of course, I say that while also thinking the story could've been a lot more simple.
I still enjoyed this book a lot and I'll be checking out the sequel. It has some incredible creativity and imagination. I just feel like maybe it's a little too big, and if I'm being honest, I'm getting a little tired of the "start revolution against oppressive ruling government" cliche in YA books.
I'm a simple girl: I see a horse on the cover, I request it. Though the idea of phoenix horses did propel my interest in this book even more. It's an amazingly cool idea, and I think for the most part the world was established well. I got a pretty good sense of who all three of the main characters were-- their personalities, how they saw themselves and the world around them, their goals, et cetera. I usually do my critiques first, so let's get on with it.
The book is broken down into three main POVs: Pippa, Adrian, and Imelda. Except for some reason Pippa is in second person while the other two are in first person. It always bugs me a little when authors single out one of the POVs like this; there never seems to be a purpose and only makes that one narrative stand out. There's no reason or purpose behind Pippa's section being in second person. It's constantly distracting whenever it cuts to her.
Also, this is going to sound weird, but I feel like there was too much plot going on. It's pitched as a mesh between Red Rising and The Scorpio Races. I've only read a few pages of Red Rising, so I was seeing more Hunger Games, but it's still the same idea: some group is being suppressed by the ruling class, there's a violent competition that is entered every year where people pay big money to watch and gamble on the winner, someone from the suppressed class enters said game, there's talk of revolution and war... I don't want to spoil, but there are definitely a lot of comparisons. My problem is that this book would've been just fine if it was a cool race between these athletes from different walks of life. The rebellion and war was adding stuff that wasn't needed, nor did I really get why it would spark war if Adrian won.
There are some pretty big plot holes with the world created here. As much as I loved the gods being involved, it feels like there could be a lot of bad consequences. Murder is treated like a non-issue if it's handled in the right way. There's actually a scene where someone is poisoned during a party and nobody even bats an eye. Yet things like that are not really explored in depth.
I admit I was wanting to see the bond between rider and horse a bit more. Since this is all about the horses needing to die and be reborn every day, I was hoping the book would show the connection. But we don't really get that. I don't mind the focus on the race since it was cool and exciting, and all the creative ways the phoenix horses were used was really fun to imagine. Also, all the characters are interesting but their arcs feel like they all happened very suddenly. They each reach a moment where their thinking shifts, but it's very quick. Also, the climax and resolution happened very quick as well. It honestly felt rushed. Again, if it'd just been about the race, we wouldn't have that problem.
But the world-building is very cool. All the different gods are interesting and I'm very intrigued by how involved they are in the world. They actually go down in "person" to interact with people. I would honestly read another book just about the gods. The phoenix horses are extremely creative and the race itself is exciting. My heart was actually pounding when I read through those parts. I really wanted to see who won and what would happen next. The society is pretty interesting as well. If this is just going to be a duology, that's a shame, because there is so much going on in this world that it can really grow and become richer with more books. Of course, I say that while also thinking the story could've been a lot more simple.
I still enjoyed this book a lot and I'll be checking out the sequel. It has some incredible creativity and imagination. I just feel like maybe it's a little too big, and if I'm being honest, I'm getting a little tired of the "start revolution against oppressive ruling government" cliche in YA books.