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A review by taskgoblin
The Valiant by Lesley Livingston
3.0
While I did enjoy this book by the end of it, sadly I can’t say that I loved it. About a third of the way through it I was not entirely sure that I wanted to finish it. I’m happy to say that it did get better by the end, although even then it did not live up to my expectations.
The pace of the story moved quickly, with new “exciting” things happening the main character, Fallon, left and right. You barely had time to get to know her, let alone some of the other characters that you assumed were important to the storyline before they were either killed off or abandoned. I felt like a lot of character development was sacrificed for having a fast-paced plot. Instead of leaving me on the edge-of-my-seat desperate for the next page though, it made me feel indifferent to Fallon and her story. Once things slowed down a bit when she reached Rome and I saw a bit more of her development did I really start to enjoy the book. There were also a few surprises that helped me warm to the book overall and piqued my interest.
Maybe I would have enjoyed this book more had I not finished Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Wings and Ruin right before it. With Maas’ undeniable skill for creating romantic/sexual tension, and her similar fierce enemies turned fierce friends (and sometimes lovers) plot lines, it was hard for me not to compare the character relationships of The Valiant with those of the ACOTAR series – and sadly they didn’t match up.
All in all I will say that the book redeemed itself by the end, and I will likely read the next book when it is released to find out what happens to Fallon. If the book had been longer I might not have held out, but I can say that I’m glad I did. Hopefully the story will only get better from here.
The pace of the story moved quickly, with new “exciting” things happening the main character, Fallon, left and right. You barely had time to get to know her, let alone some of the other characters that you assumed were important to the storyline before they were either killed off or abandoned. I felt like a lot of character development was sacrificed for having a fast-paced plot. Instead of leaving me on the edge-of-my-seat desperate for the next page though, it made me feel indifferent to Fallon and her story. Once things slowed down a bit when she reached Rome and I saw a bit more of her development did I really start to enjoy the book. There were also a few surprises that helped me warm to the book overall and piqued my interest.
Maybe I would have enjoyed this book more had I not finished Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Wings and Ruin right before it. With Maas’ undeniable skill for creating romantic/sexual tension, and her similar fierce enemies turned fierce friends (and sometimes lovers) plot lines, it was hard for me not to compare the character relationships of The Valiant with those of the ACOTAR series – and sadly they didn’t match up.
All in all I will say that the book redeemed itself by the end, and I will likely read the next book when it is released to find out what happens to Fallon. If the book had been longer I might not have held out, but I can say that I’m glad I did. Hopefully the story will only get better from here.