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tristennowell 's review for:
The Throne of Honor and Blood
by J. Bree
I want to start this review by saying J Bree is one of my all time favorite authors. I drove 9 hours just to meet her at this books "not release party" and this was my most anticipated releases this year. Crowns of Oaths and Curses and the two novellas were some of my favorite books last year.
Now to why I did not like TOHAB.
1. Lack of background/explanation of characters. There were a ton of characters that were thrown into the book without any background of them. I felt bombarded with new names and people and found it extremely hard to read about them without ever hearing of them before and then they just weren’t mentioned again.
2. One character is talked about in present tense often as if they are alive and well…then out of nowhere they are dead? This felt like it was a thought that she had and it wasn’t supposed to be in the book (or at least not this book) and it got submitted anyways. I could get behind this is there was foreshadowing leading up to the big reveal.
3. Rooke's character started as an independent, strong willed, powerful witch…but as soon as Soren comes to terms with their fate she becomes a damsel. She was still very powerful however she seemed to diminish after that. Now I know everyone won’t interpret her character that way however that’s how I felt when we got to part 2. This is not to say that I don't love Rooke anymore. She's been one of my favorite FMC (other than OLI) that J has written.
4. All the errors in the book made it extremely difficult to stay focused. I kept having to re read lines to figure out what was trying to be said.
5. Some scenes were so poorly written I couldn’t even picture what was happening. The entire chapter at the end was such a clusterf*** of information that I was confused the entire time. Names being thrown in that I didn’t recognize and actions not clearly explained made it to seem like I was just standing in the woods and everything was bloody. (I’m normally great at picturing things in my head).
6. Now groveling isn’t a big deal but I do feel like Soren could have groveled a tiny bit. He repented too little and snarled at everyone for looking at Rooke too much. And she's like...I get why you're mad and treated me like shit...but that's okay because the Fates are telling me to marry you.
7. I just feel like there was a ton of filler and traveling that took away from the issues that the characters were trying to solve. I'm more than positive that we spent majority of the book traveling from one place to another rather than actually breaking down the plot.
8. JBree stated when I went to the “not release party" that Hanede would be someone who puts Soren in his place throughout this book. She also said that he gets humbled by Hanede a lot. However the only time he was in the book was at the very end. Which leads me to believe that this book wasn’t ready.
I love love loved the first book and I’m normally not one who likes to pick apart a book. I mostly just rate books on my feelings because I don’t think my mind can really compute issues like plots holes and stuff that well. But this just felt unfinished and rushed. As if she didn’t actually have the book ready to be out in the world just yet. I was frustrated with the delays and lack of communication but if she came out and said “I don’t have this book ready and will have to delay release.” I would have waited another 6 months for the book that I know she’s capable of writing. Since the paperback hasn't been released I am crossing my fingers that she's going through edits and we will get this baby cleaned up and brought to its full glory. However if this is the final work than I probably won't finish this series.
Now to why I did not like TOHAB.
1. Lack of background/explanation of characters. There were a ton of characters that were thrown into the book without any background of them. I felt bombarded with new names and people and found it extremely hard to read about them without ever hearing of them before and then they just weren’t mentioned again.
2. One character is talked about in present tense often as if they are alive and well…then out of nowhere they are dead? This felt like it was a thought that she had and it wasn’t supposed to be in the book (or at least not this book) and it got submitted anyways. I could get behind this is there was foreshadowing leading up to the big reveal.
3. Rooke's character started as an independent, strong willed, powerful witch…but as soon as Soren comes to terms with their fate she becomes a damsel. She was still very powerful however she seemed to diminish after that. Now I know everyone won’t interpret her character that way however that’s how I felt when we got to part 2. This is not to say that I don't love Rooke anymore. She's been one of my favorite FMC (other than OLI) that J has written.
4. All the errors in the book made it extremely difficult to stay focused. I kept having to re read lines to figure out what was trying to be said.
5. Some scenes were so poorly written I couldn’t even picture what was happening. The entire chapter at the end was such a clusterf*** of information that I was confused the entire time. Names being thrown in that I didn’t recognize and actions not clearly explained made it to seem like I was just standing in the woods and everything was bloody. (I’m normally great at picturing things in my head).
6. Now groveling isn’t a big deal but I do feel like Soren could have groveled a tiny bit. He repented too little and snarled at everyone for looking at Rooke too much. And she's like...I get why you're mad and treated me like shit...but that's okay because the Fates are telling me to marry you.
7. I just feel like there was a ton of filler and traveling that took away from the issues that the characters were trying to solve. I'm more than positive that we spent majority of the book traveling from one place to another rather than actually breaking down the plot.
8. JBree stated when I went to the “not release party" that Hanede would be someone who puts Soren in his place throughout this book. She also said that he gets humbled by Hanede a lot. However the only time he was in the book was at the very end. Which leads me to believe that this book wasn’t ready.
I love love loved the first book and I’m normally not one who likes to pick apart a book. I mostly just rate books on my feelings because I don’t think my mind can really compute issues like plots holes and stuff that well. But this just felt unfinished and rushed. As if she didn’t actually have the book ready to be out in the world just yet. I was frustrated with the delays and lack of communication but if she came out and said “I don’t have this book ready and will have to delay release.” I would have waited another 6 months for the book that I know she’s capable of writing. Since the paperback hasn't been released I am crossing my fingers that she's going through edits and we will get this baby cleaned up and brought to its full glory. However if this is the final work than I probably won't finish this series.