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persephone11 's review for:
The Orc and the Innkeeper
by Cora Crane
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think this book had good ideas, but a lot of the elements didn't stick their landings. I would have liked to dig more into the friction between humans and the magical, what information we got felt very surface level. In addition to this, the bigotry we see with Kingsley and Thorak's parents seems shallow. It doesn't seem like they do much to overcome these deep-seated prejudices, they just resolve themselves after a heartfelt conversation.
As for the romance itself, on more than one occasion I just wanted to yell "for the love of all that is good, talk to him!" at Mariah. I understand her hesitation on trusting Thorak, but so much of this could have been resolved by talking to him. We see the same with Mariah's feelings that we do with the Ironfist's prejudices. Her views on Thorak seem to change on a whim simply based on what she hears people say. Conveniently, this is never coming from Thorak himself but from people like town gossips and his ex-girlfriend. I also wasn't crazy about the fact that Thorak bullied her in high school. It was more than simple teasing, it was just bullying and was cruel. I'm glad that he did the work on himself to resolve his prejudices and realized that he had went too far and even tried to make amends but Mariah seems truly traumatized by what she went through and didn't seem to ever get a chance to process it. She went from "I hate him for what he did to me" to "I love him with all my heart" in nothing flat, nothing in between.
Overall, I think my biggest issue with this book came down to timing. There were elements that needed to breathe more and the characters to have more time with them to make changes in personalities seem more believable. I think the foundation for a good story was there, it just need some more work and polish.
As for the romance itself, on more than one occasion I just wanted to yell "for the love of all that is good, talk to him!" at Mariah. I understand her hesitation on trusting Thorak, but so much of this could have been resolved by talking to him. We see the same with Mariah's feelings that we do with the Ironfist's prejudices. Her views on Thorak seem to change on a whim simply based on what she hears people say. Conveniently, this is never coming from Thorak himself but from people like town gossips and his ex-girlfriend. I also wasn't crazy about the fact that Thorak bullied her in high school. It was more than simple teasing, it was just bullying and was cruel. I'm glad that he did the work on himself to resolve his prejudices and realized that he had went too far and even tried to make amends but Mariah seems truly traumatized by what she went through and didn't seem to ever get a chance to process it. She went from "I hate him for what he did to me" to "I love him with all my heart" in nothing flat, nothing in between.
Overall, I think my biggest issue with this book came down to timing. There were elements that needed to breathe more and the characters to have more time with them to make changes in personalities seem more believable. I think the foundation for a good story was there, it just need some more work and polish.