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lilymathildea's Reviews (503)
I received an advance review copy of the Mark of the Breenan for free, and I am leaving this review happily and voluntarily.
This is right up my ally as far as genre is concerned. A bit of magic, a bit of Celtic lore, a female as main protagonist. I ended up being super frustrated because it just didn't do it for me, in spite of this.
DON'T GET ME WRONG : it's a nice relaxing read and I would encourage you to pick it up especially if you want something easy to get in and then get out of.
/!\ The rest of this review contains SPOILERS.
So I'm gonna cut to the chase, starting with the things I didn't like :
- THE FECKING ROMANCE HUGH, too obvious and too much room for something that seemingly leads nowhere, also, too much gooey clichés, the story could have done with half as many references to Gwen's attraction for Aidan and the "will she won't she blah".
- THE QUEEN : she's supposed to be nasty and shit. But she isn't
- The EASINESS of it all : the author has us believe it's gonna be super hard for Gwen to manage her quest through all those difficulties piling up, and then it all happens... No one dies, no one even gets angry (except Gwen).
- The apparent EMPTINESS of the characters : it doesn't go deep enough. Less about the romance and more about Loniel would have been nice for instance. And Gwen is a bit of a clichéed "i'm a poor girl help me" type of character until she sort of wakes up.
- To finish with the too cliché girls-like-boys-and-boys-like-girls feeling I got from the start.
As for the things I liked :
- THE PROLOGUE, so good ! I felt empathy towards baby Gwen straight from the start, loved it. I kinda wish we could have seen her awakening to her powers as a child.
- THE PREMISE is brilliant, I'll definitely check out the rest of the series, I'm not giving up on this. Plus Breenan guy having stolen the locket makes for an interesting plot twist.
- Aidan is a cool character.
- THE TATTOOS, I want to know more about the tattoos and the rituals and everything.
- The hints at Celtic Lore (even though there is no Morrigan maybe this place is Avalon ?).
- The writing is easy to follow without being childish, very flowy (you get me...?).
ALL IN ALL : don't expect to have a transcendent read, you might even get angry with a few details, but you should definitely read it if you don't want anything to grippy or too brainy with a little magic and Celtic lore !
This is right up my ally as far as genre is concerned. A bit of magic, a bit of Celtic lore, a female as main protagonist. I ended up being super frustrated because it just didn't do it for me, in spite of this.
DON'T GET ME WRONG : it's a nice relaxing read and I would encourage you to pick it up especially if you want something easy to get in and then get out of.
/!\ The rest of this review contains SPOILERS.
So I'm gonna cut to the chase, starting with the things I didn't like :
- THE FECKING ROMANCE HUGH, too obvious and too much room for something that seemingly leads nowhere, also, too much gooey clichés, the story could have done with half as many references to Gwen's attraction for Aidan and the "will she won't she blah".
- THE QUEEN : she's supposed to be nasty and shit. But she isn't
- The EASINESS of it all : the author has us believe it's gonna be super hard for Gwen to manage her quest through all those difficulties piling up, and then it all happens... No one dies, no one even gets angry (except Gwen).
- The apparent EMPTINESS of the characters : it doesn't go deep enough. Less about the romance and more about Loniel would have been nice for instance. And Gwen is a bit of a clichéed "i'm a poor girl help me" type of character until she sort of wakes up.
- To finish with the too cliché girls-like-boys-and-boys-like-girls feeling I got from the start.
As for the things I liked :
- THE PROLOGUE, so good ! I felt empathy towards baby Gwen straight from the start, loved it. I kinda wish we could have seen her awakening to her powers as a child.
- THE PREMISE is brilliant, I'll definitely check out the rest of the series, I'm not giving up on this. Plus Breenan guy having stolen the locket makes for an interesting plot twist.
- Aidan is a cool character.
- THE TATTOOS, I want to know more about the tattoos and the rituals and everything.
- The hints at Celtic Lore (even though there is no Morrigan maybe this place is Avalon ?).
- The writing is easy to follow without being childish, very flowy (you get me...?).
ALL IN ALL : don't expect to have a transcendent read, you might even get angry with a few details, but you should definitely read it if you don't want anything to grippy or too brainy with a little magic and Celtic lore !