hrusewif's review
5.0
This was a very, very happy find for me... Accidental... But very happy; I came across it in Tumblr's book recommendations tag while searching for recommendations for Dragon novels. The synopsis seemed interesting enough and it was only .99 on Kindle, so I figured I would give it a go.
There are no words to describe my quickly formed and absolutely consuming love of these books. Within the first chapter I was noticing parallels to some of my favorite series's and novels. In less than 4 chapters I was raving about it to friends on facebook. When the end of it came I was in a complete fit and immediately purchased the other two that finish it off. I absolutely could not put it down, much to the distress of my Husband (I believe his exact words were "it's ok. I know I'll have you back when it's over") and the whole series was devoured over the course of only 3 days... Oops.
This review will focus on the series as a whole as opposed to focusing on each book individually. If you have not completed the series, I highly suggest skipping my review until you have.
And oh, the religion and the mythos. Here is where there really are no words for me. I have made no effort in hiding the fact that both the Abhorsen Series and the Gemma Doyle Trilogy have had a tremendous impact on me in so many ways- and the Books of Light series has, in its short time, done the exact same; it has earned a place as equal to these series' in my mind, and that is a very high honor with me. There were so many times that I had to put the book down for a period of time because I found that the mythos Samantha had created so closely viewed my own religious ideology in the here-and-now. I think, largely, that this is the biggest portion of my love for this books.
Well, that and the fact that I can indeed see many amazing parallels between the Books of Light Trilogy and the Abhorsen series- as well as little glimmers of books like The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which I also love (though which did not have near the same impact on me). Despite the parallels that I see, though, Samantha has accomplished something truly unique.
And while it is certainly an amazing book it isn't on par with the writing of other series'. I saw many places in all three novels where they could have been significantly improved upon- either grammatically or concerning sentence structure and punctuation, unnecessarily repeated words and phrases, or in other ways. In other areas I felt that things were too easy for them, moved too swiftly, or did not have the level of detail that I had come to expect of them. Occasionally the characters reverted or slipped in the character growth she created (but which I would have liked to see more of), too, which was off putting. Still, though, despite its feeling of being unrefined all of this is overshadowed and easily ignored for me when it comes to reading them.
The plot is good. Better than good, it's great. It constantly throws you curve balls, too, and there were several times I found myself being blown away by the author's revelations because I thought I had had it all figured out already. It's imaginative and it keeps you captivated- and at no point does that lull despite occasionally moving too fast to be realistic.
All in all... There is no way to deny it. This Trilogy ripped my chest open, pulled my heart out, crushed it, rebuilt it, and fundamentally changed me on a level that the Abhorsen Series and Gemma Doyle Trilogy did years ago. It has earned the highest honor with me, ranking right among those other books that have changed me on that level. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good (but in no means actually quick) read.
There are no words to describe my quickly formed and absolutely consuming love of these books. Within the first chapter I was noticing parallels to some of my favorite series's and novels. In less than 4 chapters I was raving about it to friends on facebook. When the end of it came I was in a complete fit and immediately purchased the other two that finish it off. I absolutely could not put it down, much to the distress of my Husband (I believe his exact words were "it's ok. I know I'll have you back when it's over") and the whole series was devoured over the course of only 3 days... Oops.
This review will focus on the series as a whole as opposed to focusing on each book individually. If you have not completed the series, I highly suggest skipping my review until you have.
Spoiler
Samantha does an absolutely miraculous job at world building in this series. For that alone, she gets some very major props. World building is often so hard, and very few authors can pull it off in the manner that she did- and she did it so, so very well. The world she builds in the Books of Light series is not as detailed as it could have been, but it is still wonderfully vivid, imaginative, and well defined- right down to the religion of its people.And oh, the religion and the mythos. Here is where there really are no words for me. I have made no effort in hiding the fact that both the Abhorsen Series and the Gemma Doyle Trilogy have had a tremendous impact on me in so many ways- and the Books of Light series has, in its short time, done the exact same; it has earned a place as equal to these series' in my mind, and that is a very high honor with me. There were so many times that I had to put the book down for a period of time because I found that the mythos Samantha had created so closely viewed my own religious ideology in the here-and-now. I think, largely, that this is the biggest portion of my love for this books.
Well, that and the fact that I can indeed see many amazing parallels between the Books of Light Trilogy and the Abhorsen series- as well as little glimmers of books like The Forest of Hands and Teeth, which I also love (though which did not have near the same impact on me). Despite the parallels that I see, though, Samantha has accomplished something truly unique.
And while it is certainly an amazing book it isn't on par with the writing of other series'. I saw many places in all three novels where they could have been significantly improved upon- either grammatically or concerning sentence structure and punctuation, unnecessarily repeated words and phrases, or in other ways. In other areas I felt that things were too easy for them, moved too swiftly, or did not have the level of detail that I had come to expect of them. Occasionally the characters reverted or slipped in the character growth she created (but which I would have liked to see more of), too, which was off putting. Still, though, despite its feeling of being unrefined all of this is overshadowed and easily ignored for me when it comes to reading them.
The plot is good. Better than good, it's great. It constantly throws you curve balls, too, and there were several times I found myself being blown away by the author's revelations because I thought I had had it all figured out already. It's imaginative and it keeps you captivated- and at no point does that lull despite occasionally moving too fast to be realistic.
All in all... There is no way to deny it. This Trilogy ripped my chest open, pulled my heart out, crushed it, rebuilt it, and fundamentally changed me on a level that the Abhorsen Series and Gemma Doyle Trilogy did years ago. It has earned the highest honor with me, ranking right among those other books that have changed me on that level. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good (but in no means actually quick) read.
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