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jg34's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
I love ms Rebecca Ross but this one was just okay to me. Fair since it is her debut. It just didn’t have me hanging on the edge of my seat like her other novels had.
What I loved:
-strong female characters
-found family
-well thought out world and backstory
What I disliked
-the book was not very exciting
-the romantic pairing (teacher/student/adult who met other when they were a CHILD only to get together like right when she turns 18 🤢/OBVIOUSLY unbalanced power dynamic )
The romantic couple was really hard to look past and I found myself rooting for Brienna to find ANY other man (or even better: WOMAN) but alas it ended how I feared. I would like to know why Rebecca chose to go that way as it appears many reviewers agree that the couple was unsettling. This wasn’t written that long ago. But overall a good book and I will definitely read the next one to finish off Rebecca Ross’ entire catalogue bc I love her
What I loved:
-strong female characters
-found family
-well thought out world and backstory
What I disliked
-the book was not very exciting
-the romantic pairing (
The romantic couple was really hard to look past and I found myself rooting for Brienna to find ANY other man (or even better: WOMAN) but alas it ended how I feared. I would like to know why Rebecca chose to go that way as it appears many reviewers agree that the couple was unsettling. This wasn’t written that long ago. But overall a good book and I will definitely read the next one to finish off Rebecca Ross’ entire catalogue bc I love her
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
esther_palko's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Minor: Child death
maralaene's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Even though this was her first book to be published, this was not the first book of Rebecca Ross’ that I read. And I have loved every single one so far.
Even though I felt like I had guessed a lot of the story long before it was revealed, especially given the way certain things were setup, I found this story very captivating. It has those very heartwarming elements of found family and bonded friendships. There is a sort of instant familial bond built in here, which I found a little unrealistic, but it didn’t deter me much from the story.I also enjoyed the fact that our FMC isn’t the classic lost princess or gains magical powers when she shouldn’t, yet still played a critical role. . I also appreciated that the magic in this world isn’t intended to make the royals almighty and is cursed when used for violence - definitely an interesting twist! And who doesn’t love an animal sidekick 🐺
My only comment is that I sort of wished the constellations and connection to stars played a bigger role - I’m imagining something like the names selected after “graduation” from Shusterman’s Scythe books.
I am excited to see what happens in book 2, given the story was left very open and with no obvious cliff-hanger ending setup for the sequel! Hopefully there is more magic in the next!
✓ Found family
✓ Strong female character
✓ Storytelling vibes
Even though I felt like I had guessed a lot of the story long before it was revealed, especially given the way certain things were setup, I found this story very captivating. It has those very heartwarming elements of found family and bonded friendships. There is a sort of instant familial bond built in here, which I found a little unrealistic, but it didn’t deter me much from the story.
My only comment is that I sort of wished the constellations and connection to stars played a bigger role - I’m imagining something like the names selected after “graduation” from Shusterman’s Scythe books.
I am excited to see what happens in book 2, given the story was left very open and with no obvious cliff-hanger ending setup for the sequel! Hopefully there is more magic in the next!
✓ Found family
✓ Strong female character
✓ Storytelling vibes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, and Violence
singalana's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was recommended to me by one of my Instagram followers at the beginning of the year and I'm so glad it was because I might not have picked it up otherwise - and it was really good!
I've never read anything quite like this. There's a bit of royal academia feeling to the beginning of the book, with the passions and the masters and the patrons and such. It took a little bit for me to understand how everything worked, but once I did, I was very intrigued.
Very early on, you find out that magic hasn't really been part of the world for a while because of something that happened in war many years ago. However, somewhere along the line, Brienna winds up experiencing the memories of someone who lived through the loss of magic. This is where things get increasingly more interesting. Not only do you want to know how magic was lost and how to bring it back, but you want to know more about why Brienna is the receiver of these memories.
The Queen's Rising felt a bit like two books in one because the first half is almost entirely about her time at the passion house and then the second half is... well, it's a wild ride! There is so much that takes place after the halfway mark that before I knew it, I was looking at my progress and seeing that I was 92% through the book! I had no clue that I had flown through the story so quickly. It's easy to lose yourself in this one for sure.
I had a bit of a book hangover after finishing because all I wanted to do was dive straight into the sequel. I can't wait to find out what happens next - and to see if Cartier shows up (aka my favorite character who I can really speak little of without giving major spoilers).
I've never read anything quite like this. There's a bit of royal academia feeling to the beginning of the book, with the passions and the masters and the patrons and such. It took a little bit for me to understand how everything worked, but once I did, I was very intrigued.
Very early on, you find out that magic hasn't really been part of the world for a while because of something that happened in war many years ago. However, somewhere along the line, Brienna winds up experiencing the memories of someone who lived through the loss of magic. This is where things get increasingly more interesting. Not only do you want to know how magic was lost and how to bring it back, but you want to know more about why Brienna is the receiver of these memories.
The Queen's Rising felt a bit like two books in one because the first half is almost entirely about her time at the passion house and then the second half is... well, it's a wild ride! There is so much that takes place after the halfway mark that before I knew it, I was looking at my progress and seeing that I was 92% through the book! I had no clue that I had flown through the story so quickly. It's easy to lose yourself in this one for sure.
I had a bit of a book hangover after finishing because all I wanted to do was dive straight into the sequel. I can't wait to find out what happens next - and to see if Cartier shows up (aka my favorite character who I can really speak little of without giving major spoilers).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder