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clace_19's review against another edition
4.0
2.02!
Well it was me rereading it
this was the last book that i read last year and i liked it i gave it 4.1 stars
but i re read cuz like the sequel came, and i forgot the whole book the first half i was liking then it became boring, it dragged on too much. there was a lot of info dumping which i despised..
i read it just so i could remember stuff but it just got worse like i dont think that i am gonna continue even tho i love the authors works
her books were the books that got me back to fantasy but this one was just bad
the ending had a cliffhanger kinda worth reading the second book but i am afraid to read it because i dont want it to be bad like this one was
like ik some of the debuts are boring and are solely built to complete the character, plot arcs but the are good enough to reach a there this couldnt even reach that
and that betrayal thingy that aveyard does wasnt in this which was kinda a bummer
still cant believe it took me a month
even if i am going to read the sequel its gonna be next month.
overall very disappointing
Well it was me rereading it
this was the last book that i read last year and i liked it i gave it 4.1 stars
but i re read cuz like the sequel came, and i forgot the whole book the first half i was liking then it became boring, it dragged on too much. there was a lot of info dumping which i despised..
i read it just so i could remember stuff but it just got worse like i dont think that i am gonna continue even tho i love the authors works
her books were the books that got me back to fantasy but this one was just bad
the ending had a cliffhanger kinda worth reading the second book but i am afraid to read it because i dont want it to be bad like this one was
like ik some of the debuts are boring and are solely built to complete the character, plot arcs but the are good enough to reach a there this couldnt even reach that
and that betrayal thingy that aveyard does wasnt in this which was kinda a bummer
still cant believe it took me a month
even if i am going to read the sequel its gonna be next month.
overall very disappointing
books_tea_and_fantasy's review against another edition
3.0
3 ⭐️
Characters: 5
Atmosphere: 6
Writing: 6
Plot: 5
Intrigue: 4
Logic: 6
Enjoyment: 5
❌ Unhaul
❌ Series DNF
Another book with an editing problem. This would've held my attention if it were at least 250 pages shorter but alas...
Characters: 5
Atmosphere: 6
Writing: 6
Plot: 5
Intrigue: 4
Logic: 6
Enjoyment: 5
❌ Unhaul
❌ Series DNF
Another book with an editing problem. This would've held my attention if it were at least 250 pages shorter but alas...
booknooknorth's review against another edition
2.0
OK.
So.
I have no words, not cause of how good it was, but because of how much it flopped in my expectations. This book had the potential to be the 21st century of LOTR but...it all fell flat.
Pacing, loopholes, forgetting plot points, and not being creative with the elvish equivalent.
The good points of this book were Sarn, maybe because I grew up to identify my feelings with her, or cause she was the only character who I felt did anything in this book along with Sigil and Charlie. The rest had their uses, but all kinda fell flat in execution.
I wanted to know more about the Spindles rather than go through 300+ pages of introduction like I'm studying a college course. The way this book introduces new elements is also lackluster. Some things are explained, and others Aveyard won't be bothered to explain. And then sometimes you're explained things in the middle of an action scene which, I do not care for that type of style in writing, it affects pacing way too much.
She tried to pull a Malazan with the execution of this book, with even Malazan having poor execution even though the world was amazing. Aveyard did a little better but missed the mark. I'm a bit sad because I was looking forward to reading this book for a long time, only for it to have sloppy execution.
I'm... *hesitantly* putting this as a series I *might* finish, only because I already went and learned all these terms and places, I might as well see if the 2nd book improved. While I'm still patiently waiting for the 21st century LOTR equivalent, this was an OK attempt at being that.
So.
I have no words, not cause of how good it was, but because of how much it flopped in my expectations. This book had the potential to be the 21st century of LOTR but...it all fell flat.
Pacing, loopholes, forgetting plot points, and not being creative with the elvish equivalent.
The good points of this book were Sarn, maybe because I grew up to identify my feelings with her, or cause she was the only character who I felt did anything in this book along with Sigil and Charlie. The rest had their uses, but all kinda fell flat in execution.
I wanted to know more about the Spindles rather than go through 300+ pages of introduction like I'm studying a college course. The way this book introduces new elements is also lackluster. Some things are explained, and others Aveyard won't be bothered to explain. And then sometimes you're explained things in the middle of an action scene which, I do not care for that type of style in writing, it affects pacing way too much.
She tried to pull a Malazan with the execution of this book, with even Malazan having poor execution even though the world was amazing. Aveyard did a little better but missed the mark. I'm a bit sad because I was looking forward to reading this book for a long time, only for it to have sloppy execution.
I'm... *hesitantly* putting this as a series I *might* finish, only because I already went and learned all these terms and places, I might as well see if the 2nd book improved. While I'm still patiently waiting for the 21st century LOTR equivalent, this was an OK attempt at being that.
torino1389's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
fuzzycerts's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
robotnik's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The world building is... subpar to say the least. The Spindles were an interesting concept. Not entirely unique, seeing as high fantasies with portals and multiple worlds are a dime a dozen, but the way the Spindles existed was an interesting take on them. The problem was, Aveyard seemed to put all the effort into world building into these Spindles because the rest of the world seemed sparsely populated and half-baked. We're thrown a bunch of names and locations, as if they're meant to mean something to us without anything to really make them feel like real places. One of the things that makes high fantasy such an interesting genre is being able to feel like the world is capable of existing beyond the story being told, and that just isn't here. The descriptions we are given are vague and generic, like some place being a nation of raiders and pirates, or one city being dedicated to criminals - both very common places in high fantasy.
The plot was a typical ragtag bunch of misfits band together and adventure to save the world from evil. Fair, that's common and has been made into some amazing stories over the years. But this was just so boring. It takes the majority of the book to get everyone together. The first half of the book was unnecessarily long and boring with barely a thing happening. Most of the "plot twists" were fairly predictable and the major scenes were underwhelming, including the climax. Honestly? You can cut out 250-300 pages of this book and it would be a better story.
I didn't care for any of the characters, and something I will stand by is you could cut out half the points of view, just let them be supporting characters, and probably make the story better as they didn't add anything that was actually needed to carry the narrative. And honestly, having so many points of view in one adventuring party where they're all traveling together for the most part just leads to a lot of unneeded filler and makes the storytelling more muddled.
All the characters were fairly generic stereotypes of very commonly done high fantasy characters and not one of them done any better than an average attempt at them. They do not stand out. The attempts to make them interesting makes them grating and annoying. Really, they're essentially Baby's First D&D Party.
Corayne is the daughter of rogue (in this case, her mother's a pirate) who never knew her father. She wants to follow in her mother's footsteps. Mommy says no. Corayne learns that her father was actually of special lineage(tm) and sneaks away from home to fulfill her chosen one destiny. She lacks a personality as being the hero of the story is her entire personality.
Dom-whatever his full name is an elf. Call them elders all you want, they function as elves. Good fighter, doesn't understand the silly mortals' cultures and is played for laughs how foreign he is to their ways.
Sorasa is an edgy assassin. She's just every other edgy assassin to exist, but more annoying.
Andry is the common-born squire who was raised near the queen so has access to the nobility and he just wants to be a good boy and do what's right for the realm because he loves his mom or something.
Valtik is the quirky magical one whose entire character exists to make you want to throw the book in the fire.
Charlie is the former priest turned criminal.
Sigil and her dumb ass name is the big brutish bounty hunter who's hunting one of the party.
Erida is not in the party but she's the young queen who's shitty country doesn't respect her enough cause she's female so she turns to evil because she's power hungry and wants to conquer shit. Probably the most interesting out of all of them but not by much.
Ridha is Dom's not-elf cousin and should not have any role in this story. I don't care if she becomes important later. She added absolutely zero content to this novel and did absolutely nothing to advance its story and be interesting. All she did was add to the page count with her two stupid chapters.
I'm pretty sure I wrote all these characters as a twelve-year-old at some point.
I just got nothing. I guess it's a "to each their own" sort of situation and maybe people will like it more than I did. Maybe if high fantasy isn't something that you read as much like I do and have seen literally everything in this book done 100x times better, it might interest you more. All I know is this is a not recommended for me.
melhye's review against another edition
2.0
This book is well written with interesting back stories to all the characters but I found the storyline to be quite boring. The characters were alright, but nothing makes you love them. The most interesting character is the assassin and is written in a way that makes you want to dislike her.
The world building is complex and the ebook didn't come with a map. Luckily I also had the audiobook which came with a downloadable pdf of the map but it is so intricate it's difficult to keep track of who is where in the world.
I finished the book but it was a bit of a slog to do so.
The world building is complex and the ebook didn't come with a map. Luckily I also had the audiobook which came with a downloadable pdf of the map but it is so intricate it's difficult to keep track of who is where in the world.
I finished the book but it was a bit of a slog to do so.
leila_reads_too_much's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
fictional_ramblings's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shmadsie's review against another edition
4.0
3.5. this had some pretty great characters but the plot didn't feel any different from every other ya fantasy out there. if not for sigil and sorasa and dom and charlie, i would've rated this much lower but the found family they all formed was SO LOVELY. andry and corayne were okay too but i'll always gravitate towards the grayer characters. ALWAYS.