justicen1511's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
matt4hire's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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
3.5
A promising start to what’s a huge series. Beaulieu’s world has depth and character, and our main characters are interesting enough. I wish he’d tighten up his action scenes a little; there’s a lot going on, but none of it feels very propulsive.
joliendelandsheer's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure how to rate this book yet, so I'll think on it for a while first.
What I loved:
• the setting: Sharakhai was such an interesting place, and I loved getting to know it through çeda's eyes. From the pits to Tauriyat, every aspect of the city was exciting to discover.
• the characters: I have to admit that I wish we got to know some of the other characters as well as Ceda, but overall the characters were pretty intriguing. Emre might be my favorite so far.
• the history: One of my favorite parts of reading a fantasy novel is learning the history and culture of that place. Sharakhai has an interesting history, stemming from 12 tribes and being ruled by 12 kings. There's much more to it that that, however, and I'm excited to find out more in the sequel.
• the multiple PoVs: It did take a while for the other PoVs to kick in, but I enjoyed having them there. I think they added to the story, as we got to discover more of other characters' journeys without being limited to Ceda's knowledge.
What I didn't like
• the writing: Usually, writing doesn't really stand out to me. However, in Twelve Kings I found myself getting annoyed with sentence structure at times. I wish the author would have used pronouns more instead of repeating the character's name constantly. Small things like this slowed down my reading so much.
• the parts that simply don't make sense: There were times I was drawn out of the story because I started questioning everything. For example, when Ceda meets the Kings she says she only recognizes a few by face. Ihnan (I think that's his name), is one of the few she doesn't recognize. When he steps forward to introduce himself, however, she thinks Ihnan is handsome and uses his name. After she thinks that, he states his name and introduces himself. But I am reading from Ceda's perspective? If she didn't know which King he was, how did she use his name in her thoughts before he introduced himself? Another thing that doesn't make sense to me is how Ceda has wanted revenge for her mother's murder for years, and wants to kill the kings because of it. Yet in all that time, she has made zero actual plans and has learned nothing about them. How does that make sense? Do you just plan to walk up to them at some point and hope for the best?
• the pacing: The first third of this book is quite slow, as we're getting to know the world. That's fine. The middle picks up a bit, but our main character still gets nowhere with her plans (which she didn't even have, see point above). Then suddenly in the last 100 pages everything falls into place and gets resolved so easily. I didn't really love that.
Overall, I think this is an enjoyable high fantasy novel. I'll probably continue the series at some point, but I don't own the sequel at the moment.
What I loved:
• the setting: Sharakhai was such an interesting place, and I loved getting to know it through çeda's eyes. From the pits to Tauriyat, every aspect of the city was exciting to discover.
• the characters: I have to admit that I wish we got to know some of the other characters as well as Ceda, but overall the characters were pretty intriguing. Emre might be my favorite so far.
• the history: One of my favorite parts of reading a fantasy novel is learning the history and culture of that place. Sharakhai has an interesting history, stemming from 12 tribes and being ruled by 12 kings. There's much more to it that that, however, and I'm excited to find out more in the sequel.
• the multiple PoVs: It did take a while for the other PoVs to kick in, but I enjoyed having them there. I think they added to the story, as we got to discover more of other characters' journeys without being limited to Ceda's knowledge.
What I didn't like
• the writing: Usually, writing doesn't really stand out to me. However, in Twelve Kings I found myself getting annoyed with sentence structure at times. I wish the author would have used pronouns more instead of repeating the character's name constantly. Small things like this slowed down my reading so much.
• the parts that simply don't make sense: There were times I was drawn out of the story because I started questioning everything. For example, when Ceda meets the Kings she says she only recognizes a few by face. Ihnan (I think that's his name), is one of the few she doesn't recognize. When he steps forward to introduce himself, however, she thinks Ihnan is handsome and uses his name. After she thinks that, he states his name and introduces himself. But I am reading from Ceda's perspective? If she didn't know which King he was, how did she use his name in her thoughts before he introduced himself? Another thing that doesn't make sense to me is how Ceda has wanted revenge for her mother's murder for years, and wants to kill the kings because of it. Yet in all that time, she has made zero actual plans and has learned nothing about them. How does that make sense? Do you just plan to walk up to them at some point and hope for the best?
• the pacing: The first third of this book is quite slow, as we're getting to know the world. That's fine. The middle picks up a bit, but our main character still gets nowhere with her plans (which she didn't even have, see point above). Then suddenly in the last 100 pages everything falls into place and gets resolved so easily. I didn't really love that.
Overall, I think this is an enjoyable high fantasy novel. I'll probably continue the series at some point, but I don't own the sequel at the moment.
chawlios's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
emiann2023's review against another edition
2.0
I'm sorry, I tried. I couldn't do it. DNF. No clue how far it, it was an audiobook...ten percent maybe?
On the surface, this book has everything I love in an epic fantasy. 1. Epic, sprawling plot with lots of mystery and intrigue. 2. Awesome, badass characters being badasses. 3. An incredible cover. 4. Interesting unique premise.
I'm still new to audiobooks, and I'm having some trouble adjusting to having someone else read a book to me. Because I now hear that story in another person's voice, which is often markedly different than what I would come up with. So I've been lenient, because I know I need to adjust. At first, I thought that was my issue with this book. The narrator for the most part is great, except, she voices all of the men (and some of the women) exactly the same. And in this gruff, scratchy voice that not every single person would ever have. It got to be annoying, but I soldiered on.
But then, I realized, I was not excited to turn my phone on and listen to this story on my commute. I was...disinterested. Again, I assumed I just needed time. But then I realized the problem. I didn't care about these characters at all. The story, which started out mildly interesting, quickly sunk into tons of chapters of boring exposition and uninteresting events from the past that could have been summed up in far fewer words without the time skips, or even taken care of later in the book when I was more invested. As it was, it took forever for things to even move a little bit, and then I decided I didn't care.
I have my suspicions about...Ceda? Jeda? I was confused but this too, and it didn't help my impression. Unnecessarily complicated name is unnecessarily complicated. Anyway, the hints to the truth of her identity are pretty damn obvious. If I ever come across a physical copy of the book, I may flip to the back to confirm them, or view comment spoilers below, but honestly, I just can't bring myself to care.
On the surface, this book has everything I love in an epic fantasy. 1. Epic, sprawling plot with lots of mystery and intrigue. 2. Awesome, badass characters being badasses. 3. An incredible cover. 4. Interesting unique premise.
I'm still new to audiobooks, and I'm having some trouble adjusting to having someone else read a book to me. Because I now hear that story in another person's voice, which is often markedly different than what I would come up with. So I've been lenient, because I know I need to adjust. At first, I thought that was my issue with this book. The narrator for the most part is great, except, she voices all of the men (and some of the women) exactly the same. And in this gruff, scratchy voice that not every single person would ever have. It got to be annoying, but I soldiered on.
But then, I realized, I was not excited to turn my phone on and listen to this story on my commute. I was...disinterested. Again, I assumed I just needed time. But then I realized the problem. I didn't care about these characters at all. The story, which started out mildly interesting, quickly sunk into tons of chapters of boring exposition and uninteresting events from the past that could have been summed up in far fewer words without the time skips, or even taken care of later in the book when I was more invested. As it was, it took forever for things to even move a little bit, and then I decided I didn't care.
I have my suspicions about...Ceda? Jeda? I was confused but this too, and it didn't help my impression. Unnecessarily complicated name is unnecessarily complicated. Anyway, the hints to the truth of her identity are pretty damn obvious. If I ever come across a physical copy of the book, I may flip to the back to confirm them, or view comment spoilers below, but honestly, I just can't bring myself to care.
iba's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
3.75
yvonnie90's review against another edition
3.0
The second half of the book was far better than the first half. The story took a long time to start, but once it did it was really good.
qwandra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5