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arteziya's review against another edition
3.0
Not a bad book in itself - but it should've been either more fantasy or more historical. Politics should've been more prominent and intricate, and the author should work on improving battle scenes. Roman conquest of Iberia is an unusual backdrop for a fantasy novel, I grant you that. But too often characters of this novel are thinking and acting like contemporary Americans. One of the worst part of this novel for me is the romance. It just felt stale, too much telling from both of the characters, all the conflicts in it are external, and other than that it reminded me of "Fated to be Mated" trope from your average paranormal romance. Still - not a bad book, but it really needed to be trimmed down. You can simply cut one third of the book where the characters repeat themselves endlessly: "Will I dare to live to my full potential? Will I have the strength to save Rome Aven? Should I listen to my uncle and drive foreigners from Iberia?", etc. They repeat over and over again and are really tiresome. Also the decision to alter some historical locations' names and keep the others is baffling and irtitating.
mynameisinigomontoya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
4.75
eclairedelune's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
aprinceforflowers's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
novella42's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Sexual content
szuum's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence
rai's review
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
ar_singh's review against another edition
Taking a break from this one. Hopefully pick it up again soon
ronja_2002's review against another edition
Probably could have been an okay book, but nothing about the first 2 chapters caught my interest
hekate24's review against another edition
5.0
As I said about a year ago, this is a novel by a friend (a friend I've known roughly half my life to boot.) So I can't pretend to neutrality. I will say that as much as I've been tearing through books this year, I also have a ton more I have trouble focusing on at all.
From Unseen Fire did a great job at capturing my attention, however. The prologue pulls you in, lets you know the stakes, and then immediately upends things just a few pages later. This is one of those immersive fantasy series where the pacing is pretty relentless and exciting... and yet there's also a lot of time for dense, lush world-building. Either you like letting the latter wash over you, or you don't. I fall into the latter (at least when there's a sense of liveliness to it, which is present here), especially since I enjoy ancient Rome greatly, so I was very well content. Do take note: This is more of a Kushiel's Legacy style (or even Hakuouki style, to borrow from another medium) fantasy world rather than a Westeros or Tortall style fantasy world. i.e. a historical civilization from our world.... but with magic. I found this pretty interesting and refreshing. I also liked the portrayal of fantasy equivalent of Rome- and nearby environs- as the diverse place it actually was.
This is also one of those fantasy books with tons and tons of characters and plot threads. I always love this approach because even if I wasn't super invested in a character (Sempronius on his own), I knew we would be back soon with the characters and relationships I felt strongly about (Latona on her own, Latona and her sisters, Vitellius and the various places he travels to, etc.) And since all the plot lines verge in various ways, quite my favorites would show up in a plot thread I wasn't initially excited about. POV characters all have believable motivations for a society that's trying to decide what to be. I'm definitely curious and excited about the next book!
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Original "review:"
Aaaand we have a cover now!
(hahah i never leave to-read reviews like this but what else do you do when it's you friend's book?)
From Unseen Fire did a great job at capturing my attention, however. The prologue pulls you in, lets you know the stakes, and then immediately upends things just a few pages later. This is one of those immersive fantasy series where the pacing is pretty relentless and exciting... and yet there's also a lot of time for dense, lush world-building. Either you like letting the latter wash over you, or you don't. I fall into the latter (at least when there's a sense of liveliness to it, which is present here), especially since I enjoy ancient Rome greatly, so I was very well content. Do take note: This is more of a Kushiel's Legacy style (or even Hakuouki style, to borrow from another medium) fantasy world rather than a Westeros or Tortall style fantasy world. i.e. a historical civilization from our world.... but with magic. I found this pretty interesting and refreshing. I also liked the portrayal of fantasy equivalent of Rome- and nearby environs- as the diverse place it actually was.
This is also one of those fantasy books with tons and tons of characters and plot threads. I always love this approach because even if I wasn't super invested in a character (Sempronius on his own), I knew we would be back soon with the characters and relationships I felt strongly about (Latona on her own, Latona and her sisters, Vitellius and the various places he travels to, etc.) And since all the plot lines verge in various ways, quite my favorites would show up in a plot thread I wasn't initially excited about. POV characters all have believable motivations for a society that's trying to decide what to be. I'm definitely curious and excited about the next book!
---
Original "review:"
Aaaand we have a cover now!
(hahah i never leave to-read reviews like this but what else do you do when it's you friend's book?)