zoepagereader's review against another edition
4.0
A nice, refreshing read after the horrible book I last finished. My one note is that some things were taken out of real life with one letter changed. Ex: Vorse, Norse. Odin, Obin.
jennl's review against another edition
3.0
Seven Endless Forests (3.5 stars) aims at being a feminist retelling of the Arthurian Excalibur legend. And it’s fairly successful in this goal.
I loved how this book pushes the expectations of gender norms, challenges the idea of what it means to be brave, and explores the notion of family, both biological and found. There’s a quiet strength that remains constant in this read that really works.
There are some things that could be better: tighter editing and smoother pacing, especially in the middle section; deeper character development; less Insta-love/Insta-family; and less stilted dialogue.
Overall, an interesting retake on the Arthurian mythology that will please many.
I loved how this book pushes the expectations of gender norms, challenges the idea of what it means to be brave, and explores the notion of family, both biological and found. There’s a quiet strength that remains constant in this read that really works.
There are some things that could be better: tighter editing and smoother pacing, especially in the middle section; deeper character development; less Insta-love/Insta-family; and less stilted dialogue.
Overall, an interesting retake on the Arthurian mythology that will please many.
lazygal's review against another edition
5.0
This lived up to the Boneless Mercies, whew!
Set in the same world, apparently many years later, we have a version of the King Arthur story that adds some interesting, vaguely Norse bits. There's also a quest that has Tolkein-esque overtones - disparate friends or acquaintances forming a band to make the trek towards revenge and a sword. For me, there were times I wanted to spend more time at a location or with a people and others when I wanted us to move along faster, sometimes at the same time. For example, more about the tree towns but less about the songs the Bards sing while in the tavern. I also wasn't sure that all the Arthur references needed to be there, while we needed a bit more about the wolves to make them truly believable. The ending wrapped things up a little too quickly, perhaps to forestall the need for a sequel.
My sense is that that the author is setting this up in the same way that Cashore did the Graceling world, and I can't wait to see what's next.
eARC provided by publisher.
Set in the same world, apparently many years later, we have a version of the King Arthur story that adds some interesting, vaguely Norse bits. There's also a quest that has Tolkein-esque overtones - disparate friends or acquaintances forming a band to make the trek towards revenge and a sword. For me, there were times I wanted to spend more time at a location or with a people and others when I wanted us to move along faster, sometimes at the same time. For example, more about the tree towns but less about the songs the Bards sing while in the tavern. I also wasn't sure that all the Arthur references needed to be there, while we needed a bit more about the wolves to make them truly believable. The ending wrapped things up a little too quickly, perhaps to forestall the need for a sequel.
My sense is that that the author is setting this up in the same way that Cashore did the Graceling world, and I can't wait to see what's next.
eARC provided by publisher.
straystarlight's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 - I actually really liked that there were all these people and parts of their world that were only mentioned in passing but still felt they could all be their own stories. I'm not familiar with Arthurian legends, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm missing out on, but based on what I've read in other reviews...maybe not much?
morawynsmom's review against another edition
2.0
DNF half way. So disapponting, I loved Boneless Mercies, but this? I did not enjoy this.
constant2m's review against another edition
3.0
Seven Endless Forests is the story of a journey. In some ways, it's a journey of self-discovery, beginning with Torvi losing everyone she loved and forcing her to go on an adventure, something her mother said she would never do. In other ways, it's a journey of friendship, the people Torvi meets along the way, those she will learn from, travel with, fight, or simply encounter along the way. It's also a journey of quests, as each of the companions seek something, though none seek the same thing. And the story is the journey, as more time is spent on the journey and in conversation than doing anything else. As such, the story works. It's slow. It's straightforward. It's simple and to the point, while introducing myriads of new factions and peoples. Unfortunately, there is not enough action to keep the story moving along, which made it easy to put the book down and forget it. The characters were mostly all fascinating. It's too bad the story didn't measure up to them.
Content warning: There is brutal violence (slitting throats, etc.) and Torvi has sex with three different men in the story (this is tastefully written, rather than described in detail).
I received a free ARC from NetGalley and have reviewed it willingly.
Content warning: There is brutal violence (slitting throats, etc.) and Torvi has sex with three different men in the story (this is tastefully written, rather than described in detail).
I received a free ARC from NetGalley and have reviewed it willingly.
inkandplasma's review against another edition
2.0
Rating: 2.5 rounded up to a 3.
“If adventure comes my way, I will run to greet it. I will grab the world by its leash and make it heel.”
I feel pretty conflicted about this one. The prose was intoxicating. It was honestly poetic and beautiful, which is something I loved about Boneless Mercies. And I liked Torvi, the main character. She’s obsessed with fairytales and stories, and models herself off the characters that she loves. I think a lot of readers feel like that about their favourite characters, and it made her super-relatable. The side characters were a lot of fun too. Ink, Madoc and Sven and her arrows were all lovable, and I adored the relationship between Torvi and Gyda.
Unfortunately, the plot of this book didn’t land with me at all. I read the entire thing because of how beautiful the prose itself is, Tucholke has a way with words that means I’ll still go out of my way to pick up anything she writes, but Seven Endless Forests just didn’t work for me. I loved the breadth and variety of the lore being included, but there was just too much crammed into every page. It felt to me like a series of RPG side-quests all crammed into each chapter to cover as much ground as possible. I liked the idea of every character having their own quest, and the implication that everybody’s a hero, but when we saw every single one crammed into 368 pages, it felt like nothing had enough time to get any depth. And because the quests had to be resolved so quickly to move onto the next character’s quest, everything just felt a bit convenient. Deus ex machina’s everywhere. It really was beautifully written, but I wasn’t invested in anyone’s story and if the writing wasn’t so gorgeous, I probably would have DNF’d it.
“If adventure comes my way, I will run to greet it. I will grab the world by its leash and make it heel.”
I feel pretty conflicted about this one. The prose was intoxicating. It was honestly poetic and beautiful, which is something I loved about Boneless Mercies. And I liked Torvi, the main character. She’s obsessed with fairytales and stories, and models herself off the characters that she loves. I think a lot of readers feel like that about their favourite characters, and it made her super-relatable. The side characters were a lot of fun too. Ink, Madoc and Sven and her arrows were all lovable, and I adored the relationship between Torvi and Gyda.
Unfortunately, the plot of this book didn’t land with me at all. I read the entire thing because of how beautiful the prose itself is, Tucholke has a way with words that means I’ll still go out of my way to pick up anything she writes, but Seven Endless Forests just didn’t work for me. I loved the breadth and variety of the lore being included, but there was just too much crammed into every page. It felt to me like a series of RPG side-quests all crammed into each chapter to cover as much ground as possible. I liked the idea of every character having their own quest, and the implication that everybody’s a hero, but when we saw every single one crammed into 368 pages, it felt like nothing had enough time to get any depth. And because the quests had to be resolved so quickly to move onto the next character’s quest, everything just felt a bit convenient. Deus ex machina’s everywhere. It really was beautifully written, but I wasn’t invested in anyone’s story and if the writing wasn’t so gorgeous, I probably would have DNF’d it.
makexbelieve's review against another edition
3.0
I haven't read the Bone Mercies series, but I will be after finishing this story.
The best thing about it was, without doubt, the world building, which has the richness that only a novel set in an already well-fleshed out fantasy world can achieve. There were so many places, people, customs and types of magic. It read like a classic fairytale, which was reflected in the prevalence of bards and storytellers in the story. Songs of old sagas and heroes were woven throughout Torvi's quest, which was epic in scope and full of adventure.
Tucholke's writing rivals her world building. It was as lyrical as one of the fairytales within Seven Endless Forests. I loved her descriptions (especially the Night Wild).
At times it felt as though this novel could have been split into a series, with more time taken over each individual quest. The ending felt rushed, more like a summary epilogue than part of the story. I would have liked even more about Torvi's world and her adventures as she passes through it.
I was provided with a copy of this novel for review through NetGalley.
The best thing about it was, without doubt, the world building, which has the richness that only a novel set in an already well-fleshed out fantasy world can achieve. There were so many places, people, customs and types of magic. It read like a classic fairytale, which was reflected in the prevalence of bards and storytellers in the story. Songs of old sagas and heroes were woven throughout Torvi's quest, which was epic in scope and full of adventure.
Tucholke's writing rivals her world building. It was as lyrical as one of the fairytales within Seven Endless Forests. I loved her descriptions (especially the Night Wild).
At times it felt as though this novel could have been split into a series, with more time taken over each individual quest. The ending felt rushed, more like a summary epilogue than part of the story. I would have liked even more about Torvi's world and her adventures as she passes through it.
I was provided with a copy of this novel for review through NetGalley.
thewoollygeek's review against another edition
5.0
I actually loved the fact that this is character driven so much, I see a lot of reviews saying not much action, but I loved the fact it focuses on the characters , this is why I love April’s books so much it’s about the craft, about the story and spinning yarns, if I wanted a ton of action I’d watch a movie, not saying books don’t need some, but I’m a reader for a reason, April’s books are so beautifully written it’s almost lyrical, her words are her art and she does it so well. If you love April’s previous books or you love beautiful storytelling, artistic craft and amazing writing, you will love this. Get ready to immerse yourself in words and worlds you won’t want to leave.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
kiahgardner's review against another edition
4.0
This was THE perfect book to help me out of my reading slump. I miss all the characters already.