popthebutterfly's review against another edition
3.0
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: 15+ (death, violence, gore, sexual references)
Pages: 320
Author Website
Amazon Link
Disclaimer: None, I got the audiobook with my own audible credits!
Synopsis: On her eighteenth birthday, Princess Evelayn of Eadrolan, the Light Kingdom, can finally access the full range of her magical powers. The light looks brighter, the air is sharper, and the energy she can draw when fighting feels almost limitless.
But while her mother, the queen, remains busy at the war front, in the Dark Kingdom of Dorjhalon, the corrupt king is plotting. King Bain wants control of both kingdoms, and his plan will fling Evelayn onto the throne much sooner than she expected.
In order to defeat Bain and his sons, Evelayn will quickly have to come into her ability to shapeshift, and rely on the alluring Lord Tanvir. But not everyone is what they seem, and the balance between the Light and Dark comes at a steep price.
Let’s start this off with this: this was one of the cheesiest YA books I’ve ever read and it had oodles and oodles of YA tropes… but it was actually surprisingly okay. The plot was pretty good and the writing was pretty well done and it did well making the language stick to the time period.
However, as you can see above, I didn’t talk about a lot of the usual things I do. The book was actually a struggle to get through the first 41 chapters. The world building wasn’t there, the characters weren’t developed outside of two of the main characters, and the book was really confusing to follow at times. Things happened or the characters did things that I didn’t understand what for. I was for sure I was going to give the book a 2 star rating until the last chapter. The last chapter surprised me so much with its misdirection and its terror that I had to bump up the score significantly. I’m going to read the sequel based solely on the last chapter. Honestly, that chapter should have come sooner in the novel as the rest of it feels so awful in comparison. I feel that the book is one big prologue to an amazing novel… aka the sequel.
Verdict: Plie your way to the last chapter and then to the sequel.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: 15+ (death, violence, gore, sexual references)
Pages: 320
Author Website
Amazon Link
Disclaimer: None, I got the audiobook with my own audible credits!
Synopsis: On her eighteenth birthday, Princess Evelayn of Eadrolan, the Light Kingdom, can finally access the full range of her magical powers. The light looks brighter, the air is sharper, and the energy she can draw when fighting feels almost limitless.
But while her mother, the queen, remains busy at the war front, in the Dark Kingdom of Dorjhalon, the corrupt king is plotting. King Bain wants control of both kingdoms, and his plan will fling Evelayn onto the throne much sooner than she expected.
In order to defeat Bain and his sons, Evelayn will quickly have to come into her ability to shapeshift, and rely on the alluring Lord Tanvir. But not everyone is what they seem, and the balance between the Light and Dark comes at a steep price.
Let’s start this off with this: this was one of the cheesiest YA books I’ve ever read and it had oodles and oodles of YA tropes… but it was actually surprisingly okay. The plot was pretty good and the writing was pretty well done and it did well making the language stick to the time period.
However, as you can see above, I didn’t talk about a lot of the usual things I do. The book was actually a struggle to get through the first 41 chapters. The world building wasn’t there, the characters weren’t developed outside of two of the main characters, and the book was really confusing to follow at times. Things happened or the characters did things that I didn’t understand what for. I was for sure I was going to give the book a 2 star rating until the last chapter. The last chapter surprised me so much with its misdirection and its terror that I had to bump up the score significantly. I’m going to read the sequel based solely on the last chapter. Honestly, that chapter should have come sooner in the novel as the rest of it feels so awful in comparison. I feel that the book is one big prologue to an amazing novel… aka the sequel.
Verdict: Plie your way to the last chapter and then to the sequel.
helenamt's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
sc104906's review against another edition
3.0
Princess Evelayn is turning 18, which means she will be able to fully access her power. Her kingdom has been in a long battle with the dark kingdom, with many fatalities on both sides. After both parents are lost to the war, Evelayn is forced into power long before she ever expected to be. Evelayn wants to end the bloodshed and with her advisors, a cute guy, and priestesses, she just may develop plan to either save her kingdom or leave them in the worst place ever.
This novel is marketed as a swan lake retell, but I must not be as familiar with this myth because I was having trouble making the connection. I found myself more interested in the villain, than the actual love interest.
This novel is marketed as a swan lake retell, but I must not be as familiar with this myth because I was having trouble making the connection. I found myself more interested in the villain, than the actual love interest.
dlewis85's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I picked up this book solely because of the beautiful cover. I was beyond thrilled with what I found inside though.
rachelgart0n's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
kaitykat's review against another edition
4.0
Oh my gosh, this was so good!!! I haven’t read a fantasy like this maybe all year? It was so fun getting back into this genre. I loved the world-building in the book and the shifting magic and summoning of light and darkness was so cool. The entire book was exciting, never a dull moment! The ending had me completely shocked!!
atullio's review against another edition
3.0
This book was recommended to me (multiple) times by a friend, so of course I had to pick it up!
Overall, I found it to be a solid idea for a story, but the execution could have been better. The background of their magic and races weren't very descriptive for being the first book in a series... The reader is told how the children of the king and queen are so SPECIAL, but it is never described why they have stones and the power to shapeshift when the rest of their population does not. This is touched on SLIGHTLY near the end of the book, but Evelayn doesn't give it more than a passing thought before moving along.
Although it can be assumed that "Draíolon" is like saying someone is an "American" or an"European," it is NEVER explained, although I swear it was used at least three times on every page. And let's not get started on the fact that the "good" Draíolon's are WHITE while the "bad" are BLACK. That has a whole level of subconscious (or conscious?) racism in it and I'm not even up for that debate right now, so moving on.
The one thing that really bothered me was the switching of points of view. I may be wrong here, as I don't have the book in front of me, but there is no header to indicate a switch of POV between chapters. One page I'm reading in Evelayn's voice, the next Tanvir, then the next Lorken. Talk about whiplash while reading.
Sigh. Evelayn's relationship with Tanvir. So. Unrealistic. She has been brushing off EVERY. SINGLE. GUY. that's shown interest in her until this GORGEOUS MAN shows up out of nowhere. Suddenly they're in love. And I mean SUDDENLY. No, thanks. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to read a book where the relationship blossoms on the very last page, but give me SOME build up here.
Overall, I found it to be a solid idea for a story, but the execution could have been better. The background of their magic and races weren't very descriptive for being the first book in a series... The reader is told how the children of the king and queen are so SPECIAL, but it is never described why they have stones and the power to shapeshift when the rest of their population does not. This is touched on SLIGHTLY near the end of the book, but Evelayn doesn't give it more than a passing thought before moving along.
Although it can be assumed that "Draíolon" is like saying someone is an "American" or an"European," it is NEVER explained, although I swear it was used at least three times on every page. And let's not get started on the fact that the "good" Draíolon's are WHITE while the "bad" are BLACK. That has a whole level of subconscious (or conscious?) racism in it and I'm not even up for that debate right now, so moving on.
The one thing that really bothered me was the switching of points of view. I may be wrong here, as I don't have the book in front of me, but there is no header to indicate a switch of POV between chapters. One page I'm reading in Evelayn's voice, the next Tanvir, then the next Lorken. Talk about whiplash while reading.
Sigh. Evelayn's relationship with Tanvir. So. Unrealistic. She has been brushing off EVERY. SINGLE. GUY. that's shown interest in her until this GORGEOUS MAN shows up out of nowhere. Suddenly they're in love. And I mean SUDDENLY. No, thanks. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to read a book where the relationship blossoms on the very last page, but give me SOME build up here.
wordsareweapons's review against another edition
4.0
Yeah this was a fun read. I can't figure out if they're some type of fae, I'm assuming they are though. This was a nice blend of action, politics, and some romance. Evelyn did a bit of growing through the book. Her friend Saran was a touch annoying. The "villains" are as always intriguing me. This was nothing mind blowing, but I also don't see many Swan Princess retellings. There were a few twists that I definitely saw coming. Some of the major twists were unfortunately just really predictable. Overall though I liked this.
makenna_matos's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a really nice quick read. I felt at the beginning it was a little fast-paced and the author was trying to shove down a lot of world building for the reader. As the book progressed the character development never really increased either, but there was a lot of consistency in strength and leadership for the main character which I enjoyed. I felt the books ending was very abrupt and was enjoyable but could have been planned out a little better. Also, the book in and of itself was packed full with a lot of sensory imagery which could be understandable given that some of the powers of these magical beings were dependent on their senses; I just felt it was a little bit too much. Overall, it was very enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this duology.
kelsenator's review against another edition
I really wanted to like this one, but I had trouble getting into it. I needed more description of the world and the people and the magic system. I probably would have fallen for this years ago, but after reading a lot of fantasy it just didn't stand out.