thelaurelwreathcrowned's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
barcodeborrower's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting magic system and fun character combos. It definitely read more like YA
mandykins007's review
5.0
So many good things about this book! The authors attention to detail, the pacing, the world building and the characters are all spot on! Unique system of magic and lovely structured world setting. Relatable (to an extent) characters. This book packed a great little punch. Politics and intrigue abound. The writing is near perfect! Loved this book! Looking forward to the next installment.
scrollsofdragons's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 The first person writing style didn't work for me, in high fantasy I find third person is what works best. And we only follow the one character who's not even that interesting, which means all the other background characters we only see through her perspective and if these other characters had been able to stand on their own, had they had povs I could have liked them more. As it was only the plot which was thrilling held this book for me but I may not continue because I don't care enough about the characters and with the plot looming towards war, I need characters to care about.
Romance-2
Characters- 2.5
World Building- 2.5
Enjoyability -4
Originality -2.5
Plot-4
Writing -3
For a total of 2.92 rounded to 2.5
Romance-2
Characters- 2.5
World Building- 2.5
Enjoyability -4
Originality -2.5
Plot-4
Writing -3
For a total of 2.92 rounded to 2.5
bright_night's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
anadantas's review against another edition
5.0
Scroll of you prefer to read in English
Sentimentos mistos sobre o fim do livro, porque por um lado eu queria que tudo se resolvesse e a solução foi perfeitamente razoável, mas por outro lado não era uma solução que eu tinha como prever e eu não gosto muito de soluções fora da tela.
Gostei demais da protagonista: ela é uma herdeira relutante, mas não irresponsável igual algumas situações semelhantes na literatura. Adoro o fato dela ser nerd de magia mesmo não podendo fazer magia. Ok, às vezes ela marca bobeira, mas até aí, ela é humana.
Achei a solução de Raverra para "o problema dos X-Men" fascinante. Porque realmente, em todo mundo onde existe magia, é muito fácil cair em um dos dois lados: ou os magos são super elite/aristocracia concentração de poder (Magneto), ou eles são super fique escondido pra não ser pego pela caça às bruxas (Xavier), mas o Império Sereno criou um sistema que consegue evitar esses dois extremos. Tem seus próprios problemas, mas isso é explorado no livro.
ENGLISH
I have mixed feelings about the ending, because everything I wanted solved was solved, and the solution was perfectly within the bounds of reasonable... but I didn't have any means to see it coming, and I don't really like off screen solutions.
I really liked the protagonist: she's a reluctant heir, but not irresponsible like some we see in literature. I love that she's a magic nerd even though she can't do magic herself. Sometimes she makes silly mistakes, but she's only human.
And Raverra's solution for "the X-Men problem" is fascinating. In stories with magic, it's very easy to fall in one of the two: magic people are rulers/elite with power in their hands (Magneto), or lay low and don't be caught in the witch hunt (Xavier). The Serene Empire has a system that avoids those extremes. It has its own pitfalls, but the book explores those.
Sentimentos mistos sobre o fim do livro, porque por um lado eu queria que tudo se resolvesse e a solução foi perfeitamente razoável, mas por outro lado não era uma solução que eu tinha como prever e eu não gosto muito de soluções fora da tela.
Gostei demais da protagonista: ela é uma herdeira relutante, mas não irresponsável igual algumas situações semelhantes na literatura. Adoro o fato dela ser nerd de magia mesmo não podendo fazer magia. Ok, às vezes ela marca bobeira, mas até aí, ela é humana.
Achei a solução de Raverra para "o problema dos X-Men" fascinante. Porque realmente, em todo mundo onde existe magia, é muito fácil cair em um dos dois lados: ou os magos são super elite/aristocracia concentração de poder (Magneto), ou eles são super fique escondido pra não ser pego pela caça às bruxas (Xavier), mas o Império Sereno criou um sistema que consegue evitar esses dois extremos. Tem seus próprios problemas, mas isso é explorado no livro.
ENGLISH
I have mixed feelings about the ending, because everything I wanted solved was solved, and the solution was perfectly within the bounds of reasonable... but I didn't have any means to see it coming, and I don't really like off screen solutions.
I really liked the protagonist: she's a reluctant heir, but not irresponsible like some we see in literature. I love that she's a magic nerd even though she can't do magic herself. Sometimes she makes silly mistakes, but she's only human.
And Raverra's solution for "the X-Men problem" is fascinating. In stories with magic, it's very easy to fall in one of the two: magic people are rulers/elite with power in their hands (Magneto), or lay low and don't be caught in the witch hunt (Xavier). The Serene Empire has a system that avoids those extremes. It has its own pitfalls, but the book explores those.
amatelier's review against another edition
1.0
J'ai arrêté à la page 100. Beaucoup trop d'incohérences.
theamazingmrg's review against another edition
4.0
I'll hold my hands up. I thought this was going to be awful. It wasn't.
Reading the synopsis, I had visions of the two leads in some kind of awful teen romance. They weren't.
Instead, The Tethered Mage is very much a political fantasy, and the relationship between the two main characters (as indicated by the blurb) is secondary to that. The hints of teen romance did push the boundaries of cheese at times, but Melissa Caruso made the sensible choice to keep that side of things outside of the relationship between the core duo, which stopped me getting literary diabetes.
All in all, it was a string debut, with an interesting magic system, all the political Intrigue you could ever want, and a nice hook for the sequel. I did mark it down a little for the times it was a little schmaltzy and the fact that a worrying number of the main characters were a little dim! One distracted academic I could have forgiven. Three (and one gormless soldier) was a bit much! I'll definitely grab the sequel though.
Reading the synopsis, I had visions of the two leads in some kind of awful teen romance. They weren't.
Instead, The Tethered Mage is very much a political fantasy, and the relationship between the two main characters (as indicated by the blurb) is secondary to that. The hints of teen romance did push the boundaries of cheese at times, but Melissa Caruso made the sensible choice to keep that side of things outside of the relationship between the core duo, which stopped me getting literary diabetes.
All in all, it was a string debut, with an interesting magic system, all the political Intrigue you could ever want, and a nice hook for the sequel. I did mark it down a little for the times it was a little schmaltzy and the fact that a worrying number of the main characters were a little dim! One distracted academic I could have forgiven. Three (and one gormless soldier) was a bit much! I'll definitely grab the sequel though.
lizzy_22's review
3.0
Well written YA fantasy, good for its target audience but lacked real suspense for me.