mrose21's review against another edition
3.0
I'm conflicted, one part of me quite enjoyed this but another part just felt like this was a little lacking.
Its an interesting high fantasy story and I find those can be quite difficult for me to read as you really have to concentrate on the characters and story going on. I do try but I prefer books that arn't that complicated to get into, its just my preference. This being said I found myself lost in parts. The flicking between present and past wasn't always smooth and sometimes I read parts a couple of times to try and work out where we were - past or present - that disrupted the story for me a little bit.
All in all I did enjoy reading this book, just not sure enough to carry on the series...
Its an interesting high fantasy story and I find those can be quite difficult for me to read as you really have to concentrate on the characters and story going on. I do try but I prefer books that arn't that complicated to get into, its just my preference. This being said I found myself lost in parts. The flicking between present and past wasn't always smooth and sometimes I read parts a couple of times to try and work out where we were - past or present - that disrupted the story for me a little bit.
All in all I did enjoy reading this book, just not sure enough to carry on the series...
bookwife's review
2.0
I want to say that I loved this book but I honestly didn't understand a lot of it. I feel like I got dropped into the middle of the book. Or maybe the second book in the series. I thought maybe this was a spin off of another series but it says it's a stand alone series... so I don't know.. I feel confused. I started to understand some of it towards the end... but not enough. I may try to read the next book.. but I might not bother.
stacylmoll's review
4.0
The Banished of Muirwood is an interesting story, full of twists and turns. I feel sorry for Maia, she tries to do what is right, but keeps finding herself causing problems everywhere she goes. I'm not sure about the Cinderella setting of Maia waiting on her father's mistress and her daughters, I found that a bit distracting, although the twist where it was her father that put her in that position was different. That aside, the book is well worth your time and I look forward to reading the next one.
jcooper221's review against another edition
2.75
The story was good. The plot was fresh and interesting throughout, I never really knew what was going to happen next.
I've seen other reviews describing the protagonist as whiny, and I'll give my own spin on this. Maia is utterly incompetent and reactive, as opposed to proactive. A protagonist like this is very difficult to pull off, and Wheeler did not deliver. Wheeler used the word "trembling" to describe her emotional state at least a hundred times. Like, I get it, she lives in a perpetual state of fear. Can we just move on with the story? I was more annoyed than sympathetic with her. She also doesn't really do anything, she's just ferried from one destination to the next.
There were also a few places where story facts didn't quite add up. For instance, Wheeler's depiction of Spoileravalanches is wrong. How did Maia not suffocate? Simply googling "how do people die from avalanches" would have saved him here.
At the end of the book, Spoilerin reference to the brand on her shoulder, Maia's grandmother tells her she will have to live with the consequences of her choices. And my immediate thought was, "What choice?" This entire book has been about the illusion of choice. Maia hasn't actually done anything of her own free will, she just tags along or does what other people tell her to. I can appreciate that we sometimes suffer for choices we made without fully knowing what we were doing. But in this story it's unsatisfying, especially when said choice was made before the beginning of the narrative. The reader can't identify with a choice they didn't actually see happen. There are a few story decisions like this that made the plot unconvincing and start to unravel.
I've seen other reviews describing the protagonist as whiny, and I'll give my own spin on this. Maia is utterly incompetent and reactive, as opposed to proactive. A protagonist like this is very difficult to pull off, and Wheeler did not deliver. Wheeler used the word "trembling" to describe her emotional state at least a hundred times. Like, I get it, she lives in a perpetual state of fear. Can we just move on with the story? I was more annoyed than sympathetic with her. She also doesn't really do anything, she's just ferried from one destination to the next.
There were also a few places where story facts didn't quite add up. For instance, Wheeler's depiction of Spoileravalanches is wrong. How did Maia not suffocate? Simply googling "how do people die from avalanches" would have saved him here.
At the end of the book, Spoilerin reference to the brand on her shoulder, Maia's grandmother tells her she will have to live with the consequences of her choices. And my immediate thought was, "What choice?" This entire book has been about the illusion of choice. Maia hasn't actually done anything of her own free will, she just tags along or does what other people tell her to. I can appreciate that we sometimes suffer for choices we made without fully knowing what we were doing. But in this story it's unsatisfying, especially when said choice was made before the beginning of the narrative. The reader can't identify with a choice they didn't actually see happen. There are a few story decisions like this that made the plot unconvincing and start to unravel.
thatlemonadelife's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
klherring's review
3.0
Not terribly different from the other Muirwood series, but enjoyable in the same way
jreason's review
5.0
Absolutely brilliant start to a new series. Whilst I enjoyed the original trilogy I feel that this one expanded upon and made it even better. The characters and locations all felt much more in depth and real.
habeasopus's review against another edition
3.0
A nice twisty tale. And there are still a couple of characters lurking around the edges who may turn out to be interesting as this series progresses.