Reviews

The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence

angyie's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad medium-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

4.0

bellaob's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.75

Ambitious concept, and I liked the main characters, but I could never quite buy into the world building and the side characters didn’t feel fully realised. I found the first half (at least) of the book quite boring, and the overall vibe of it a bit depressing. I didn’t feel like the world or the magic system was fleshed out well enough for me to really get into it, with everything being just that bit too mysterious and nebulous. I will admit the twist was an interesting one that I didn’t see coming, although perhaps I would have if I’d been paying more attention and not putting it down for long periods. For a book that felt extremely slow for the majority of it, everything around the big reveal and afterwards seemed to progress very fast, so I think there were some issues with the pacing. At the end I was disappointed to discover that the book is part of a series rather than a standalone, which I think speaks volumes and is never a good sign. I’m not a big fan of  time travel though, I find the logic of it never quite lines up to my satisfaction, so that may also have coloured my perception of how everything was (or wasn’t) tied up. 

local_zero's review against another edition

Lost motivation

wiig_with_k's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

hlmackenzie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

savannahlaughlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

bookish_wonders's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious 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

3.5

novembrist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jcoryv's review against another edition

4.0

Listened to this on Audible. Solid narration.

I enjoyed this story. Not sure if there were some things that didn’t quite line up or if I just missed some things. But for a complicated story, it held up pretty well.

julia_ireland's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5