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writer6's review against another edition
4.0
My Rating/Score: 4 out of 5 Stars on Goodreads' rating system. 8 out of 10 on my own personal scoring system.
maina21's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
ghadahkhalid's review against another edition
2.0
The Hunger Games but in a different universe and with superpowers. I rolled my eyes too many times to give it more than two stars.
luna1209's review against another edition
4.0
I'm conflicted with this book. On one hand, I loved the story line and the characters. But on the other hand, I didn't love how the book was written. The plot was fairly cliche and I guessed a lot of the things that were going to happen, but the small nuances of the world made it different than other high fantasy books that follow the plot line. Also, I am obsessed with Sunder and he reminds me of Draco Malfoy who is my favorite character from Harry Potter. The characters were definitely my favorite part of the book
The world building in the very beginning I thought was extremely confusing and many terms or ideas were not explained well and seemed to be left to the reader to use context clues to figure out. I felt like a little more concrete explanation in the beginning would have helped set the scene for the rest of the book a lot better. The author also used a lot of French-based words which could be frustrating for the average reader who doesn't know French (fortunately, I've taken 4 years of the language so it was a non-issue for me). She also used a handful of motifs or phrases that I felt like were overused throughout the book.
I still gave this book 4 stars because despite not loving the writing style, I was still entertained and found myself excited about the next chapter to see what was going to happen. The characters and world were gorgeous in my head and I loved getting lost in the Coeur d'Or. I don't think I'll love the second book just based on where I think the plot is going, so honestly I'm going to read it for the romance.
Spoiler
peasant-girl-turns-royaltySpoiler
and I freaked when Sunder kept teasing Mirage and again when they finally kissed.The world building in the very beginning I thought was extremely confusing and many terms or ideas were not explained well and seemed to be left to the reader to use context clues to figure out. I felt like a little more concrete explanation in the beginning would have helped set the scene for the rest of the book a lot better. The author also used a lot of French-based words which could be frustrating for the average reader who doesn't know French (fortunately, I've taken 4 years of the language so it was a non-issue for me). She also used a handful of motifs or phrases that I felt like were overused throughout the book.
I still gave this book 4 stars because despite not loving the writing style, I was still entertained and found myself excited about the next chapter to see what was going to happen. The characters and world were gorgeous in my head and I loved getting lost in the Coeur d'Or. I don't think I'll love the second book just based on where I think the plot is going, so honestly I'm going to read it for the romance.
olivvy's review against another edition
1.0
This book was so boring I can’t even remember anything about it.
amengelking's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully descriptive narrative and plenty of interesting characters. At the end, it felt more like a prequel, leading up to the real story, that is bound to occur in the sequel. (Once Upon a Bookclub YA selection-December)
emma_j_barnaby's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
repha's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars ☀️
There were a few elements of this book that I really loved, and others that I just couldn't get past.
The world-building was really interesting, the mysteries captured my interest and made me want to know more and more of the story.
The problem is that I just couldn't stand the main character's stupidity and sense of pride. She never questions her capability or ideals. She's just claiming during all the novel that she deserves more, because it's her "legacy", her "birthright". And we never really get to see her evolve on the matter. She has a dangerous habit of thinking the world should be the was SHE wants it, graceful and beautiful, without caring about what others might think or want. I would have been more interested in following any of the other characters adventures, because they all felt far more complex and fleshed out.
The romance didn't make that much sense. The love interest keeps constantly trying to bring her down and destroy her efforts, but she somehow still falls for him. Given her exacerbated sense of pride, it seems rather odd.
I still enjoyed reading this book, because the writing was delicious and the world described held a great potential. I liked most of the characters, and the dynamic at court was deliciously complex. But we only have to get a more in depth look on the events at the very end of the story, and during most of the book, the main character doesn't do anything really useful or meaningful.
There were a few elements of this book that I really loved, and others that I just couldn't get past.
The world-building was really interesting, the mysteries captured my interest and made me want to know more and more of the story.
The problem is that I just couldn't stand the main character's stupidity and sense of pride. She never questions her capability or ideals. She's just claiming during all the novel that she deserves more, because it's her "legacy", her "birthright". And we never really get to see her evolve on the matter. She has a dangerous habit of thinking the world should be the was SHE wants it, graceful and beautiful, without caring about what others might think or want. I would have been more interested in following any of the other characters adventures, because they all felt far more complex and fleshed out.
The romance didn't make that much sense. The love interest keeps constantly trying to bring her down and destroy her efforts, but she somehow still falls for him. Given her exacerbated sense of pride, it seems rather odd.
I still enjoyed reading this book, because the writing was delicious and the world described held a great potential. I liked most of the characters, and the dynamic at court was deliciously complex. But we only have to get a more in depth look on the events at the very end of the story, and during most of the book, the main character doesn't do anything really useful or meaningful.