Reviews

The Poisoner's Enemy by Jeff Wheeler

rhian8's review

slow-paced

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

2.0

The main character doesn’t have a single flaw and is amazing at everything she has ever done in her entire life - the most “fantasy” part of this book is that someone like that could actually exist. Any character development is summarized in short notes “penned” by the main character (when I was fifteen… blah blah blah) so we don’t get to learn about her studies or how she develops her magic - which honestly sound much more interesting than her other interactions in the book that are mostly her immediately knowing what to do, getting complimented for it, and then her acting shy because it’s unbecoming to react positively to compliments. There is just no character development - she is the same at age 12 (at the beginning of the book) as she is at age 17 (at the end of the book) - there is not one instance that she makes even a simple mistake or struggles with any type of task in this book. 

The summary of the plot is a 15-17 year old girl saves a kingdom - but using her innate military tactile knowledge that no one ever taught her. It’s a hard pill to swallow. 

silver_wings's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

perch15's review

3.0

Another solid entry in the Kingfountain series. Ankarette's origin story was rife with intrigue, as expected.

modernwaterrider's review

adventurous emotional tense 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? Yes

4.0

fanciful_bookdrinker's review

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

habeasopus's review against another edition

3.0

This is why prequels are so much fun to read, and, I imagine, for authors to write. Ankarette’s back story was a great deal more nuanced than I expected and I enjoyed riding along.

bookbreaksnhottakes's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent addition to the Sears

I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the characters before Owen came on the scene. The author does a great job of rounding out the characters and alluding to the next books in a thoughtful way

protestmyboredom's review

4.0

I decided to read this before the rest of the series since it is first chronologically. I enjoyed it! I am looking forward to reading more. Naturally I would have enjoyed more of her training and stories from that time but I’m curious to see what this back story leads to. I feel the characters are like-able and realistic which is great considering my disappointment with the last series I read (The Paper Magician) that was overly simplified and illogical.

nicolepeck's review

3.0

This is a prequel series for the author's Kingfountain series. Unfortunately, I really struggled with it. A lot of the story was disconnected and disjointed for me and felt choppy. It attempts to give some more in-depth background history to Owen's story and Trynne's story from the main series, but it wasn't cohesive and I struggled to follow it. There weren't a lot of explanations about some things (why is The Mad King mad and the ties between certain characters in the main series and this one). There are two more books in this prequel series, but I think it will be a while before I tackle them because this one was so hard for me to get into and follow and connect with.

Content: Clean writing, no language, though some war situations.


Once Upon a Book Club Box 40 Books 2020 Reading Challenge tag: A Book Set in a Forest

rachachase1702's review

3.0

3.5 stars