kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition
3.0
I have finished this one, and it isn’t bad at all, (and is available as audiobook!) – it just is as far away from being my cup of tea as a book can be. I don’t like romance in my fantasy, and I don’t like a focus on emotions of any sort.
So parts like this – exactly what other readers might enjoy – just have me sigh and drop my shoulders and hope to get on with it…
So while the plot was interesting enough and I enjoyed the world building, the characters stayed a bit plain with emotions painted on, instead of them just feeling like a natural part of the story. Big changes to their whole being take place in a matter of paragraphs, which adds to them not feeling like “real people” to me. Being really unsure about their own emotional state also didn’t help to win me over – me being a very pragmatic kind of person:
For those who are looking for an epic fantasy with a big world mixed with some romance and a rather easy read, this might be absolutely perfect though!
So parts like this – exactly what other readers might enjoy – just have me sigh and drop my shoulders and hope to get on with it…
He Smelled like the sea, wild and free, eager to go wherever it wished, do whatever it wanted. Like freedom. If she kissed him, would he taste like salt and sunshine? What hold did he have on her? What madness? For she was giving in at just his touch, at the unexpected gentleness of his words. A desperate desire thrummed through her body to have more of his warmth, to envelop herself in him and forget about the quest, the fae, and the potential of dragons.
“Yes,” she whispered.
His fingers undid the laces of her sheath, baring her upper chest down to where her breastplate covered her breasts and stomach. A lump settled in her throat as his fingers brushed against the swirls that decorated her collarbone.
“They are beautiful,” he breathed a light in his eyes, lost in awe.
So while the plot was interesting enough and I enjoyed the world building, the characters stayed a bit plain with emotions painted on, instead of them just feeling like a natural part of the story. Big changes to their whole being take place in a matter of paragraphs, which adds to them not feeling like “real people” to me. Being really unsure about their own emotional state also didn’t help to win me over – me being a very pragmatic kind of person:
The past year she’d warred with her feelings, and although she was still unsure whether it was brotherly love or romantic love, it didn’t matter. She needed to help him.
For those who are looking for an epic fantasy with a big world mixed with some romance and a rather easy read, this might be absolutely perfect though!
theseblankpages's review against another edition
4.0
'Pawn' follows Maeve of Carn, a warrior born with superhuman strength, who is captured by the Dark Fae and forced on a quest to find the missing shards of a devine relic - rumoured to have the ability to break all curses.
Led by a mysterious scholar and with strange events afoot, Maeve must uncover secrets about her past and discover a way to defeat the Dark Fae's plan.. before it is too late.
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I found myself really enjoying the story, and honestly flew through it during my reading sprints with my friend! The Dark Fae were truly a frightening species to read about, but I was really curious to discover their motives!
Led by a mysterious scholar and with strange events afoot, Maeve must uncover secrets about her past and discover a way to defeat the Dark Fae's plan.. before it is too late.
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I found myself really enjoying the story, and honestly flew through it during my reading sprints with my friend! The Dark Fae were truly a frightening species to read about, but I was really curious to discover their motives!
the_b00kreader's review against another edition
5.0
**TW**
This book contains death, blood, torture and violence. This may not be suitable for sensitive readers.
I buddy-read this book with @these.blank.pages on Instagram and can gladly say that I found this to be a very enjoyable read!
The character of Maeve was strong and independent. She was human and felt real. She had her weak moments just like us all, but she pulled through.
I love that the fae in this book weren't portrayed as being nice and instead evil. It's certainly different to how they're usually portrayed.
This book was able to both hurt me and keep me hooked throughout!
I adored Ford's writing and I cannot wait to venture into book 2!! (I NEED more
This book contains death, blood, torture and violence. This may not be suitable for sensitive readers.
I buddy-read this book with @these.blank.pages on Instagram and can gladly say that I found this to be a very enjoyable read!
The character of Maeve was strong and independent. She was human and felt real. She had her weak moments just like us all, but she pulled through.
I love that the fae in this book weren't portrayed as being nice and instead evil. It's certainly different to how they're usually portrayed.
This book was able to both hurt me and keep me hooked throughout!
I adored Ford's writing and I cannot wait to venture into book 2!! (I NEED more
readwithmoniqua's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
4.5
Maeve really went through it in this book. I legit thought Caspian had set her up to be caught by the fae. I didn’t like that he hid the shard from her, but after his death and Sandrine’s truth moment, I stopped side eyeing him. He really was looking out for her, maybe.
I don’t trust Imer and Ingram though o have a feeling Imer will be the love interest. I’m excited to see what happens on Carn and the new revelations Maeve receives. I’m also very excited for the dragon to be a key player in taking down the fae. Imer revealing who he really was at the end had my mouth on the floor. What is Maeve to do with that information?
I do not trust Sandrine, but I also feel like she has her own tricks up her sleeves.
bookswithmichellee's review
3.0
Thank you the author and Feather and Dove Book Tours for providing me with a free digital copy of this book for exchange for an honest review.
Pawn by Angela J. Ford follows Maeve of Carn, a warrior with superhuman strength. As a warrior she worked for many clients selling her abilities for fame and wealth. However, everything went wrong during a raid and was captured by the Dark Fae. After spending time in a dungeon, Maeve is recruited by the Master to complete a nearly impossible quest over the next 7 months. Pawn follows her quest and the decisions she must make along the way.
This book was very entertaining read and seems like a very interesting world. I really enjoyed following the beginning of Maeve's journey and learning about both the human and fae world. There are so many different creatures and strong world building skills from Ford. I really liked the idea of the quest she is on - to find the seven shards of an ancient relic that will break the curses on many of the creatures - including the fae. I enjoyed how some of the chapters were in different POV, it helped add some depth into the story and add a little bit more mystery. I also really enjoyed Ford's storytelling. I found her to be a very good at building the world and the ways in which she unfolded the plot.
However, as there were many things told within this book, a lot of questions and confusions arise. Maeve acts slightly as a narrator of the world as she asks questions that you as a reader will also have but a lot of those questions don't always get answers and often lead to more questions. Maeve and her homeland of Carn are not super developed. I felt like I didn't know much about Maeve besides the fact that she has super strength and is the sole survivor of her land. We were able to learn a little bit of her background through very brief flashbacks, but not enough for me to feel like I know her as a character. Most of the other characters we see, including her quest partner - Sandrine the Scholar, there is a lack of information about them and they feel slightly questionable. I feel like this could be rectified through the next two novels.
Overall, this was a really good start to a new series. The questioning and lack of answers make me want to read the next novels. The novel is full of cliffhangers and a very interesting world to explore
Pawn by Angela J. Ford follows Maeve of Carn, a warrior with superhuman strength. As a warrior she worked for many clients selling her abilities for fame and wealth. However, everything went wrong during a raid and was captured by the Dark Fae. After spending time in a dungeon, Maeve is recruited by the Master to complete a nearly impossible quest over the next 7 months. Pawn follows her quest and the decisions she must make along the way.
This book was very entertaining read and seems like a very interesting world. I really enjoyed following the beginning of Maeve's journey and learning about both the human and fae world. There are so many different creatures and strong world building skills from Ford. I really liked the idea of the quest she is on - to find the seven shards of an ancient relic that will break the curses on many of the creatures - including the fae. I enjoyed how some of the chapters were in different POV, it helped add some depth into the story and add a little bit more mystery. I also really enjoyed Ford's storytelling. I found her to be a very good at building the world and the ways in which she unfolded the plot.
However, as there were many things told within this book, a lot of questions and confusions arise. Maeve acts slightly as a narrator of the world as she asks questions that you as a reader will also have but a lot of those questions don't always get answers and often lead to more questions. Maeve and her homeland of Carn are not super developed. I felt like I didn't know much about Maeve besides the fact that she has super strength and is the sole survivor of her land. We were able to learn a little bit of her background through very brief flashbacks, but not enough for me to feel like I know her as a character. Most of the other characters we see, including her quest partner - Sandrine the Scholar, there is a lack of information about them and they feel slightly questionable. I feel like this could be rectified through the next two novels.
Overall, this was a really good start to a new series. The questioning and lack of answers make me want to read the next novels. The novel is full of cliffhangers and a very interesting world to explore
ashreadem's review against another edition
I don’t DNF books, but I had to make an exception for this one. I’m a little salty I bought it when it’s on Kindle Unlimited 😒
With a brief summary like that, I expected different. The MC doesn’t give off badass vibes and the story is boring..
With a brief summary like that, I expected different. The MC doesn’t give off badass vibes and the story is boring..
unapologetic_romantic's review against another edition
1.0
I have no feelings for this book, at all.
The characters are flat, and I don’t actually like any of them except the master, and we haven’t seen much of him, just enough to know he’s a super evil bad guy *love sick sigh*
I love the idea for this story, warrior queen, dangerous quest for magical artifices, supreme bad guys, dragons! It sound epic, however the reality was not.
Did not finish at 44%.
The characters are flat, and I don’t actually like any of them except the master, and we haven’t seen much of him, just enough to know he’s a super evil bad guy *love sick sigh*
I love the idea for this story, warrior queen, dangerous quest for magical artifices, supreme bad guys, dragons! It sound epic, however the reality was not.
Did not finish at 44%.
dreamer4ever's review against another edition
5.0
Maeve of Carn
This is my first book by Angela Ford and it was nothing short of freaking amazing. This is such a phenomal story. Maeve of Carn is a tortured warrior, knowing almost nothing of her past, she reminds me a bit of a Amazon, teamed up with other warriors just living for the battle and coin. Maeves life takes a horrible turn when she is captured by the Fae and thrown in their dungeon. She strikes a deal, more like she has no choice, and she's off on this hellafied quest with goblins, celestials, a grumpy ass seer (maybe), who knows far more than she's letting on, orcs, mages, dragons, dark fae, to help break a curse from a prophecy that could unleash pretty much hell on earth. This story is so so so good. I wish I could give this a billion stars. I love Maeve, she's just so broken, her powers have been collared and she has a long road ahead as she continues on this mission for the Fae with two brothers, who have their own power and secrets as she tries to find out who she is and what happened to her people. I'm obviously off to read the next book and thankfully the third will be out very soon. This review barely scratches the surface and I wish I could put into better words just how much I loved this and how brilliant this is. I'm excited to have found this author and will be buying everything she's written. SO FREAKING GOOD!!!
This is my first book by Angela Ford and it was nothing short of freaking amazing. This is such a phenomal story. Maeve of Carn is a tortured warrior, knowing almost nothing of her past, she reminds me a bit of a Amazon, teamed up with other warriors just living for the battle and coin. Maeves life takes a horrible turn when she is captured by the Fae and thrown in their dungeon. She strikes a deal, more like she has no choice, and she's off on this hellafied quest with goblins, celestials, a grumpy ass seer (maybe), who knows far more than she's letting on, orcs, mages, dragons, dark fae, to help break a curse from a prophecy that could unleash pretty much hell on earth. This story is so so so good. I wish I could give this a billion stars. I love Maeve, she's just so broken, her powers have been collared and she has a long road ahead as she continues on this mission for the Fae with two brothers, who have their own power and secrets as she tries to find out who she is and what happened to her people. I'm obviously off to read the next book and thankfully the third will be out very soon. This review barely scratches the surface and I wish I could put into better words just how much I loved this and how brilliant this is. I'm excited to have found this author and will be buying everything she's written. SO FREAKING GOOD!!!
2tnwalkers's review against another edition
2.0
Made it to chapter 16, quite slow, and has too much of a religious overtone for my liking. What I read was written grammatically correct. But story could not keep my interest especially when referring to the Divine as all light and righteous. Hence the religious overtones.
a_big_slug's review against another edition
2.0
This book had some big positives. The MC seems to have an interesting back story. I like the pairing of Maeve and Sandrine in the book, their relationship has lots of potential. The action from the 75% mark was great and there was genuine intruige and tension when Maeve, Caspian, Sandrine and the pirate brothers were all together.
However it was a little derivative, with names like 'The Sea of Sorrows' and 'Dungeon of the Damned.' The characters were a little plain and not very developed. The fetch-quest plot has been done before so it was a bit of a labor to get through. However as I said, the action towards the end was intriguing and showed enough potential for me to want to read the rest of the series.
However it was a little derivative, with names like 'The Sea of Sorrows' and 'Dungeon of the Damned.' The characters were a little plain and not very developed. The fetch-quest plot has been done before so it was a bit of a labor to get through. However as I said, the action towards the end was intriguing and showed enough potential for me to want to read the rest of the series.