eserafina42's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I kept reading and overall enjoyed the book, found the concept intriguing (really, though, goddess - body doubles would be a much simpler solution), and also liked the characters, but I had some problems suspending belief at both the outlandishness of the cover-up and the dea ex machina (since they do worship a goddess in that culture) at the end.
Of course, this would have ended up as a completely different plot, but I actually stopped listening for the night right after Jamison's (sp?) death and was convinced that I knew how they would handle it. This is a medieval/early modern type world where I'm sure there are plenty of ruffians and lowlifes lurking about. The obvious solution to me would have been for Brianna to go running back to the inn telling about how one of them had attacked Marguerite and Jamison had been killed defending her honor - and that Marguerite's Echo had been collateral damage. (Of course, everyone knew that Jamison was a bastard in more ways than one, but how could they have questioned a story that portrayed him as a hero?) I came back to it the next day to find this messy, convoluted thing where poor Brianna has to live a double life and they have to constantly worry about the deaths being discovered.
Marguerite's "trial," if it could even be called that, also bothered me, since I didn't really feel that the system of government (a tyranny, essentially, at least in that case) was fleshed out enough, maybe a bit of a fault in the world-building.
Of course, this would have ended up as a completely different plot, but I actually stopped listening for the night right after Jamison's (sp?) death and was convinced that I knew how they would handle it. This is a medieval/early modern type world where I'm sure there are plenty of ruffians and lowlifes lurking about. The obvious solution to me would have been for Brianna to go running back to the inn telling about how one of them had attacked Marguerite and Jamison had been killed defending her honor - and that Marguerite's Echo had been collateral damage. (Of course, everyone knew that Jamison was a bastard in more ways than one, but how could they have questioned a story that portrayed him as a hero?) I came back to it the next day to find this messy, convoluted thing where poor Brianna has to live a double life and they have to constantly worry about the deaths being discovered.
Marguerite's "trial," if it could even be called that, also bothered me, since I didn't really feel that the system of government (a tyranny, essentially, at least in that case) was fleshed out enough, maybe a bit of a fault in the world-building.
aphelia88's review against another edition
5.0
NOTE: Review of the print edition
"I glanced up at him, feeling unwontenly serious. 'Does that happen? If you truly love one person, can someone else just appear in your life and suddenly abduct your heart? Against your will, against your wishes? Don't you have to be open to such a thing?'
He looked down at me, his expression as solemn as mine. 'I don't know much about it', he said. 'I don't know if a heart is ever safe. But I've never thought one could be stolen. Just given.'"
~ Brianna and Nico (70)
"All these people, living lives I would never know anything about. All these people, utterly indifferent to my own triumphs and tragedies, my wildest hopes, my darkest fears. What connects us to other human beings?" I wondered. Why do we choose to love some and wholly ignore others? What is it that leads us to care?" ~ Brianna (354)
The Uncommon Echoes series was first published as an audiobook trilogy on Audible. I don't enjoy being read to, so I was very excited that this series is now in print and very grateful that an amazing friend gifted me the print versions
"I glanced up at him, feeling unwontenly serious. 'Does that happen? If you truly love one person, can someone else just appear in your life and suddenly abduct your heart? Against your will, against your wishes? Don't you have to be open to such a thing?'
He looked down at me, his expression as solemn as mine. 'I don't know much about it', he said. 'I don't know if a heart is ever safe. But I've never thought one could be stolen. Just given.'"
~ Brianna and Nico (70)
"All these people, living lives I would never know anything about. All these people, utterly indifferent to my own triumphs and tragedies, my wildest hopes, my darkest fears. What connects us to other human beings?" I wondered. Why do we choose to love some and wholly ignore others? What is it that leads us to care?" ~ Brianna (354)
The Uncommon Echoes series was first published as an audiobook trilogy on Audible. I don't enjoy being read to, so I was very excited that this series is now in print and very grateful that an amazing friend gifted me the print versions
chickenafraido's review against another edition
4.0
Started off a little slow, but ramped up to a very interesting middle section wherein I really enjoyed the characters. The banter between Brianna and Nico was very fun and there seemed to be a lot of believable chemistry there. Brianna herself was brave and self-assured, with a commendable dedication to loyalty. She had a strong sense of justice and clearly cared very deeply for those she loved.
Unfortunately, this characterization is also why i disliked the climax of the story, as I felt it didn't do proper justice to the characters we'd spent all this time getting to know. Everything fell apart, as we knew it had to at some point, yet all these strong characters also seemed to crumble. It went against what I had come to expect from them, and it diminished my enjoyment by quite a bit. We saw things pick back up again by the very end, but there was a bit too much wallowing in the meantime for my taste.
Still, this was an interesting and unique world, and I'm eager to see what else Shinn does with it. I only hope we get to see a bit more of Nico and Brianna's story.
Unfortunately, this characterization is also why i disliked the climax of the story, as I felt it didn't do proper justice to the characters we'd spent all this time getting to know. Everything fell apart, as we knew it had to at some point, yet all these strong characters also seemed to crumble. It went against what I had come to expect from them, and it diminished my enjoyment by quite a bit. We saw things pick back up again by the very end, but there was a bit too much wallowing in the meantime for my taste.
Still, this was an interesting and unique world, and I'm eager to see what else Shinn does with it. I only hope we get to see a bit more of Nico and Brianna's story.
melindamoor's review against another edition
3.0
"In the Kingdom of the Seven Jewels, many of the highest nobles are attended by one or two or three echoes—creatures who look exactly like them, who move with them in perfect synchronicity, but who have no thoughts or volition of their own. They are considered gifts from the triple goddess, who created them generations ago when war and murder put every noble’s life in danger; when assassins could not be sure which identical body was the true lord or lady, many fewer deaths occurred. Now, echoes are primarily a symbol of wealth and status."
Whenever you take a Sharon Shinn book, you can be sure of the following literary trademarks:
- great writing
- detailed & unique world-building with well-defined politics, religion and geography
- intriguing plot (no armageddon or epic quest, though)
- believable, solid romance(s) that are not all-consuming (thankfully).
In general [b:Echo in Onyx|42206191|Echo in Onyx (Uncommon Echoes, #1)|Sharon Shinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552939137l/42206191._SX50_.jpg|65821417] delivers on all fronts. While IMO it does not compare to my favourite Shinn novel, [b:Troubled Waters|7908762|Troubled Waters (Elemental Blessings, #1)|Sharon Shinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1270247367l/7908762._SY75_.jpg|11180191] and I had some issues with the book, it provides intrigue & entertainment in spades.
The overall backstory to plot: there is unrest in the Kingdom of the Seven Jewels, a friction between East & West. The 3 Western provinces (Orenza, Empara, Alberta) are always plotting, possibly to break away & form a separate Kingdom.
In order to appease them, King Harald decides to break off the engagement between Crown Prince Cormack & Lady Vivienne from Thelleron (an Eastern province) and sends his son to visit all 3 Western provinces and invite eligible ladies of high noble families to the capital where he might choose on of them to marry.
Lady Marguerite from Orenza (with 3 echoes of her own, just like the Prince) is among the invited ladies and a very strong candidate for Cormack`s attention. Too bad that she is far from willing as she seems to have a secret lover.
The story is told from the POV of Marguerite`s faithful & devoted maid, Brianna. And while I understand the literary reason why Sharon Shinn chose her restricted, 1st person POV to make it more personal & so as not to give away everything at once and to make the plot more dramatic this way, I couldn`t help feeling that it could have been done differently. But maybe it`s just that I personally don`t like when stories only offer a 1st person narrative. (Yes, I should get over that.)
As Marguerite, accompanied by her 3 echoes and Brianna, is travelling to the royal city of Camarria, calamity strikes and they have to act and make decisions that will not only change their lives, but may bring death to them all.
They need to conceal a crime and the fact that Brianna is courted by Nico, apprentice to the King`s Inquisitor, the infamous & dreaded Malachai makes it all the harder for them.
I found the concept of echoes superweird in some instances
Spoiler
although here it`s only hinted at, the notion that if their "originals" have sex with somebody, so should their echoes ... UGH. Maybe I`m just too conservative, but if the echoes are not supposed to have thoughts/volition of their own, then why the need to imitate their originals in something as personal and intimate as this.Still, there is a nicely buit-up pattern of the 3 books in the series now.
In this one, we are offered the POV of a character who has no echoes herself, but by a series of accidents, ends up impersonating an echo for her mistress.
In Book 2, [b:Echo in Emerald|42206213|Echo in Emerald (Uncommon Echoes, #2)|Sharon Shinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552940508l/42206213._SX50_.jpg|65821442], we'll be given the POV of a main character, having echoes and Book 3 [b:Echo in Amethyst|42206227|Echo in Amethyst (Uncommon Echoes, #3)|Sharon Shinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552940835l/42206227._SX50_.jpg|65821468] will be told from an echo's POV.
The History and the People
The Kingdom of the Seven Jewels consists of seven provinces, each signified by a particular gemstone.
The seven provinces and their gemstones are:
Sammerly: garnet
Banchura: sapphire
Thelleron: citrine
Pandrea: opal
Alberta: amethyst
Empara: emerald
Orenza: onyx (red, black, white)
captaincymru's review against another edition
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
lifstrand's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent read, as are all author [a:Sharon Shinn|28544|Sharon Shinn|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1218995575p2/28544.jpg]'s books. I just want to make one Buyer Beware about the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency paperback edition of [b:Echo in Onyx|42206191|Echo in Onyx (Uncommon Echoes, #1)|Sharon Shinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552939137l/42206191._SX50_.jpg|65821417]: the pages simply fell out of the book as I read them, no matter how careful I was.
tyrshand's review against another edition
5.0
Well this one has quite an interesting set up. The novel starts off rather gently, sort of straddling the line between YA and adult, as we follow Brianna from her loving childhood to her dream job as a lady's maid for an absolutely lovely noblewoman. She's clever and spunky and, despite lacking the training expected of someone in her position, her natural talents make up for it all. She's such an enjoyable character that it's quite a nice ride. The only huge fantasy element are these "Echoes" or "Shadows" that the noble folk have -- copies of themselves that mimic their actions, thought to be divinely given.
Then, when you're nice and comfortable in the story, caught up in the everyday intrigues of their lives, it seems that the plot is going to head into [b:The Selection|10507293|The Selection (The Selection, #1)|Kiera Cass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1322103400s/10507293.jpg|15413183] territory. Luckily, this turns out not to be much the case, though the events that send the plot down a different path... wow. We end up more in a cat and mouse kind of tale. All kinds of crises of trust and betrayal and horribly nervous about the end... There are even some heart wrenching spots. I might have only been able to make it to the end because I was sure things had to work out in a Sharon Shinn tale... But there were definitely more surprises in store for me.
I love that Lady Marguerite's Echoes somehow became real characters despite never speaking and having so little autonomy. You really come to care for them as individuals through their quirks and minor differences.
As for the land itself... Well, with the behaviour of certain royals, I'm hoping a big shake-up is coming. Trying not to get into spoilers, so all I'll say is that I harshly judge some of the characters by the company they keep and see them as rather villainous.
Then, when you're nice and comfortable in the story, caught up in the everyday intrigues of their lives, it seems that the plot is going to head into [b:The Selection|10507293|The Selection (The Selection, #1)|Kiera Cass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1322103400s/10507293.jpg|15413183] territory. Luckily, this turns out not to be much the case, though the events that send the plot down a different path... wow. We end up more in a cat and mouse kind of tale. All kinds of crises of trust and betrayal and horribly nervous about the end... There are even some heart wrenching spots. I might have only been able to make it to the end because I was sure things had to work out in a Sharon Shinn tale... But there were definitely more surprises in store for me.
I love that Lady Marguerite's Echoes somehow became real characters despite never speaking and having so little autonomy. You really come to care for them as individuals through their quirks and minor differences.
As for the land itself... Well, with the behaviour of certain royals, I'm hoping a big shake-up is coming. Trying not to get into spoilers, so all I'll say is that I harshly judge some of the characters by the company they keep and see them as rather villainous.
bf01's review against another edition
4.0
Sharon Shinn is the best!! This series won't replace The Twelve Houses or Elemental Blessings as my favorite Sharon Shinn series, but it's still completely fascinating. It was better than Christmas to have three new Sharon Shinn books at once. Haven't seen anything to the effect that there will be more books....but fingers crossed for 4 more!