Reviews

On the Shoulders of Titans by Andrew Rowe

valedeoro's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted

4.0

corntheholio's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

raj_page's review against another edition

4.0

Instead of the traditional approach of one year per book in the magic school, the writer broke the year into two parts. This book is the second half of the first year of training.

If you liked book 1, you'll most probably enjoy book 2. It felt like one book, broken into two, to me as there were too many loose threads at the end of book 1.

zachedwards89's review against another edition

4.0

So if Spider Division cant tell anyone their attunements wouldn't that make them pretty easy to figure out? idk why this plot hole stuck with me, but it did. main character is supposed to be pretty smart, but this was a pretty "not-clever" line of thought somewhere in the book.

inameitlater's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

casey_zi's review against another edition

3.0

This book was the most fun I've ever had reading an exposition dump. I mean, why just follow a character who goes to magic school à la Harry Potter when you can feel like you're the one attending the school yourself?

I could see it getting tedious for some people. However, I think the action sequences and adventures made it well worth it, at least for me. If you managed to make it through the info dump in the first book, you'll likely have no problems here.

Something that really started to grate on me was the repetition of some phrases. Particularly "I folded my arms," "Character X folded his/her arms," or "Character X folded his/her hands." Everyone spends so much time wincing I wish they could learn some new facial expressions, like at least grimacing for once. I understand that in a long book written by a single author there is bound to be some repetition, but geez dude, you can use a thesaurus!

Also, I really hope the author doesn't go with the childhood friend romance trope in following installments. That's one cliché I've seen too many times already.

I like Sera and Marissa a lot, though. Wonderful girls and friends to Corin. Patrick as well. I wish the series would do more with them, give them some more development or arcs of their own or something apart from the progression of their powers.

I also appreciate that the main underlying conflict isn't black-and-white. There aren't really "good" or "bad" guys here, just several groups with different opinions on what is best for the future of their country. I'm interested to see where it goes, as this series is apparently going to 7 books. Plenty of room for a ton more plot.

3.5 stars, recommended if you liked the first book.

akinobo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

chilliam_mc's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

I loved learning more about the magic in this world. And some great new characters! Loveeee Sheridan. And love Sera, Jin, and Keras even more after this book.

I will say that I haaaate Cecily… like can she be any more annoying & useless. I think the audiobook narrator’s voice for her didn’t help haha. But I don’t like the idea of a love triangle and I LOVE Jin so she can go…

Might read Keras’ prequel series next… I need a break before reading the next book because

Spoiler

Corin invited that annoying bitch on the next adventure UGH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

fir3drag0n's review

hit a reading slump, and then lost my interest in the story when I came back to reading.

I was also infuriated with the to me illogical decision making (making risky decisions) of the main character 
(though its been too long for me to remember all the details I still recall being quite upset about the way

Spoiler

the main Character contemplated giving up the Jaden box as payment for a healer for Sera in chapter 4: "Was I willing to give up the Jaden Box - my best chance of being able to have a physical meeting with Tristan - for a chance to heal Sera" - like why is that even a question? Does he not care about Sera at all? screw Tristan, he already contacted you once, surely he wouldve said more if he wanted. I mean the entire offer was scetchy and I would have turned it down as well, but not because of that.

. I might reread this eventually, but for now its buried very deep inside my To-maybe-read-pile which is buried under the to-read-pile somewhere.

spookyjord's review against another edition

4.5

4.5/5 actual, but has some 5/5 moments.