riana_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
A gift to the fantasy genre, like nothing I’ve ever read before. I couldn’t get enough of this book, and was constantly surprised by the twists and turns it took, and the nuances it explored. Thank goodness it’s a trilogy - I’m so thrilled to have more of this utterly unique world to delve back into.
malorykiyomi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
sazv's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
olliesbooksnbeads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
peachie97's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mhedgescsus's review against another edition
1.0
Check out my YouTube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books as soon as I finish the book.
Equal parts slow, boring, unrelatable - with a writing style that feels extremely awkward.
I've heard so many good things about this book that I was extremely eager to begin my journey here. Virtually everyone I know that has read this book has given it at least a 4/5 stars rating. But unfortunately I disliked virtually everything about this book, and couldn't even bear to finish it which is extremely rare for me (got to about 80%).
First, I need to say that I listened to the audiobook of this - and the narrator was actually extremely good. It's one of the main reasons that I got to as far as I did, and they did a great job at doing multiple different voices in a distinctly well done way.
But the writing style here felt very off for me. While I'm sure it is eventually revealed to the reader why this is happening, the inexplicable writing in the 2nd person for much of this book was off-putting to say the least. It felt like the author was trying to be clever, but ultimately just took me out of the story.
While I haven't finished the book, it's extremely clear to me that sometime at the end of the book there is a major twist. But the twist was evident to me by about 1/4 through the book, and I actually had to go back and check that it wasn't revealed to me earlier in the book because it felt so obvious. Normally I am literally the last person to catch on to a twist before it is revealed, but it really sucked a lot of life out of the story to have something so built up, but simultaneous so obvious. I think the book would have benefited by just embracing the twist early on and telling the story in a more cohesive way.
The characters in the book felt unrelatable to me, and even though I have a father of two the emotional slam that this book tries to throw on you that you are supposed to be able to relate to as a parent just doesn't have the punch that I think was intended.
The initial plot of the book was interesting, and I found myself sucked into the story and wanting to learn more about this world. But the world building felt very limited and not explored in this first book in a way that continued to keep me interested. It had a wandering post-apocalyptic feel that I can understand appeals to some, just didn't hit right for me.
While this is an extremely unpopular opinion, I need to move on to something else that captivates me more thoroughly.
Equal parts slow, boring, unrelatable - with a writing style that feels extremely awkward.
I've heard so many good things about this book that I was extremely eager to begin my journey here. Virtually everyone I know that has read this book has given it at least a 4/5 stars rating. But unfortunately I disliked virtually everything about this book, and couldn't even bear to finish it which is extremely rare for me (got to about 80%).
First, I need to say that I listened to the audiobook of this - and the narrator was actually extremely good. It's one of the main reasons that I got to as far as I did, and they did a great job at doing multiple different voices in a distinctly well done way.
But the writing style here felt very off for me. While I'm sure it is eventually revealed to the reader why this is happening, the inexplicable writing in the 2nd person for much of this book was off-putting to say the least. It felt like the author was trying to be clever, but ultimately just took me out of the story.
While I haven't finished the book, it's extremely clear to me that sometime at the end of the book there is a major twist. But the twist was evident to me by about 1/4 through the book, and I actually had to go back and check that it wasn't revealed to me earlier in the book because it felt so obvious. Normally I am literally the last person to catch on to a twist before it is revealed, but it really sucked a lot of life out of the story to have something so built up, but simultaneous so obvious. I think the book would have benefited by just embracing the twist early on and telling the story in a more cohesive way.
The characters in the book felt unrelatable to me, and even though I have a father of two the emotional slam that this book tries to throw on you that you are supposed to be able to relate to as a parent just doesn't have the punch that I think was intended.
The initial plot of the book was interesting, and I found myself sucked into the story and wanting to learn more about this world. But the world building felt very limited and not explored in this first book in a way that continued to keep me interested. It had a wandering post-apocalyptic feel that I can understand appeals to some, just didn't hit right for me.
While this is an extremely unpopular opinion, I need to move on to something else that captivates me more thoroughly.
queencam000's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
lantheaume's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
readerreaderpumpkineater1's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, truly wow. I’m at a loss for words. This book was amazing. There’s so much going on, so much suspense and so many moving parts. I was completely enthralled and swept away. I absolutely loved the fantasy/sci-fi element to it but the true shining star was the “politics” involved with the different beings and type of people. It was an Absolutely amazing novel and I will be reading the other two books in this series immediately to find out what happens.