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snackattackisback69's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
I like the concept of this book but I personally did not like the execution. The main character, Tobias was quite insufferable, and the plot just seemed to sweep him along rather than follow his decisions. I also found the romance with Leila to have no chemistry and hurt the plot. like when he was unable to paint a picture of the Savior and instead painted Leila. If this was meant to be romantic it doesn't work when you're in a literal death game and it made him look dumb. I also found the plot quite predicable and guessed the plot twist from relatively early on in the book. The other characters were also very two dimensional and served very little purpose to the story. Tobias's sister just disappeared from the story despite being his reason to risk his life. The king being the main antagonist was also very disappointing as he was barely in the story, his motivations made little sense and he was letting Leila run around the palace killing his advisors when logically he had no reason to leave her alive. I would have loved if this story fleshed out its world and characters as it fell quite flat for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Terminal illness
clawfoot's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Saviour's Champion is a good book. I enjoyed it. It's not a great book, and I don't think it'll stick with me for overlong. It's not going to be something I come back to again and again, but I enjoyed it enough and don't regret the time I spent reading it.
What I enjoyed were the characters and the general plot. Tobias and Leila are both believable and relatable. I believed their chemistry, and their relationship develped gradually, naturally and never felt forced. I liked the difficult position that put them both in, and how difficult it made some of Tobias' decsions (and how easy, some of them). I very much liked some of the other competitors, even the antagonists. I liked that there were different flavours of antagonist; some were flippant, some were implacable, some were angry. They certainly weren't all the same.
What I didn't enjoy was that I have zero picture of the wider world beyond this arena and this palace, and I'm a little confused by the mythology. The characters say "thank God" and "oh my God" a lot, although there is no further reference to any god or religion. Even though the Saviour herself is "holy" and to speak against her is "blasphemy," there's absolutely no explanation as to how the Saviour fits into the world. IS the Saviour the "god" people invoke? Is it something else? Where does the Saviour's magic come from? How does it work? Does anyone else have it? If the Saviour is killed with no heir, does this nameless god just pick a new one? Or is that it, the world is just doomed forever?
Another thing I didn't enjoy was the fact that it felt like an entirely different novel was happening in the background that we weren't privy to. Restricting the POV to Tobias really cut out what was happening to Leila. What was going on? Whose idea was it to switch Leila and Cosima's positions? And why did the other agree to go along with it? If it was Leila's idea, why on earth did Bronte agree? And if it was Bronte's idea, why did Leila agree? I get the appeal of keeping Leila's true identity a secret from the audience for that twist reveal, but if we'd gotten Leila's POV as well, this could have turned into an EPIC political thriller. I just feel we missed out on so much story.
And this is a compliment to Moredi's skill as a writer: I'm upset that she didn't write MORE. She managed to portray Leila's situation as complicated and compelling without giving away much about it at all.
I will probably continue to read the series. It's intrigued me enough for that. I do want to know more about the world and about the politics of the situation.
What I enjoyed were the characters and the general plot. Tobias and Leila are both believable and relatable. I believed their chemistry, and their relationship develped gradually, naturally and never felt forced. I liked the difficult position that put them both in, and how difficult it made some of Tobias' decsions (and how easy, some of them). I very much liked some of the other competitors, even the antagonists. I liked that there were different flavours of antagonist; some were flippant, some were implacable, some were angry. They certainly weren't all the same.
What I didn't enjoy was that I have zero picture of the wider world beyond this arena and this palace, and I'm a little confused by the mythology. The characters say "thank God" and "oh my God" a lot, although there is no further reference to any god or religion. Even though the Saviour herself is "holy" and to speak against her is "blasphemy," there's absolutely no explanation as to how the Saviour fits into the world. IS the Saviour the "god" people invoke? Is it something else? Where does the Saviour's magic come from? How does it work? Does anyone else have it? If the Saviour is killed with no heir, does this nameless god just pick a new one? Or is that it, the world is just doomed forever?
Another thing I didn't enjoy was the fact that it felt like an entirely different novel was happening in the background that we weren't privy to.
And this is a compliment to Moredi's skill as a writer: I'm upset that she didn't write MORE. She managed to portray Leila's situation as complicated and compelling without giving away much about it at all.
I will probably continue to read the series. It's intrigued me enough for that. I do want to know more about the world and about the politics of the situation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault
bree_h_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’m so glad I re-read this book because it is absolutely one of my favourites ever.
I love the way Jenna writes as a start. There’s something about her style that flows well between a bloody mess and high emotions to comedy. I especially like how tense scenes were written. Even though I knew what was going to happen I still FELT the character’s anxiety.
The characters themselves were all compelling to me as well. Tobias felt like a realistic 22-year-old floundering in a dangerous situation he was unprepared for. All the other characters, even the ones we had less page time with, felt like real people. Some even felt like impactful losses, despite only knowing them for a short time. I think each played into the story well and I loved all of them. Even the ones I hated were fun to hate!
Having such well rounded characters also allowed for what felt like solid, well-done conflicts. I felt like you could really understand WHY these characters were butting heads and had miscommunications. It didn’t feel contrived or stupid, especially considering the ages of the characters.
Really my only complaint is that there wasn’t enough of Pippa. I love her, your honour.
Overall a GREAT read, I highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, and Pregnancy
lilifane's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I love Jenna and I really wanted to like this book. I knew it wouldn't be my favorite because it's not the kind of book I usually enjoy reading but I at least hoped, I would like it a bit more. And I did like a big portion of it... just not enough.
I usually don't read romance books, but the romance part was what I enjoyed the most here. Just liked the lovebirds' interactions.... at least up to the point when the miscommunication started. It was towards the end of the book and so unnecessary. It just prolonged the suffering of the protagonist.
I liked the premise of the book, liked the idea of the tournament and the labyrinth. But I didn't like the execution that much. The interesting tasks and challenges were placed at the beginning, and then they became so repetitive and just unnecessarily brutal. There was sadly no creativity to them anymore.
It's also the most predictable book ever. I didn't mind that you see every possible plot twist coming from the very beginning. It actually made me enjoy some of the scenes where you were hit on the head with the clues. BUT.... there was one thing that I wanted an explanation to. And you don't get it. You just don't get it. You get an "I'll explain everything, I promise." and then the book ends. And sorry, I'm not sure, I want to read a companion novel telling the same story from a different point of view just to get the explanation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
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