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pollyanna_paperback's review
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and there was such an unexpected plot twist I was flabbergasted! I need more of these books!
morgancatosmith's review
3.0
I’ll be honest, this book was hard for me to finish. I liked the plot, but I had to push to finish. I felt like I kept missing things because it skipped over it. Every time you thought you were going to know what was going on, the story diverted. I know that was part of the story, but it made it so hard to follow at some points. I’m also not sure how I felt about the main character -Frey. I wanted to like her, but I don’t know that I can.
shadowlandsbooks's review
5.0
wow!! I started this book while I was in a bit of a reading slump, luckily I was out of that pretty soon. I thought I new what was going to happen by the end, well I never expected this. I was wondering why there wasn't much, if any, background information on Frey at the start now i know why. loved it, would recommend. will be adding the rest of the series to my tbr :)
mcfoster's review
3.0
This book follows Frey as she goes from being the village misfit to discovering that while accumulating a collection of companions who help her learn about her mysterious past and to activate her magical powers.
Things I liked:
The mysterious map - I found that very intriguing as a motive for continuing a journey.
Ruby - she's a fascinating, complex and colourful character who I'd like to see more of.
The dreaded love triangle seems to have been avoided - at least in this book.
Steed - a likeable rogue who's good with horses (though his name is a bit eyebrow-raising).
Things I didn't like so much:
As a protagonist, Frey was rather bland. We don't have many ideas of her as an individual, or what her likes and dislikes are. I hope this will be improved on in the rest of the series.
Chevelle is just a little too cliche as an elvish love interest (black hair, blue eyes that are mentioned a tad too often, pale skin), and the attraction between him and Frey borders on insta-love.
The prologue didn't really need to be a prologue, and could have easily slotted into its chronological place in the story.
Spoiler
her magic has been bound from herThings I liked:
The mysterious map - I found that very intriguing as a motive for continuing a journey.
Ruby - she's a fascinating, complex and colourful character who I'd like to see more of.
The dreaded love triangle seems to have been avoided - at least in this book.
Steed - a likeable rogue who's good with horses (though his name is a bit eyebrow-raising).
Things I didn't like so much:
As a protagonist, Frey was rather bland. We don't have many ideas of her as an individual, or what her likes and dislikes are. I hope this will be improved on in the rest of the series.
Chevelle is just a little too cliche as an elvish love interest (black hair, blue eyes that are mentioned a tad too often, pale skin), and the attraction between him and Frey borders on insta-love.
The prologue didn't really need to be a prologue, and could have easily slotted into its chronological place in the story.
marieeve1978's review against another edition
3.0
Although the premise could have been interesting, the execution was not so good. even though the main character is supposed to be an adult, she is treated like a child, drugged, kidnapped, controlled... and act like it's ok. A little Stockholm syndrome stuck in the mix. I wish YA novel had really nice male characters instead of control freaks.
veganheathen's review
3.0
It’s been a while since I’ve found a good fantasy story. I’m thrilled this one is centred around elves. Frey is living a life bound from her own magic and taken from everything she knows - unbeknownst to her. As the binds start to shatter she begins to regain her magic and learn the truth about her past and herself. Such a great premise. I’ve already started reading book 2 in this series. I only gave 3 stars because it drives me nuts when there are things easily resolved or known and the characters just never ask or tell. It’s also a bit frustrating how dense Frey seems to be in the beginning half of the book. I’m hoping those things will resolve in future books and am interested enough in the story to keep reading.
tarawe's review against another edition
2.0
This book just isn't as engaging as it could have been. The main concept of the book is interesting but the narrative just doesn't work. The author can write and I wanted to know how the book ended but the characters were too distracting and poorly conceptualized.
I couldn't empathize with the main character, Freya, or any of the characters in general. I found her annoying and whiny. I understand that the author was trying to introduce a non-standard character type by giving Freya autistic tendencies but it seems more of like a farce than real. The development of the secondary characters and how they interact and treat Freya is also appalling.
I didn't pay any money for the ebook and I'm glad about that.
I couldn't empathize with the main character, Freya, or any of the characters in general. I found her annoying and whiny. I understand that the author was trying to introduce a non-standard character type by giving Freya autistic tendencies but it seems more of like a farce than real. The development of the secondary characters and how they interact and treat Freya is also appalling.
I didn't pay any money for the ebook and I'm glad about that.
rebeccamahanyhorton's review against another edition
1.0
I bought this book for two reasons: the summary on the Goodreads page, which seemed interesting, and the very reasonable price on Amazon. I didn't pick it up immediately, but being on vacation and having finished another quick read, I turned to FREY.
My main issues with the book lie with the main character and the plot. First off, I found it very hard to sympathize with Frey (or Freya), mostly because she shows a lot of tendencies toward being, well, a killing machine with zero compassion. She kills a bird and makes a frog explode with no remorse. She also seems pretty whiny and dense--she is convinced that Chevelle, her "watcher" who is bringing her on a journey, hates her, even though there is basically no evidence to support this and it seems fairly obvious that he even has feelings for her. Despite the fact that she conveniently has no idea about her own past and has no idea where they're going or what they're even doing, she doesn't even ask any questions.
That leads me to my second point: the plot. Because Frey is "bound"--meaning her magic and her memories are more or less stifled--she can't remember a thing about her past. This means that the reader has no idea either, since nobody enlightens her and she apparently refuses to ask anybody. When she makes mysterious things happen, she doesn't even tell people--she just ignores them because she assumes that other people will react negatively. And when mysterious things happen to her, she doesn't ask questions either. She embarks on an entire journey--first with Chevelle, and later joined by an entire posse of people--and not once does she even ask what's going on or what her role is in this. All that Frey knows--and all that the reader knows, since the book is told in first person--is that they were going on a journey to somewhere to accomplish something. And you know how when books usually end on a cliffhanger it can be suspenseful but at least lets you know where the story is going next? Yep, not here. I was so frustrated that I doubt I'll pay the three dollars to read the next book on Kindle.
The book had its moments--I liked Frey's relationship with Steed, and Ruby was cool--and it was a quick, easy read. For me, the negatives (the personality of the main character, the pace of the plot, and the numerous grammar/punctuation errors) outweighed the positives, so I probably won't continue the series. For the price, though, it might be worth it for some.
My main issues with the book lie with the main character and the plot. First off, I found it very hard to sympathize with Frey (or Freya), mostly because she shows a lot of tendencies toward being, well, a killing machine with zero compassion. She kills a bird and makes a frog explode with no remorse.
Spoiler
When she finds out that her mother cruelly plays with a human's emotions and then later kills him to serve her own needs, she has absolutely no reaction at all. In fact, she feels nothing but tenderness toward her mother when Frey reads her diary, despite the fact that, like Frey, her mother sounds like an absolute brat who feels no remorse about anything. No wonder her sister (Frey's aunt) Fannie hated her.That leads me to my second point: the plot. Because Frey is "bound"--meaning her magic and her memories are more or less stifled--she can't remember a thing about her past. This means that the reader has no idea either, since nobody enlightens her and she apparently refuses to ask anybody. When she makes mysterious things happen, she doesn't even tell people--she just ignores them because she assumes that other people will react negatively.
Spoiler
For example, when she finds out that she can control the minds of animals, she hides it from her travelling companions for no apparent reason: they appear to like her, they don't fear her, and they're not going to kill her or anything.The book had its moments--I liked Frey's relationship with Steed, and Ruby was cool--and it was a quick, easy read. For me, the negatives (the personality of the main character, the pace of the plot, and the numerous grammar/punctuation errors) outweighed the positives, so I probably won't continue the series. For the price, though, it might be worth it for some.
gingerjones's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
shannon_cocktailsandbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Elfreda (Frey) has lived in a small village with her Aunt Frannie. Her aunt either ignores her or makes her life a living hell. But Frey's life begins to take a drastic turn when she uses magic she didn't know she had to start a vine growing from a thistle. Frey soon finds herself on the run from her village council after being sentence for practicing black magic. She relies on the kindness of an elf she meets on the run and the man who she's not sure she should trust as he tries to outrun the council that wants to make sure her powers stay bound.
I felt as confused as Frey when I finished this one. While the story moves along from Frey's life in the village to her running and then meeting up with the ragtag group who help her, it's the last 30 or so pages, where I was lost trying to figure out why Frey's powers were bound, who her grandfather is and just what is going on between Frey and Chevelle. It's obvious something is going on and this group is there to help Frey, but you have no idea why.
Frey was also a little hard to warm up to. When we first met her, there really wasn't anything about her that invested you into connecting with her. To be honest, I didn't really connect with her until she started reading the diary. Even then, it wasn't really connecting with her but to the writer of the diary. I will admit, that once Frey finished the diary and she understands who the writer is, I connected with her.
We don't know a lot about all the others in the group trying to help Frey, with the exception of Steed and Ruby, and that sometimes took away from the story because I kept wondering why they were helping this girl.
I'm hoping (since I already bought it) that questions that were left at the end of this story are answered. That said, it was a read that did keep me in engaged, for no other reason than to try and figure out just exactly what was going on.
I felt as confused as Frey when I finished this one. While the story moves along from Frey's life in the village to her running and then meeting up with the ragtag group who help her, it's the last 30 or so pages, where I was lost trying to figure out why Frey's powers were bound, who her grandfather is and just what is going on between Frey and Chevelle. It's obvious something is going on and this group is there to help Frey, but you have no idea why.
Frey was also a little hard to warm up to. When we first met her, there really wasn't anything about her that invested you into connecting with her. To be honest, I didn't really connect with her until she started reading the diary. Even then, it wasn't really connecting with her but to the writer of the diary. I will admit, that once Frey finished the diary and she understands who the writer is, I connected with her.
We don't know a lot about all the others in the group trying to help Frey, with the exception of Steed and Ruby, and that sometimes took away from the story because I kept wondering why they were helping this girl.
I'm hoping (since I already bought it) that questions that were left at the end of this story are answered. That said, it was a read that did keep me in engaged, for no other reason than to try and figure out just exactly what was going on.