tardislibrary's review
“The pretty one said” “the plain one said” over and over again. I could get past page 12
The dialog was painful to read
The dialog was painful to read
01_in_emilyon's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
dalex's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gay's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
phantasmaboo's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The Beholden by Cassandra Rose Clarke tells the story of two sisters who, after having made a pact with an ancient goddess, are called upon by her for a favor. The favor -- to find an ancient mage who has apparently resurrected himself -- draws them to far corners of their land and into the depths of the jungle. Together, along with their companion Ico, they go on a journey that will define them and their future home.
I honestly did not like this book at all. It is soulless, dry, and memorable only in how much injustice was done to the characters and plot. Worse, there was potential here, but the book is weighted down by its inability to get out of its own way. it is almost a parody of fantasy. To break it down:
The Characters
The book starts promising enough with three characters: Izara, Celestia, and Ico. Izara and Celestia are sisters, who make a pact with an ancient goddess in exchange for Celestia's finding of a husband. Ico is along for the ride as their guide. When they are called upon, Celestia is playing the perfect wife and soon-to-be mother while Izara is studying magic. Ico is living with another goddess, after having seen atrocities. This, however, is where the character development ends.
These characters lack so much depth that they become caricatures. Celestia is defined solely through her husband and her future child. About every 4 pages, the author reminds us that Celestia is pregnant, lest we have forgotten. In every moment where there is a moment for growth, they remain staunchly the same as the world whirls around them. By the end of the book, you will find yourself facing the same people at the end, which will make you question what the purpose of this journey was.
The characters do not even successfully bond throughout the tale, because that would require changing who they are. Overall, they are just bland and quickly fade into the background of their own story.
There is some attempt at diversity in this book, but it is not handled well. This is a true example of diversity at the expense of inclusion. Nearly all of the characters are described as Black or brown-skinned, but that is the extent to which we examine these characters' cultures or background. There is the feeling of little lore that motivates them, and what lore we do see is poorly explained (see below). A brief moment of LGBTQ representation appears at the end of the book, but it is too late to be anything but a footnote.
The Plot
The plot is just...there. Despite coming in at 544 pages, nothing much happens and the characters barely do anything from one moment to the next other than travel. In the final chapters of the book, I counted at least for deus ex machina tropes that resolved the characters' conflicts without them having to do much if anything at all. There is no pacing; it's just a monotonous meandering from one point to the next with some uninteresting people defined by only a few character traits.
I think the worst part is that there was potential in this plot. At times the author gave us fleeting glimpses of deep questions, such as "What would happen if death stopped happening?", "Is there beauty in death and impermanence?", and "How do we maintain balance in the world?". However, none of the characters dare to truly examine these in depth and, as I mentioned, none of them change throughout the events of the story. The most horrifying experiences are instead drowned out by the need to narrate 3 days on a boat from 3 different perspectives in a sharp stop to any potential threads.
The Setting/World-Building
The setting was interesting in terms of it being a jungle, but that's about where it stops. The magic system is crude and poorly defined. In fact, I would say it is defined solely by what characters need to get them from one point to the next. The author's stream of consciousness approach leaves much to be desired in creating the complex systems that she wishes to convey.
Furthermore, it is unclear what time period this is in, what technology is available to characters and why, where in the world this is based off of, or any other indication of the world. There's an Emperor, but of what? They're in conflict with someone, but why? We get surface-level answers to these questions, but it's just not enough to motivate the characters, the plot, or really anything.
Overall
I would not recommend this book to anyone. I gave it one star because the cover is pretty and I think there was something there, but it's far from being even an average fantasy book. There are many more books with more interesting characters, magic systems, and purposeful writing that are far more interesting than this book was.
I honestly did not like this book at all. It is soulless, dry, and memorable only in how much injustice was done to the characters and plot. Worse, there was potential here, but the book is weighted down by its inability to get out of its own way. it is almost a parody of fantasy. To break it down:
The Characters
The book starts promising enough with three characters: Izara, Celestia, and Ico. Izara and Celestia are sisters, who make a pact with an ancient goddess in exchange for Celestia's finding of a husband. Ico is along for the ride as their guide. When they are called upon, Celestia is playing the perfect wife and soon-to-be mother while Izara is studying magic. Ico is living with another goddess, after having seen atrocities. This, however, is where the character development ends.
These characters lack so much depth that they become caricatures. Celestia is defined solely through her husband and her future child. About every 4 pages, the author reminds us that Celestia is pregnant, lest we have forgotten. In every moment where there is a moment for growth, they remain staunchly the same as the world whirls around them. By the end of the book, you will find yourself facing the same people at the end, which will make you question what the purpose of this journey was.
The characters do not even successfully bond throughout the tale, because that would require changing who they are. Overall, they are just bland and quickly fade into the background of their own story.
There is some attempt at diversity in this book, but it is not handled well. This is a true example of diversity at the expense of inclusion. Nearly all of the characters are described as Black or brown-skinned, but that is the extent to which we examine these characters' cultures or background. There is the feeling of little lore that motivates them, and what lore we do see is poorly explained (see below). A brief moment of LGBTQ representation appears at the end of the book, but it is too late to be anything but a footnote.
The Plot
The plot is just...there. Despite coming in at 544 pages, nothing much happens and the characters barely do anything from one moment to the next other than travel. In the final chapters of the book, I counted at least for deus ex machina tropes that resolved the characters' conflicts without them having to do much if anything at all. There is no pacing; it's just a monotonous meandering from one point to the next with some uninteresting people defined by only a few character traits.
I think the worst part is that there was potential in this plot. At times the author gave us fleeting glimpses of deep questions, such as "What would happen if death stopped happening?", "Is there beauty in death and impermanence?", and "How do we maintain balance in the world?". However, none of the characters dare to truly examine these in depth and, as I mentioned, none of them change throughout the events of the story. The most horrifying experiences are instead drowned out by the need to narrate 3 days on a boat from 3 different perspectives in a sharp stop to any potential threads.
The Setting/World-Building
The setting was interesting in terms of it being a jungle, but that's about where it stops. The magic system is crude and poorly defined. In fact, I would say it is defined solely by what characters need to get them from one point to the next. The author's stream of consciousness approach leaves much to be desired in creating the complex systems that she wishes to convey.
Furthermore, it is unclear what time period this is in, what technology is available to characters and why, where in the world this is based off of, or any other indication of the world. There's an Emperor, but of what? They're in conflict with someone, but why? We get surface-level answers to these questions, but it's just not enough to motivate the characters, the plot, or really anything.
Overall
I would not recommend this book to anyone. I gave it one star because the cover is pretty and I think there was something there, but it's far from being even an average fantasy book. There are many more books with more interesting characters, magic systems, and purposeful writing that are far more interesting than this book was.
openmypages's review
3.0
A young debutante makes a deal with a god to help her find a worthy husband, in the process she, her sister (a scholar) and their guide (a pirate) are made beholden to this goddess. Years later, the goddess calls in that favor and the three find themselves on an epic quest to capture an evil force bent on the destruction of the world as they know it. Their journey takes them through dangerous jungles, hidden cities and an epic cold desert. It also places them at odds with the emperor. Danger abounds and each of the three react quite differently.
This one took me a long time to get through, two weeks where I had to really press myself to keep going. I'm not sure quite what it was, there is interesting magic, an epic quest, the walking dead, hidden cities and arguing Gods. I think maybe it was the lack of attachment to the characters? No real character development? The writing was overly descriptive which was immersive but it meant there were long stretches without much action. I think had this been a 300 page book with an editor that tightened it up significantly, it would have scored much better for me.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions above are my own.
This one took me a long time to get through, two weeks where I had to really press myself to keep going. I'm not sure quite what it was, there is interesting magic, an epic quest, the walking dead, hidden cities and arguing Gods. I think maybe it was the lack of attachment to the characters? No real character development? The writing was overly descriptive which was immersive but it meant there were long stretches without much action. I think had this been a 300 page book with an editor that tightened it up significantly, it would have scored much better for me.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions above are my own.
wildflowerz76's review
DNF. Not my thing, but since the publisher sent it to me, I gave it a go.
bookish_penguin's review
2.0
Thank you Netgalley for the free copy of this book that I got in exchange for an honest review!
Honestly, I only even looked at this book because the cover is STUNNING. The makings of a great, really atmospheric book. But then I read the synopsis and the plot seemed pretty basic and totally done before.
Not to say I'm an oracle or anything, but I was bang on the mark.
The plot just really wasn't it for me. And for me, the plot is everything. I want the action, the suspense, but that just isn't what I got enough of for a fantasy. And the magic system was totally lacking.
But here is a (short) list of good qualities this book has, that I'm sure made this book for some people, but just weren't enough to bring it back for me.
1)The jungle made for such an amazing setting. And with that sprinkle of disease and war and all that good stuff, it really was the thing that kept going. Anyone else get major Pandora vibes?
2) The sister relationship. It wasn't all hugs and kisses, but it was real AF. And had that underlying comitment to each other-even when screaming.I always appreciate sibling/platonic relationships in books more than romantic ones, so this one totally delivered on that front.
Wow, that really was a short list.
Honestly, I only even looked at this book because the cover is STUNNING. The makings of a great, really atmospheric book. But then I read the synopsis and the plot seemed pretty basic and totally done before.
Not to say I'm an oracle or anything, but I was bang on the mark.
The plot just really wasn't it for me. And for me, the plot is everything. I want the action, the suspense, but that just isn't what I got enough of for a fantasy. And the magic system was totally lacking.
But here is a (short) list of good qualities this book has, that I'm sure made this book for some people, but just weren't enough to bring it back for me.
1)The jungle made for such an amazing setting. And with that sprinkle of disease and war and all that good stuff, it really was the thing that kept going. Anyone else get major Pandora vibes?
2) The sister relationship. It wasn't all hugs and kisses, but it was real AF. And had that underlying comitment to each other-even when screaming.I always appreciate sibling/platonic relationships in books more than romantic ones, so this one totally delivered on that front.
Wow, that really was a short list.