kylecat22's review against another edition
2.0
**I received a complimentary copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review through Voracious Readers Only.
Having read many fantasy novels this year, I really liked the overall idea of this story, and the world that this author has created-it felt fairly unique. I greatly struggled with the execution which is why I had to put it down about halfway through. I also want to give props for the scene setting, and parts that were in 3rd person, it made me more interested during the first third when the protagonist wasn’t doing it for me.
I agree with some of the critiques others made such as: telling and not showing, some writing redundancy (heavy with the adjectives), and an inability to connect with the main protagonist. Part of my own struggle, admittedly, is that I also am a bit more picky as it comes to 1st person perspective with a heavy reliance on stream of consciousness.
Some of the phrasing and conversations between characters were a bit too clunky/unnatural, which made me less interested in them in general.
Last, the main character came across (to me at least) very needy, and overly reactive. I understand that with the “chosen one” trope often comes a sense of rejection, but with other notable examples in the genre, the main character tends to feel a sense of acceptance well before the halfway mark of the book.
I wanted to like this book as a fan of fantasy, but to me it came across as a romantic fanfiction based on a fantasy world.
Having read many fantasy novels this year, I really liked the overall idea of this story, and the world that this author has created-it felt fairly unique. I greatly struggled with the execution which is why I had to put it down about halfway through. I also want to give props for the scene setting, and parts that were in 3rd person, it made me more interested during the first third when the protagonist wasn’t doing it for me.
I agree with some of the critiques others made such as: telling and not showing, some writing redundancy (heavy with the adjectives), and an inability to connect with the main protagonist. Part of my own struggle, admittedly, is that I also am a bit more picky as it comes to 1st person perspective with a heavy reliance on stream of consciousness.
Some of the phrasing and conversations between characters were a bit too clunky/unnatural, which made me less interested in them in general.
Last, the main character came across (to me at least) very needy, and overly reactive. I understand that with the “chosen one” trope often comes a sense of rejection, but with other notable examples in the genre, the main character tends to feel a sense of acceptance well before the halfway mark of the book.
I wanted to like this book as a fan of fantasy, but to me it came across as a romantic fanfiction based on a fantasy world.
auburnedge's review against another edition
3.0
Not bad
I would put the Second in this series as a solid meh. It moved the story, grew characters, and progressed towards the end. But the middle got kind of repetitive and boring. That's not to say you shouldn't read it if you have read the first. And I will be continuing on. But its not a must read now story.
I would put the Second in this series as a solid meh. It moved the story, grew characters, and progressed towards the end. But the middle got kind of repetitive and boring. That's not to say you shouldn't read it if you have read the first. And I will be continuing on. But its not a must read now story.
auburnedge's review against another edition
4.0
Keep reading
This is one of those books you need to push through the first few chapters to get to the good part. In the beginning it is a whole bunch of confusing names/places/information. But after about the 5th chapter you get the hang of most of it. Then the good stuff starts and we get the nice dual perspectives.
I really enjoyed this book and I am excited to see if the next one holds up. While this book will take you awhile and has a confusing start it is worth it for fantasy fans. Especially if you enjoy dark and broody men.
This is one of those books you need to push through the first few chapters to get to the good part. In the beginning it is a whole bunch of confusing names/places/information. But after about the 5th chapter you get the hang of most of it. Then the good stuff starts and we get the nice dual perspectives.
I really enjoyed this book and I am excited to see if the next one holds up. While this book will take you awhile and has a confusing start it is worth it for fantasy fans. Especially if you enjoy dark and broody men.
ruthie_narrates_books's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book in one sitting. I immediately empathized with Hannah from the beginning. I'm not sure I've paid as much attention to world building in a long time. Probably because the author described a place I actually would want to visit.
There were times as a reader when I was exasperated with Hannah for some of her choices, but that's probably because she didn't wait for her letter from Hogwarts the way I did as a kid.
There were times as a reader when I was exasperated with Hannah for some of her choices, but that's probably because she didn't wait for her letter from Hogwarts the way I did as a kid.
familiar_diversions's review
1.0
[This is an old review I'm just now adding to Goodreads.]
This was one of my freebie downloads. If it isn't self-published, it's very close to it – I just checked the website for Griffineus Publications, and Sarah Ashwood appears to be the only author they publish. Anyway, whoever chose the cover artist has fabulous taste. It's too bad that I can't seem to find the artist's name listed anywhere, and that the story didn't live up to the artwork.
Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset begins in our world. Almost immediately, Hannah encounters an old man named Risean Wy' Curlm, who tells her that she's the Artan, the prophesied savior of Aerisia. Then, despite her protests, he magically transports her to Aerisia, where everyone again assures her that she will save them all from the Evil. First, though, she must be Joined to her Simathe (the Joining is so important that it must always be written in italics). It takes almost half the book before someone finally tells Hannah what the Joining is, although, to be fair, she doesn't try very hard to find out. Lord Ilgard, High-Chief of the Simathe, is supposed to be her protector, but all Hannah wants is to go back home.
It took an amazingly long time for absolutely nothing to happen. Many pages were devoted to people repeatedly reassuring Hannah that she was really the Artan, while she repeatedly insisted that she was just an ordinary girl. Hannah received detailed lessons about the Spinners, the protection of Aerisia's history, and the creation of the Council, but everyone either avoided telling her about the things that really mattered, or Hannah felt too afraid to push for answers. Avoidance was Hannah's specialty. I could have screamed when she let the perfect opportunity to ask about the Joining slip by.
I knew early on that this was not going to be the best read. The writing was repetitive and lazy. The sections from Hannah's POV were written in the first person, and Ashwood didn't seem to have a good grasp of her “voice.” For example, both of these sentences are Hannah's POV:
By the way, the second sentence is referring to Hannah nearly ripping into Ilgard out of irritation and discomfort. The mental image that “word vomit” gave me did not make me feel much sympathy for her. Even so, it still fit her, a Nike-wearing college student from Colorado, better than “the normal white of dotage.”
The writing was like this throughout the entire book. Sometimes Hannah's thoughts read like those of a high fantasy character, and sometimes she sounded more like a modern day American. The latter fit her better than the former, although I hated her tendency to overuse the words “crazy,” “weird,” “stupid,” and “freaky/freaked.” The sections from Ilgard's POV were written in the third person and were much more consistent. I honestly think Ashwood would have been better off writing the entire book in the third person.
Why did I continue reading this? Well, the beginning, at least, reminded me a lot of Fuyumi Ono's The Twelve Kingdoms series. A seemingly ordinary girl transported to a fantasy world, where she eventually learns that she's important and potentially very powerful. It's cliched, but also my personal catnip. Unfortunately, whereas things actually happen in Ono's books, Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset felt like it plodded along forever.
Hannah's response to almost everything was to cry, pout, shout, and/or dig her heels in and absolutely refuse to do what she was told. It sometimes felt like I was reading about a giant toddler. Ashwood kept trying to hint at growing romantic feelings between Hannah and Ilgard, but Ilgard's moment of weakness, when he found himself thinking “why me?” as Hannah once again acted like a child, was far more believable. The three or so times she was almost killed were all due to her wandering away from (or purposely escaping) her guards.
I'm still not sure what everyone expected Hannah to do. She managed to use magic a grand total of once, by accident. After the Joining, instead of immediately finding a magic teacher for her, the Simathe did absolutely nothing for so long that even Hannah became impatient. Then, rather than teach her magic, they “taught” her to use a bow. The book's ending only happened because silly Hannah decided to escape the Simathe, despite having no idea where to go from there and no plan for dealing with Aerisia's various dangers.
This was when I was reminded of a worrying line in the Prophecy of the Artan: “She will be untouched by man and untainted by The Evil” (7). This seemed to indicate that the Artan needed to be a virgin. Unfortunately, I was right, and
I have no plans to continue reading this series.
(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
This was one of my freebie downloads. If it isn't self-published, it's very close to it – I just checked the website for Griffineus Publications, and Sarah Ashwood appears to be the only author they publish. Anyway, whoever chose the cover artist has fabulous taste. It's too bad that I can't seem to find the artist's name listed anywhere, and that the story didn't live up to the artwork.
Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset begins in our world. Almost immediately, Hannah encounters an old man named Risean Wy' Curlm, who tells her that she's the Artan, the prophesied savior of Aerisia. Then, despite her protests, he magically transports her to Aerisia, where everyone again assures her that she will save them all from the Evil. First, though, she must be Joined to her Simathe (the Joining is so important that it must always be written in italics). It takes almost half the book before someone finally tells Hannah what the Joining is, although, to be fair, she doesn't try very hard to find out. Lord Ilgard, High-Chief of the Simathe, is supposed to be her protector, but all Hannah wants is to go back home.
It took an amazingly long time for absolutely nothing to happen. Many pages were devoted to people repeatedly reassuring Hannah that she was really the Artan, while she repeatedly insisted that she was just an ordinary girl. Hannah received detailed lessons about the Spinners, the protection of Aerisia's history, and the creation of the Council, but everyone either avoided telling her about the things that really mattered, or Hannah felt too afraid to push for answers. Avoidance was Hannah's specialty. I could have screamed when she let the perfect opportunity to ask about the Joining slip by.
I knew early on that this was not going to be the best read. The writing was repetitive and lazy. The sections from Hannah's POV were written in the first person, and Ashwood didn't seem to have a good grasp of her “voice.” For example, both of these sentences are Hannah's POV:
“The color of his hair was not the normal white of dotage.” (16)
“I swear some word vomit would’ve burst out if we hadn’t reached our destination when we did.” (182)
By the way, the second sentence is referring to Hannah nearly ripping into Ilgard out of irritation and discomfort. The mental image that “word vomit” gave me did not make me feel much sympathy for her. Even so, it still fit her, a Nike-wearing college student from Colorado, better than “the normal white of dotage.”
The writing was like this throughout the entire book. Sometimes Hannah's thoughts read like those of a high fantasy character, and sometimes she sounded more like a modern day American. The latter fit her better than the former, although I hated her tendency to overuse the words “crazy,” “weird,” “stupid,” and “freaky/freaked.” The sections from Ilgard's POV were written in the third person and were much more consistent. I honestly think Ashwood would have been better off writing the entire book in the third person.
Why did I continue reading this? Well, the beginning, at least, reminded me a lot of Fuyumi Ono's The Twelve Kingdoms series. A seemingly ordinary girl transported to a fantasy world, where she eventually learns that she's important and potentially very powerful. It's cliched, but also my personal catnip. Unfortunately, whereas things actually happen in Ono's books, Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset felt like it plodded along forever.
Hannah's response to almost everything was to cry, pout, shout, and/or dig her heels in and absolutely refuse to do what she was told. It sometimes felt like I was reading about a giant toddler. Ashwood kept trying to hint at growing romantic feelings between Hannah and Ilgard, but Ilgard's moment of weakness, when he found himself thinking “why me?” as Hannah once again acted like a child, was far more believable. The three or so times she was almost killed were all due to her wandering away from (or purposely escaping) her guards.
I'm still not sure what everyone expected Hannah to do. She managed to use magic a grand total of once, by accident. After the Joining, instead of immediately finding a magic teacher for her, the Simathe did absolutely nothing for so long that even Hannah became impatient. Then, rather than teach her magic, they “taught” her to use a bow. The book's ending only happened because silly Hannah decided to escape the Simathe, despite having no idea where to go from there and no plan for dealing with Aerisia's various dangers.
This was when I was reminded of a worrying line in the Prophecy of the Artan: “She will be untouched by man and untainted by The Evil” (7). This seemed to indicate that the Artan needed to be a virgin. Unfortunately, I was right, and
Spoiler
the Evil jumped to the obvious conclusion that one of the ways to defeat the Artan was to rape her – I guess killing her would have been too easy. Hannah was saved in the nick of time, but it still irked me that rape even had to enter the picture. And, because of the way the prophecy was written, the Evil and its minions could repeatedly threaten to rape her for the rest of the trilogy. Wonderful.I have no plans to continue reading this series.
(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
chelseaj91's review
4.0
In exchange for my review, I received a free copy from Griffineus Publications
The mystery of other worlds is not one Hannah Winters ever thought she'd solve. However, the day she spots a brown-robed stranger with a magical staff in a neighbor's field is the day she also discovers Aerisia, a magical land beyond Earth's sunset.
Here in Aerisia, Hannah is believed to be the Artan, a legendary heroine prophesied to deliver Aerisia from the Dark Powers. Plenty of people, including the Simathe, a race of immortal warriors, and the Moonkind, people of the Moon, are willing to help her discover her true identity, but Hannah's just an ordinary girl from Earth. She doesn't have any latent magical abilities and she's not the Artan. However, her allies aren't seeing it that way. Neither are her enemies. In fact, Hannah's life is in jeopardy nearly from the moment she arrives in Aerisia. And becoming the Artan may be the only way to survive...
I really liked this book! It's a great take on the whole prophecy theme that's going around and I really like that Hannah isn't as willing(?) to accept what's going on than some other heroes and heroines have been in other books.
I'll admit that I did have a bit of trouble getting hooked for the first couple chapters, it just wasn't...moving(?) for me. I think that it was moving so slowly though so that the reader could see things as Hannah was seeing them. However, once I really got into it, I devoured the rest of the book!
I do have to say there were some issues I had:
1. People, especially Hannah, responded wryly/dryly a lot. Sometimes two or three times within the same conversation. Maybe use a different adjective or let the reader determine the speaker's attitude next time?
2. I wasn't really sure of Hannah's age at the beginning. There wasn't anything she said until part-way through the book to give much of an indication.
3. Hannah doesn't really think anything through before she acts. Then because of this, she ends up in a lot of trouble. Granted if I were in her position I probably would react very similar just trying to find my way home, but I might give a little more thought to my actions (I still might go through with it but I'd probably think things through a little more)
4. I noticed typos/errors throughout the book. It wasn't a huge problem, but it was definitely noticeable.
Of course, the bad things are definitely out-weighed by the good:
1. The cover art is AMAZING! Hannah looks beautiful and warrior like and ready to take on anything. I LOVE her outfit! And the blues are so gorgeous!
2. Hannah's clothes! They all sounded so beautiful! I really wished I could actually see them, especially the gown she put on when she finally decided she wanted the Simathe to actually see her as a woman. It was blue and sounded just gorgeous! (Yes I will admit to having a particularly girly moment at that point in the book)
3. The mythology of Aerisia was wonderful. Sarah Ashwood has managed to come up with a beautiful, wonderful fantasy world. The characters, places, all of it stimulate your imagination and can put you right in the book with Hannah. I really liked the myth that Aerisia and Earth used to be connected, it was interesting and when you think about it, it just might explain some things
4. Ilgard was a wonderful character. It was interesting to see him as he changed throughout the story. He went from the basic Simathe to a man who doubted what he had been sent to do
5. The romance. There was romance in this story, but it wasn't what most people would think. Hannah really didn't have a romantic interest until partway through the story when she shared sort of a tender moment with Ilgard. Of course, I'm anxious to see how that plays out because Ilgard supposedly shouldn't fall in love and all that. I'm wondering what's going to change, but something tells me that there are some changes coming down the line and I can't wait!
6. Hannah's interaction(s) with Jonase. The first time in that room in Laytrii would have been terrifying on it's own, but then when she ran into him outside of Treygon, it was downright horrifying! I was glad that Hannah finally came to realize just why things were going as they were (Joining with Ilgard, staying inside Treygon, etc).
7. The ending! I want more! Please, please, PLEASE!!!!
The mystery of other worlds is not one Hannah Winters ever thought she'd solve. However, the day she spots a brown-robed stranger with a magical staff in a neighbor's field is the day she also discovers Aerisia, a magical land beyond Earth's sunset.
Here in Aerisia, Hannah is believed to be the Artan, a legendary heroine prophesied to deliver Aerisia from the Dark Powers. Plenty of people, including the Simathe, a race of immortal warriors, and the Moonkind, people of the Moon, are willing to help her discover her true identity, but Hannah's just an ordinary girl from Earth. She doesn't have any latent magical abilities and she's not the Artan. However, her allies aren't seeing it that way. Neither are her enemies. In fact, Hannah's life is in jeopardy nearly from the moment she arrives in Aerisia. And becoming the Artan may be the only way to survive...
I really liked this book! It's a great take on the whole prophecy theme that's going around and I really like that Hannah isn't as willing(?) to accept what's going on than some other heroes and heroines have been in other books.
I'll admit that I did have a bit of trouble getting hooked for the first couple chapters, it just wasn't...moving(?) for me. I think that it was moving so slowly though so that the reader could see things as Hannah was seeing them. However, once I really got into it, I devoured the rest of the book!
I do have to say there were some issues I had:
1. People, especially Hannah, responded wryly/dryly a lot. Sometimes two or three times within the same conversation. Maybe use a different adjective or let the reader determine the speaker's attitude next time?
2. I wasn't really sure of Hannah's age at the beginning. There wasn't anything she said until part-way through the book to give much of an indication.
3. Hannah doesn't really think anything through before she acts. Then because of this, she ends up in a lot of trouble. Granted if I were in her position I probably would react very similar just trying to find my way home, but I might give a little more thought to my actions (I still might go through with it but I'd probably think things through a little more)
4. I noticed typos/errors throughout the book. It wasn't a huge problem, but it was definitely noticeable.
Of course, the bad things are definitely out-weighed by the good:
1. The cover art is AMAZING! Hannah looks beautiful and warrior like and ready to take on anything. I LOVE her outfit! And the blues are so gorgeous!
2. Hannah's clothes! They all sounded so beautiful! I really wished I could actually see them, especially the gown she put on when she finally decided she wanted the Simathe to actually see her as a woman. It was blue and sounded just gorgeous! (Yes I will admit to having a particularly girly moment at that point in the book)
3. The mythology of Aerisia was wonderful. Sarah Ashwood has managed to come up with a beautiful, wonderful fantasy world. The characters, places, all of it stimulate your imagination and can put you right in the book with Hannah. I really liked the myth that Aerisia and Earth used to be connected, it was interesting and when you think about it, it just might explain some things
4. Ilgard was a wonderful character. It was interesting to see him as he changed throughout the story. He went from the basic Simathe to a man who doubted what he had been sent to do
5. The romance. There was romance in this story, but it wasn't what most people would think. Hannah really didn't have a romantic interest until partway through the story when she shared sort of a tender moment with Ilgard. Of course, I'm anxious to see how that plays out because Ilgard supposedly shouldn't fall in love and all that. I'm wondering what's going to change, but something tells me that there are some changes coming down the line and I can't wait!
6. Hannah's interaction(s) with Jonase. The first time in that room in Laytrii would have been terrifying on it's own, but then when she ran into him outside of Treygon, it was downright horrifying! I was glad that Hannah finally came to realize just why things were going as they were (Joining with Ilgard, staying inside Treygon, etc).
7. The ending! I want more! Please, please, PLEASE!!!!
moonlitlex's review
2.0
Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset follows Hannah Winters into the mystical world of Aerisia where she is thought to be the Artan, a prophesied hero.
Let me start with what I liked about this book - the world is definitely interesting and the author has clearly put a lot of effort into developing it. That’s about it. Unfortunately, this comes across as big expositional scenes where two characters sit down to talk and one of them explains things about the world in one big block of dialogue.
The key issue here is that Hannah Winters, our protagonist, is simply not compelling. We are introduced to her in a short first chapter where we don’t learn much about her apart from the fact that she has a brother and her sister’s in-laws are coming to dinner. Somehow, Ashwood is able to conceal Hannah’s age until about halfway through the book, and, since it reads like a middle grade book, that’s around the age I thought Hannah was. Hannah herself has very little development and is mostly just a passive observer to everything that happens to her, although she sometimes takes a break to cry or whine.
Even with these issues, I expected to at least enjoy the book. Ashwood had other ideas, though. According to the copy I have, it was edited by Red Adept Editing Services. Take my advice and do not hire them, because I caught at least a dozen typos, many of them being the wrong word, like “tussle” instead of “tousle”. The point of view switches between two characters, but also switches between first person and third person limited.
Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset reads like a self insert fanfiction, with a generic main character, and extremely predictable plot. If you’re looking for a self insert fan fiction, you can probably find better ones on wattpad. If you’re looking for a fantasy novel, this is not it.
Let me start with what I liked about this book - the world is definitely interesting and the author has clearly put a lot of effort into developing it. That’s about it. Unfortunately, this comes across as big expositional scenes where two characters sit down to talk and one of them explains things about the world in one big block of dialogue.
The key issue here is that Hannah Winters, our protagonist, is simply not compelling. We are introduced to her in a short first chapter where we don’t learn much about her apart from the fact that she has a brother and her sister’s in-laws are coming to dinner. Somehow, Ashwood is able to conceal Hannah’s age until about halfway through the book, and, since it reads like a middle grade book, that’s around the age I thought Hannah was. Hannah herself has very little development and is mostly just a passive observer to everything that happens to her, although she sometimes takes a break to cry or whine.
Even with these issues, I expected to at least enjoy the book. Ashwood had other ideas, though. According to the copy I have, it was edited by Red Adept Editing Services. Take my advice and do not hire them, because I caught at least a dozen typos, many of them being the wrong word, like “tussle” instead of “tousle”. The point of view switches between two characters, but also switches between first person and third person limited.
Aerisia: Land Beyond the Sunset reads like a self insert fanfiction, with a generic main character, and extremely predictable plot. If you’re looking for a self insert fan fiction, you can probably find better ones on wattpad. If you’re looking for a fantasy novel, this is not it.
emilykelt's review against another edition
2.0
The protagonist's winging was unbearable and childish. There were a couple of cringe-worthy moments, but there were a few alright ones aswell. The plot was practically non-existent, and literally a build up to the second book. It also doesn't make any sense why a 3000 y/o dude that's famous for being 'unfeeling and scary' warms up, and becomes slightly more human to our dislikeable protagonist. I'll not be reading the sequel. Sady, this book wasn't for me.
sonshinelibrarian's review
2.0
Where do I start...
I thought the world building was pretty good - the creatures introduced were well described, and even the different cultures were interesting, if not fully explained. I think there is a lot of potential here.
My biggest issue (as I've seen on other people's reviews) was the main character. When I began reading the book I thought the main character was 11 or 12. A couple of chapters in I had changed my mind and figured she must be about 15 or 16. It wasn't until about 1/3 through the book (ish?) that it came out that no, she's actually in college.
One thing that does come out of this, though, is that you could give this to some middle graders who are into fantasy and looking for something longer and more "adult." There is no profanity that I can remember. There is one scene at the end of the book
So those are the positive things.
But now... now you are about to enter the world of my snarkiness.... you have been warned.
I'm sorry, but I shouldn't begin a book about a college-age woman and think that it's a middle grade novel.
The novel starts so much in media res that we have no concept of Hannah's life before this all happened. We get drips and drabs of her family life over the course of the entire novel, but it's hard to care about her getting back home when I have no idea of who Hannah was or what she has to get back to.
There is also a difference between someone who is upset over the fact that they've been ripped away from their home and someone who whines like a petulant child. I get that all of this happened with no warning and that Hannah doesn't believe she can possibly be the magical Artan who is supposed to save this world she has just been kidnapped to, but the constant whining which flips into sobbing which flips into yelling anger had me rolling my eyes more than sympathizing. I don't need her to accept her fate right away, I just need her to not still be acting like a child 2/3 of the way into the book.
I wasn't sure why Hannah had heterochromia either. If part of the prophecy had been that the Artan would have 2 different eye colors, I could have understood it. Instead it's just drilled into our heads over and over that she has odd eyes for no reason.
As for Ilgard, the immortal who must "join" with Hannah in order to protect her? I found him overbearing and infuriating - not sexy. He knows that the Simathe don't show their emotions and he knows (especially after the Joining) that Hannah is frustrated with him. Yet he intentionally says as little as possible, keeping her in the dark, refusing to explain the Simathe culture, ignoring her pleas to understand what is going on.
I also didn't understand the purpose of keeping Hannah at the Simathe stronghold or why she couldn't take anyone with her. After a big deal is made about the connection and friendship she has with Moonkind Rittean, I was fully expecting Hannah or Rittean to ask that she accompany them to the Simathe stronghold. But nope! Here's a character I actually was somewhat interested in, but we say goodbye to her 1/3 of the way through the book.
The pacing is slow - basically nothing happens in this book to further the larger plot except that Ilgard and Hannah are Joined - and the Evil confusing. And apparently I would have liked to get a better understanding of why it was so important for the Artan to come at this point in time, since they're all freaked out that they need her, but there doesn't really seem to be any imminent danger.
And finally, the language was frustrating. The other world speaks English. Fine, don't call attention to it, most people won't even notice. But the author goes out of her way to have 2-3 instances when Hannah uses a word that someone (mainly Rittean) doesn't understand (like "kidnap"). It's just enough to make it weird and draw attention to the fact that somehow this culture speaks English, but are stuck in the Middle Ages, but not often enough to make it consistent or to have a point in the plot. And though the story is written, technically, in first person past tense, it doesn't seem like it's a reminiscence of the main character except for 2 or 3 places where suddenly a phrase like "in hindsight I can now see this decision was a stupid one" or "I had never seen something so strange before and I have never seen anything so strange since" (this last one I don't believe at all since in this book there are at least 2 things Hannah sees which I would consider stranger, but anyway).
I think this book had some great potential, but I also think that it was in desperate need of more editing and some rewriting and tightening of the plot.
I thought the world building was pretty good - the creatures introduced were well described, and even the different cultures were interesting, if not fully explained. I think there is a lot of potential here.
My biggest issue (as I've seen on other people's reviews) was the main character. When I began reading the book I thought the main character was 11 or 12. A couple of chapters in I had changed my mind and figured she must be about 15 or 16. It wasn't until about 1/3 through the book (ish?) that it came out that no, she's actually in college.
One thing that does come out of this, though, is that you could give this to some middle graders who are into fantasy and looking for something longer and more "adult." There is no profanity that I can remember. There is one scene at the end of the book
Spoiler
where the Evil tries to rape Hannah, but this is fairly glossed over and described more as an attack with few details.So those are the positive things.
But now... now you are about to enter the world of my snarkiness.... you have been warned.
I'm sorry, but I shouldn't begin a book about a college-age woman and think that it's a middle grade novel.
The novel starts so much in media res that we have no concept of Hannah's life before this all happened. We get drips and drabs of her family life over the course of the entire novel, but it's hard to care about her getting back home when I have no idea of who Hannah was or what she has to get back to.
There is also a difference between someone who is upset over the fact that they've been ripped away from their home and someone who whines like a petulant child. I get that all of this happened with no warning and that Hannah doesn't believe she can possibly be the magical Artan who is supposed to save this world she has just been kidnapped to, but the constant whining which flips into sobbing which flips into yelling anger had me rolling my eyes more than sympathizing. I don't need her to accept her fate right away, I just need her to not still be acting like a child 2/3 of the way into the book.
I wasn't sure why Hannah had heterochromia either. If part of the prophecy had been that the Artan would have 2 different eye colors, I could have understood it. Instead it's just drilled into our heads over and over that she has odd eyes for no reason.
As for Ilgard, the immortal who must "join" with Hannah in order to protect her? I found him overbearing and infuriating - not sexy. He knows that the Simathe don't show their emotions and he knows (especially after the Joining) that Hannah is frustrated with him. Yet he intentionally says as little as possible, keeping her in the dark, refusing to explain the Simathe culture, ignoring her pleas to understand what is going on.
I also didn't understand the purpose of keeping Hannah at the Simathe stronghold or why she couldn't take anyone with her. After a big deal is made about the connection and friendship she has with Moonkind Rittean, I was fully expecting Hannah or Rittean to ask that she accompany them to the Simathe stronghold. But nope! Here's a character I actually was somewhat interested in, but we say goodbye to her 1/3 of the way through the book.
The pacing is slow - basically nothing happens in this book to further the larger plot except that Ilgard and Hannah are Joined - and the Evil confusing. And apparently
Spoiler
dead by the end? I was a little confused by that. Because it happened pretty quickly. I'm assuming he'll resurrect or something in the next book?And finally, the language was frustrating. The other world speaks English. Fine, don't call attention to it, most people won't even notice. But the author goes out of her way to have 2-3 instances when Hannah uses a word that someone (mainly Rittean) doesn't understand (like "kidnap"). It's just enough to make it weird and draw attention to the fact that somehow this culture speaks English, but are stuck in the Middle Ages, but not often enough to make it consistent or to have a point in the plot. And though the story is written, technically, in first person past tense, it doesn't seem like it's a reminiscence of the main character except for 2 or 3 places where suddenly a phrase like "in hindsight I can now see this decision was a stupid one" or "I had never seen something so strange before and I have never seen anything so strange since" (this last one I don't believe at all since in this book there are at least 2 things Hannah sees which I would consider stranger, but anyway).
I think this book had some great potential, but I also think that it was in desperate need of more editing and some rewriting and tightening of the plot.
sarrie's review
3.0
This was one I picked up ages ago and my hubby randomly picked for me to read off my Kindle app. I'm generally a really hard sell on portal fantasies to be honest so this one had to struggle past that. It's very much the 'prophecy/chose one' story line with some immortal men thrown in for a romantic twist. It was a fast read, and light enough. The dialogue was a little... jarring in places. Choppy I'd say too. Hannah is from modern times stuck in this fantasy world but it was really weird to hear her call herself a 'fantasy chick' at one point. That's part of why portal fantasies in general are not my thing I suppose.
Also - trigger warning for those that need it on rape. The one big flaw I'd give it was the absolutely ridiculous 'you must be a virgin for the prophecy' and the attempted rape at the end. I kept going because I was so close to the end. But really - the story deserved better.
Also - trigger warning for those that need it on rape. The one big flaw I'd give it was the absolutely ridiculous 'you must be a virgin for the prophecy' and the attempted rape at the end. I kept going because I was so close to the end. But really - the story deserved better.