blacksphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Grief
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Homophobia, and Animal death
whiptostic's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ashleylm's review
3.0
The kind of middle-of-the-road fantasy that's not unique enough to make you love it or hate it (unless what you love is bland, middle of the road fiction, since numerous readers surely do love this series).
I was keen at the beginning. I thought the family situation was vividly drawn, and the first chapter(s)? (I was reading through an audibook) crackled with energy. And then she found the Companion (or it found her) and downhill it went, and all the zest of the opening was gone, and it was a dreary slog to the middle of the book. Then I checked reviews, and it would get no better from here (I'd likely like it even worse, so I stopped).
Among my many issues with it (besides its dull genericness: poor teenager, magically special, taken to magic school, increasingly special, yada yada) is that the character of our protagonist is so inconsistently drawn. Is she an astonishingly quiet, shy, reserved youngster who won't say boo, or is she an assertive, take-no-prisoners truth teller who won't put up with nonsense? She's the first most of the time, and the second when confronting her family, or the Brat, and it maketh no sense to me.
I was glad that the book wasn't too horsey (the book covers in their original run, which scared me off trying, made it look like My Little Pony for grown-ups), at least not for its first half.
But mostly it's just dull, and a bit clunky. One example: the author wants to be able to surprise us (and her main character) about exactly what Heralds are and how they're chosen etc. so she establishes that Holder-folk, shockingly, don't tell their children about the process and meaning, and everyone's horrified about this omission, just so she can preserve some suspense and then unload a chapter's worth of exposition in a classroom setting. Except, since she established that usually people are chosen from those already in herald-training or at court or nearby, why in God's name would every small village have to make a point of explaining to their children something that had a 0.00000000% likelihood of ever occurring? It's like being shocked we didn't build "if you win an Oscar for acting" into the Grade 7 curriculum, just in case.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s.)
I was keen at the beginning. I thought the family situation was vividly drawn, and the first chapter(s)? (I was reading through an audibook) crackled with energy. And then she found the Companion (or it found her) and downhill it went, and all the zest of the opening was gone, and it was a dreary slog to the middle of the book. Then I checked reviews, and it would get no better from here (I'd likely like it even worse, so I stopped).
Among my many issues with it (besides its dull genericness: poor teenager, magically special, taken to magic school, increasingly special, yada yada) is that the character of our protagonist is so inconsistently drawn. Is she an astonishingly quiet, shy, reserved youngster who won't say boo, or is she an assertive, take-no-prisoners truth teller who won't put up with nonsense? She's the first most of the time, and the second when confronting her family, or the Brat, and it maketh no sense to me.
I was glad that the book wasn't too horsey (the book covers in their original run, which scared me off trying, made it look like My Little Pony for grown-ups), at least not for its first half.
But mostly it's just dull, and a bit clunky. One example: the author wants to be able to surprise us (and her main character) about exactly what Heralds are and how they're chosen etc. so she establishes that Holder-folk, shockingly, don't tell their children about the process and meaning, and everyone's horrified about this omission, just so she can preserve some suspense and then unload a chapter's worth of exposition in a classroom setting. Except, since she established that usually people are chosen from those already in herald-training or at court or nearby, why in God's name would every small village have to make a point of explaining to their children something that had a 0.00000000% likelihood of ever occurring? It's like being shocked we didn't build "if you win an Oscar for acting" into the Grade 7 curriculum, just in case.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s.)
evieintheshire's review
adventurous
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
3.75
craftingrama's review against another edition
5.0
Awesome book and the narrator only lost me a few times when using those dumb character voices but thankfully refrained from letting it be too often.
senevilla's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, and Sexism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide
antivancrowe's review
4.0
I had a lot of reservations on this book, the beginning sounded oh so woe is me. I almost wanted to throw it down, but the person who recommended it to me has good tastes so I continued. Later on, the book gets so much better. The main character, Talia, evolves so much it's endearing. I was also glad for the LGBT representation.
I'm glad I stuck with it.
I'm glad I stuck with it.
nono185's review
challenging
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? No
4.5
fellumhistane's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
karabeta's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0