sjmbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
lavendermarch's review against another edition
4.0
Meh. I liked it but I like Pierce's other stuff more. Still, it's ironic how her descendant is the rogue - or maybe not, as Rosto is after her. At any rate, I do like Alanna, Keladry, and Daine's books better. Still, I'll finish the trilogy. It's interesting, even if there are no Stormwings or lady knights. I can see parallels between Alanna and George and Beka and Rosto. Oh, another thing: the slang confused me. Thank God for that glossary in the back of the book. I was very lost at first.
felicjk's review against another edition
3.0
Started this at the beginning of the year, took a long break to read some biographies, classics, and non-fiction, and finally returned to it to close my year!
Despite only 3 stars, I actually really enjoyed this:
I can never get enough of a good old medieval-style fantasy novel, set in a world of thieves and mages and knights, with a heroine who can speak to animals. I only gave it 3 though because Tamora Pierce has a LOT to live up to after the legendary Alana ‘Song of the Lioness’ series, highlight of my childhood reading, and I can’t say Beka Cooper quite does that. Though it certainly was a joy to return to the world of Tortall, and I’m sure I’ll be reading more of Pierce whenever I need an easy read and want to lose myself in such a well-crafted universe.
Despite only 3 stars, I actually really enjoyed this:
I can never get enough of a good old medieval-style fantasy novel, set in a world of thieves and mages and knights, with a heroine who can speak to animals. I only gave it 3 though because Tamora Pierce has a LOT to live up to after the legendary Alana ‘Song of the Lioness’ series, highlight of my childhood reading, and I can’t say Beka Cooper quite does that. Though it certainly was a joy to return to the world of Tortall, and I’m sure I’ll be reading more of Pierce whenever I need an easy read and want to lose myself in such a well-crafted universe.
erinsbookshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
smeenk_ak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
megster's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jaciacarlile's review against another edition
4.0
Terrier was a pretty fun read. The first series I read from Tamora Pierce was her Song of The Lioness with Alanna, which had a much different writing style, and you can tell Pierce has grown as a writer between the two. I prefer less the daily journal style, however, so that's a nitpick about this story. Still, I understand it's supposed to represent how long ago in Pierce's world Beka lived so I'm gonna let it slide.
There was a lot of creativity to this kind of book and I enjoyed it immensly. Never fun to read the same book over and over. Beka was a loveable character; looser morals around money but never about people's lives, accepting of all who come her way with a decently-pure heart, eager to please her superiors (even to the point of embarrassment).
It seems like she wasn't as shy as we were lead on to believe, though she certainly had a public speaking problem. I understand how slow the story would have been if she acted like she had upon meeting her Dogs whenever she met anybody, so once again I'm letting it slide by. I have a social anxiety myself and my conversations are awkward and go nowhere, so I can imagine without her random bursts of courage to say things nothing would get done.
I so loved her ragtag group of friends and "little birdies". Everyone had an original personality and personal motives, but because of who Beka is they were willing to put themselves out for her. Even in her interactions with others who are not her direct superiors or friends, she learned about life and took their advice about handling the case. With interactions like that, Beka's bound to go places fast, and I'm excited to see where she goes next.
There was a lot of creativity to this kind of book and I enjoyed it immensly. Never fun to read the same book over and over. Beka was a loveable character; looser morals around money but never about people's lives, accepting of all who come her way with a decently-pure heart, eager to please her superiors (even to the point of embarrassment).
It seems like she wasn't as shy as we were lead on to believe, though she certainly had a public speaking problem. I understand how slow the story would have been if she acted like she had upon meeting her Dogs whenever she met anybody, so once again I'm letting it slide by. I have a social anxiety myself and my conversations are awkward and go nowhere, so I can imagine without her random bursts of courage to say things nothing would get done.
I so loved her ragtag group of friends and "little birdies". Everyone had an original personality and personal motives, but because of who Beka is they were willing to put themselves out for her. Even in her interactions with others who are not her direct superiors or friends, she learned about life and took their advice about handling the case. With interactions like that, Beka's bound to go places fast, and I'm excited to see where she goes next.
bunnerz's review against another edition
4.0
alexblackreads's review against another edition
4.0
This is probably the third time I've reread Terrier (I've never reread any of the other books in the series) and I still think it holds up.
The main negative for this is always going to be the diary aspect. I don't know why Pierce suddenly decided to write an entire book in diary format after years of third person, but it's so fake. It definitely requires a suspension of disbelief. No one writes thousands and thousands of words describing their day in perfect detail down to full conversations of dialogue.
But at the same time, I wouldn't want to read a whole book that actually sounds like someone's diary. Apart from the introductions in each entry and a few days where she's too tired to write, it doesn't sound at all natural. It's a little annoying and I mostly prefer to pretend it's just regular first person narration. But I can see how this might be a deal breaker for some people.
I really like the day in the life aspect of this book. There are of course two major cases that Beka is investigating, but a lot of this book is just covering everything she did each day. I really enjoy books like that because they give interesting insights into what the normal world looks like, not just when there's a lot of heightened drama.
I also thought it was fun on reread to see all the foreshadowing. I didn't figure out the twist much before Beka did when I read the book initially, so it was cool to catch all the little tidbits from the beginning.
Overall, I still think this is a pretty great book. I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to the Tortall universe, but I think once you've read a couple of others, it's worth a read. It's fun to read a police procedural set in a fantasy world. I'm very interested to see how my reread of the rest of the trilogy goes because I distinctly remember not like Bloodhound or Mastiff much at all.
The main negative for this is always going to be the diary aspect. I don't know why Pierce suddenly decided to write an entire book in diary format after years of third person, but it's so fake. It definitely requires a suspension of disbelief. No one writes thousands and thousands of words describing their day in perfect detail down to full conversations of dialogue.
But at the same time, I wouldn't want to read a whole book that actually sounds like someone's diary. Apart from the introductions in each entry and a few days where she's too tired to write, it doesn't sound at all natural. It's a little annoying and I mostly prefer to pretend it's just regular first person narration. But I can see how this might be a deal breaker for some people.
I really like the day in the life aspect of this book. There are of course two major cases that Beka is investigating, but a lot of this book is just covering everything she did each day. I really enjoy books like that because they give interesting insights into what the normal world looks like, not just when there's a lot of heightened drama.
I also thought it was fun on reread to see all the foreshadowing. I didn't figure out the twist much before Beka did when I read the book initially, so it was cool to catch all the little tidbits from the beginning.
Overall, I still think this is a pretty great book. I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to the Tortall universe, but I think once you've read a couple of others, it's worth a read. It's fun to read a police procedural set in a fantasy world. I'm very interested to see how my reread of the rest of the trilogy goes because I distinctly remember not like Bloodhound or Mastiff much at all.