guardyourhonor's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Series review: Big ol' mixed bag, here.
Always start with the positives: I was really into them. They were fun to read and I'm sad not to spend any more time with them. The heroes are very distinct characters with personalities and backstories and identifiable voices and I really liked them all. The world is very fun and not just a standard version of Faerie. Honestly, 4.5 stars if purely based on enjoyment.
But on to the negatives:
I'll be upfront: the writing in the first book is bad. Dialogue is unrealistic and cringe, the characterization of Lera is all over the place, and the pacing is truly terrible - particularly the pacing of the relationships. It <i>does</i> get better as the series goes on. All three issues even out the further into the series, thankfully. Unfortunately they do continue to call them 'her males' until the end of time, though, so just make peace with it.
The last three books - when the writing is on more solid footing - are like an entirely different series? In which the plotting is better I guess but also more frustrating narratively. Things dragged on too long and the whole point of reading reverse harem - the harem - is missing so it's a real shift from the first four. Maybe even just stop at the 4th, honestly.
But why, <b>why</b> are Lera's chapters in 1st person present tense and 'the males' voices in 3rd person past tense? It's bad and confusing and adds nothing, but Lidell sticks with it all the way through the series.
Also Leralynn is a stupid name and jarred me every time.
Always start with the positives: I was really into them. They were fun to read and I'm sad not to spend any more time with them. The heroes are very distinct characters with personalities and backstories and identifiable voices and I really liked them all. The world is very fun and not just a standard version of Faerie. Honestly, 4.5 stars if purely based on enjoyment.
But on to the negatives:
I'll be upfront: the writing in the first book is bad. Dialogue is unrealistic and cringe, the characterization of Lera is all over the place, and the pacing is truly terrible - particularly the pacing of the relationships. It <i>does</i> get better as the series goes on. All three issues even out the further into the series, thankfully. Unfortunately they do continue to call them 'her males' until the end of time, though, so just make peace with it.
The last three books - when the writing is on more solid footing - are like an entirely different series? In which the plotting is better I guess but also more frustrating narratively. Things dragged on too long and the whole point of reading reverse harem - the harem - is missing so it's a real shift from the first four. Maybe even just stop at the 4th, honestly.
But why, <b>why</b> are Lera's chapters in 1st person present tense and 'the males' voices in 3rd person past tense? It's bad and confusing and adds nothing, but Lidell sticks with it all the way through the series.
Also Leralynn is a stupid name and jarred me every time.
zaliw77's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bananabread98's review
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Now we start getting a little more backstory on our little lovers. Everything is still very superficial but still entertaining.
sam17's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
zoe2198's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
macodi's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
lolasreviews's review
4.0
I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
Trial of Three is the third book in the Power of Five series and I was eager to see where the story would go next and what would happen to the characters in this book. Character and relationships wise I feel like this book is very important. Story wise it doesn't progress as much as I had hoped, but there are some important reveals that I think will be important for what happens in the next book.
This book feels very character focused. Shane and Lera have only recently started their relationship, but she isn't as close to the other males yet at the start of the book. Which this book changes as she grows closer to all of them in some way. There was an important scene with Coal at the end of the book and that gets explored here as well. Meanwhile River is keeping secrets and something from Tye's past gets brought up that explores his character more.
It's told from both Lera's point of view and some chapters from the males which helps get a better understanding of them. Shane is his lovely wolf self again in this book and while he is still a lot of fun, the focus is mostly on the other three males in this book. I really liked seeing how Coal and Lera's relationship progresses in this book and I feel like they have a better understanding of each other's nightmares and their relationship reflects their personalities well. River is hiding things and Lera seems unable to breach the walls he put up around himself, but there are some important scenes with it and the truth comes out eventually. Then there is Tye who seems like an easygoing womanizer at first, but with each book he gets more and more depth, which is awesome.
I like how all of the characters have their own personality and also their relationship with Lera is very different. Although with 4 sex scenes in one book I also notices some common patterns in them that the author likes to use. On that topic, this book heats things up a lot compared to the previous books. With 4 sex scenes in this book it has quite a bit of heat. I mostly liked them and felt that it fit the characters and their relationships and it made sense why this book was steamier than the others. But the third sex scene didn't quite feel right to me. The tone felt all wrong and it seemed a bit out of character, even if Lera wanted the sex I just can't see Lera giving in for that reason alone. It does get better later in the book when part of that issue gets resolved, but I am still not really happy with what he let Lera believe in that scene.
I also had a small niggle about how they never talk about things. No one really seems to feel much about Lera sleeping with multiple of then. It never gets mentioned at all, they almost act like it's normal, but from what we've seen of this world so far that doesn't seem to be the case? I mostly put it on the fact that these men seem to have the hardest time communicating at all, so maybe it's just because of that.
Lera also keeps being a great main character. I like how a lot of this book focuses on her developing her powers and she really grows into them in this book. But I am also glad with how she struggles with it and it's not that easy. I didn't really care for the twist about how she could get better at the magic as it seems a bit forced to use that to further the intimacy. But luckily there wasn't too much focus on that. There's a great scene with Lera at the end of the book and I liked that even in her moment of power it's also obvious she still has her struggles too.
Storywise this book felt a bit slow-ish, but with so much focus on the characters and their relationships it didn't feel slow at all. It's a great read and I liked all the character focused stuff. But I wish something would finally happen/ change storywise as I would like a change of scenery and that didn't happen. I guess I hadn't expected this part to be such a bit part of their story. There is a great reveal at the end of the story that makes me curious about how they're going to resolve that in book 4.
One small thing that bothers me a bit is how these are supposed to be hundreds of years old Fae warriors and sometimes they don't really act that way. Like the whole River and Klarissa thing, form the start it's obvious that what Klarissa wants she gets and playing along with her and meanwhile trying to achieve their own agenda seems much smarter than outright refusing as it's obvious she will find another way to get them where she wants. All of the Fae also have a lot of troubles with things from their past, which is interesting to read about, but I would expect things to hurt at least a little bit less after so much time, but maybe it just doesn't work that way as they don't really seem to deal with those topics until now.
To summarize: this is a great third book in this series. It's very character focused with lots of developments surrounding the characters and their relationships. It was great seeing the relationships progress. This book is a lot steamier than the previous ones, but I felt that it fit the book and the characters and I liked seeing Lera get closer to more of her males. There was one sex scene that bothered me a bit as I didn't like the tone of it and it felt a bit out of character for Lera to go along with it. All the characters are interesting and I liked gaining more understanding of them in this book as some of their pasts and hurts are revealed. The story progresses a bit more slowly, but that's mostly because of the heavy character focus of this book. There are some interesting developments story wise. All in all I really enjoyed this book and am excited to see how book four will wrap up this series.
Trial of Three is the third book in the Power of Five series and I was eager to see where the story would go next and what would happen to the characters in this book. Character and relationships wise I feel like this book is very important. Story wise it doesn't progress as much as I had hoped, but there are some important reveals that I think will be important for what happens in the next book.
This book feels very character focused. Shane and Lera have only recently started their relationship, but she isn't as close to the other males yet at the start of the book. Which this book changes as she grows closer to all of them in some way. There was an important scene with Coal at the end of the book and that gets explored here as well. Meanwhile River is keeping secrets and something from Tye's past gets brought up that explores his character more.
It's told from both Lera's point of view and some chapters from the males which helps get a better understanding of them. Shane is his lovely wolf self again in this book and while he is still a lot of fun, the focus is mostly on the other three males in this book. I really liked seeing how Coal and Lera's relationship progresses in this book and I feel like they have a better understanding of each other's nightmares and their relationship reflects their personalities well. River is hiding things and Lera seems unable to breach the walls he put up around himself, but there are some important scenes with it and the truth comes out eventually. Then there is Tye who seems like an easygoing womanizer at first, but with each book he gets more and more depth, which is awesome.
I like how all of the characters have their own personality and also their relationship with Lera is very different. Although with 4 sex scenes in one book I also notices some common patterns in them that the author likes to use. On that topic, this book heats things up a lot compared to the previous books. With 4 sex scenes in this book it has quite a bit of heat. I mostly liked them and felt that it fit the characters and their relationships and it made sense why this book was steamier than the others. But the third sex scene didn't quite feel right to me. The tone felt all wrong and it seemed a bit out of character, even if Lera wanted the sex I just can't see Lera giving in for that reason alone. It does get better later in the book when part of that issue gets resolved, but I am still not really happy with what he let Lera believe in that scene.
I also had a small niggle about how they never talk about things. No one really seems to feel much about Lera sleeping with multiple of then. It never gets mentioned at all, they almost act like it's normal, but from what we've seen of this world so far that doesn't seem to be the case? I mostly put it on the fact that these men seem to have the hardest time communicating at all, so maybe it's just because of that.
Lera also keeps being a great main character. I like how a lot of this book focuses on her developing her powers and she really grows into them in this book. But I am also glad with how she struggles with it and it's not that easy. I didn't really care for the twist about how she could get better at the magic as it seems a bit forced to use that to further the intimacy. But luckily there wasn't too much focus on that. There's a great scene with Lera at the end of the book and I liked that even in her moment of power it's also obvious she still has her struggles too.
Storywise this book felt a bit slow-ish, but with so much focus on the characters and their relationships it didn't feel slow at all. It's a great read and I liked all the character focused stuff. But I wish something would finally happen/ change storywise as I would like a change of scenery and that didn't happen. I guess I hadn't expected this part to be such a bit part of their story. There is a great reveal at the end of the story that makes me curious about how they're going to resolve that in book 4.
One small thing that bothers me a bit is how these are supposed to be hundreds of years old Fae warriors and sometimes they don't really act that way. Like the whole River and Klarissa thing, form the start it's obvious that what Klarissa wants she gets and playing along with her and meanwhile trying to achieve their own agenda seems much smarter than outright refusing as it's obvious she will find another way to get them where she wants. All of the Fae also have a lot of troubles with things from their past, which is interesting to read about, but I would expect things to hurt at least a little bit less after so much time, but maybe it just doesn't work that way as they don't really seem to deal with those topics until now.
To summarize: this is a great third book in this series. It's very character focused with lots of developments surrounding the characters and their relationships. It was great seeing the relationships progress. This book is a lot steamier than the previous ones, but I felt that it fit the book and the characters and I liked seeing Lera get closer to more of her males. There was one sex scene that bothered me a bit as I didn't like the tone of it and it felt a bit out of character for Lera to go along with it. All the characters are interesting and I liked gaining more understanding of them in this book as some of their pasts and hurts are revealed. The story progresses a bit more slowly, but that's mostly because of the heavy character focus of this book. There are some interesting developments story wise. All in all I really enjoyed this book and am excited to see how book four will wrap up this series.
qdbibliophile's review
5.0
Loved this series. Read my series review here: https://theqdbibliophile.wordpress.com/2019/02/19/series-review-power-of-five-by-alex-liddell/
danireneewood's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book (I did finish it in a day). However, I will say that this one was missing some of the plot that I enjoyed in the second novel. This series has a really entertaining story line that I sometimes feel gets pushed to the side in favor for some of the intimate moments between Lera and the rest of the quint. I wish that these were longer so that I could have more of the really great story line and still keep the relational aspects. Once again, this one fell short of the length I wanted in a true full-length novel.
We finally get a glimpse of Lera's power as a weaver, and it was all too brief. We see the antagonists at work, in the flesh, but it wasn't nearly as much as I would have liked. I want more of those team moments that make the quint the quint, rather than the one-on-one encounters that this book seemed to be filled with.
For all my criticisms, though, I really do recommend the title if you've got a desire for fae, magic, fantasy and steamier scenes. These are quick and really enjoyable reads, and I'm excited for the fourth (and apparently final) installment. But come on, Alex, only four novels in a book about a group of FIVE?
Oh well.
We finally get a glimpse of Lera's power as a weaver, and it was all too brief. We see the antagonists at work, in the flesh, but it wasn't nearly as much as I would have liked. I want more of those team moments that make the quint the quint, rather than the one-on-one encounters that this book seemed to be filled with.
For all my criticisms, though, I really do recommend the title if you've got a desire for fae, magic, fantasy and steamier scenes. These are quick and really enjoyable reads, and I'm excited for the fourth (and apparently final) installment. But come on, Alex, only four novels in a book about a group of FIVE?
Oh well.