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crimyami's review against another edition
2.0
Received a copy of this book via NetGalley for a honest review.
The story sounded interesting, had the element of learning something forbidden. Going on an adventure, being exiled. Yet, for me it fell a bit flat. The idea that reading isn't allowed for girls didn't sit all that well. The Characters seemed to have enough charisma to keep me going but the current plot felt like it wasn't exactly anything special. It's a lot saving the main character Maia from being captured because everyone wants to use her for something or another. She doesn't usually save herself which feels a bit left out. I like the main character's needing help sometimes but if she has magic she should be able to use it to get herself out. That is another thing, she has to trust the medium (magic) but not let it take control of her mind at the same time. It just wasn't as thrilling as I had wished it to be, it's possible someone else may enjoy this book but it's just not my cup of tea.
The flow of the book was a bit hard to follow as well. Going from present to past, it possibly would of been easier if the past as told then going on with the present. Rather than jumping back and forth continuously.
The story sounded interesting, had the element of learning something forbidden. Going on an adventure, being exiled. Yet, for me it fell a bit flat. The idea that reading isn't allowed for girls didn't sit all that well. The Characters seemed to have enough charisma to keep me going but the current plot felt like it wasn't exactly anything special. It's a lot saving the main character Maia from being captured because everyone wants to use her for something or another. She doesn't usually save herself which feels a bit left out. I like the main character's needing help sometimes but if she has magic she should be able to use it to get herself out. That is another thing, she has to trust the medium (magic) but not let it take control of her mind at the same time. It just wasn't as thrilling as I had wished it to be, it's possible someone else may enjoy this book but it's just not my cup of tea.
The flow of the book was a bit hard to follow as well. Going from present to past, it possibly would of been easier if the past as told then going on with the present. Rather than jumping back and forth continuously.
julieshaw35's review against another edition
2.0
While the plot is compelling, I had trouble with the details. Maia having a duel personality was an interesting twist. I also enjoyed the intrigue of figuring out Collier's intentions. However, I was almost through the whole book before I understood the differences between the main groups. More explanation was needed. Some of the dialogue is confusing. I also tired of reading about the queasiness in the main characters stomach in every chapter. Overall, I enjoyed the storyline, but the lack editing and clarity made this book difficult to read.
qog's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
marybells's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmm...the horse is definitely dead, but let's keep beating it for a bit longer! Yay!
The Banished of Muirwood picks up a couple of centuries after the Wretched of Muirwood series. In the previous series we were left with the final scene of Lia and her husband Colvin finally sailing away from the 5 kingdoms to allow the scourge to take place and literally kill everyone left except for the total dickhead Dieyre. During their absence (of about a century or whatnot), everyone is dead and a new tribe of people (the Naestors (spelling?!)) arrive and see the awesome abandoned kingdom and take over. Dieyre, super old and still awful, teaches them how to read the tomes (books) of the Mastons so they can learn how to control the Medium. However, they cannot control it without kystrels and so a new male society is formed who can control the medium. Woo hoo.
And, flash forward to the present. Maia is a princess of Cosmoros (and great x3 granddaughter of Lia) and she is on a mission to save her kingdom. Her father, after not being able to sire a son with her mother, the queen, has totally renounced all of his maston vows and banishes Maia from the kingdom and makes her "the bastard". Not cool at all. Anyway, the story totally goes in this weird Cinderella dive where her step-sisters and step-grandmother literally torture her by taking all of her things and emotionally/verbally abuse her. Like some sort of saint, Maia still stays "cool" until her father calls on her to go on this mission to save his kingdom (its a bit of a long story there). Maia then is joined with a kishion (assassin) where her mission makes her accidentally become a hetaera (the chicks who are cursed and if they kiss anyone they will kill them due to Lia being all "oh no you don't try to hook up with my man b*tch, I will cut you" in the earlier series). Super great. She then starts to relive all of her terrible memories including one time where she was being forced to come down to dinner in a sh*t soaked dress because her bowels were all messed up. Dude...what the hell?! She then goes on this huge adventure while a demon is possessing her and forces her to marry the King of Dahomey and then try to kill the great seer of the land.
Yea. Insane.
Absolutely loved the previous series of these books but man it just felt like Wheeler kept kicking this chick while she was down for fun and still expecting her not to carry some serious emotional baggage. If my dad did this kind of crap to me, no way would I run into his arms and give him a big hug as he calls me "bastard". I mean this girl has to have a major spine to survive this whole ordeal but she's a total pushover with her dad who hasn't treated her well for over 10 years. Just seemed like she was purposely written as a saint instead of a human being which was frustrating. I get the book would have been hella darker if he had written her in a more human way, but atleast it would have been a bit more believable for the series.
Also dont even get me started on the King of Dahomey. She's all in love with him etc etc and yet he willingly marries a hetaera just so he can try to conquer all of the kingdoms and become emperor. What?!?! Talk about bad taste in men. Yeesh.
Final thoughts: Maia, grow a spine.
The Banished of Muirwood picks up a couple of centuries after the Wretched of Muirwood series. In the previous series we were left with the final scene of Lia and her husband Colvin finally sailing away from the 5 kingdoms to allow the scourge to take place and literally kill everyone left except for the total dickhead Dieyre. During their absence (of about a century or whatnot), everyone is dead and a new tribe of people (the Naestors (spelling?!)) arrive and see the awesome abandoned kingdom and take over. Dieyre, super old and still awful, teaches them how to read the tomes (books) of the Mastons so they can learn how to control the Medium. However, they cannot control it without kystrels and so a new male society is formed who can control the medium. Woo hoo.
And, flash forward to the present. Maia is a princess of Cosmoros (and great x3 granddaughter of Lia) and she is on a mission to save her kingdom. Her father, after not being able to sire a son with her mother, the queen, has totally renounced all of his maston vows and banishes Maia from the kingdom and makes her "the bastard". Not cool at all. Anyway, the story totally goes in this weird Cinderella dive where her step-sisters and step-grandmother literally torture her by taking all of her things and emotionally/verbally abuse her. Like some sort of saint, Maia still stays "cool" until her father calls on her to go on this mission to save his kingdom (its a bit of a long story there). Maia then is joined with a kishion (assassin) where her mission makes her accidentally become a hetaera (the chicks who are cursed and if they kiss anyone they will kill them due to Lia being all "oh no you don't try to hook up with my man b*tch, I will cut you" in the earlier series). Super great. She then starts to relive all of her terrible memories including one time where she was being forced to come down to dinner in a sh*t soaked dress because her bowels were all messed up. Dude...what the hell?! She then goes on this huge adventure while a demon is possessing her and forces her to marry the King of Dahomey and then try to kill the great seer of the land.
Yea. Insane.
Absolutely loved the previous series of these books but man it just felt like Wheeler kept kicking this chick while she was down for fun and still expecting her not to carry some serious emotional baggage. If my dad did this kind of crap to me, no way would I run into his arms and give him a big hug as he calls me "bastard". I mean this girl has to have a major spine to survive this whole ordeal but she's a total pushover with her dad who hasn't treated her well for over 10 years. Just seemed like she was purposely written as a saint instead of a human being which was frustrating. I get the book would have been hella darker if he had written her in a more human way, but atleast it would have been a bit more believable for the series.
Also dont even get me started on the King of Dahomey. She's all in love with him etc etc and yet he willingly marries a hetaera just so he can try to conquer all of the kingdoms and become emperor. What?!?! Talk about bad taste in men. Yeesh.
Final thoughts: Maia, grow a spine.
mrose21's review against another edition
3.0
I'm conflicted, one part of me quite enjoyed this but another part just felt like this was a little lacking.
Its an interesting high fantasy story and I find those can be quite difficult for me to read as you really have to concentrate on the characters and story going on. I do try but I prefer books that arn't that complicated to get into, its just my preference. This being said I found myself lost in parts. The flicking between present and past wasn't always smooth and sometimes I read parts a couple of times to try and work out where we were - past or present - that disrupted the story for me a little bit.
All in all I did enjoy reading this book, just not sure enough to carry on the series...
Its an interesting high fantasy story and I find those can be quite difficult for me to read as you really have to concentrate on the characters and story going on. I do try but I prefer books that arn't that complicated to get into, its just my preference. This being said I found myself lost in parts. The flicking between present and past wasn't always smooth and sometimes I read parts a couple of times to try and work out where we were - past or present - that disrupted the story for me a little bit.
All in all I did enjoy reading this book, just not sure enough to carry on the series...
bookwife's review against another edition
2.0
I want to say that I loved this book but I honestly didn't understand a lot of it. I feel like I got dropped into the middle of the book. Or maybe the second book in the series. I thought maybe this was a spin off of another series but it says it's a stand alone series... so I don't know.. I feel confused. I started to understand some of it towards the end... but not enough. I may try to read the next book.. but I might not bother.
stacylmoll's review against another edition
4.0
The Banished of Muirwood is an interesting story, full of twists and turns. I feel sorry for Maia, she tries to do what is right, but keeps finding herself causing problems everywhere she goes. I'm not sure about the Cinderella setting of Maia waiting on her father's mistress and her daughters, I found that a bit distracting, although the twist where it was her father that put her in that position was different. That aside, the book is well worth your time and I look forward to reading the next one.
jcooper221's review against another edition
2.75
The story was good. The plot was fresh and interesting throughout, I never really knew what was going to happen next.
I've seen other reviews describing the protagonist as whiny, and I'll give my own spin on this. Maia is utterly incompetent and reactive, as opposed to proactive. A protagonist like this is very difficult to pull off, and Wheeler did not deliver. Wheeler used the word "trembling" to describe her emotional state at least a hundred times. Like, I get it, she lives in a perpetual state of fear. Can we just move on with the story? I was more annoyed than sympathetic with her. She also doesn't really do anything, she's just ferried from one destination to the next.
There were also a few places where story facts didn't quite add up. For instance, Wheeler's depiction of Spoileravalanches is wrong. How did Maia not suffocate? Simply googling "how do people die from avalanches" would have saved him here.
At the end of the book, Spoilerin reference to the brand on her shoulder, Maia's grandmother tells her she will have to live with the consequences of her choices. And my immediate thought was, "What choice?" This entire book has been about the illusion of choice. Maia hasn't actually done anything of her own free will, she just tags along or does what other people tell her to. I can appreciate that we sometimes suffer for choices we made without fully knowing what we were doing. But in this story it's unsatisfying, especially when said choice was made before the beginning of the narrative. The reader can't identify with a choice they didn't actually see happen. There are a few story decisions like this that made the plot unconvincing and start to unravel.
I've seen other reviews describing the protagonist as whiny, and I'll give my own spin on this. Maia is utterly incompetent and reactive, as opposed to proactive. A protagonist like this is very difficult to pull off, and Wheeler did not deliver. Wheeler used the word "trembling" to describe her emotional state at least a hundred times. Like, I get it, she lives in a perpetual state of fear. Can we just move on with the story? I was more annoyed than sympathetic with her. She also doesn't really do anything, she's just ferried from one destination to the next.
There were also a few places where story facts didn't quite add up. For instance, Wheeler's depiction of Spoileravalanches is wrong. How did Maia not suffocate? Simply googling "how do people die from avalanches" would have saved him here.
At the end of the book, Spoilerin reference to the brand on her shoulder, Maia's grandmother tells her she will have to live with the consequences of her choices. And my immediate thought was, "What choice?" This entire book has been about the illusion of choice. Maia hasn't actually done anything of her own free will, she just tags along or does what other people tell her to. I can appreciate that we sometimes suffer for choices we made without fully knowing what we were doing. But in this story it's unsatisfying, especially when said choice was made before the beginning of the narrative. The reader can't identify with a choice they didn't actually see happen. There are a few story decisions like this that made the plot unconvincing and start to unravel.