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thexgrayxlady's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Cards on the table, I am a board certified, card carrying horse girl, so I'm naturally biased towards Alexander the great. So when I say that this book is probably read to people at CIA black sites, I mean it.
The characters are all whiny and annoying and too many of them have POVs. Jacob and Hephestion are both really stupid and fall for the dumbest tricks and traps. Katerina is aggressively bland and kind of a bad friend. I sometimes forgot that Zofia existed outside of her chapters, which have no impact on the plot. Alexander is whiny and I do not want to hear him talk about how hot is mom is again. Cynane is the only character I liked, if only because she's so edgy she loops back around to being hilarious.
The plot is kind of all over the place and lacks a good sense of time or scale. Things just kind of happen, then they work out fine. I don't think that the hunger games sub-plot is necessary. Katerina has a voyage to an old mentor to learn to use her powers and an entire training montage nearly entirely off page, only to come back for the last battle, all in the last fifty pages.
capgambit's review against another edition
4.0
I actually stumbled across this book looking for available audiobooks through Libby while I wait for my 20 other holds to come through. I knew nothing about it. The cover looked cool, so I thought wth why not. Wow was I pleasantly surprised! It was a little slow to start, but so are most 1st installments. I did have a little trouble keeping track of characters due to it being an audiobook. This is definitely a series I would enjoy reading the physical book if I had the time.
Imagine my disappointment when I learned that Libby does not have the rest of the series available on audiobooks. I may just have to find some time to grab the physicals!
Imagine my disappointment when I learned that Libby does not have the rest of the series available on audiobooks. I may just have to find some time to grab the physicals!
harleyrae's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 Stars
This book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either. It just felt very average. I personally feel like there were too many POVs. Many times I would finished myself confused about who we were actually following in that chapter. I read the entire book but there are parts that even after just finishing the book I don’t remember.
This is a series that if in the near future I find the next books I might decide to continue on, but this is not a series I will finish if it’s years from now before I pick up the second book. It just wasn’t the most memorable story in my opinion.
This book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either. It just felt very average. I personally feel like there were too many POVs. Many times I would finished myself confused about who we were actually following in that chapter. I read the entire book but there are parts that even after just finishing the book I don’t remember.
This is a series that if in the near future I find the next books I might decide to continue on, but this is not a series I will finish if it’s years from now before I pick up the second book. It just wasn’t the most memorable story in my opinion.
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
So, I finally picked this up as a challenge to myself to read the oldest book that I owned that I hadn't read. I think the type of week I have been having kept me from fully loving this as much as it deserved.
brianne_k's review against another edition
3.0
*3.25/5*
pretty solid start to a trilogy. it did have its problems, and I guessed the twist very early on, but I still enjoyed the story and I'm excited to see where it goes, especially with the magic.
pretty solid start to a trilogy. it did have its problems, and I guessed the twist very early on, but I still enjoyed the story and I'm excited to see where it goes, especially with the magic.
bibliophilicwitch's review against another edition
Kicking off the story immediately with romantic tension and the love interest commenting that he had "loved her since they were 6 and 5" is just not great imo. Passingly interested in Alexander which is why I was interested in this book to begin with, but the power-hungry sister seemed flat. And underlying that was constant comments on beauty and girl hate that just rubbed me the wrong way.
alannar2422's review against another edition
5.0
I really liked the action and romance that mix in this book, and also the medieval background.
jessethereader's review against another edition
4.0
(3.5)
This was a solid start to an epic fantasy series & I can't wait to see what the rest of the series has to hold. The world building was probably my favorite part of this book. It was done SO WELL.
This was a solid start to an epic fantasy series & I can't wait to see what the rest of the series has to hold. The world building was probably my favorite part of this book. It was done SO WELL.
jeslyncat's review against another edition
4.0
I might have to downgrade this to 3 stars later. It was a 3.5ish read for me. It was pretty predictable and kind of slow, but I liked the melding of history and fantasy. I would have liked to see more action and actual story, what we got was a lot go angst.