Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Lady Trents Erbe: Aus der Finsternis zum Licht

I really enjoyed this, there were a couple of things in the first half that I thought were maybe a bit young for me but the whole concept of the translation is just incredible and I’m such a language nerd just wow

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green_amaryllis's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.5

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clarabooksit's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I read this believing it to be a spin-off of another series but that it could be read as a standalone. I’m here to tell you that that’s a lie. It’s really book six of A Natural History of Dragons but about a different character.

I haven’t read any of those books so my reading experience lacked a lot of important background information, especially about Draconeans and the world this book takes place in. And unfortunately the epistolary style didn’t lend itself to great world-building. Perhaps the first book has amazing world-building, in which case book six need not have much but it was marketed as a standalone. It does not stand alone.

Anyway, outside of that, this was just an okay read for me. I went into it with high hopes—historical fantasy, dragons, mystery, the protagonist is a translator!—but it didn’t meet those hopes. The choice to write the story in letters didn’t work for me here. There were so many things that didn’t make sense that someone would write in a letter or a diary but were obviously included because the reader needed to know the information. Likewise, the inclusion of the translations the characters are working on didn’t add anything to the story for me. Just so much telling and very little showing. The mc made a lot of stupid decisions, too. The biggest disappointment, though? No actual dragons.

This review is a bit negative but I did actually like the world, I just didn’t fully understand it. And overall it was engaging. I think if I had known I shouldn’t start with this book, it would’ve been a better experience.

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qtcarolyn's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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tericarol21's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this!! It was a beautiful new page in the previous Lady Trent series — a new generation, if you will. I did figure out what had likely happened about....50+ pages before the reveal, but it was still so enjoyable to go through all the complexity with the characters.

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fraxisle's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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