Scan barcode
A review by emiann2023
Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway
3.0
DNF.
I was really excited about this book when I heard the premise, so I picked it up soon after release.
I just...I couldn't do it. Part of my issue was the prologue. It was done in a really jarring, desolate kind of way, and I know logically that the prologue is probably not the end of the story, but the problem is it felt so desperate and sad that it made me not want to read - why would I want to read when there's such darkness ahead, and apparently no hope? Probably a lie, I know. But it just put me in the wrong mind set to watch two people fall in love when there's such doom and death ahead of them, and nothing that hints at alleviating that.
Arrin was an interesting character. His descriptions were beaufiful. His family drama felt overdone, but bearably so.
Aurelia felt like the most classically cut princess character ever. Naive. Doesn't want to marry intended suitor. Doesn't pay much attention to politics. Very bland and nothing that made me want to know more about her. I know she'll change, but the time it's going to take to get to that point feels like a long time to me.
Also, where are the badass female characters? Even if this is based off of WWII, I know for a fact there were a lot of badass women during that time. So how about something like that here?
I can't speak much to the romance, because I gave up before it really got going, but I get the impression there wasn't anything extraordinary involved.
Overall this book is really beautiful and descriptive. It's just not my kind of read.
I was really excited about this book when I heard the premise, so I picked it up soon after release.
I just...I couldn't do it. Part of my issue was the prologue. It was done in a really jarring, desolate kind of way, and I know logically that the prologue is probably not the end of the story, but the problem is it felt so desperate and sad that it made me not want to read - why would I want to read when there's such darkness ahead, and apparently no hope? Probably a lie, I know. But it just put me in the wrong mind set to watch two people fall in love when there's such doom and death ahead of them, and nothing that hints at alleviating that.
Arrin was an interesting character. His descriptions were beaufiful. His family drama felt overdone, but bearably so.
Aurelia felt like the most classically cut princess character ever. Naive. Doesn't want to marry intended suitor. Doesn't pay much attention to politics. Very bland and nothing that made me want to know more about her. I know she'll change, but the time it's going to take to get to that point feels like a long time to me.
Also, where are the badass female characters? Even if this is based off of WWII, I know for a fact there were a lot of badass women during that time. So how about something like that here?
I can't speak much to the romance, because I gave up before it really got going, but I get the impression there wasn't anything extraordinary involved.
Overall this book is really beautiful and descriptive. It's just not my kind of read.