A review by parue
The Reluctant Queen by Sarah Beth Durst
3.0
It's hard for me to fully describe how I feel about this book. I was annoyed with it for a good chunk of the story and considered DNFing for a while, yet I stayed up until 3AM to finish it.
I think it comes down to the fact that I really don't care for Naelin. I find Daleina much more interesting and relatable to me, and I wish there was a bit more of her and less of Naelin. A character that isn't strong and has to approach problems differently because of it is much more appealing to me than someone who is overpowered from the beginning but has to learn to control those powers.
Toward the end I started to like Naelin a little more, but not really enough to want her to be a central character to the story. While she certainly wasn't one-dimensional, I feel as though her primary personality trait was 'mother'. It didn't seem like she had very many thoughts, interests, or goals outside of "keeping her children safe".
I enjoyed the introduction of Ganrah, and I also liked that Arin played a bigger role. I only wish we saw more of them.
To be honest, I'm quite tired of this series. I want it to be done.I would have been quite content if the story ended after the first book. I'm still planning to give the third book a shot, but I ain't happy about it!
I think it comes down to the fact that I really don't care for Naelin. I find Daleina much more interesting and relatable to me, and I wish there was a bit more of her and less of Naelin. A character that isn't strong and has to approach problems differently because of it is much more appealing to me than someone who is overpowered from the beginning but has to learn to control those powers.
Toward the end I started to like Naelin a little more, but not really enough to want her to be a central character to the story. While she certainly wasn't one-dimensional, I feel as though her primary personality trait was 'mother'. It didn't seem like she had very many thoughts, interests, or goals outside of "keeping her children safe".
I enjoyed the introduction of Ganrah, and I also liked that Arin played a bigger role. I only wish we saw more of them.
To be honest, I'm quite tired of this series. I want it to be done.I would have been quite content if the story ended after the first book. I'm still planning to give the third book a shot, but I ain't happy about it!