I wanted to love this book. I hoped that this would have lived up to the tremendous hype that surrounded it. It didn't.
I think the main problem that I had with this book is that I simply didn't care for either the plot or the characters. Those characters could have all been hit by busses and I probably wouldn't have cared. If anything, it might have made things more interesting because I wouldn't have seen that bus coming. Talk about the ultimate plot twist, am I right?
Plotwise, I feel like the pacing was a little off. There was no build up. The story started with a bang and didn't stop. This might not sound like a problem, but what it means is that there was a lot of action and very little of anything else.
I didn't have time to care about either of the main characters because it just kept jumping back and forth from action to action in both perspectives. There was no time to get to know either of them and the little that I did learn about them was pretty unlikable.
Eliana, for example, was insufferable. The "Dread of Orline" was what they called her because she's just that much of a badass. She's an Aelin type character, but with none of the fun personality. Also, I don't understand worlds were 16-18-year-olds can be the best warriors or assassins or whatever. Like, what is everyone over the age of 19 doing with their lives? But that's a discussion for another day.
Then there was Rielle, who was the single most powerful person in the story. Her personality, in my opinion, revolved around her growing lust for her own power, and her growing lust for Audric and Corien. She didn't really think about anything else.
Basically what I'm saying is that this book made both of the main characters, Rielle and Eliana seem like dry, boring, special little snowflakes. They are both so incredibly powerful and "special" that there was never any tension when they were "in danger". They were total Mary Sues. They could do no wrong and everyone loved them, despite being pretty unlikable people.
I think the thing I hate most about this book is that it could have been good. These characters could have been amazing. This story could have been great. I could have loved it!!!
Had the author decided to write some quality worldbuilding (other than the comments made by Remy that were obvious exposition). Had the characters been a little less stiff and generically special. Had the POV's played into each other a little more. Had the original idea behind this tale been a little more developed this could have been an amazing novel.
But that's not how it all went down.
So, what good things did the book have? It had a lot of action. Also, it had fairly interesting main characters whose stories I wouldn't mind exploring.
I think the main problem that I had with this book is that I simply didn't care for either the plot or the characters. Those characters could have all been hit by busses and I probably wouldn't have cared. If anything, it might have made things more interesting because I wouldn't have seen that bus coming. Talk about the ultimate plot twist, am I right?
Plotwise, I feel like the pacing was a little off. There was no build up. The story started with a bang and didn't stop. This might not sound like a problem, but what it means is that there was a lot of action and very little of anything else.
I didn't have time to care about either of the main characters because it just kept jumping back and forth from action to action in both perspectives. There was no time to get to know either of them and the little that I did learn about them was pretty unlikable.
Eliana, for example, was insufferable. The "Dread of Orline" was what they called her because she's just that much of a badass. She's an Aelin type character, but with none of the fun personality. Also, I don't understand worlds were 16-18-year-olds can be the best warriors or assassins or whatever. Like, what is everyone over the age of 19 doing with their lives? But that's a discussion for another day.
Then there was Rielle, who was the single most powerful person in the story. Her personality, in my opinion, revolved around her growing lust for her own power, and her growing lust for Audric and Corien. She didn't really think about anything else.
Basically what I'm saying is that this book made both of the main characters, Rielle and Eliana seem like dry, boring, special little snowflakes. They are both so incredibly powerful and "special" that there was never any tension when they were "in danger". They were total Mary Sues. They could do no wrong and everyone loved them, despite being pretty unlikable people.
I think the thing I hate most about this book is that it could have been good. These characters could have been amazing. This story could have been great. I could have loved it!!!
Had the author decided to write some quality worldbuilding (other than the comments made by Remy that were obvious exposition). Had the characters been a little less stiff and generically special. Had the POV's played into each other a little more. Had the original idea behind this tale been a little more developed this could have been an amazing novel.
But that's not how it all went down.
So, what good things did the book have? It had a lot of action. Also, it had fairly interesting main characters whose stories I wouldn't mind exploring.