I tried. I really tried. But I skimmed the last half of the book.
My expectations were completely squashed. The blurb said Assassin’s Creed and I got The Throne of Glass instead. It was all talk and no substance. I’m pretty sure authors just think assassins are cool and use the word to create interest. Then they realize they don’t know how to make assassins cool and the book turns into a cliché love story.
I’ve played three Assassin’s Creed games and this book had no similarities. I read half the book and none of the four assassins had killed anyone. What’s the point of calling them assassins if they don’t kill? I don’t need everyone to die, but if a book includes assassins, it might help if they lived up to the title. They’re hyped-up as these ruthless killers but all they do is take a road trip and struggle to win some fights. They’re useless.
I didn’t care about the beasts so I’m not gonna talk about them.
What about the beast Charmer, Leena? Noc, the love interest, rambled on about how formidable, strong and fierce she was. How she’d undo him and shatter his world and blah blah. I didn’t see it. I kept being reminded of her capabilities but she never proved it to me. The first chapter was promising and then she turned pathetic and lust-sick. She said how she had to get away from these assassins. Then she fell in love, made friends and didn’t want to leave. Am I supposed to get behind her character?
Noc was apparently attractive, deadly, distant and powerful. Yawn. I’ve heard it all before and seen it done better. He’s not likable. He’s tortured by his past and couldn’t let his emotions take over. Oh boo-hoo. I’m thinking, “Why don’t you be a man and tell people why you can’t show any sort of friendship?” I guess he’s not smart enough to see how much time and pain he could save by being honest. And he’s totally the long-lost/dead prince, right? If that’s a spoiler, it should have been less obvious.
The three other assassins were just stereotypes. Big softy, jock womanizer, and fashion boy all failed to be anything other than cardboard companions. Small attempts were made to deviate from those stereotypes but they were all unsuccessful. Softy liked to cook and was hopeless around women. Jock had anger issues but liked feeding children. Fashion was trying to protect Noc because he’s the only one who knew Noc’s secret. I do not care. None of them were assassin material and none of them made a good impression on me.
Noc and Leena. Loc? Within a day of meeting each other Noc turned into an ogler and Leena wanted to talk to him because he’s fascinating or some such nonsense. Never mind that she previously thought she walked to her death. Or that Leena somehow managed to almost kill Noc’s best friend. No build-up occurred and nothing believable happened between them. It went from no trust to the guy in Singin’ in the Rain saying, “I love you I love you I love you I love you,” in about a week. In what world does that make sense?
And speaking of the world…What was the world? It’s supposed to be fantasy but then a train shows up. Huh? She wore makeup and there’s modern swearing. A chandelier turned on by itself. One of the assassins had red eyes like it’s normal. But there were no guns, telegraphs, steamboats or anything else to say what kind of world it was. What happened to fantasy being fantasy? Why does it now need modernity? No reason was given for these odd choices so why were they included?
What would you say are some of the most overused phrases in description? Eyes shooting daggers, emotions conveyed by eye color, someones face being granite? Yeah, it’s all here. I know this is a romance and you expect cheesy writing and cheap similes. But this one skipped the cheese and went for unoriginal. It lacked subtly. Everyone’s thoughts blazed across their eyes and nothing was left for me to decipher. All the descriptions bored me and were forgettable. Too much tell and not enough show.
One other thing: how do regular people feel about beasts? Have none of them tried to hunt them down? Leena said several times not to approach beasts but does everyone know that? How do regular people manage to not get accidentally killed?
So in conclusion, the next time a book has assassins or is compared to Assassin’s Creed, I’d like a body count first. This book could have been good, but the oozy romance overshadowed everything and the slow story and boring characters made it even less appealing.
My expectations were completely squashed. The blurb said Assassin’s Creed and I got The Throne of Glass instead. It was all talk and no substance. I’m pretty sure authors just think assassins are cool and use the word to create interest. Then they realize they don’t know how to make assassins cool and the book turns into a cliché love story.
I’ve played three Assassin’s Creed games and this book had no similarities. I read half the book and none of the four assassins had killed anyone. What’s the point of calling them assassins if they don’t kill? I don’t need everyone to die, but if a book includes assassins, it might help if they lived up to the title. They’re hyped-up as these ruthless killers but all they do is take a road trip and struggle to win some fights. They’re useless.
I didn’t care about the beasts so I’m not gonna talk about them.
What about the beast Charmer, Leena? Noc, the love interest, rambled on about how formidable, strong and fierce she was. How she’d undo him and shatter his world and blah blah. I didn’t see it. I kept being reminded of her capabilities but she never proved it to me. The first chapter was promising and then she turned pathetic and lust-sick. She said how she had to get away from these assassins. Then she fell in love, made friends and didn’t want to leave. Am I supposed to get behind her character?
Noc was apparently attractive, deadly, distant and powerful. Yawn. I’ve heard it all before and seen it done better. He’s not likable. He’s tortured by his past and couldn’t let his emotions take over. Oh boo-hoo. I’m thinking, “Why don’t you be a man and tell people why you can’t show any sort of friendship?” I guess he’s not smart enough to see how much time and pain he could save by being honest. And he’s totally the long-lost/dead prince, right? If that’s a spoiler, it should have been less obvious.
The three other assassins were just stereotypes. Big softy, jock womanizer, and fashion boy all failed to be anything other than cardboard companions. Small attempts were made to deviate from those stereotypes but they were all unsuccessful. Softy liked to cook and was hopeless around women. Jock had anger issues but liked feeding children. Fashion was trying to protect Noc because he’s the only one who knew Noc’s secret. I do not care. None of them were assassin material and none of them made a good impression on me.
Noc and Leena. Loc? Within a day of meeting each other Noc turned into an ogler and Leena wanted to talk to him because he’s fascinating or some such nonsense. Never mind that she previously thought she walked to her death. Or that Leena somehow managed to almost kill Noc’s best friend. No build-up occurred and nothing believable happened between them. It went from no trust to the guy in Singin’ in the Rain saying, “I love you I love you I love you I love you,” in about a week. In what world does that make sense?
And speaking of the world…What was the world? It’s supposed to be fantasy but then a train shows up. Huh? She wore makeup and there’s modern swearing. A chandelier turned on by itself. One of the assassins had red eyes like it’s normal. But there were no guns, telegraphs, steamboats or anything else to say what kind of world it was. What happened to fantasy being fantasy? Why does it now need modernity? No reason was given for these odd choices so why were they included?
What would you say are some of the most overused phrases in description? Eyes shooting daggers, emotions conveyed by eye color, someones face being granite? Yeah, it’s all here. I know this is a romance and you expect cheesy writing and cheap similes. But this one skipped the cheese and went for unoriginal. It lacked subtly. Everyone’s thoughts blazed across their eyes and nothing was left for me to decipher. All the descriptions bored me and were forgettable. Too much tell and not enough show.
One other thing: how do regular people feel about beasts? Have none of them tried to hunt them down? Leena said several times not to approach beasts but does everyone know that? How do regular people manage to not get accidentally killed?
So in conclusion, the next time a book has assassins or is compared to Assassin’s Creed, I’d like a body count first. This book could have been good, but the oozy romance overshadowed everything and the slow story and boring characters made it even less appealing.