***I received a free copy from Penguin's First To Read Program in exchange for an honest review*** I am new to Donaldson’s work, I know of him by reputation only and that others greatly enjoy his fantasy worlds, but form this particular book, I don’t see it. In reading the synopsis and drooling over the cover, I was thrilled to be able to read an early copy of the book as he is such a well-respected author, but those good feelings were wiped out pretty quickly as the first 60% of the book was like pulling teeth to get through. It’s a convoluted “magical” setting with laws and rules that are never well defined, and a world that feels small and simplistic with two warring nations that have been at war so long, the cause is nearly forgotten—though the brief explanation felt like a bad Romeo and Juliet retelling—all the people know is that some slight was caused a millennia ago, so obviously they still fight about it. Even when the main character, Prince Bifalt, has his mind expanded, the world never managed to feel whole, and therefore remained small and petty, populated by a slew of characters that annoyed me literally every step of the way.
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I don’t normally read bodice-ripper romance novels. Heck, I normally don’t read any romance novels for the most part. If my YA book or fantasy includes love interests, I love it, but I don’t read them specifically for the sex or romance. I was given this book as a way to “broaden my horizons”, and I guess you can consider them broadened, though I’ll be honest when I say I haven’t read enough in this genre to know what makes a “good” romance novel or not. “The Midnight Sea” is a thrilling historical fiction meets wild fantasy. Yes, historical fiction! The author was inspired and drew heavily from the time just before the man who would be known as Alexander The Great conquered much of the Middle East. Ross draws on old stories that mention these supernatural and magical beings (think genies, but without the fancy bottle) and how they started off as beings of good, before being turned evil. Ross uses these long forgotten historical aspects of religion, and the regions they are based in, to create much of her world and the beliefs the characters follow, for her. She embellishes the magical aspects, certainly, but the premises was already laid out for her, which I personally enjoyed for it made the book feel grounded, though I know a lot of people find that to be lazy. But why? Our world has so many wonderful and half-forgotten stories that I think it’s important for authors to find ways to bring those stories back to the present. So, well done, Ms. Ross! ***I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review*** I’m just going to come right out and say it: I really liked this book. I just wish the cover was better / different, because it does no justice to the exciting story held within. Rhoades and Rutledge craft a fun story with a wide variety of deeply complicated characters that all feel whole and complete, like if I were to bring Vasili’s mother or the innkeeper aside to have a chat, they’d be able to without floundering for words. The authors created a well thought out steampunk-esque adventure without needlessly throwing cogs and gears everywhere. The flying airships fit the world perfectly, and I never felt like the world didn’t make sense. And while that was a lot of fun, the shining note on this book are the characters. ***I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review*** I’m going to do something a little new with my reviews—starting with “The Lyons Orphanage”. Normally, I give a little synopsis of the book, but you can read that on your own. My reviews are always long, and ultimately, I want to get to the meat of the review faster. We’ll see how it goes. Anyway, in King’s novel, we follow around Sam the orphan as he goes about his day, and I mean really, we see every detail of his day and it makes you feel kind of bad for the orphans, because their days sound so mundane and boring. Unfortunately, it’s also not great for the reader, as the book falls into the same trap on many occasions. The synopsis sounds so cool, though! A kid who can read the minds of everyone but a select few? Who’s also stuck in an orphanage with a nefarious power struggle? Sign me up! Right? Yes well, the synopsis made it sound a lot more like the page-turner I wanted, but never really got. |
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