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wishmaking's review
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
annick's review
adventurous
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
4.25
I have read this series at least eight times already in the past 21y. Still a favourite.
The author loves to use antiquated vocabulary a lot. So that’s part of its charm and it’s slower pace. It’s a mix of PreRaphaelite romantic medievalism, rossettis goblin market, folklore and epic high h fantasy questing.
Some small flaws with pacing and plotting and writing.
The author loves to use antiquated vocabulary a lot. So that’s part of its charm and it’s slower pace. It’s a mix of PreRaphaelite romantic medievalism, rossettis goblin market, folklore and epic high h fantasy questing.
Some small flaws with pacing and plotting and writing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
jettye's review
3.0
It doesn't seem a really good idea for the introduction to a book to detail how the author became a writer. It seems rather pretentious to me. After I got over that, I rather enjoyed these books. The plot kept my attention and I did want to see how it ended, though I also got bogged down a couple of times. The world is quite inventive. The protagonist is interesting. The other characters are well written and relevant.
On the not so positive side, the author likes to use big, flowery, obscure words and she uses them a lot. Paragraphs of descriptions. It is also a personal irritant when the main characters fall in love because they are just SO PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL. But that's just me.
I would recommend this book if you like fantasy and you like (or can tolerate) a lot of words! I keep wishing I could give half stars because this one deserves more than 3 but I didn't like it quite enough for 4.
On the not so positive side, the author likes to use big, flowery, obscure words and she uses them a lot. Paragraphs of descriptions. It is also a personal irritant when the main characters fall in love because they are just SO PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL. But that's just me.
I would recommend this book if you like fantasy and you like (or can tolerate) a lot of words! I keep wishing I could give half stars because this one deserves more than 3 but I didn't like it quite enough for 4.
bethr's review
3.0
Impressive pastiche of all the folklore from everywhere, and then some, written by someone who seems to have memorized the OED and Roget’s thesaurus. And yet, while the basic plot and characters of this trilogy provide a strong framework, the excessive descriptions (beautiful though they were) and baroque wanderings of that plot made getting to the end, ultimately, a chore. Fantasy should never be a chore, Cecilia Dart-Thornton.
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