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inlibrisveritas's review
4.0
Fallenwood turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise for me. I downloaded it while it was free on Amazon to read during a readathon because it seemed like it’d be a short and fairly interesting read, and it turned out to be a fantastic read that I would have been more than willing to pay for. The author has quite the imagination and I look forward to reading more from her.
The summary seem to promise a fairly standard tale, girl has some personal issues and ends up submersed in a world she didn’t know existed. But this turned out to be quite different than what I was originally expecting. The main character, Ashley, does have some personal problems rooted in the death of her stepfather but it’s not something that she just happens to overcome as soon as things start to change for her. It’s major part of her character and she actually finds a way to coupe, it’s not something magically disappears. The writing is fluid and has a unique fantasy flair to it that makes it feel like a different sort of reading experience. It is a fairly sort book but the author does manage to fit in all of the necessary lore and details, but the time skips were a tad bothersome at times. They didn’t hinder the story really I just would have liked to have the scenes involved to flow into each other. I do wish it had been longer because 1) I really enjoyed it, 2) the ending made me want more and 3) there were scenes that could have been expanded and it would have made the story richer. There is a plethora of great things and places in Fallenwood and wish there had been more on all of it, with six different kingdoms and a fantastic range of creatures. The occasional shifts in pov’s does gives it depth and brings the other characters to life, letting you understand them better. I rarely have favorite quotes when it comes to books, either because I have too many or because nothing stick out individually but this one did. “War is not just war, war is business.” It kind of spoke volumes both within the story and outside of it.
As I mentioned before Ashley is an interesting main character and her personal journey through the book is a great one. Her struggle with her stepfather’s death was realistic and was not sugar coated for the sake of the reader. Her transformation overall takes time and she struggle with self doubt for a good portion of the book. Edward was a great character as well but I wasn’t fond of his relationship with Ash, it wasn’t that it didn’t fit it was that the time skips kind of made it seem quick when it was actually a normal paced attraction. Having said that their relationship was slow budding and rather sweet at the end, I believe I would have enjoyed it more if it had been giving more time on the page. My favorite character is Grimalkin, which should be no surprise since he is a cat who can talk. As soon as he entered the story he was my favorite, somethings just can’t be helped. I also loved one of his chapters and it gave great depth to his character, he may not be able to help himself but he can try to help others (even if he does benefit a bit). There are a variety of side characters and they each have their own parts to play in the story, and even the smallest of side characters gets a chapter for himself.
I think this fits in the young adult category but it is an easy read and can go a tad younger than that. While it is not graphic or and it does not go into detail, it does deal with death and suicidal thoughts. There is nearly no cursing and the violence is very tame. I do recommend this novel and I think those who enjoy quick and detailed romps through fantasy realms will enjoy this as much as I did.
The summary seem to promise a fairly standard tale, girl has some personal issues and ends up submersed in a world she didn’t know existed. But this turned out to be quite different than what I was originally expecting. The main character, Ashley, does have some personal problems rooted in the death of her stepfather but it’s not something that she just happens to overcome as soon as things start to change for her. It’s major part of her character and she actually finds a way to coupe, it’s not something magically disappears. The writing is fluid and has a unique fantasy flair to it that makes it feel like a different sort of reading experience. It is a fairly sort book but the author does manage to fit in all of the necessary lore and details, but the time skips were a tad bothersome at times. They didn’t hinder the story really I just would have liked to have the scenes involved to flow into each other. I do wish it had been longer because 1) I really enjoyed it, 2) the ending made me want more and 3) there were scenes that could have been expanded and it would have made the story richer. There is a plethora of great things and places in Fallenwood and wish there had been more on all of it, with six different kingdoms and a fantastic range of creatures. The occasional shifts in pov’s does gives it depth and brings the other characters to life, letting you understand them better. I rarely have favorite quotes when it comes to books, either because I have too many or because nothing stick out individually but this one did. “War is not just war, war is business.” It kind of spoke volumes both within the story and outside of it.
As I mentioned before Ashley is an interesting main character and her personal journey through the book is a great one. Her struggle with her stepfather’s death was realistic and was not sugar coated for the sake of the reader. Her transformation overall takes time and she struggle with self doubt for a good portion of the book. Edward was a great character as well but I wasn’t fond of his relationship with Ash, it wasn’t that it didn’t fit it was that the time skips kind of made it seem quick when it was actually a normal paced attraction. Having said that their relationship was slow budding and rather sweet at the end, I believe I would have enjoyed it more if it had been giving more time on the page. My favorite character is Grimalkin, which should be no surprise since he is a cat who can talk. As soon as he entered the story he was my favorite, somethings just can’t be helped. I also loved one of his chapters and it gave great depth to his character, he may not be able to help himself but he can try to help others (even if he does benefit a bit). There are a variety of side characters and they each have their own parts to play in the story, and even the smallest of side characters gets a chapter for himself.
I think this fits in the young adult category but it is an easy read and can go a tad younger than that. While it is not graphic or and it does not go into detail, it does deal with death and suicidal thoughts. There is nearly no cursing and the violence is very tame. I do recommend this novel and I think those who enjoy quick and detailed romps through fantasy realms will enjoy this as much as I did.
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