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narcissia's review against another edition
3.0
Thyla was an okay read. Some of it is cheesy, but my opinion tends to lean in that direction where paranormal is concerned. Some of it is fairly appealing, and the mythology is on the unique side, though the standard paranormal themes and plot devices are still pretty much the norm here. Thyla also ends right at the point where it becomes its most interesting.
I think I would have liked Thyla better had it been condensed a little and then continued beyond where it ended, because it does feel very expository and it does cut off the story once the circumstances and conflict are at their best. Will I read the next one? I don't know, since the POV switches in book two to a different character and I'm not sure how I feel about that, considering the point at which this one ended.
I think I would have liked Thyla better had it been condensed a little and then continued beyond where it ended, because it does feel very expository and it does cut off the story once the circumstances and conflict are at their best. Will I read the next one? I don't know, since the POV switches in book two to a different character and I'm not sure how I feel about that, considering the point at which this one ended.
emma211's review against another edition
4.0
it was refreshingly new and different. GO THE AUSSIE!!! :)
joyousreads132's review against another edition
3.0
Tessa woke up without a single memory of who she was. No family, no identity. The only truth she knew deep into the marrow of her bones is that she’s a strong person, incapable of tears and she's fearless. Little by little, snaps of recollections come back to her as she’s thrust into a mysterious world inside and outside of the boarding school she was forced into – a school, which held more memories of who she was than she cared to remember.
The synopsis wasn’t very forthcoming; I had no clue what I was getting into when I started reading. As a result, I was overly anxious for the mystery to unfold and Kate Gordon took her sweet old time revealing what kind of paranormal creatures she has on the offing. She took lycanthrope and spun with a bit creepier factor than normal. It was definitely different. I think that having the setting somewhere much novel (novel to me, anyway) added to the mystery. Port Arthur (Van Diemen’s Land), Tasmania was a penal colony and the hardened British and Irish criminals’ destination back in the days. You can just imagine how Gordon wove this history into her novel.
It took almost the entirety of the book for the revelation to come; most of the story really focused on Tessa’s memory recovery. It was a jigsaw puzzle – intricate but very slow in giving pieces of clues away. Lucky for me, the book isn’t really hefty. While the writing flowed smoothly, I was encumbered with the unhurried speed of the plot. And I understand that the primary reason was because it’s the initial offering of the series, ergo, the author spent some time with the set up. I also think that because this story was told in a journal entry form, the sparse dialogues contributed to the tedium.
VERDICT: This is my first Australian paranormal that I managed to finish. To be honest, this is probably far more superior to the other shape-shifting books on my shelves. But a story needs to grab me right off the bat and hold my interest for the entirety of the novel. Unfortunately, this book didn’t.
The synopsis wasn’t very forthcoming; I had no clue what I was getting into when I started reading. As a result, I was overly anxious for the mystery to unfold and Kate Gordon took her sweet old time revealing what kind of paranormal creatures she has on the offing. She took lycanthrope and spun with a bit creepier factor than normal. It was definitely different. I think that having the setting somewhere much novel (novel to me, anyway) added to the mystery. Port Arthur (Van Diemen’s Land), Tasmania was a penal colony and the hardened British and Irish criminals’ destination back in the days. You can just imagine how Gordon wove this history into her novel.
It took almost the entirety of the book for the revelation to come; most of the story really focused on Tessa’s memory recovery. It was a jigsaw puzzle – intricate but very slow in giving pieces of clues away. Lucky for me, the book isn’t really hefty. While the writing flowed smoothly, I was encumbered with the unhurried speed of the plot. And I understand that the primary reason was because it’s the initial offering of the series, ergo, the author spent some time with the set up. I also think that because this story was told in a journal entry form, the sparse dialogues contributed to the tedium.
VERDICT: This is my first Australian paranormal that I managed to finish. To be honest, this is probably far more superior to the other shape-shifting books on my shelves. But a story needs to grab me right off the bat and hold my interest for the entirety of the novel. Unfortunately, this book didn’t.
wwrlad's review against another edition
3.0
Thyla was a really interesting book, but the second half was just filled with info-dumping and explaining what had happened which kinda killed the story for me. I don't plan on picking up the rest of the series.
bythemoon's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
kashvm's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know when I read this, but I remember really liking it.
raequigley's review against another edition
3.0
This is really 2.5 stars:
I must say, my feelings toward this book were totally flip-floppy the entire time I was reading it. The only way I can explain my final thoughts are wishy washy. I started out super confused, and completely turned off be the narration and the main character, Tess. My feelings about this didn't really change. The diary point of view became increasingly annoying as time went on, and I felt myself getting so fed up with Tess and her choices that I didn't want to keep reading. Yet, I did keep reading. Why? Because the plot was so ridiculously interesting to me. Here is a girl, someone who is clearly very intelligent, old-fashioned seeming, and obviously not human, that woke up in the bush one day and couldn't remember anything before that very moment. I had already figured out what was going on with her on page 15. That's a testament to how unoriginal the author was with her writing. The descriptions were so.... vague and boring. Almost like she was too lazy to actually creatively come up with anything on her own. She gave us as little information as she possibly could, which was quite little. Come the end of the book I still had no idea what actually happened with Tess, Connolly, or Cat. While she tried to explain away Tessa's memory loss, it was such a cop out. I was quite disappointed with the entire thing.
I must say, the cliff-hangers were wonderful, as were the length of the chapters. I've noticed, when chapters are shorter I tend to read longer. I also liked that she used actual land
You can find the rest of my review on my blog Drunk On Pop by clicking here: http://drunkonpop.com/2013/05/13/review-thyla-by-kate-gordon-thyla-book-1/
I must say, my feelings toward this book were totally flip-floppy the entire time I was reading it. The only way I can explain my final thoughts are wishy washy. I started out super confused, and completely turned off be the narration and the main character, Tess. My feelings about this didn't really change. The diary point of view became increasingly annoying as time went on, and I felt myself getting so fed up with Tess and her choices that I didn't want to keep reading. Yet, I did keep reading. Why? Because the plot was so ridiculously interesting to me. Here is a girl, someone who is clearly very intelligent, old-fashioned seeming, and obviously not human, that woke up in the bush one day and couldn't remember anything before that very moment. I had already figured out what was going on with her on page 15. That's a testament to how unoriginal the author was with her writing. The descriptions were so.... vague and boring. Almost like she was too lazy to actually creatively come up with anything on her own. She gave us as little information as she possibly could, which was quite little. Come the end of the book I still had no idea what actually happened with Tess, Connolly, or Cat. While she tried to explain away Tessa's memory loss, it was such a cop out. I was quite disappointed with the entire thing.
I must say, the cliff-hangers were wonderful, as were the length of the chapters. I've noticed, when chapters are shorter I tend to read longer. I also liked that she used actual land
You can find the rest of my review on my blog Drunk On Pop by clicking here: http://drunkonpop.com/2013/05/13/review-thyla-by-kate-gordon-thyla-book-1/
melbsreads's review against another edition
3.0
While I loved the fact that this was a paranormal book focusing on something new and different(!!) and that it's set in Tasmania - which I've literally never come across before - and that it involved key locations in Hobart and an awesome amount of colonial history, there was something about it that left me a little flat. First of all, it felt a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle too obvious. I mean, So. Yeah.
Look, it was fine. I didn't even remotely buy that a snooty private boarding school would just let a bunch of students go out bushwalking off school grounds in the middle of the night, and there were occasional moments where the characters used phrasing that sounded very...American...in regards to academic things. But on the whole, I enjoyed it and I raced through it in like 90 minutes, so I guess it's got that in its favour.
Spoiler
Tessa randomly knows a ton of stuff about colonial history despite knowing almost nothing else courtesy of amnesia, she has literal stripes on her back, it's set in Tasmania, and the book is called Thyla. And the title is tiger striped on the cover. OBVIOUSLY, there was going to be some kind of human/thylacine shapeshifter thing going on, and obviously said shapeshifters would be immortal and obviously Tessa would be one of them.Look, it was fine. I didn't even remotely buy that a snooty private boarding school would just let a bunch of students go out bushwalking off school grounds in the middle of the night, and there were occasional moments where the characters used phrasing that sounded very...American...in regards to academic things. But on the whole, I enjoyed it and I raced through it in like 90 minutes, so I guess it's got that in its favour.
quietbookbird's review against another edition
2.0
I loved the beginning of this book, and it saddens me that I have to give it a two. The writing style drew me in- the unusual narration, the mystery, the raw emotion. I think the ideas behind the story had alot of potential. But in the end the supernatural elements and the action fell flat. Everything happened in a rush at the end, explanations were missing, the action wasn't even interesting, the characters were left underdeveloped, the enemy was too mysterious and one dimensional. Overall, I praise the writing style and inspiration of the author, but feel her general fantasy/world building skills to be a bit lacking.