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cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. Maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea.More like 2.5 stars. War and slavery were the main concept of this book and I had mixed-emotion considering how they handle some of that.Kestral and Arin love story is very low-key, a kind of simmering romance, but wanted more connection between these two.
fictionallyyours's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
amandafitz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
paxyquiltan's review against another edition
2.0
This book has a lot of good reviews and a lot of stars surrounding it, and so naturally I had my hopes up going into it. And I was really let down and I guess I just missed the hype train...
I'm going to start off on a positive note:
This was a relatively short length book (and thank god for that). I think that the world-building and the world the writer presented us with was quite impressive for a fairly short fantasy book. There was no excessive information being dumped all over like you usually find in fantasy books and it was fairly easy to get a grip and understanding of this world. The language and writing were really good as well, and I had no problem whatsoever with the writer's style.
Now on the other hand, this was such a slow book in terms of plot development, and that's saying something given it's short-length (you'd expect it to be otherwise). Certain elements of the plot, including the main characters, felt really underdeveloped. All throughout this reading I felt so disconnected from the characters and the story line.
Also, despite slavery being the main/greatest plot theme in this book I did not like the way it was dealt with. All throughout the book I just felt like it was being dismissed in a way. Like you would guess that Kestrel (the main character) would be someone who's going to stand up for the slaves, against her father's ways (especially after reading the description of the book) and that is the way she'll be 'different'. But no, nope. What does she do instead? She just falls in love with a slave. Of course.
So yes this was a huge disappointment. But who knows maybe the sequels will be better? Although I'm not sure I'm going to continue with this series.
raxtrop's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
adri_c's review against another edition
1.0
*SPOILERS*
DNF at 62%
If I could say just one thing about this book, it would be this: it was one of the most undeservedly over-hyped books I've ever read.
So basically, this book is about Kestrel, the daughter of the general of the Valorian army. The Valorians invaded the Herrani 10 years previous to the beginning of the story, and the Herrani people where enslaved. One day, Kestrel buys a young slave called Arin who is secretly a spy/agent for the Herrani revolution. There's the costumary "navigating the dangerous political world of the aristocracy" (not really) for Kestrel, and the also costumary "try to not be discovered" for Arin, while both struggle (again, not really) with a blossoming forbidden relationship.
Did I say basically? Because this is the whole plot. But then again, I didn't finish it so maybe there's more to it, I don't know
Right from the beginning this book has a huge problem: the world-building is severely lacking. Normally I don't mind less than perfect world-building if the characters and/or the plot are strong enough to keep me interested. Sadly, this was not the case here.
The whole book, I had no idea what anything looked like. The architecture, the clothing, any and all of the book's locations, even the characters themselves are never really described aside from some very missable hints in Kestrel's narration. It felt like I was reading the final book in a trilogy, y'know, when the readers already know what everything looks like??
But as I said, I maybe could have forgiven that if the characters, which basically comprised of only Kestrel in the beginning, were interesting enough. But Kestrel was just… confusing.
I honestly could not get a grasp on her character throughout the book. It feels like the author made Kestrel as vague and cryptic as possible in an attempt to set her up as mysterious and engaging, but instead we wound up with a mess of a character who never really states her intentions, thoughts or feelings. And in the few moments she does decide to be friggin' straightforward, she disappoints every time by revealing herself to be kind of a spoilt brat.
She is supposed to be this master strategist, able to read and manipulate the people around her at will, but completely fails to predict or even react appropriately to the Herrani revolution, Arin's previously being a noble and now being a spy for the revolution, basically anything of any real importance to the plot. I would be totally okay with all of that, I mean, she is a 17 year old rich girl, after all, if not for the fact that, early in book, she is stated to be very intelligent and cunning. She just falls flat in that department.
But none of these are the main problem I have with Kestrel, to be honest. The big problem with her character is that SHE CONDONES SLAVERY.
Never does she say or think that the invasion and enslavement of the Herrani people was bad, never, not once. How am I supposed to care about her after that?
There came a point in the book where I just straight up hated Kestrel, especially by the time the Herrani revolution took place (which was, not coincidentally, where I gave up on the book). She, for some reason, feels betrayed and dismayed that that sort of thing would happen, like she never expected that a people who were invaded, enslaved and done horrible things to would ever dream of rebelling and fighting back against their oppressors. Maybe she thought the Herrani were grateful that the Valorians didn't just kill them or something, I don't know. She feels even more betrayed when she finds out Arin was a main agent of the revolution; I guess she expected herself and her wishes to be more important to him than securing his people's freedom and getting revenge on the Valorians. In fact, Arin even asks her this himself.
She shows no sense of irony, self-awareness, or self-preservation when she claims the Herrani to be monsters in the presence of the revolution's leader (even though the methods used by the rebelling Herrani are comparatively better and more humane than those the Valorians used).
She even states, TO! ARIN'S! FACE!, that the Herrani were only enslaved because they were weak and too cowardly to die. ARIN, whose whole family was killed by in front of him by the invading Valorians (it's even implied that it was Kestrel's father who did it). I mean... there is no possible way to like this character, there just isn't.
Speaking of Arin, he was......meh. The story is so Kestrel-centric that there's not alot to say about him. He was okay for most of the book (well, for most of how much I read, anyway). If not for his irrational fondness/love/attraction for Kestrel, I would have liked him a lot, actually. First off, he was a much better character than Kestrel (then again, that's not really that hard). I liked that Arin was stoic and unrelenting, but still had bursts of emotion sometimes, which made him somewhat relatable and human. I seriously felt like Arin should have been the true protagonist of the book. His personality was more defined, his backstory was more interesting and his motivations and actions were more engaging. A story about how a previously noble slave infiltrates the aristocracy of his enemies and destroys them from the inside, now THAT would have been a good book. But instead, he gets bogged down by Kestrel who he, for some unfathomable reason, falls in love with.
That's another thing, their relationship. I was expecting a good one, with a slow burn, no instalove, the whole shebang. What I got instead was a "love story" built entirely on, like, three interactions in the span of months, many, many stares, and a kiss halfway through the book. Technically it's not instalove, but it's also not what I would call a developed relationship.
Not that there could ever be one anyway.
Arin is Kestrel's slave. Kestrel is not against slavery and is possibly the daughter of the man who killed Arin's family. There should be no way for them to fall in love, never mind make a relationship work.
There's not a lot to say about the rest of the characters. The general, despite being a war criminal and just a horrible person is portrayed as a patriotic man and as a good-ish father to Kestrel. The other nobles, like Jess and Ronan, are generally also portrayed as good people, despite owning and disposing of slaves. Despite the overall positive portrayal of the Valorians, the book constantly reminds us that they are invaders and oppressors, so I don't know what the book is trying to accomplish with that. Either way, I don't feel sorry for them when they start dying.
The book spends half its story painting the Valorians as the villains (but also, good people????), but when the Herrani rebel, suddenly it turns into a story about two morally grey sides fighting against each other. Seriously?
Just... no, you can't really do that, but whatever.
The only distinctive thing I remember about the writing was that there was some awkward metaphors, but other than that, it was nice, I guess.
Overall, this book was a mess. The characters were infuriating, the plot was boring, the morality didn't make any sense, the world-building was nonexistent.
I just... would NOT recommend this book.
DNF at 62%
If I could say just one thing about this book, it would be this: it was one of the most undeservedly over-hyped books I've ever read.
So basically, this book is about Kestrel, the daughter of the general of the Valorian army. The Valorians invaded the Herrani 10 years previous to the beginning of the story, and the Herrani people where enslaved. One day, Kestrel buys a young slave called Arin who is secretly a spy/agent for the Herrani revolution. There's the costumary "navigating the dangerous political world of the aristocracy" (not really) for Kestrel, and the also costumary "try to not be discovered" for Arin, while both struggle (again, not really) with a blossoming forbidden relationship.
Did I say basically? Because this is the whole plot. But then again, I didn't finish it so maybe there's more to it, I don't know
Right from the beginning this book has a huge problem: the world-building is severely lacking. Normally I don't mind less than perfect world-building if the characters and/or the plot are strong enough to keep me interested. Sadly, this was not the case here.
The whole book, I had no idea what anything looked like. The architecture, the clothing, any and all of the book's locations, even the characters themselves are never really described aside from some very missable hints in Kestrel's narration. It felt like I was reading the final book in a trilogy, y'know, when the readers already know what everything looks like??
But as I said, I maybe could have forgiven that if the characters, which basically comprised of only Kestrel in the beginning, were interesting enough. But Kestrel was just… confusing.
I honestly could not get a grasp on her character throughout the book. It feels like the author made Kestrel as vague and cryptic as possible in an attempt to set her up as mysterious and engaging, but instead we wound up with a mess of a character who never really states her intentions, thoughts or feelings. And in the few moments she does decide to be friggin' straightforward, she disappoints every time by revealing herself to be kind of a spoilt brat.
She is supposed to be this master strategist, able to read and manipulate the people around her at will, but completely fails to predict or even react appropriately to the Herrani revolution, Arin's previously being a noble and now being a spy for the revolution, basically anything of any real importance to the plot. I would be totally okay with all of that, I mean, she is a 17 year old rich girl, after all, if not for the fact that, early in book, she is stated to be very intelligent and cunning. She just falls flat in that department.
But none of these are the main problem I have with Kestrel, to be honest. The big problem with her character is that SHE CONDONES SLAVERY.
Never does she say or think that the invasion and enslavement of the Herrani people was bad, never, not once. How am I supposed to care about her after that?
There came a point in the book where I just straight up hated Kestrel, especially by the time the Herrani revolution took place (which was, not coincidentally, where I gave up on the book). She, for some reason, feels betrayed and dismayed that that sort of thing would happen, like she never expected that a people who were invaded, enslaved and done horrible things to would ever dream of rebelling and fighting back against their oppressors. Maybe she thought the Herrani were grateful that the Valorians didn't just kill them or something, I don't know. She feels even more betrayed when she finds out Arin was a main agent of the revolution; I guess she expected herself and her wishes to be more important to him than securing his people's freedom and getting revenge on the Valorians. In fact, Arin even asks her this himself.
She shows no sense of irony, self-awareness, or self-preservation when she claims the Herrani to be monsters in the presence of the revolution's leader (even though the methods used by the rebelling Herrani are comparatively better and more humane than those the Valorians used).
She even states, TO! ARIN'S! FACE!, that the Herrani were only enslaved because they were weak and too cowardly to die. ARIN, whose whole family was killed by in front of him by the invading Valorians (it's even implied that it was Kestrel's father who did it). I mean... there is no possible way to like this character, there just isn't.
Speaking of Arin, he was......meh. The story is so Kestrel-centric that there's not alot to say about him. He was okay for most of the book (well, for most of how much I read, anyway). If not for his irrational fondness/love/attraction for Kestrel, I would have liked him a lot, actually. First off, he was a much better character than Kestrel (then again, that's not really that hard). I liked that Arin was stoic and unrelenting, but still had bursts of emotion sometimes, which made him somewhat relatable and human. I seriously felt like Arin should have been the true protagonist of the book. His personality was more defined, his backstory was more interesting and his motivations and actions were more engaging. A story about how a previously noble slave infiltrates the aristocracy of his enemies and destroys them from the inside, now THAT would have been a good book. But instead, he gets bogged down by Kestrel who he, for some unfathomable reason, falls in love with.
That's another thing, their relationship. I was expecting a good one, with a slow burn, no instalove, the whole shebang. What I got instead was a "love story" built entirely on, like, three interactions in the span of months, many, many stares, and a kiss halfway through the book. Technically it's not instalove, but it's also not what I would call a developed relationship.
Not that there could ever be one anyway.
Arin is Kestrel's slave. Kestrel is not against slavery and is possibly the daughter of the man who killed Arin's family. There should be no way for them to fall in love, never mind make a relationship work.
There's not a lot to say about the rest of the characters. The general, despite being a war criminal and just a horrible person is portrayed as a patriotic man and as a good-ish father to Kestrel. The other nobles, like Jess and Ronan, are generally also portrayed as good people, despite owning and disposing of slaves. Despite the overall positive portrayal of the Valorians, the book constantly reminds us that they are invaders and oppressors, so I don't know what the book is trying to accomplish with that. Either way, I don't feel sorry for them when they start dying.
The book spends half its story painting the Valorians as the villains (but also, good people????), but when the Herrani rebel, suddenly it turns into a story about two morally grey sides fighting against each other. Seriously?
Just... no, you can't really do that, but whatever.
The only distinctive thing I remember about the writing was that there was some awkward metaphors, but other than that, it was nice, I guess.
Overall, this book was a mess. The characters were infuriating, the plot was boring, the morality didn't make any sense, the world-building was nonexistent.
I just... would NOT recommend this book.
talassah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0