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popthebutterfly's review against another edition
1.0
Disclaimer: I received this book from netgalley and the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Castle of Lies
Author: Kiersi Burkhart
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 1/5
Diversity: LGBT, but possibly problematic. Nonbinary elf, demisexual, bisexual.
Recommended For...: Court Intrigue
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Pages: 352
Synopsis: Thelia isn't in line to inherit the crown, but she's been raised to take power however she can. She's been friends with Princess Corene her whole life, and she's scheming to marry Bayled, the heir to the throne. But her plans must change when an army of elves invades the kingdom. Thelia, her cousin Parsival, and Corene become trapped in the castle. An elf warrior, Sapphire, may be Thelia's only hope of escape, but Sapphire has plans of their own. Meanwhile, an ancient magic is awakening within the castle, with the power to destroy the whole kingdom. Can Thelia find a way to protect her future--and her life?
Review: Uhhhhh I had to DNF this at 34%. This was just pretty bad and from what I’ve read on Goodreads it doesn’t do well with accurate LGBT+ portrayals. The book also just had a lack of character development and world building.
Verdict: Not for me and might be harmful to LGBT+
Book: Castle of Lies
Author: Kiersi Burkhart
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 1/5
Diversity: LGBT, but possibly problematic. Nonbinary elf, demisexual, bisexual.
Recommended For...: Court Intrigue
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Pages: 352
Synopsis: Thelia isn't in line to inherit the crown, but she's been raised to take power however she can. She's been friends with Princess Corene her whole life, and she's scheming to marry Bayled, the heir to the throne. But her plans must change when an army of elves invades the kingdom. Thelia, her cousin Parsival, and Corene become trapped in the castle. An elf warrior, Sapphire, may be Thelia's only hope of escape, but Sapphire has plans of their own. Meanwhile, an ancient magic is awakening within the castle, with the power to destroy the whole kingdom. Can Thelia find a way to protect her future--and her life?
Review: Uhhhhh I had to DNF this at 34%. This was just pretty bad and from what I’ve read on Goodreads it doesn’t do well with accurate LGBT+ portrayals. The book also just had a lack of character development and world building.
Verdict: Not for me and might be harmful to LGBT+
kaycee_k's review against another edition
3.0
Castle of Lies follows Thelia, Parsival, and Corene when the kingdom gets invaded by elves. When they are trapped in the castle that when they meet an elf warrior, Sapphire. I enjoyed the magic in the story. It felt alive, charming & funny. Like the food cart! This story, itself, I do feel that this is a YA that is for older readers. This is a strong character lead book and while I did like the world, magic, I didn't have a favorite character.
However, I did really enjoy the author's writing style, and for that, I will be looking forward to reading more by her.
I was given a NetGalley copy to review, this is my honest review.
However, I did really enjoy the author's writing style, and for that, I will be looking forward to reading more by her.
I was given a NetGalley copy to review, this is my honest review.
nurseshan24's review against another edition
1.0
Intriguing Story, but Disappointing
I wanted to like this book, but the more I read, the more I didn't care for it. The story felt forced and rushed, with so many different perspectives muddling the story and making it confusing. The different sexual relationships also felt very forced and didn't really add to the story. This book just fell flat for me.
I wanted to like this book, but the more I read, the more I didn't care for it. The story felt forced and rushed, with so many different perspectives muddling the story and making it confusing. The different sexual relationships also felt very forced and didn't really add to the story. This book just fell flat for me.
nonameless's review against another edition
2.0
Readable? Yes. Worth reading? Uh...
Look, everyone's already talking about the weird threesome that makes no sense, but the world was never explained. Also, the fact that there were zombies that were brought up once and never mentioned again was stupid. I don't even LIKE zombie stories. But if you're gonna bring in zombies, you better scare me half to death while doing it. I don't know how the Holy Kingdom works and I don't know why they were all so upset about elves coming since the king SUCKED and the kingdom was falling apart anyway. I finished the whole freaking book and I don't know how any of the world works. I don't even really understand the characters I spent the whole story with.
Long story short, too many things were brought up and either executed poorly or never mentioned again. I can tell there was a lot of work put into this, but ultimately it's just a "meh" from me. It was stupid, but it wasn't quite dumb enough for me to hate passionately. 2 stars for a very unmemorable experience.
Look, everyone's already talking about the weird threesome that makes no sense, but the world was never explained. Also, the fact that there were zombies that were brought up once and never mentioned again was stupid. I don't even LIKE zombie stories. But if you're gonna bring in zombies, you better scare me half to death while doing it. I don't know how the Holy Kingdom works and I don't know why they were all so upset about elves coming since the king SUCKED and the kingdom was falling apart anyway. I finished the whole freaking book and I don't know how any of the world works. I don't even really understand the characters I spent the whole story with.
Long story short, too many things were brought up and either executed poorly or never mentioned again. I can tell there was a lot of work put into this, but ultimately it's just a "meh" from me. It was stupid, but it wasn't quite dumb enough for me to hate passionately. 2 stars for a very unmemorable experience.
nfuscaldo7's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this story! I immediately wanted to read more about this world, the inhabitants, and their magic. I definitely want to be first on the list for any sequels and I think that this world could span a lot of books. I will say that the use of "they" to identify a single elf was confusing at first
literarydelirium's review against another edition
2.0
Arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review
I'm always looking for new books to read. One with ideas and concepts no one has ever thought of before. As soon as I heard about the elven detail of this book I knew I definitely wanted to read it. However, as much as I wanted to like this book it just wasn't for me. I was extremely confused with where the story was going and the multiple PoVs made it difficult for me to grasp onto an idea of what the plot was. I have mixed feelings about the romance and the characters and I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. 2.5/5⭐
I'm always looking for new books to read. One with ideas and concepts no one has ever thought of before. As soon as I heard about the elven detail of this book I knew I definitely wanted to read it. However, as much as I wanted to like this book it just wasn't for me. I was extremely confused with where the story was going and the multiple PoVs made it difficult for me to grasp onto an idea of what the plot was. I have mixed feelings about the romance and the characters and I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. 2.5/5⭐
kylielovesbooks's review against another edition
2.0
So I didn’t really enjoy this one unfortunately. It took me forever to read because it just didn’t capture my attention at all. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters at any point in the story. I almost DNFed it but pushed through.
I felt like this book had a lot of promise, but just didn’t do much. I liked the take on the elves being the “evil” and keeping the humans prisoner in the castle. I didn’t like all of the POVs (I think there were at least 5). It would switch POVs in the same scene so I would forget who I was reading because several of them felt almost like the same person.
The thing that bothered me the most was the elf whose POV we get (Sapphire) has not decided whether to be a male or female, so is referred to as “they” or “them.” It was very confusing when, for example, it said “they jumped out the window” but it was only Sapphire. It made any scene with Sapphire in it so hard to read.
Several of the characters were very cruel to the point where I dreaded any scene they were in. Also, there are cousins who are in love which is weird.
I am assuming from the ending that this book is the first in a series, and unfortunately I don’t think I will be continuing on.
I felt like this book had a lot of promise, but just didn’t do much. I liked the take on the elves being the “evil” and keeping the humans prisoner in the castle. I didn’t like all of the POVs (I think there were at least 5). It would switch POVs in the same scene so I would forget who I was reading because several of them felt almost like the same person.
The thing that bothered me the most was the elf whose POV we get (Sapphire) has not decided whether to be a male or female, so is referred to as “they” or “them.” It was very confusing when, for example, it said “they jumped out the window” but it was only Sapphire. It made any scene with Sapphire in it so hard to read.
Several of the characters were very cruel to the point where I dreaded any scene they were in. Also, there are cousins who are in love which is weird.
I am assuming from the ending that this book is the first in a series, and unfortunately I don’t think I will be continuing on.
obsessedmuch's review against another edition
3.0
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
After months of putting it off, I finally sat down to write this review. First, let me say how excited I was about this one. I started reading it on the same day I was approved and at first I thought this will be my new favorite book. It had all the things I love: manipulative characters, complicated relationships, court intrigues... and then it became sappy love story? And not an interesting one. I cringed so hard while reading scenes that were supposed to be erotic and I found that I really didn't care about anyone except maybe Thelia and she just became more and more boring.
Now, this sounds like I hated the book but all in all I think it was solid read and I will definitely try something else by this author. I wouldn't recommend it to my friends but at the same time I'm not disappointed that I read it. I'm only disappointed that it seemed so promising and different and that it didn't work out for me
After months of putting it off, I finally sat down to write this review. First, let me say how excited I was about this one. I started reading it on the same day I was approved and at first I thought this will be my new favorite book. It had all the things I love: manipulative characters, complicated relationships, court intrigues... and then it became sappy love story? And not an interesting one. I cringed so hard while reading scenes that were supposed to be erotic and I found that I really didn't care about anyone except maybe Thelia and she just became more and more boring.
Now, this sounds like I hated the book but all in all I think it was solid read and I will definitely try something else by this author. I wouldn't recommend it to my friends but at the same time I'm not disappointed that I read it. I'm only disappointed that it seemed so promising and different and that it didn't work out for me
thewoollygeek's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to enjoy this based on the description it sounded so good, but for me it just didn’t do it. I couldn’t connect with the characters, found them unlikeable and didn’t really care what happened to them. It’s confusing at times and I think the characters were confused generally. Sadly not for me couldn’t hold my interest.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion