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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
There was a lot I enjoyed about this book.... Shinn is always fantastic at creating new worlds and societies, and this one didn't disappoint.
I'm not going to describe the whole story (other reviews will cover that just fine), but note that I really enjoyed the romance. Instead of a will they/won't they or Darcy-and-Elizabeth kind of story, the love story was simple and straight-forward, complicated only by the fact that our protagonist was keeping a crucial secret from her lover for Very Good Reasons, so the reader was left waiting for all the stories to unravel and figure out if the affection was stronger than the characters' moral codes.
I was disappointed in the legal system of their world, where "self-defense" was barely discussed as a viable reason for lethal force. I think I would've appreciated a little exploration of the moral ground - perhaps with the result not changing but the powers that be at least *recognizing* the defense argument (with perhaps it being unable to prove, thus the guilty verdict arising out of that and the cover-up?). I feel that we scraped the surface with the court ladies and the priestesses empathizing with the situation, but a conversation actually ADDRESSING it would have been nice.
Still, the book had lots of intriguing plot and set-up for fascinating world politics, and the idea of echoes was different from anything I'd ever read before. I think this is probably a 3 1/2 star book, but I'm rounding up this time. I look forward to reading it once it's available, as my brain processes read books differently from audiobooks, and there may be small things I missed along the way.
I'm not going to describe the whole story (other reviews will cover that just fine), but note that I really enjoyed the romance. Instead of a will they/won't they or Darcy-and-Elizabeth kind of story, the love story was simple and straight-forward, complicated only by the fact that our protagonist was keeping a crucial secret from her lover for Very Good Reasons, so the reader was left waiting for all the stories to unravel and figure out if the affection was stronger than the characters' moral codes.
I was disappointed in the legal system of their world, where "self-defense" was barely discussed as a viable reason for lethal force. I think I would've appreciated a little exploration of the moral ground - perhaps with the result not changing but the powers that be at least *recognizing* the defense argument (with perhaps it being unable to prove, thus the guilty verdict arising out of that and the cover-up?). I feel that we scraped the surface with the court ladies and the priestesses empathizing with the situation, but a conversation actually ADDRESSING it would have been nice.
Still, the book had lots of intriguing plot and set-up for fascinating world politics, and the idea of echoes was different from anything I'd ever read before. I think this is probably a 3 1/2 star book, but I'm rounding up this time. I look forward to reading it once it's available, as my brain processes read books differently from audiobooks, and there may be small things I missed along the way.
Well this one has quite an interesting set up. The novel starts off rather gently, sort of straddling the line between YA and adult, as we follow Brianna from her loving childhood to her dream job as a lady's maid for an absolutely lovely noblewoman. She's clever and spunky and, despite lacking the training expected of someone in her position, her natural talents make up for it all. She's such an enjoyable character that it's quite a nice ride. The only huge fantasy element are these "Echoes" or "Shadows" that the noble folk have -- copies of themselves that mimic their actions, thought to be divinely given.
Then, when you're nice and comfortable in the story, caught up in the everyday intrigues of their lives, it seems that the plot is going to head into [b:The Selection|10507293|The Selection (The Selection, #1)|Kiera Cass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1322103400s/10507293.jpg|15413183] territory. Luckily, this turns out not to be much the case, though the events that send the plot down a different path... wow. We end up more in a cat and mouse kind of tale. All kinds of crises of trust and betrayal and horribly nervous about the end... There are even some heart wrenching spots. I might have only been able to make it to the end because I was sure things had to work out in a Sharon Shinn tale... But there were definitely more surprises in store for me.
I love that Lady Marguerite's Echoes somehow became real characters despite never speaking and having so little autonomy. You really come to care for them as individuals through their quirks and minor differences.
As for the land itself... Well, with the behaviour of certain royals, I'm hoping a big shake-up is coming. Trying not to get into spoilers, so all I'll say is that I harshly judge some of the characters by the company they keep and see them as rather villainous.
Then, when you're nice and comfortable in the story, caught up in the everyday intrigues of their lives, it seems that the plot is going to head into [b:The Selection|10507293|The Selection (The Selection, #1)|Kiera Cass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1322103400s/10507293.jpg|15413183] territory. Luckily, this turns out not to be much the case, though the events that send the plot down a different path... wow. We end up more in a cat and mouse kind of tale. All kinds of crises of trust and betrayal and horribly nervous about the end... There are even some heart wrenching spots. I might have only been able to make it to the end because I was sure things had to work out in a Sharon Shinn tale... But there were definitely more surprises in store for me.
I love that Lady Marguerite's Echoes somehow became real characters despite never speaking and having so little autonomy. You really come to care for them as individuals through their quirks and minor differences.
As for the land itself... Well, with the behaviour of certain royals, I'm hoping a big shake-up is coming. Trying not to get into spoilers, so all I'll say is that I harshly judge some of the characters by the company they keep and see them as rather villainous.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read the Kindle book but I can't get the audiobook off my shelves.
This was a fun read!
This was a fun read!
I'm a big fan of Sharon Shinn so I really struggled with giving this a 2 star rating but at the end of the day there was something about this story that just felt incredibly unbelievable to me, even as a fantasy, with a rather forced ending that struck me as false (I won't say more). Overall I've come to expect a bit more from Ms. Shinn and this book just did not live up to my prior expectations. I'll give the next book a shot but I'm going to lower my standards for this series a bit as they don't live up to prior books that I've fell in love with.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I've been a major Sharon Shinn fan since 1996's [b:Archangel|97961|Archangel (Samaria, #1)|Sharon Shinn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388606676l/97961._SY75_.jpg|3102308], so what could be better than the simultaneous release of *three* Sharon Shinn books? Sadly, I found it a chore to read Echoes in Onyx, and I'm not sure if I will read the remaining 2 books in the Uncommon Echoes series.
There's nothing wrong with the story, but it's not especially compelling. Other than the echoes, there's nothing to distinguish the setting or the plot from other fantasy worlds that use different gods and country names, but basically the same society and class system. Everything is spelled out and the reader doesn't have to put much effort into figuring it out. There were two engaging action scenes, but most of the book seemed to plod along.
Although I admired Brianna's extreme competence, I found her to be lacking in complexity or depth. Marguerite was more intriguing to me but since the narration is from Brianna's first person POV, we don't get much insight into Marguerite's inner thoughts. Nico is a bland hero who, frankly, does very little to help Brianna when things look darkest. While I like the fact that she doesn't require rescuing, I would have appreciated it if Nico at least tried to figure out a way to save the day.
Maybe my tastes have changed in the past 20 years or maybe Shinn can't quite approach the height of her Samaria series that posed such fascinating philosophical and theological questions within beautiful love stories. I think Echo in Onyx might appeal more to YA age readers but for this adult it was less than fully satisfying.
There's nothing wrong with the story, but it's not especially compelling. Other than the echoes, there's nothing to distinguish the setting or the plot from other fantasy worlds that use different gods and country names, but basically the same society and class system. Everything is spelled out and the reader doesn't have to put much effort into figuring it out. There were two engaging action scenes, but most of the book seemed to plod along.
Although I admired Brianna's extreme competence, I found her to be lacking in complexity or depth. Marguerite was more intriguing to me but since the narration is from Brianna's first person POV, we don't get much insight into Marguerite's inner thoughts. Nico is a bland hero who, frankly, does very little to help Brianna when things look darkest. While I like the fact that she doesn't require rescuing, I would have appreciated it if Nico at least tried to figure out a way to save the day.
Maybe my tastes have changed in the past 20 years or maybe Shinn can't quite approach the height of her Samaria series that posed such fascinating philosophical and theological questions within beautiful love stories. I think Echo in Onyx might appeal more to YA age readers but for this adult it was less than fully satisfying.