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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
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.