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librarianryan's review
this book was really promising. I think if I was reading it, instead of listening to it I would have finished it. It is about a girl, who was 5 years old when a fantasy world grew from under Central Park new York. the fantasy world took over, most adults died, and the children were taken by the queen. Not it is 10 or so years later. There is no emotion in this fantasy kingdom, and our girl is now part of the night watch. She goes after the Queens son, when he is discovered around the city. She follows him to Ohio, where she is quarantined, (held Prison) so she can clear herself of the spell and feel again.
It was the quarantine that lost me. It was slow and lacked the charm of the rest of the book. I found my mind wondering and not caring what was happening. I DNFed. if I was reading and could have skimmed through this, i probably would have. But that was not really possible with the audiobook. I set it aside and never picked it back up.
It was the quarantine that lost me. It was slow and lacked the charm of the rest of the book. I found my mind wondering and not caring what was happening. I DNFed. if I was reading and could have skimmed through this, i probably would have. But that was not really possible with the audiobook. I set it aside and never picked it back up.
bookfever's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the concept of this book. The dystopian setting was great and I love fairy tale retellings. But it was all way too mediocre for me to really love it and lack world and character building.
I thought the start of the book was good witht the way the magical world merged with earth and a queen appearing (gotta love evil queens!). But like I said it lacked world and character building. Maybe the book was a little bit too short to really build the world and character. It could've been better.
I didn't much care for Jade. I couldn't connect with her or any of the other characters for that matter. The only one that was a bit more intriguing was Deirde, the evil queen of the story.
The romance, especially, was a bust for me. There was simply no developement whatsoever. The only thing that was slightly interesting was the cliffhanger ending, so I'll probably will read the second book because apparently it's a beauty and the beast retelling.
I thought the start of the book was good witht the way the magical world merged with earth and a queen appearing (gotta love evil queens!). But like I said it lacked world and character building. Maybe the book was a little bit too short to really build the world and character. It could've been better.
I didn't much care for Jade. I couldn't connect with her or any of the other characters for that matter. The only one that was a bit more intriguing was Deirde, the evil queen of the story.
The romance, especially, was a bust for me. There was simply no developement whatsoever. The only thing that was slightly interesting was the cliffhanger ending, so I'll probably will read the second book because apparently it's a beauty and the beast retelling.
piper9004's review against another edition
3.0
This review originally appears on What Am I Reading?
Rate: 2.67 (0-50%: 4; 50-75%: 1; 75-100%: 3)
I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
0-50%:
I really enjoyed Jade's voice and how she told the story. I like how the story began with the moment that changed the world and then flashed forward to its present day. Jade wasn't being whiny, she was being matter-of-fact. In the beginning, Jade is the strong, collected, female guard in a sea of guards. It's difficult to explain why I enjoyed the first half of the book so much other than liking Jade's perspective of the city/world. It's different from the stereotypical young adult female voice.
The only thing I didn't like about this section was that Davis describes the people under Queen Deirdre's power as emotionless, but really they're just unemotional (yes there is a difference). Davis's description would mean that the citizens feel nothing, not love or indifference or curiosity or yearning, but I noticed Jade expressing some of these feelings. A better way of describing the trance Queen Deirdre puts the people under is that she makes them unemotional. Jade has feelings, but they're fleeting and most of them aren't positive. This means that Jade isn't feeling nothing, she's feeling little, which makes what Davis is trying to do different from what actually comes through in the story.
50-75%:
It isn't until this point, when Jade and Asher kiss and break the curse, that I remember that Gathering Frost is a Sleeping Beauty retelling; that's how subtly Davis weaves the fairy tale into the story. I actually enjoyed how subtle it was because I was able to focus more on the development of the story instead of looking for points of comparison between Gathering Frost and Sleeping Beauty. What I didn't like about this section was how Jade's personality does a complete 180 after she and Asher break the curse. I expected the insta-love. I mean what's a fairy tale without insta-love? But I was disappointed that Jade went from being this level-headed, cautious,calculating young woman to this overly emotional, giggly, boy-crazed girl. One minute she enjoyed Asher's company simply because she was learning new things and didn't have anything else to do and the next moment she's reveling in Asher's hotness and noticing how hard his abs are. Jade's a completely different girl now. I also didn't like how easily Jade adopted the girlfriend role. She's never been intimate with a guy before, has never dated or kissed a guy, but all of a sudden she knows how to snuggle into Asher and how to kiss him and isn't weirded out when he's kissing her neck. That's not realistic. My first relationship wasn't that smooth; it was awkward. My first kiss didn't involve tongue, against a wall, for a few minutes. This relationship isn't relatable at all. Man, this section was upsetting.
75-100%:
This latter part of the story was enjoyable simply because it seemed like Jade finally returned to being herself. Sure she was pretending to be hard and frozen to save Asher, but it was more admirable than if Jade had just followed Asher's plan and hoped everything would work itself out. While everything did work out in the end, I was a little disappointed at first that certain people didn't eat the bullet like I expected them to, but the way Davis moves into the second book makes it worth. I now eagerly await the second book, Withering Rose (a Beauty and the Beast retelling), to be released so I can see how this story continues and how Davis executes the retelling.
Rate: 2.67 (0-50%: 4; 50-75%: 1; 75-100%: 3)
I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
0-50%:
I really enjoyed Jade's voice and how she told the story. I like how the story began with the moment that changed the world and then flashed forward to its present day. Jade wasn't being whiny, she was being matter-of-fact. In the beginning, Jade is the strong, collected, female guard in a sea of guards. It's difficult to explain why I enjoyed the first half of the book so much other than liking Jade's perspective of the city/world. It's different from the stereotypical young adult female voice.
The only thing I didn't like about this section was that Davis describes the people under Queen Deirdre's power as emotionless, but really they're just unemotional (yes there is a difference). Davis's description would mean that the citizens feel nothing, not love or indifference or curiosity or yearning, but I noticed Jade expressing some of these feelings. A better way of describing the trance Queen Deirdre puts the people under is that she makes them unemotional. Jade has feelings, but they're fleeting and most of them aren't positive. This means that Jade isn't feeling nothing, she's feeling little, which makes what Davis is trying to do different from what actually comes through in the story.
50-75%:
It isn't until this point, when Jade and Asher kiss and break the curse, that I remember that Gathering Frost is a Sleeping Beauty retelling; that's how subtly Davis weaves the fairy tale into the story. I actually enjoyed how subtle it was because I was able to focus more on the development of the story instead of looking for points of comparison between Gathering Frost and Sleeping Beauty. What I didn't like about this section was how Jade's personality does a complete 180 after she and Asher break the curse. I expected the insta-love. I mean what's a fairy tale without insta-love? But I was disappointed that Jade went from being this level-headed, cautious,calculating young woman to this overly emotional, giggly, boy-crazed girl. One minute she enjoyed Asher's company simply because she was learning new things and didn't have anything else to do and the next moment she's reveling in Asher's hotness and noticing how hard his abs are. Jade's a completely different girl now. I also didn't like how easily Jade adopted the girlfriend role. She's never been intimate with a guy before, has never dated or kissed a guy, but all of a sudden she knows how to snuggle into Asher and how to kiss him and isn't weirded out when he's kissing her neck. That's not realistic. My first relationship wasn't that smooth; it was awkward. My first kiss didn't involve tongue, against a wall, for a few minutes. This relationship isn't relatable at all. Man, this section was upsetting.
75-100%:
This latter part of the story was enjoyable simply because it seemed like Jade finally returned to being herself. Sure she was pretending to be hard and frozen to save Asher, but it was more admirable than if Jade had just followed Asher's plan and hoped everything would work itself out. While everything did work out in the end, I was a little disappointed at first that certain people didn't eat the bullet like I expected them to, but the way Davis moves into the second book makes it worth. I now eagerly await the second book, Withering Rose (a Beauty and the Beast retelling), to be released so I can see how this story continues and how Davis executes the retelling.
m_winkler's review
3.0
I received an arc audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Immediately upon starting this audiobook, I was thrown off by the quality of the sound. The narrator sounds like she is reading in a tunnel and not a recording studio. At times, you could hear the echo of previous words said. It was very distracting, and I had to take a break from this book. I looked into renting the library e-book, but it would take forever to get it, so I finally returned to the audiobook but did not enjoy it at all. The quality is not anything like other audiobooks I have listed to.
The story is a different retelling of Sleeping Beauty without following the same storyline. It was also interesting that it is a male character that is put to sleep versus the standard damsel in distress. I love the fact the author mentioned some of my favorite books!
Overall, I give this book three stars due to the quality of the audiobook and not really enjoying it. Had I read the story myself, I probably would have loved it more.
Immediately upon starting this audiobook, I was thrown off by the quality of the sound. The narrator sounds like she is reading in a tunnel and not a recording studio. At times, you could hear the echo of previous words said. It was very distracting, and I had to take a break from this book. I looked into renting the library e-book, but it would take forever to get it, so I finally returned to the audiobook but did not enjoy it at all. The quality is not anything like other audiobooks I have listed to.
The story is a different retelling of Sleeping Beauty without following the same storyline. It was also interesting that it is a male character that is put to sleep versus the standard damsel in distress. I love the fact the author mentioned some of my favorite books!
Overall, I give this book three stars due to the quality of the audiobook and not really enjoying it. Had I read the story myself, I probably would have loved it more.
lisashelves's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mrsautery's review against another edition
4.0
Story time! So I've been sitting on this audiobook for a while, waiting until closer to June to listen because that's when the pub day is... I decided to go ahead and look at the book on Goodreads to mark it as "want to read".
Imagine my surprise when I see that I have already read the book...in 2021. So I go back to NetGalley, sure enough, pub date June 25, 2019
With that said, I really enjoyed this one! It's a YA dystopian vibe of a Sleeping Beauty retelling. I love this because Sleeping Beauty isn't as common with retellings. The author did an amazing job of putting her spin on this story!
Imagine my surprise when I see that I have already read the book...in 2021. So I go back to NetGalley, sure enough, pub date June 25, 2019
With that said, I really enjoyed this one! It's a YA dystopian vibe of a Sleeping Beauty retelling. I love this because Sleeping Beauty isn't as common with retellings. The author did an amazing job of putting her spin on this story!
jnak's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this twisted take on sleeping beauty. It was a YA fantasy full of magic, battles and love. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a wonderful job telling the story. I will have to check out book 2 in the series
kmbooky's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this take on sleeping beauty. It is definitely a version I've never heard of. It was very good. I enjoyed the people and the relationships between them. The relationship between mother and son is sad, and I felt bad for him. I do like that Jade fell in love and was able to get a happy ending. I can't wait to read the next book as the ending is so cute and makes you want to read more.
book_worm_04's review against another edition
4.0
I’m really enjoying fairy tale retellings right now and this was just what I was looking for! Great start to a series! Loved the way the author brought in the fairy tale aspects!