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songwind's review
3.0
An enjoyable read. The political, cultural and magical construction are the high point. In some ways this book felt like a prologue. It had its own story line, but the fact that there was a larger story in the works was obvious, and we got very few details of its shape.
hectaizani's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting and engrossing story about Maia a young princess who is exiled by her father as a result of a power struggle between king and church. It's a sad story, somewhat reminiscent of Cinderella, complete with an evil stepmother and evil stepsisters. Eventually, she finds herself sent on a great quest to save herself, her family and her people from evil. This is the story of Maia's coming of age, as she is forced to grow up and confront her own magic.
A little misogynistic, women in this world are forbidden to read, write and use magic. Maia did all three, and could have found herself in great trouble at any time if anyone found out. Somehow it's always the princesses that find themselves forbidden never the princes. At first Maia seemed a weak character, events and circumstances happened to her without much input on her part. It took a little while for the story to unfold, and for Maia to come into her own.
I found the flashbacks a little distracting. The story would get interesting, something was going to happen, and... flashback. Relevant information or no, that took a little getting used to.
Netgalley gave me an ARC copy of the ebook in return for a review and have offered me the second in the series as well.
A little misogynistic, women in this world are forbidden to read, write and use magic. Maia did all three, and could have found herself in great trouble at any time if anyone found out. Somehow it's always the princesses that find themselves forbidden never the princes. At first Maia seemed a weak character, events and circumstances happened to her without much input on her part. It took a little while for the story to unfold, and for Maia to come into her own.
I found the flashbacks a little distracting. The story would get interesting, something was going to happen, and... flashback. Relevant information or no, that took a little getting used to.
Netgalley gave me an ARC copy of the ebook in return for a review and have offered me the second in the series as well.
angelic712's review
3.0
Such manipulations! Everything is a lie! Why do people have to follow a plan without ever being informed on any part of it. So frustrating. But I do love the dog.
ellyrarg's review against another edition
3.0
Easy fantasy to get pulled into, nice distractionary, pass the time kind of book. It’s not as engaging as some of the other series, but easy enough to read all the same!
kzbx's review against another edition
4.0
I think if I wasn’t already a fan of this writer, I might not have finished this first book of the series. I’m not very good at pushing through a storyline that I can’t get into, and for me that happened with this book.
There was not quite enough backstory explanation- and while I understand why after getting further in, it made it no less frustrating at the time. It was difficult to figure out why things were a certain way and everything was a little murky and not explained.
It is, however, worth pushing through - after about half way, I started to enjoy the book much more, and went on to enjoy the series.
While this is supposedly a stand alone series, I’d say you definitely need to read the first muirwood series to enjoy this to its fullest.
There was not quite enough backstory explanation- and while I understand why after getting further in, it made it no less frustrating at the time. It was difficult to figure out why things were a certain way and everything was a little murky and not explained.
It is, however, worth pushing through - after about half way, I started to enjoy the book much more, and went on to enjoy the series.
While this is supposedly a stand alone series, I’d say you definitely need to read the first muirwood series to enjoy this to its fullest.
crimyami's review against another edition
2.0
Received a copy of this book via NetGalley for a honest review.
The story sounded interesting, had the element of learning something forbidden. Going on an adventure, being exiled. Yet, for me it fell a bit flat. The idea that reading isn't allowed for girls didn't sit all that well. The Characters seemed to have enough charisma to keep me going but the current plot felt like it wasn't exactly anything special. It's a lot saving the main character Maia from being captured because everyone wants to use her for something or another. She doesn't usually save herself which feels a bit left out. I like the main character's needing help sometimes but if she has magic she should be able to use it to get herself out. That is another thing, she has to trust the medium (magic) but not let it take control of her mind at the same time. It just wasn't as thrilling as I had wished it to be, it's possible someone else may enjoy this book but it's just not my cup of tea.
The flow of the book was a bit hard to follow as well. Going from present to past, it possibly would of been easier if the past as told then going on with the present. Rather than jumping back and forth continuously.
The story sounded interesting, had the element of learning something forbidden. Going on an adventure, being exiled. Yet, for me it fell a bit flat. The idea that reading isn't allowed for girls didn't sit all that well. The Characters seemed to have enough charisma to keep me going but the current plot felt like it wasn't exactly anything special. It's a lot saving the main character Maia from being captured because everyone wants to use her for something or another. She doesn't usually save herself which feels a bit left out. I like the main character's needing help sometimes but if she has magic she should be able to use it to get herself out. That is another thing, she has to trust the medium (magic) but not let it take control of her mind at the same time. It just wasn't as thrilling as I had wished it to be, it's possible someone else may enjoy this book but it's just not my cup of tea.
The flow of the book was a bit hard to follow as well. Going from present to past, it possibly would of been easier if the past as told then going on with the present. Rather than jumping back and forth continuously.
julieshaw35's review
2.0
While the plot is compelling, I had trouble with the details. Maia having a duel personality was an interesting twist. I also enjoyed the intrigue of figuring out Collier's intentions. However, I was almost through the whole book before I understood the differences between the main groups. More explanation was needed. Some of the dialogue is confusing. I also tired of reading about the queasiness in the main characters stomach in every chapter. Overall, I enjoyed the storyline, but the lack editing and clarity made this book difficult to read.
qog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
marybells's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmm...the horse is definitely dead, but let's keep beating it for a bit longer! Yay!
The Banished of Muirwood picks up a couple of centuries after the Wretched of Muirwood series. In the previous series we were left with the final scene of Lia and her husband Colvin finally sailing away from the 5 kingdoms to allow the scourge to take place and literally kill everyone left except for the total dickhead Dieyre. During their absence (of about a century or whatnot), everyone is dead and a new tribe of people (the Naestors (spelling?!)) arrive and see the awesome abandoned kingdom and take over. Dieyre, super old and still awful, teaches them how to read the tomes (books) of the Mastons so they can learn how to control the Medium. However, they cannot control it without kystrels and so a new male society is formed who can control the medium. Woo hoo.
And, flash forward to the present. Maia is a princess of Cosmoros (and great x3 granddaughter of Lia) and she is on a mission to save her kingdom. Her father, after not being able to sire a son with her mother, the queen, has totally renounced all of his maston vows and banishes Maia from the kingdom and makes her "the bastard". Not cool at all. Anyway, the story totally goes in this weird Cinderella dive where her step-sisters and step-grandmother literally torture her by taking all of her things and emotionally/verbally abuse her. Like some sort of saint, Maia still stays "cool" until her father calls on her to go on this mission to save his kingdom (its a bit of a long story there). Maia then is joined with a kishion (assassin) where her mission makes her accidentally become a hetaera (the chicks who are cursed and if they kiss anyone they will kill them due to Lia being all "oh no you don't try to hook up with my man b*tch, I will cut you" in the earlier series). Super great. She then starts to relive all of her terrible memories including one time where she was being forced to come down to dinner in a sh*t soaked dress because her bowels were all messed up. Dude...what the hell?! She then goes on this huge adventure while a demon is possessing her and forces her to marry the King of Dahomey and then try to kill the great seer of the land.
Yea. Insane.
Absolutely loved the previous series of these books but man it just felt like Wheeler kept kicking this chick while she was down for fun and still expecting her not to carry some serious emotional baggage. If my dad did this kind of crap to me, no way would I run into his arms and give him a big hug as he calls me "bastard". I mean this girl has to have a major spine to survive this whole ordeal but she's a total pushover with her dad who hasn't treated her well for over 10 years. Just seemed like she was purposely written as a saint instead of a human being which was frustrating. I get the book would have been hella darker if he had written her in a more human way, but atleast it would have been a bit more believable for the series.
Also dont even get me started on the King of Dahomey. She's all in love with him etc etc and yet he willingly marries a hetaera just so he can try to conquer all of the kingdoms and become emperor. What?!?! Talk about bad taste in men. Yeesh.
Final thoughts: Maia, grow a spine.
The Banished of Muirwood picks up a couple of centuries after the Wretched of Muirwood series. In the previous series we were left with the final scene of Lia and her husband Colvin finally sailing away from the 5 kingdoms to allow the scourge to take place and literally kill everyone left except for the total dickhead Dieyre. During their absence (of about a century or whatnot), everyone is dead and a new tribe of people (the Naestors (spelling?!)) arrive and see the awesome abandoned kingdom and take over. Dieyre, super old and still awful, teaches them how to read the tomes (books) of the Mastons so they can learn how to control the Medium. However, they cannot control it without kystrels and so a new male society is formed who can control the medium. Woo hoo.
And, flash forward to the present. Maia is a princess of Cosmoros (and great x3 granddaughter of Lia) and she is on a mission to save her kingdom. Her father, after not being able to sire a son with her mother, the queen, has totally renounced all of his maston vows and banishes Maia from the kingdom and makes her "the bastard". Not cool at all. Anyway, the story totally goes in this weird Cinderella dive where her step-sisters and step-grandmother literally torture her by taking all of her things and emotionally/verbally abuse her. Like some sort of saint, Maia still stays "cool" until her father calls on her to go on this mission to save his kingdom (its a bit of a long story there). Maia then is joined with a kishion (assassin) where her mission makes her accidentally become a hetaera (the chicks who are cursed and if they kiss anyone they will kill them due to Lia being all "oh no you don't try to hook up with my man b*tch, I will cut you" in the earlier series). Super great. She then starts to relive all of her terrible memories including one time where she was being forced to come down to dinner in a sh*t soaked dress because her bowels were all messed up. Dude...what the hell?! She then goes on this huge adventure while a demon is possessing her and forces her to marry the King of Dahomey and then try to kill the great seer of the land.
Yea. Insane.
Absolutely loved the previous series of these books but man it just felt like Wheeler kept kicking this chick while she was down for fun and still expecting her not to carry some serious emotional baggage. If my dad did this kind of crap to me, no way would I run into his arms and give him a big hug as he calls me "bastard". I mean this girl has to have a major spine to survive this whole ordeal but she's a total pushover with her dad who hasn't treated her well for over 10 years. Just seemed like she was purposely written as a saint instead of a human being which was frustrating. I get the book would have been hella darker if he had written her in a more human way, but atleast it would have been a bit more believable for the series.
Also dont even get me started on the King of Dahomey. She's all in love with him etc etc and yet he willingly marries a hetaera just so he can try to conquer all of the kingdoms and become emperor. What?!?! Talk about bad taste in men. Yeesh.
Final thoughts: Maia, grow a spine.