Take a photo of a barcode or cover
vereadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Rape, and Sexual assault
lydiazwag's review against another edition
Main plot was dull and unengaging. Romance was also dull as well as really toxic and gross. 17 year old mentee who has basically been kidnapped by hundreds of years old emotionally abusive, cold wizard mentor who basically kidnapped her. And you're telling me they're falling in love?? No, ew! Also, he's boring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
icemonitor40's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
brittbee07's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I really wanted to love this book, but the pacing was all wrong, and the book was too long.
Right from the start, I was able to predict the major plot points well before they happened. I don't mind this in a story, I like to be able to work bits and pieces out, but it felt like I was able to work every major plot point out before it happened because the points weren't original.
The characters were okay. The relationships were okay. The climax was okay. It was, honestly, just an okay book overall. Nothing special.
Right from the start, I was able to predict the major plot points well before they happened. I don't mind this in a story, I like to be able to work bits and pieces out, but it felt like I was able to work every major plot point out before it happened because the points weren't original.
The characters were okay. The relationships were okay. The climax was okay. It was, honestly, just an okay book overall. Nothing special.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and War
icy1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I definitely had fun reading this book, which is why I'm giving it a high rating. That being said, I did have issues with it. Novik has very beautiful prose throughout the book, and I love her use of elaborate metaphors and imagery to describe things. However, I think she sometimes gets so into writing all these metaphors for magic and whatnot that it takes over the actual narrative. There were many points in the book with paragraphs and paragraphs of metaphors that I forgot what was actually going on.
I really like the plot for the most part in this book. I think the villain is very unique and is unlike any other fantasy I've ever read. I do think near the middle of the book once they left the tower the story started to drag a little. I think their time spent in the kingdom could've been shortened and still convey everything that needed conveyed for the narrative.
My biggest gripe with this book is the "romance" (if you can even call it that). First of all, the main character is 17 and the love interest is 100-something. Now, I get that aging is different for the main characters, and in this world it seems like in this world that 17 year olds are basically already treated as adults anyway. But I do wish the main character was at least a bit older for my own peace of mind.
Second of all, there really is no love or romance between the two characters. It's just lust. I literally had to put the book down and roll my eyes at the two (and there's really only two in the whole book) romance scenes between the two characters because it just came out of nowhere at felt like an afterthought for the author. I wish the characters (especially love interest guy, not saying because of spoilers) got more character development throughout the novel. That would've been nice in general, but it also would've helped readers see why the main character fell for the love interest. Honestly, it would've made more sense based on what I did see if she just ended up with Kasia instead.
I really like the plot for the most part in this book. I think the villain is very unique and is unlike any other fantasy I've ever read. I do think near the middle of the book once they left the tower the story started to drag a little. I think their time spent in the kingdom could've been shortened and still convey everything that needed conveyed for the narrative.
My biggest gripe with this book is the "romance" (if you can even call it that). First of all, the main character is 17 and the love interest is 100-something. Now, I get that aging is different for the main characters, and in this world it seems like in this world that 17 year olds are basically already treated as adults anyway. But I do wish the main character was at least a bit older for my own peace of mind.
Second of all, there really is no love or romance between the two characters. It's just lust. I literally had to put the book down and roll my eyes at the two (and there's really only two in the whole book) romance scenes between the two characters because it just came out of nowhere at felt like an afterthought for the author. I wish the characters (especially love interest guy, not saying because of spoilers) got more character development throughout the novel. That would've been nice in general, but it also would've helped readers see why the main character fell for the love interest. Honestly, it would've made more sense based on what I did see if she just ended up with Kasia instead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault
milesofsmiles's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Contrary to some of the content warnings, there is no pedophilia in this book. It's an adult minor situation. She is 17 and he's hundreds of years old but with the looks of a man closer to her age.
I like to think this was modeled around medieval times and back then it was more acceptable, definitely not okay now. It's a dark fantasy with swords, poor villages, kings and queens, wizards and witches, complete with a young maiden in a tower.
I like to think this was modeled around medieval times and back then it was more acceptable, definitely not okay now. It's a dark fantasy with swords, poor villages, kings and queens, wizards and witches, complete with a young maiden in a tower.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual assault, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
fixxon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Vomit
miyothecat's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Thank god I listened to the audiobook and didn’t actually buy it. I still grieve the time I lost listening to this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
hopelesslyovercommitted's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Like Spinning Silver, this book is far longer than it needs to be. I like the story, but it didn’t need to be dragged out so much. And I’m left feeling puzzled - so NO ONE was truly evil? Just confused?
Spinning Silver is a better tale.
Spinning Silver is a better tale.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
lararosemary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Wow, reading this was a rollercoaster but you know what, I did like it overall.
There are some things that I don’t like about this book so let’s get those out of the way. First, the Dragon. He is a big selling-point for the book, yet he ends up being very uninteresting.Taking 17 year old girls to your tower for 10 years is already super disturbing but the explanation for this did not satisfy me at all and did not make it any less strange. Then there is also the super weird thing with forcing Nieszka to wear those dresses and also being very hostile for no reason, why are you, as a 153 year old man, beefing with a 17 year old girl? While we are on the subject, why are you having ‘relations’ with a 17 year old girl in the middle of a battle?! This really pulled me out of the story unfortunately. I don’t like the dragon and the ‘romance’ did not do this story any good, it would have been fine (or better?) without it. I’m glad that is was not explored any further.
Also, some concepts were introduced but never explored further. For example,Nieszka faints and she is then told not to do any magic for a week but it doesn’t affect the story much. Nieszka is assaulted by Marek but it is just never mentioned again, was that just done to mark Marek as a bad guy? Why could Nieszka not get a wizard name? The bestiary book felt a little disconnected too. Overall, a lot of things were left to your own imagination.
The characters are not super deep but there were still some characters that I liked. I really liked Kasia, she was very comforting. I also liked the main character, yes she was a ‘special snowflake’ or a Mary Sue or whatever, but since none of the characters were really fleshed out it wasn’t super distracting. Also, I liked how she ended up being able to support herself, that she fought for what she wanted and that she was a little stubborn.
I also liked the ‘journey’ aspect of the book. The first time theyentered the Wood I really started to enjoy the story. It reminded me of Tolkien’s Mirkwood. I liked the castle scenes a little less but the Wood scenes were enjoyable to read, especially the finale. I also really liked the whimsical fairytale/folklore feel of the story, though we did not get a lot of world-building it still felt mystical. The magic system of flowing and dancing with the words and songs was also fun to me!
I ended up rating this a 3.75 out of 5. I feel like it did not reach it’s full potential and it had some flaws but I had fun reading this and that is what matters. The ending was satisfying enough (in my interpretation Nieszka does not settle for Sarkan ) and it reads smoothly.
There are some things that I don’t like about this book so let’s get those out of the way. First, the Dragon. He is a big selling-point for the book, yet he ends up being very uninteresting.
Also, some concepts were introduced but never explored further. For example,
The characters are not super deep but there were still some characters that I liked. I really liked Kasia, she was very comforting. I also liked the main character, yes she was a ‘special snowflake’ or a Mary Sue or whatever, but since none of the characters were really fleshed out it wasn’t super distracting. Also, I liked how she ended up being able to support herself, that she fought for what she wanted and that she was a little stubborn.
I also liked the ‘journey’ aspect of the book. The first time they
I ended up rating this a 3.75 out of 5. I feel like it did not reach it’s full potential and it had some flaws but I had fun reading this and that is what matters. The ending was satisfying enough (
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual content