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A review by riniya
Song of Siege and Shadows by Claudia Klein
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I was provided this book for free as an ARC Reader in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.
It is with a heavy heart that I wished I would have DNF'd this book at page 80 (35%) into the story. This review is hard to write and I give a 2 star rating only because I have to rate in order to leave a review. Normally, I wouldn't rate a book in this instance, but I had to give my opinion about the story and circumstances revolving around my desire to have stopped this book.
This book is very short, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but even with how short it was, I do wish I would have stopped when I had the inkling to.
To start off with a positive, I can see what the authors vision was with the story and the characters. I think that with the correct execution, this book could have been phenomenal. I think that the plot was an amazing concept but its delivery just missed the mark.
Unfortunately, the negative outweighs the positive in this instance.
1) Our FMC was inconsistent throughout the story. Not in an "Finding herself" type of way, but just in the way that she reacted to situations. At first she comes across as very strong and sure of herself going so far as to scold our MMC for having misogynistic tendencies, but the moment our MMCs ulterior motives are revealed, suddenly she becomes meek and can't even meet his eyes. I wish that her character remained constant or even grew through the story.
2) Our MMC is a bit insufferable. He had been plotting behind the scenes to marry Gwen and gets upset when a woman he doesn't know doesn't want to marry him. He is constantly hurt and upset throughout the book because she doesn't meet the mold he had placed her in, angry that she rejects his unwanted advancements. He even admits that he loves her on day two of knowing her and goes beyond propriety on multiple instances as if she was his wife already. He was unfortunately unlikeable from the start and it made it hard for me to root for him.
3) This author has come up with words to mean "Boy" / "Girl" / "Man" / "Woman" within the world that she has created. This wouldn't be an issue normally but the words were used so often that if I never see them again, it would be too soon. It was repetitive and honestly, using the "normal" words would have been better. Keep in mind with the below numbers that this book is only 218 pages.
"Ellas/es" (Man) is used 93 times.
"Ellassen/s" (Female) is used 102 times.
"Fanwas/es" (Boy) is used 8 times
"Fanwassen/es" is used 8 times.
4) The Dialogue is very stilted and awkward. The dialogue between the characters feels disconnected. It doesn't read as a casual conversation and instead comes across very formal. This results in the dialogue being choppy and unnatural as it's not how we talk today. You could excuse this as being how they speak in this world, but unfortunately it doesn't make for ease of reading, especially when you add on the other concerns found within these pages. The characters also often repeat what the person said to them in a conversation instead of just responding to the statement or question.
5) The book is somewhat repetitive. It does give information over again that was already provided earlier in the story, in sometimes near identical phrasing.
Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love and rave about this book, I am simply unable to. I do hope that this book finds its audience however, as that simply wasn't me.
It is with a heavy heart that I wished I would have DNF'd this book at page 80 (35%) into the story. This review is hard to write and I give a 2 star rating only because I have to rate in order to leave a review. Normally, I wouldn't rate a book in this instance, but I had to give my opinion about the story and circumstances revolving around my desire to have stopped this book.
This book is very short, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but even with how short it was, I do wish I would have stopped when I had the inkling to.
To start off with a positive, I can see what the authors vision was with the story and the characters. I think that with the correct execution, this book could have been phenomenal. I think that the plot was an amazing concept but its delivery just missed the mark.
Unfortunately, the negative outweighs the positive in this instance.
1) Our FMC was inconsistent throughout the story. Not in an "Finding herself" type of way, but just in the way that she reacted to situations. At first she comes across as very strong and sure of herself going so far as to scold our MMC for having misogynistic tendencies, but the moment our MMCs ulterior motives are revealed, suddenly she becomes meek and can't even meet his eyes. I wish that her character remained constant or even grew through the story.
2) Our MMC is a bit insufferable. He had been plotting behind the scenes to marry Gwen and gets upset when a woman he doesn't know doesn't want to marry him. He is constantly hurt and upset throughout the book because she doesn't meet the mold he had placed her in, angry that she rejects his unwanted advancements. He even admits that he loves her on day two of knowing her and goes beyond propriety on multiple instances as if she was his wife already. He was unfortunately unlikeable from the start and it made it hard for me to root for him.
3) This author has come up with words to mean "Boy" / "Girl" / "Man" / "Woman" within the world that she has created. This wouldn't be an issue normally but the words were used so often that if I never see them again, it would be too soon. It was repetitive and honestly, using the "normal" words would have been better. Keep in mind with the below numbers that this book is only 218 pages.
"Ellas/es" (Man) is used 93 times.
"Ellassen/s" (Female) is used 102 times.
"Fanwas/es" (Boy) is used 8 times
"Fanwassen/es" is used 8 times.
4) The Dialogue is very stilted and awkward. The dialogue between the characters feels disconnected. It doesn't read as a casual conversation and instead comes across very formal. This results in the dialogue being choppy and unnatural as it's not how we talk today. You could excuse this as being how they speak in this world, but unfortunately it doesn't make for ease of reading, especially when you add on the other concerns found within these pages. The characters also often repeat what the person said to them in a conversation instead of just responding to the statement or question.
5) The book is somewhat repetitive. It does give information over again that was already provided earlier in the story, in sometimes near identical phrasing.
Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love and rave about this book, I am simply unable to. I do hope that this book finds its audience however, as that simply wasn't me.