Danielle Paige is an amazing writer. However, this one gave me pause. If you don't think about the "science" too much it might work for you. 

A very solid book! I haven't seen the film but I've seen some poor reception for it, so I can't speak to how different this is than the film.

My issue with this book is that it feels like it was adapted from a movie script. It's very exposition-heavy in a way that you don't need in books but works well in movies. Once in a while a little scene will pop up with a character or two about them discussing very plot-relevant information and then they are left alone and undeveloped until they need to discuss plot-relevant information again. This sucks because there are quite a lot of opportunities in the book for this to be communicated more naturally, especially with the magic system allowing Eloise to see people's memories through their blood. This also messed with the Suspense a bit when we get outright confirmation that something fishy before Eloise does in the plot. I don't think this severed to add tension, it would have been better done to play into the mystery from Eloise's perspective. 

I found most of the characters outside of Elosie a bit flat, and there was very little world-building. I don't know if this is the fault of the author or the material and constraints she was given to work with. One interesting thing is that someone on the team put in a colossal effort to develop an entire dialect for the Dragon which is included in the back of the book. I wish some of that effort had been pushed into fleshing out the world a bit more. 

I loved Eloise as a lead. She felt naturally 17 and not in a stereotypical way. I especially enjoyed the times we were shown her personality over told like the time she spent understanding the dragon language. Things like that made the book for me. 

My favourite part had to be the writing and the blood stains on the wall as they helped Eloise navigate and survive the dragon's lair. Out of everything in the book, this felt the most natural and plausible part. It was well integrated and well used to keep the tension and the hope up. Even the flashbacks to the prior princess sacrifices fit seamlessly into the story. I only wish everything around that part had felt so natural, as I mentioned before everything outside of Eloise feels starkly underdeveloped and there for exposition. 

I do have a few other issues. Some minor things like Foria getting referred to on and off as Flor in the 3rd person narration. 

And again, more effort was needed for the world-building. It's hard to imagine that someone wouldn't notice three girls of prominent families all go off to get married in a kingdom and are never seen again. every. single. year. Ten years might be more plausible. But EVERY year is a bit unbelievable. 

If you can get over a few minor nitpicks, I recommend giving this a go!

Truly amazing. All it took was 80 pages and a handful of letters to get me so invested in two lives. I'm  a plot girl, but this is so well written and short with compelling characters. Totally recommend. 

Review coming

I struggle with this series because it is so character driven. I crave more plot. I want to love this much more than I do. White's writing is the type that captivates and enthralls you so you don't even realize you've finished half the book in a couple of hours. It could easily become boring as the character meander around dealing with interpersonal relationships over the plot, but it never does. 

I didn't dislike my reading expirence at all, I'm just disappointed and a bit underwhelmed. 

I wanted more. I wanted an epic fantasy and plot. I will be searching out more from thia author though. I think she's very smart and I enjoyed how she played on all of the tropes, making them new a fresh in a smart way, not the hahaha I tricked you = "good" writing type of way. The clues are all laid out and it plays on your knowledge of the original as you wanted around with the characters sorting out this world that they're in. There are so many amazing passages and hard-hitting lines in here. If this weren't a library book I'd be tempted to highlight. Might have to get the ebooks to do just that.

This book feels a bit like a TV series. I keep expecting this to feel like a tight, fast-paced fantasy series, but it feels more like a TV series. This one specifically. That's not bad in any way, but most of this book is side quests/filler that have one or two little details that will be relevant for the finale or the build-up to the finale. It didn't feel like the second book in a series. It is disappointing because I want that fantasy series that keeps moving etc and this is not it. It's a lot of interpersonal drama and not a fantasy epic.

I do love White's writing. It keeps me engaged even when the plot is meandering. I like how she's playing on the original tales and tropes. I'm such a sucker for anything Camelot. Obsessed with the TV series Merlin, and other retelling books such as [book:I Am Morgan le Fay|606935]. I think she's doing some things that are different and I am guessing how certain tropes are going to play out, especially with the way she has already subverted a lot of the original story.  I like that this feels new and unpredictable despite being a Camelot story. That's what I look for most in a retelling. The impressive part is taking a story everyone knows and turning it into something that feels new while it still fits within the sense of the original. 

Maybe I'm dumb but I don't get the point of some of these little books. I was promised a glimpse inot the girl who would become Mrs. Coulter and I do not feel like I got that.