Take a photo of a barcode or cover
onceuponanisabel's Reviews (1.48k)
.jpg)
Alright, let's talk about it.
This book was, to me, a cross between The Hunger Games and The Selection set in a pretty typical high fantasy world. The Tournament is a pretty good trope, although I wish that it had been a little more fleshed out in this book.
I really like all four of the main characters that this story sets up, and I look forward to following them in the future. Unlike most people, I found Celaena a really fun main character, although the book did espouse her many amazing features and skills to a slightly ridiculous extent.
However, beyond a medium-level interest in the characters and their fates, nothing particularly stood out to me as remarkable about this book. There was nothing in the world-building that I hadn't seen before, and frankly, some of the plot was just lazy.
Also, I'm a big fan of retellings, particularly fairytale retellings. I was told this was a Cinderella retelling, but man, it is NOT. The only remotely Cinderella-y aspect of this story comes in the form of a ball midway through the book, in which our main character dances the night away with the prince. That's...literally it. She and the prince already know one another quite well, so this isn't really unexpected at all. Not that the lack of a Cinderella story made me dislike the book, but my expectations in that arena were not met. Do with that what you will.
Nonetheless, I had a good time with this book, and I fully expect to keep going with the series.
This book was, to me, a cross between The Hunger Games and The Selection set in a pretty typical high fantasy world. The Tournament is a pretty good trope, although I wish that it had been a little more fleshed out in this book.
Spoiler
There was never really any question that Celaena would at least get to the end of it, so I had a hard time feeling particularly invested.I really like all four of the main characters that this story sets up, and I look forward to following them in the future. Unlike most people, I found Celaena a really fun main character, although the book did espouse her many amazing features and skills to a slightly ridiculous extent.
However, beyond a medium-level interest in the characters and their fates, nothing particularly stood out to me as remarkable about this book. There was nothing in the world-building that I hadn't seen before, and frankly, some of the plot was just lazy.
Spoiler
Having a long-dead ghost queen come in to give Celaena life-saving advice and provide information just felt kind of cheap, tbh.Also, I'm a big fan of retellings, particularly fairytale retellings. I was told this was a Cinderella retelling, but man, it is NOT. The only remotely Cinderella-y aspect of this story comes in the form of a ball midway through the book, in which our main character dances the night away with the prince. That's...literally it. She and the prince already know one another quite well, so this isn't really unexpected at all. Not that the lack of a Cinderella story made me dislike the book, but my expectations in that arena were not met. Do with that what you will.
Nonetheless, I had a good time with this book, and I fully expect to keep going with the series.
What's it about?
The Night House chronicles the story of a woman named Taya, and her adventures after the apocalypse hits Earth, killing her friends and separating her from her family. She discovers that invaders from an alternate dimension (Arkavia) have come to harvest Earth's energy. What begins as a survival story quickly changes into a more traditional fantasy narrative when she joins an Arkavian lord (Lord Thane) and his soldiers and journeys to Arkavia, where she hopes to exact revenge for the death they caused on Earth.
So...what did I think?
This book was a little bit of a rollercoaster for me. The first several chapters of the book are more of a survival story than the fantasy novel I was expecting, and it was a tad disappointing. Not badly written at all, and it actually did a good job of introducing us to our main character before the real fun begins. It just...felt a little disconnected from the rest of the book, and it probably took up a little bit too much of the run time.
Taya herself, though, was just the kickass heroine I was hoping for. She was really fun, and I'm personally a sucker (and I know this is weirdly specific) for characters who fight with two swords. As for our other main character, Lord Thane, he was pretty archetypal. The perfect alpha male love interest, he was incredibly strong and dangerous, but with a code of honor and valiant intentions. While I didn't like him as much, the story was told from Taya's perspective, and it didn't actually bother me that Thane wasn't very nuanced.
My biggest beef with this book was the pacing. Several times throughout the book, the narrative made a large (several weeks to several months) time jump, which just felt really jarring. I don't like it when books just time jump between chapters without even giving some kind of smoother transition, although that might just be personal taste. It just really bothered me and pulled me out of the experience, so I had to mention it. Besides the time jumps, the other pacing issue came in the end. The book focused a lot on Taya's journey and her relationship with Thane, which was well done. The problem, though, was that not enough time was dedicated to the actual plot of the book -- finding the culprit of some magical leeching. As a result, the end of the book felt extremely rushed to me, and also featured a couple of info-dumps that I would usually excuse if they came at the beginning of the book, but it bugs me when authors info-dump at the end of a book. I just want a satisfying conclusion, not more exposition!
I really enjoyed the second part of the book that took place in Arkavia (or just with Thane in general, since a good chunk of the time was them traveling there). It was a much more typical fantasy novel, which I'm a fan of. The world building was good, the sword fighting was fun. All the same, though, it was pretty similar to many other specimens in the genre, and didn't really do anything particularly innovative or different. Nonetheless, if you're into the adult fantasy genre like I am (sort of in the vein of Ilona Andrews), then you'll definitely like this book, like I did.
ARC provided via NetGalley
The Night House chronicles the story of a woman named Taya, and her adventures after the apocalypse hits Earth, killing her friends and separating her from her family. She discovers that invaders from an alternate dimension (Arkavia) have come to harvest Earth's energy. What begins as a survival story quickly changes into a more traditional fantasy narrative when she joins an Arkavian lord (Lord Thane) and his soldiers and journeys to Arkavia, where she hopes to exact revenge for the death they caused on Earth.
So...what did I think?
This book was a little bit of a rollercoaster for me. The first several chapters of the book are more of a survival story than the fantasy novel I was expecting, and it was a tad disappointing. Not badly written at all, and it actually did a good job of introducing us to our main character before the real fun begins. It just...felt a little disconnected from the rest of the book, and it probably took up a little bit too much of the run time.
Taya herself, though, was just the kickass heroine I was hoping for. She was really fun, and I'm personally a sucker (and I know this is weirdly specific) for characters who fight with two swords. As for our other main character, Lord Thane, he was pretty archetypal. The perfect alpha male love interest, he was incredibly strong and dangerous, but with a code of honor and valiant intentions. While I didn't like him as much, the story was told from Taya's perspective, and it didn't actually bother me that Thane wasn't very nuanced.
My biggest beef with this book was the pacing. Several times throughout the book, the narrative made a large (several weeks to several months) time jump, which just felt really jarring. I don't like it when books just time jump between chapters without even giving some kind of smoother transition, although that might just be personal taste. It just really bothered me and pulled me out of the experience, so I had to mention it. Besides the time jumps, the other pacing issue came in the end. The book focused a lot on Taya's journey and her relationship with Thane, which was well done. The problem, though, was that not enough time was dedicated to the actual plot of the book -- finding the culprit of some magical leeching. As a result, the end of the book felt extremely rushed to me, and also featured a couple of info-dumps that I would usually excuse if they came at the beginning of the book, but it bugs me when authors info-dump at the end of a book. I just want a satisfying conclusion, not more exposition!
I really enjoyed the second part of the book that took place in Arkavia (or just with Thane in general, since a good chunk of the time was them traveling there). It was a much more typical fantasy novel, which I'm a fan of. The world building was good, the sword fighting was fun. All the same, though, it was pretty similar to many other specimens in the genre, and didn't really do anything particularly innovative or different. Nonetheless, if you're into the adult fantasy genre like I am (sort of in the vein of Ilona Andrews), then you'll definitely like this book, like I did.
ARC provided via NetGalley
