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sassyowlreads's Reviews (910)
I enjoyed this overall! I love a good Middle Eastern inspired fantasy and this one didn't disappoint in that regard. I think this could have been a really fantastic duology, a la Renee Ahdieh, and characters could have been fleshed out a little more but it's still a solid read for a standalone. What kept this from being a 5 star read for me was that while it was dark and twisty, the emphasis was more on the twisty than the dark. I wanted more out of Soraya as an anti-heroine and at times found myself just plain rooting for her to just become a villain.
By the end, I also found myself getting annoyed by the constant use of some variation of the phrase "as if they could read my mind" or "somehow I just knew. . ." It was one of those things that once I noticed it, it seemed like I was seeing it constantly.
By the end, I also found myself getting annoyed by the constant use of some variation of the phrase "as if they could read my mind" or "somehow I just knew. . ." It was one of those things that once I noticed it, it seemed like I was seeing it constantly.
3.5 stars
Raybearer didn't hook me from the start, it took me awhile to really get into it. The first half of the book is pretty slow and is predominately world building.
I really enjoyed Tarisai's character but struggled with the other council members. They were all supposed to be really close, brothers and sisters in a sense, but we knew very little about 8 of them. The magical system was very interesting and it's always enjoyable to read another African inspired fantasy book.
The narrator was great and the accents used really added to the overall experience.
I definitely recommend [b:The Rage of Dragons|41952489|The Rage of Dragons (The Burning, #1)|Evan Winter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553927196l/41952489._SY75_.jpg|57522473] and [b:The Gilded Ones|40024121|The Gilded Ones (Deathless, #1)|Namina Forna|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585578175l/40024121._SY75_.jpg|61991286] if you're in the market for other African inspired fantasies.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for the e-audio arc!
Raybearer didn't hook me from the start, it took me awhile to really get into it. The first half of the book is pretty slow and is predominately world building.
I really enjoyed Tarisai's character but struggled with the other council members. They were all supposed to be really close, brothers and sisters in a sense, but we knew very little about 8 of them. The magical system was very interesting and it's always enjoyable to read another African inspired fantasy book.
The narrator was great and the accents used really added to the overall experience.
I definitely recommend [b:The Rage of Dragons|41952489|The Rage of Dragons (The Burning, #1)|Evan Winter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553927196l/41952489._SY75_.jpg|57522473] and [b:The Gilded Ones|40024121|The Gilded Ones (Deathless, #1)|Namina Forna|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585578175l/40024121._SY75_.jpg|61991286] if you're in the market for other African inspired fantasies.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for the e-audio arc!
4 stars!
Visit my new blog for a full review!
I'm a huge fan of the Inheritance Cycle so this was a must read!
The amount of world-building in the book shows how much time Paolini put into it. It's very plot and world-building driven and has an incredible amount of detail. It's more on the hard scifi side and Paolini put a lot of thought into the laws of physics that govern the futuristic space travel. I thought the character development was a little lacking for the length of the book but I was intrigued by the extraterrestrials throughout the whole book.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!
Visit my new blog for a full review!
I'm a huge fan of the Inheritance Cycle so this was a must read!
The amount of world-building in the book shows how much time Paolini put into it. It's very plot and world-building driven and has an incredible amount of detail. It's more on the hard scifi side and Paolini put a lot of thought into the laws of physics that govern the futuristic space travel. I thought the character development was a little lacking for the length of the book but I was intrigued by the extraterrestrials throughout the whole book.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!
4.25 Stars!
This was a really cute read! I was skeptical of the senior citizen romance but it Eileen is sassy and I love her. I am always down for a good life swap story and this really made me want to watch The Holiday. I wasn't as interested in Leena's arc but it wrapped up nicely and I would 100% love to live in Hamleigh. It was full of self discovery, grief, family and humor.
Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones are great narrators but Alison Steadman was absolutely perfect for the role of Eileen.
Thanks so much to Netgalley, the Publisher, and Libro.fm for the arcs!
This was a really cute read! I was skeptical of the senior citizen romance but it Eileen is sassy and I love her. I am always down for a good life swap story and this really made me want to watch The Holiday. I wasn't as interested in Leena's arc but it wrapped up nicely and I would 100% love to live in Hamleigh. It was full of self discovery, grief, family and humor.
Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones are great narrators but Alison Steadman was absolutely perfect for the role of Eileen.
Thanks so much to Netgalley, the Publisher, and Libro.fm for the arcs!
Excellent adult fantasy read! The first 50% or so is on the slow side but still interesting. Once it got going, things ramped up quickly! I love a good prophecy plot but that ending
4 stars! This was slower than [b:The Harp of Kings|43316755|The Harp of Kings (Warrior Bards, #1)|Juliet Marillier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552128464l/43316755._SY75_.jpg|57888974] and very different in terms of plot. It was on the predictable side but a lot of building and fleshing out was done. I love Liobhan even more now and Dau was involved in the story a lot more which made me happy. Brocc, however, was absent for most of the book which is fine with me since I don't particularly care for his wife. I'm eager to see what happens with the Crow-Folk and Liobhan and Dau in the third book!
The narrators are just perfect and I'm actually sad I read instead of listened to the first book.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of A Dance with Fate!
The narrators are just perfect and I'm actually sad I read instead of listened to the first book.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of A Dance with Fate!
This made for an excellent audiobook! It's read by the author himself and really adds to the authenticity and intimacy of the story which was extremely powerful, heart wrenching, moving and every term in between. Yohance is the quintessential success story. He was fortunate enough to have people in his life who helped him along the way but at the end of the day, it was his drive that allowed him to claw his way out. I look forward to hearing the rest of the story in books 2 and 3.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the audio arc!
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the audio arc!