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thenerdybookwitch's Reviews (678)
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The Viking's Chosen, a historical fantasy romance. Before I get into the review, I do want to say that I'm not a fan of romance. But I don't mind it if it's mixed in with other genres or if it's cleverly written with a really good plot. The Viking's Chosen is the type of romance that focuses more on love than the story which is not my cup of tea. I know that most romance novels end up doing that, so I thought I was the problem and not the book for awhile. But then the third half of the book came along. I am eager to tell all that I can without spoilers, let's jump right into the review:
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I'm going to start with the negatives and end with the positives. A lot of established information was forgotten and replaced with different ones, making a lot of contradictions with the plot and characters' behaviours. There were some modernisms in the way characters spoke that took away from it being historical fiction. Its set in Medieval Britain, so listening to lines like "he gave me the_______look" isn't something that keeps you in that era. My biggest problem was that there was a lot of illusionary development for the main characters that are obvious Mary/Gary Sues. Illusionary development is throwing one or many scenarios (even chances to enhance the plot) at main characters that appear as if they are developing throughout the story, but are actually not. Which is very common when a book has a Mary Sue, and The Viking's Chosen has two of them which are the male and female lead. They don't change at all, they stay the exact same no matter what happy or terrifying moment comes along. They weren't interesting, and the fact that the book is written in both of their first person perspectives made me listen to the audiobook slower cause I didn't care about these characters.
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Now the good, the side characters were great. They were the only ones that had some development even if it was a minuscule amount. Some of the writing was good, there were some powerful things characters said. Even the main characters did have some good lines that made me happy (until they contradicted themselves later on). I also really liked the premise, it had some very cool ideas and had they been used I probably would've liked the book more.
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The Viking's Chosen is not the worst book I've read, it still had some things I enjoyed. It wasn't completely to my liking, but I can still see people enjoying it if they care more about the focus being on the lovers. If this book had been more of a perfect mix of plot, romance, historical fiction, and fantasy I absolutely would've liked it more. It has two sequels but due to how the third half of the book went, I'm sadly not interested enough to continue the series. If you read it, let me know what you think!
2.5/5⭐️
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I'm going to start with the negatives and end with the positives. A lot of established information was forgotten and replaced with different ones, making a lot of contradictions with the plot and characters' behaviours. There were some modernisms in the way characters spoke that took away from it being historical fiction. Its set in Medieval Britain, so listening to lines like "he gave me the_______look" isn't something that keeps you in that era. My biggest problem was that there was a lot of illusionary development for the main characters that are obvious Mary/Gary Sues. Illusionary development is throwing one or many scenarios (even chances to enhance the plot) at main characters that appear as if they are developing throughout the story, but are actually not. Which is very common when a book has a Mary Sue, and The Viking's Chosen has two of them which are the male and female lead. They don't change at all, they stay the exact same no matter what happy or terrifying moment comes along. They weren't interesting, and the fact that the book is written in both of their first person perspectives made me listen to the audiobook slower cause I didn't care about these characters.
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Now the good, the side characters were great. They were the only ones that had some development even if it was a minuscule amount. Some of the writing was good, there were some powerful things characters said. Even the main characters did have some good lines that made me happy (until they contradicted themselves later on). I also really liked the premise, it had some very cool ideas and had they been used I probably would've liked the book more.
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The Viking's Chosen is not the worst book I've read, it still had some things I enjoyed. It wasn't completely to my liking, but I can still see people enjoying it if they care more about the focus being on the lovers. If this book had been more of a perfect mix of plot, romance, historical fiction, and fantasy I absolutely would've liked it more. It has two sequels but due to how the third half of the book went, I'm sadly not interested enough to continue the series. If you read it, let me know what you think!
2.5/5⭐️
I'm very nervous about retellings based on classic literature. I'll dabble with ones based on Dracula, Beauty and the Beast, and a few others; however, hesitation to read them is always present at first. Reading a retelling is always a risk. It can either be a wonderfully crafted love letter to the original, or a mockery so awful it leaves the reader offended. Well, I'm pleased to say that Kiersten White's The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is not a mockery. In fact, it's one of the greatest love letters to a classic I've read in a long time. I'm not delaying this any longer, let's jump in!
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The writing is breathtaking. I loved the style, it fit so well with the story and was gripping. The narrator of the audiobook also did a remarkable job reading the lines of Elizabeth Lavenza—bringing her and the story into an even greater life. I loved the portrayal of the characters. Victor Frankenstein I had a little trouble liking at first, but as soon as I distanced myself from the original book I fell in love with what Kiersten White did with him. The story in Elizabeth's perspective was different and very well done.
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I truly had no problems with this book. It was amazingly well done, Kiersten White wrote it in the greatest respect for Mary Shelley and I appreciate that so much. If you're also a little skittish about classic retellings, I encourage you to give this a read. You may be pleasantly surprised and thrilled with this one. I shall certainly be hunting for a physical copy of Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein for my shelf. Where it can rest right beside Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
5/5⭐️
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The writing is breathtaking. I loved the style, it fit so well with the story and was gripping. The narrator of the audiobook also did a remarkable job reading the lines of Elizabeth Lavenza—bringing her and the story into an even greater life. I loved the portrayal of the characters. Victor Frankenstein I had a little trouble liking at first, but as soon as I distanced myself from the original book I fell in love with what Kiersten White did with him. The story in Elizabeth's perspective was different and very well done.
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I truly had no problems with this book. It was amazingly well done, Kiersten White wrote it in the greatest respect for Mary Shelley and I appreciate that so much. If you're also a little skittish about classic retellings, I encourage you to give this a read. You may be pleasantly surprised and thrilled with this one. I shall certainly be hunting for a physical copy of Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein for my shelf. Where it can rest right beside Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
5/5⭐️
Keturah and Lord Death was a book that I've wanted to read for a long time. I haven't read much books by Canadian authors despite being Canadian myself. So I aimed to correct that starting with this book, now my thoughts:
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I really enjoyed it. It reads and breathes like a fairytale. It did have some fairytale tropes which I did not mind, which did lead to some predictability. But I still liked it. The writing is very well done, it served its purpose to tell the story as it was. The characters were all treated with care, no one was thrown to the side too much. And also the plot was really good as well. I do see people having troubles particularly with certain "relationships" that are teased. It also annoyed me from time to time, but I forgave it since I was wrapped up in the story.
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Is it the best book? No, but the story is really good and I think it's a good fairytale to read to kids if you don't want to stick with the usual lineup. I say give it a try. It may not have been my favourite but I still enjoyed reading it and I think it deserves some attention.
3.5/5⭐️
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I really enjoyed it. It reads and breathes like a fairytale. It did have some fairytale tropes which I did not mind, which did lead to some predictability. But I still liked it. The writing is very well done, it served its purpose to tell the story as it was. The characters were all treated with care, no one was thrown to the side too much. And also the plot was really good as well. I do see people having troubles particularly with certain "relationships" that are teased. It also annoyed me from time to time, but I forgave it since I was wrapped up in the story.
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Is it the best book? No, but the story is really good and I think it's a good fairytale to read to kids if you don't want to stick with the usual lineup. I say give it a try. It may not have been my favourite but I still enjoyed reading it and I think it deserves some attention.
3.5/5⭐️
