24 Books
See allCelaena Sardothien spent years in the Endovier death camps, where she would spend the rest of her life. Until, crown prince Dorian appoints her to enter a competition for the title of King's Champion, who will tasked to do the King's secret bidding. But when one by one, the competitors turn up dead, Celaena knows that something evil lurks in the castle.
This was a huge letdown for me. It mainly involves the writing and the major lead.
For someone who's supposed to be a deadly assassin, 's pretty weak. I get it. She's a girl who likes to be pretty and wear nice clothes and date popular boys (I actually love when female characters are both girly and badass at once). The problem is that she is so narcissistic and stubborn that you can't help but focus on the tooth-cringing parts of her personality. She never (or rarely) speaks without thinking first. Sometimes, she really lacks tact, not to mention good manners.
While none of the other characters got on my nerves quite as much as Miss Celaena , I felt like there could have been more work behind the scenes. This is because the entire story didn't really engage me from start to finish for this reason.
You can tell someone didn't really do their part of research. The setting and the way all characters behave could have been a bit more authentic. However, holy cow, the out of character moments are too much, even for a mediocre book.
In short, Celaena Sardothien is a Mary Sue. But even worse — she is an unlikable, vain, shallow, self-centered Mary Sue. And if you expect me to believe she's a deadly killer, then you better think again.
Next, I will discuss how the competition itself was a let-down rather than a fight-to-the-death (or similar) scenario. We had a race, an archery competition, and wall climbing. And a lot of other things that happened off-screen.
Amidst all these competitions and training programs, the plot scattered into flirting banter, gatecrashing parties, and some girl-on-girl hating; as if the author wasn't sure whether she wanted her novel to be the story of a ruthless assassin, or the romance of a ruthless assassin princess-wannabe.
So, no. The plot didn't appeal to me. I didn't like the characters. I don't see myself continuing this series.
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Reading this brought back so many memories.
As a kid, watching Sailor Moon on TV, I was obsessed with Serena's (Usagi) and Darien's (Mamoru) relationship.
Unfortunately, the manga is a mess. There is poor character development, cluttered panels, and a lack of focus on the overall story.
In terms of pace, it is incredibly fast. The story took days, not weeks. Although it may seem unfair to compare the manga with the anime, this read disappointed me, since I am a huge Sailor Moon fan. The filler episodes improved the plot greatly. The villains got a chance of being evil and to discover who they are.
The anime was full of suspense and drama. In fact, there were a few battle scenes where I wasn't sure about the Sailor Warriors' victory, and they even lost some battles, like normal heroines do sometimes. The manga rushed through all of that quickly. Soon after, they were going to fight a new foe.
Based on the writer's confirmation, the author ran out of ideas and threw random things into the story.
As I mentioned, Sailor Moon's character development is lacking. Having hardly any character characteristics or emotions beyond the surface level prevented me from becoming invested in the characters. As for the romance, it was chaotic as well. The two love interests start out hating and despising each other. Their hatred for each other suddenly disappears when they kiss. In a previous life, they were lovers.
The blandness and flatness of every character annoys me? All the girls discuss friendship and love, but I've never seen them casually hang out and discuss feelings like normal people. Every time a character died, it did not bother me at all. My goal was to write this review and move on to my life as quickly as possible. There is one prop I give Sailor Moon, which is that it has so much open lesbian representation for a story written at the time it was written.
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The book tells the story of Sabriel, the daughter of Abhorson. She received her father's necromancy tool, meaning he was either dead or alive. In an attempt to find her father, Sabriel leaves school. The adventure that follows is the story of her battle against the evil greater dead as the new Abhorson.
This was a book I read in middle school. Sabriel was a decent fantasy novel. As far as the second book goes, I can't remember if I read it or not.
The story relies heavily on an underdeveloped magic system. In my understanding, it involves speaking certain words that follow strict rules but are never fully explained to the audience.
The most frustrating part is that there's no build to the magic, it's just there.
I really wish I had liked Sabriel more than I actually did. I felt no connection with Sabriel since her emotions were rarely expressed, instead there was a massive amount of description about many other things that caused me to yawn endlessly. Her love interest is - well, not interesting. He was flat and dull.
Between the magic mayhem and the bland-to-non-existent-love, I never formed an emotional connection to any of the main characters or the plot.
It felt like I was being dragged on a journey rather than eagerly plunging into a new series.
I don't see myself continue this series.
From a universe where necromancy abounds, comes Gideon the Ninth.Her home planet, the Ninth Planet, holds trials to determine who will inherit unimaginable power.
As the heir of the Ninth and the strongest necromancer on the planet, Harrow needs... a sword. Luckily, Gideon knows the sword.
Since they can remember, Gideon and Harrow have hated each other.
The moment Harrow dangles freedom in front of Gideon, Gideon knows she will have to follow through with the plan... even to the very end.
There's just something about this book that doesn't work for me. The first time I tried it, I wasn't able to get into it. My second attempt was more challenging, but I got through it.
It is because of Gideon herself and the style of the book that I did not enjoy it. She sounded like she was trying way too complicated to be edgy and cool. I found the other characters to be one-dimensional - even Harrow doesn't get much development until the end of the book. Oh, and if you are seeking a good lesbian romance, you will be disappointed. There's nothing romantic about it.
The second problem was that it felt aimless. The start of the series seemed promising, and for a while it did. However, once it became apparent, it was going to be a pointless tournament arc with murder; I lost interest. There are no rules, only vague objectives, and it is impossible to follow the person solving the puzzle, so things just sort of... happen. The characters and style didn't appeal to me, which would have been fine if I enjoyed it.
The third problem, I also found the world building to be vague. There was a lot of aesthetic detail on, with skeletons and bones and locked doors everywhere. Beyond that, it was hollow. Despite the brief spaceship journey at the beginning, it is not science fiction, rather fantasy.
What is the purpose of the Emperor? Are there any reasons becoming his servant is so desirable? Where do the other planets stand? What is the purpose of necromancy?
I'm not sure whether I'm going to continue.
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