Heather

Decent story but inconsistent character

Revisado: 02-12-24

The book could have been a pretty good story if executed better. The prose was fine and the story could have been interesting. However, there were some consistency errors and far too much internal dialogue. The dialogue seemed to be a method to convince the reader of things that didn't actually hold up to what was happening in the story. She also in some cases refuted her own internal dialogue statements regularly.

As I thought back on my rating of this book, one issue stood out - Do I dislike the story because the main character is spoiled, bratty, and lacks self-preservation and lies to herself? While she once in awhile does something brave, this character overall has no ability to really advocate for herself. Is this because she grew up a princess? Was she coddled too much by her maid? Possibly.

There is rape by a father in this book. That's very relevant to the story and I felt it was handled well. I also technically thought the author did a decent job with showing the repercussions in her interactions with males after. Unfortunately in her internal dialogue she makes it clear that this happening to her is a worry, but then on and off acts as if it never occurred to her. Same with her maid. As a princess who desires a father/king's love, could she fall into that trap? Possible.

I didn't really feel consistency in the way the whole part went in the prince's castle. She claims to be a peasant but they treat her like a lady. She certainly doesn't seem to pass as a peasant and from time to time brings out her fancy dresses and people shrug it off. She's also really bratty so that should have been a clue. The prince also seems so overly gentle with everyone that it's hard to see him ruling anything. Crestwood was also inconsistent. I also didn't really feel the falling in love thing felt completely mapped out but it was fine overall.

The ending I really liked with the nailbiter of everything coming down on her. I could understand why she avoided telling people her full story and was very curious how it would all come out. In the end, she's not really a likeable character in general but it's a good attempt at a difficult plot.

I honestly felt the narrator's accent (?) very distracting. She has a lisp or that's part of her accent and I tried to not get hung up on it but it was a bit difficult. Otherwise it was fine.

I wouldn't recommend this book.

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Rather weak quest sci-fi book

Revisado: 01-12-24

This book is really a squandered opportunity for a cool sci-fi novel. Reynolds' whole thing typically is his solid science but flat characters. He's great at thinking up new and interesting science topics. He's also typically space opera, of which this isn't. The best way to describe this book is a mix of steampunk/dirigible and fringe multiple universe (??) science. He rather flips the script in that the characters are pretty fleshed out and there's quite a lot of dialogue, but the science is really not very legit in terms of moons, equator temps, how floating works, how length measurements work, etc. Also, he utilizes quest as a method for pulling the reader along. This works well until you it becomes apparent that the quest was just a method for telling the story and doesn't amount to anything in the end. The author becomes so enamored with so much dialogue between the characters that he never really reveals well what the heck is going on on this planet or how stuff works, which really is the only interesting aspect of the book in my opinion. So, at 50% I was very positive and then I got ground down by the boring dialogue and the ending was definitely lacking for a stand-alone. I would suggest House of Suns as this author's best book instead.

John Lee is okay as a narrator but I've found that he becomes quite repetitive when you listen to several of his book. It's sorta British John Wayne in his execution of characters.

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Perhaps too silly for me but still enjoyed

Revisado: 01-12-24

I love Felicia Day but honestly I was pretty unsure about if the book would be good. She's wildly talented in general and I loved The Guild so might. Overall I enjoyed the book. I went with the theatrical audio just because I felt like that might be better. I'm not sure, honestly. Some of the over-the-top acting got tiring but perhaps it still was a better entertaining choice. It was a fun book overall and I'm not upset I bought it. Still, I tend to be a bit iffy on comedy books so not sure if I would give another one a try.

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Easy Listening but Light on Content

Revisado: 01-12-24

I think most of the popularity of this book is based on a few points: 1, there hasn't been a well-known dragon-rider series in the new adult romantasy category; 2, it has all the typical hits that readers enjoy and are familiar in the new adult group; 3, the plot pulls you along well and the writing is easy to read.

I found this book to be very derivative and that tended to be rather distracting to me. This also caused the issue of absolutely nothing being a twist or surprising to me. I absolutely saw each plot point coming. The characters, while distinct, were also exactly how you'd expect - sassy MC female, brooding MC male and overly simplistic "bad guys." Conversations with the dragons as expected but annoying (why is MC female all sassy and bossy towards a huge dragon!?). Also, of course our MC is soooo special. So, I just found everything from the personalities to the romantic scenes to be far too familiar to many other novels. It also felt like the characters were very YA in their interactions and dialogue in general. There were also some plot holes/inconsistencies that an editor should have caught. It also didn't make sense that her mother just never was proud of her no matter what she did...?

I recognize that all of us have our hits we enjoy and even though the book was derivative, it reminds me of other books I DO enjoy and I genuinely was interested in where the story was going. Sometimes in these series the characters become more grown-up so dumping a series as too YA in book one can be hasty. I looked forward to reading it and that definitely does mean something. I just can't give it the four stars I want to because it just doesn't measure up to other books I give that rating.

I didn't notice the issue with the narrator being sick at all. I have listened to her before and she sounded the same to me.

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Entertaining Story

Revisado: 11-09-23

Now, this is not at all a new idea and has been in many tv shows or movies. However, I found this to be fun and interesting to listen to. The voice acting was great and I was always looking forward to hearing more of the story.

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In the relationship weeds

Revisado: 11-09-23

Season one I found to be a fun listen, even though it's not a unique idea. Season two devolved mostly into either fight scenes with everyone coming back to life/healing or dialogues between two people talking about their love life. That is pretty much all that happens. It was sooooo boring. The worst thing is all the female British accents sound so similar that I couldn't figure out who was talking most of the time. Also, there are some super dumb people who it's not believable could survive in an emergency. There were a few good moments and I didn't have an issue with the big twist, but overall I wasn't caring much about what happened.

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Amazing Conclusion

Revisado: 11-14-22

I loved this series so much. It's quite the departure from her usual books, which I also love. The first book really was challenging to learn the magic system, but once you do, it's all good from then on out. The content was a little nuts in this book - like disturbing. But, the whole thing wrapped up well and left me wishing for more (but isn't that the best way to end?). I loved how unique the main character was and such a solid voice.

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Returned - It's a Mess

Revisado: 11-14-22

Not sure what happened, but this book was really bad. The writing and dialogue is very juvenile and there's a lot of nothing being revealed. I gave up at about 40% because I literally didn't care to slog through to find out what the book is even about. I was excited about this coming out but sheesh was it a clunker. The newer Hunger Games book covered content I wasn't interested in but at least it was a cohesive book.

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Terrible Narration but Good Sci-fi

Revisado: 10-01-19

I found this book to be well-plotted. I was always wanting to listen to more to hear what would happen next. There is so much mystery as to what Rama is and where it is intending to go and what exactly is inside it. The characters are classic vintage sci-fi in that they are badly developed, cliche, and hokey. But you can't really expect more than that out of this period. I did have a double-take moment with some comments on breasts in micro-gravity and multiple wives and thought - am I reading Heinlein? That said, otherwise it isn't painfully sexist (unlike Heinlein). Clark always does great with the science and that is present here. He plays a bit with some planet politics but it's baby version compared to something like Dune or Expanse. Still, it adds some depth. I definitely recommend this book!

The audiobook is terrible because the narrator reads so badly. Literally the worst I've heard. I set the speed to 1.35 to endure

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Interesting Setting but Uninteresting Reveal

Revisado: 08-07-18

Overall I enjoyed this book. It takes place in a period that fantasy usually doesn't. I was intrigued by the idea of the plant and was pulled along through the story wanting to know how it would all come out. The setting of archaeological digs was interesting and the author mixes in social norms of the period. There's a lot of focus on women's lack of power during this period, which seemed well-researched to me. I also liked the idea, at the end of what the tree really is.

That said, I was very disappointed that the author didn't actually follow through on what the book initially said the tree was. The book very much implies that the tree imparts knowledge that no one else would know. But the visions that she sees only have to do with her father's murder. It just doesn't make sense that the tree would be that sought -after if it wasn't really special knowledge.

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