Still suffering from a major cringe whenever someone is trying to use Slavic names and mixes them up with made up Slavic names, but still a very pleasStill suffering from a major cringe whenever someone is trying to use Slavic names and mixes them up with made up Slavic names, but still a very pleasant read. Actually 3,5 stars, but I'm feeling generous today....more
So. I love Meyer and I love retellings, I was so happy to accidentally find this book and then three stars? What the hell happened?
First, the pacing oSo. I love Meyer and I love retellings, I was so happy to accidentally find this book and then three stars? What the hell happened?
First, the pacing of the novel is off. You have moments when you are really captivated - if you don’t mind retellings, playing with them and mixing them - and moments when you just skip to the end through fillers. Meyer tried to populate her novel with a vast world of characters, which is admirable, buuuuut most of the characters are just boring and waste of paper, sorry, pixels. This book should be MUCH shorter.
Second, she mixes up a few fairytales and sometimes it feels artificial, something I never had with Meyer’s novels. I would be happier with less tales, more plot, thank you.
Third, the personal arc of the main character is quite chaotic, she feels pushed from “one side of the map to the other” and at some point it gets annoying.
Don’t get me wrong, I stayed up VERY late to finish it, I still liked it etc. I just expected more from Meyer. ...more
I just wanted a light summer read, and got hit in the head instead...
There are many things I can forgive a book. Lousy world building, one dimensionalI just wanted a light summer read, and got hit in the head instead...
There are many things I can forgive a book. Lousy world building, one dimensional characters, crappy dialogue... Really, I'm a forgiving spirit. Give me some sense of humour, someone to like and a story to enjoy, and I'm in.
BUT. In this book there is literally nothing to like. The main character is as sloppy as it gets, the love interest is a walking and talking cliché, world building is basically non existent. Technically, story takes place in Scotland in late 19th century and the author marks that by using 5 Scottish words and sending characters to a ball :D Seriously, if you want to write a period piece, do your research.
Up to 40% of the book nothing happened, then for a few pages I got a little bit interested, and then again nothing. Boo. Even the finale grande was so obvious and stiff that I was just happy to finish with this piece of boredom.
I honestly don’t know whether I even liked this book. It had me tired with namedrop world building from the very beginning, it became so bad at some pI honestly don’t know whether I even liked this book. It had me tired with namedrop world building from the very beginning, it became so bad at some point that I just started to skip forward and stopped paying attention to, well, names. The story was rather basic, fairytale like, with cheaply poetic dictionary in the background. But I finished and I had fun, so it couldn’t be that bad. ...more
This will be one review for the whole series because it does not deserve better.
OMG. Why this was SO bad.
I often read shitty stuff, seriously, not aThis will be one review for the whole series because it does not deserve better.
OMG. Why this was SO bad.
I often read shitty stuff, seriously, not all my books are Pulitzer candidates.
But THIS.
The main character is not only badly written, but also awful as a person, doing awful things, being self-centered a-hole all the time and still getting all the love. The story arc is as toxic as it gets in old YA, and I kept reading hoping that the author will give us some Bardugo-like twist, making the characters see their mistakes, immaturity, whatever, and finish the story with something actually making sense. But no, thank you, it was bad till the end.
It was not even guilty pleasure, I had no pleasure reading this....more
What a MASSIVE disappointment. I sat down to read a nice retelling, and got really lousy written young adult romance.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big faWhat a MASSIVE disappointment. I sat down to read a nice retelling, and got really lousy written young adult romance.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of young adult.
But. You don't build a relationship- any kind of relationship- between the characters by writing "We became friends in the next two years". That's just being lazy. And the retelling part? Taking a story and retelling it in an interesting way requires skill. Here there was no world-building behind the name dump, no character building behind people being nice or bad or talented. The only imaginative things came from... Well, the story that was being retold.
I only gave this book two stars because one star is reserved for super-crappy books. This one was just super-boring. ...more
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