Dragons, Queens, Witches, Pirates, Romance

It starts a bit slow but it is so so so so good. Best story I "read" in a long long time. I'm utterly in love with it and wish I could hear it again for the first time.

3 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Disappointing and very hard to follow

as much as this was a nice tribute to women in general, it was incredibly hard to follow and I feel like it was missing a proper character development and fluidity to the story

3 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Great modern fantasy!

Great modern fantasy with great characters. As with every fantasy it takes a while to get to know the characters, but you'll get there soon enough and then you can't get enough of them.

2 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Great Tale

I absolutely loved this book. at first it was a bit slow as most fantasy books are but it's a great story with an even better performer. I enjoyed it so much that I had to google if the performer narrated anything else (she didn't).

2 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Incredibly rich, deep, entertaining story...

... read by an excellent narrator! This novel is in the top 1%, no doubt.

2 Leute fanden das hilfreich

Wonderous fantasy, well written, amazing character

I especially loved the female leads and the queer characters. This is the fantasy genre at its best. I also like that it's for adults and not a YA novel like so many of this genre, neither is it dripping in excessive violence.

Flat narrator

Maybe I should've kept reading the book instead of switching to the audiobook but alas... 800 pages, you know?
The narrator read very flat and it was hard to keep characters apart because everyone sounded the same. And when the narrator did change their voice to read certain characters it sounded like the narrator was mocking them.
The story in itself was interesting but I didn't feel connected to the characters because the writing was rather full of telling and no showing. It made me feel like reading a history book which is not the vibe I enjoy.
I think I would've enjoyed the book more if I had read it physically but now it's too late.
At least the book looks pretty on my bookshelf?

Intimidating to start but definitely worth your time

SPOILERS AHEAD!!
What I liked so far:
- Loth being the "damsel", the naive rich guy with a heart of gold that gets to become a "badass" - this arch is mostly reserved for women and it is refreshing to see it in a man, especially someone that is as sympathetic as Loth
- Ead is tough but also kind and with her own emotions. She's a badass and her expertise at court often let me forget how much of a skilled mage she is. Her love for Sabran was something I felt deep within my soul
- I love that Loth and Ead are not fulfilling the trope that would see them fall in love, but they form a symbiosis know as "dumb-of-ass and pure-of-heart PLUS the lesbian", I saw it on TikTok and thought of them
- Not every POV character needs to be likeable and it is sometimes even fun if they do the wrong thing and justify it to themselves, Niclays is a good example, but the author lets you warm up to him and learn to respect him.
- Tané is a bit more closed off but her determination is admirable and I really liked the way her character was developed. Her honesty was refreshing after I expected her to lie to not face consequences for her actions.
- Tané is some very solid AroAce representation, because while she is not interested in romance or the like, she is passionate about her friends and her goals. Usually AroAce characters get the Varys (Game of Thrones) treatment, e.g. scheming, manipulating and "intransparent" (because they are not driven by s*x, so what ever else could they want in life?!?!). I appreciate, that the author went another way.
- The characters are fascinating, from the Lady Of The Woods to Aubrecht, Meg and the Prioress to name a few
- The narrator of the audiobook is phaenomenal, I like the way she voices Niclays and Ead the most.

What I struggled with:
- The length of the book was intimidating at first
- The first 100 pages were rough to get through, as there were so many names and places and all, I put the book aside and picket it up again a year later just to be sucked in and amazed.

an epic tale!

i loved the story but the biggest praises have to go the narrator! she read over 800 pages with made up words and her performance was glorious. the different accents and voices she gave to characters really enriched this story and helped immerse myself in the story even more! definitely a new favorite

Stunning fantasy, weird "evil" voices

Loved the book, best fantasy I read in a long while, maybe ever. Beautifully written, breathtaking characters.
I also liked the narrator, I really enjoyed her pronunciation and her rendition of the main characters voices. One thing I really disliked though, are her voices of the dragons, Caliba and a few other characters. She tries to make epic, deep and different voices, but to me it sounds weird and kinda funny. It sometimes really threw me out of the atmosphere, because I had to laugh at the "epic voice".