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(I apologize in advance for the cursing and general vexation in this semi review)

GOD DAMMIT ALL TO THE FARTHEST REACHES OF LITERARY HELL.

I thought that this book would help me lose my obsession with fanfiction, it SOUNDED perfectly suited to me, but DAMMIT.

Look this book...I find the cover engaging, I found the entire idea of the "Chosen" intriguing, I thought it started decent well since hey I live by my routines to ignore my pain too. I get it Leonie. I really so.

But it fell off the rails pretty quick.

Firstly let's talk about repetition and why if I notice it, that means it's too much. No less than four different ways did Leonie tell the reader (yes tell, when it could have easily been shown) how not PEOPLE people her and her father are. They're not social types guys. They don't randomly chat neighbors up. in fact they try to never see their neighbors.

See that redundancy there? That's what it felt like in the first 3% of the book. Leonie TELLS US THIS when really her actions spoke well for it. Leonie's routine, which she assures us, ad nauseum is what she does every day, doesn't include friends or talking to classmates. her solitary walk every morning means she goes it alone. her lack of caring she left her phone behind is a pretty good indicator in today's YA that she isn't tied to it waiting for all her friends to call.

If she had mentioned just once that she isn't social, then relied on the reader to infer just how NOT social she is thru her normal activities I would have been delighted.

Second, and this is a personal pet peeve, but her bloody father is a seer right? Such so that he knows where to find her when she's distressed. Here's a thought--don't let your soon to be incapacitated daughter travel either alone or without her phone during "the worst snow" in history for North Yorkshire. I'm not saying tell her not to go, I'm saying be a NORMAL concerned parent and remind her about her phone or offer to walk with her since you're going to town. Ya don't need powers to think of that.

and to round this out, Leonie annoyed me. Look her past is rough. Got it. She's anti-social so normal teen shit doesn't come easy. Got it. She's freaked out about this major secret her dad kept from her. Got that too. But my gods the pessimism this girl spouted both in her head and out loud made me want to stab her. She's disrespectful of everyone (even her dad before the secret is out), prickly when even I--reading as I am from her POV--could tell the person meant well and just.. miserable that I felt myself falling into that dark hole.
… (més)
 
Marcat
lexilewords | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | Dec 28, 2023 |
Featuring a strong, heroic female character -- even though she doesn't have her powers yet!

But first, I must confess: a chapter into the book, I was worried. I didn't really know what was going on, Leonie didn't really know what was going on, and nobody was explaining anything. There was an actual comparison to a girl getting her first period and thinking she's dying. Please, God, no.

Fortunately, the second chapter switched perspective, and just in time. The POV of a non-human character (a "kytaen") pulled me out of the sticky teenage angst for long enough to invest (slightly) in the outcome of the fight that seemed to be coming.

By the time we went back to Leonie, the magic of the new world had started to take shape. I was hooked -- I wanted to see her meet the kytaen, I wanted to find out what her new powers would be, and I wanted to know more about the magical world the author had built.

A couple of notes on the content:

Romance: virtually none (a little cuddling that could be entirely platonic is about as far as it goes). Leonie is supposed to be 17, but she acts younger. She blushes regularly, but never seems to have any sexual thoughts or desires.

Violence: quite a bit of death, some of it rather gory, and some discussion of teen suicide. I thought the latter was handled extremely well, but it's a mature theme for some readers.

Social themes: I loved that Leonie was a fiercely independent character, even when it was clear she didn't (yet) have the physical powers necessary to take care of everything herself. And she instinctively rebels against the "racism" of treating kytaens as lesser beings simply because they're not human. Family and friends are extremely important to Leonie, almost to a fault. All in all, she's a pretty good role model.


I received a copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
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BraveNewBks | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | Aug 8, 2017 |
Read this book a while back, so I'm doing this review from memory. Overall a good book, very creative and ingenuitive plot line. Romance was involved, but could have been better intertwined with the plot. Great cliff hanger ending, almost a little too strong. Definitely worth rereading. Fine attention to detail was placed in the setting/weather.
 
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Brygitt.Pfaff | Hi ha 3 ressenyes més | Mar 9, 2017 |
Original reading dates: Dec. 12-14, 2015
Actual rating: 4.5

Dear Leonie,

You foolish, foolish girl.When someone stabs you in the back once, then you can be sure that they're going to stab you again no matter how many platitudes they give you nor how much they promise that they're going to help you. You have to be wary with this kind of people. Betrayal is a painful thing, I know that very well, and it will only get worse from now. You did unleash an unknown evil from an unknown, clearly evil urn. I thought you've watched The Mummy? But you have to heed your father (even if he was not a very good one), you just have to be yourself.

Full review at Whatever You Can Still Betray.
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Re-read rating: 4.5/5

I am still over the moon with Leonie's and Korren's relationship.
… (més)
½
 
Marcat
Ayanami_Faerudo | Sep 12, 2016 |

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