Title: The Crimson Crown
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 4)
This book made me happy. Very, very happy. The Grey Wolf Throne was a disappointment due to pacing issues and the fact that the last 12 chapters of the book were just... eh. I was kinda nervous to pick this one up because it was 600 pages long and 37 chapters and I didn't want to have to drag myself through the last half of the book (or all of the book) just because I felt like I had to hear the series out. Luckily, this one felt like a flashback (in a good way) to The Demon King!
I was super into the story, I liked Han's chapters a lot better than in the previous book, and still liked Raisa's chapters as well! I felt like there was the appropriate amount of action in the right amount of time, and there was no drag or super boring parts where I lost interest. All in all, I felt like this series really redeemed itself with the final installment!
LIKES:
+ Han's chapters were much more interesting than in the last book! They focused less on being super obsessed and in love and all that and more on the actual plot and interesting details and stuff like that. Although he did get kinda gushy again in the last 7 chapters or so but we will just pretend that never happened.
+ Betrayal. Twists. Turns. Suspense. I was on the edge of my seat! (I wasn't actually, because there wasn't enough space, but if I could have been I would have!)
+ There was a lot more action in this book than the last one, but the pacing was slower, so it was pretty much perfect.
+ There was still more character development, which made me super happy. I hate it when characters become stagnant halfway through the series, and then just get super flat.
DISLIKES:
- Micah Bayar. If I had to describe him throughout the entire series it would consist of shortest paragraph ever. He said the same couple things over and over again and I was hoping there was some super deep reason to his evilness but it never got fully explained?
- I am secretly kinda evil and was hoping that at the end a certain character would die because it would be somewhat out there but they survived... (I haven't figured out a way to hide spoilers on this yet so bear with me as I work this out)
- Poor Han just cannot catch a break. I'm just saying
- The series ended. Which made me sad. Also the last 3 chapters really confused me, although it may have just been the sleep deprivation.
- I really didn't like that some characters were really rigid and unwilling to change, but then all of a sudden were still good friends with Raisa? They would have these diabolical plans and then Raise was totally cool with them still hanging around.
Overall I really liked this book and I felt like it pulled the series back together! I am definitely going to read Chima's other books, and hopefully they will be just as good! I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in fantasy and looking for a good read! Just plow through the third book and you will be good to go.
See this review on Goodreads. (Spoilers are hidden but included in my Goodreads review)
Showing posts with label seven realms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seven realms. Show all posts
Friday, August 4, 2017
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Book Review: The Grey Wolf Throne
Title: The Grey Wolf Throne
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 3)
I'm not going to lie, this book seriously disappointed me. The pacing problems that irritated me at the end of The Exiled Queen were prevalent and kind of ruined the story for me. I felt like there was way too much action crammed into this tiny stretch of time, and all the twists and turns were way too much for me. I felt like if the book had progressed at half the speed it actually did that it would have been much better. My hope is that in the next book these pacing issues are resolved and that it slows down to a safer speed.
I also really didn't like the fact that, despite all the action, nothing seemed to really happen in the book. People debated one action for 20 chapters, then made a certain decision. Then they debated another issue for 17 chapters and just kind of left it there to be addressed in the next book. I didn't feel nearly as drawn into the story as I did with the previous two installments. All in all, it felt like the pacing was too fast with not a lot of actual change or content.
LIKES:
+ Despite all the issues I had with it, I still felt attracted to the story. I still cared about what happened to the characters, and I still want to finish the series. Most of the time when I have similar issues with books I want to abandon the series altogether, but not with this one.
+ I liked Raisa's chapters a lot more in this book! I felt like I got to know her better as a character and got to see her develop more, and, besides the last couple of chapters, there was more emphasis on her feelings towards things other than guys.
+ I just liked Raisa more in this book in general. A lot more. I actually like her as a character now, versus being unsure about it earlier in the series. She seemed stronger, and more sure of herself and the actions she wanted to take. I also really liked her actions in the very end of the book.
+ The epilogue. Because it redeemed at least part of the book because in those very short 4 pages the writing seemed more like the first book (which, so far, has been my favorite). I also hated the ending of the book (it was super anticlimactic) but then the epilogue came and everything was kind of okay again.
DISLIKES:
- Han's chapters. After the "big reveal" that Rebecca is Raisa (which was kind of spoiled in the blurb?) he puts his blinders on and wallows in his anger/other negative emotions and it made me not like him as much. Hence why I preferred Raisa's chapters to his.
- The pacing of the book. I already touched on this, but I felt like it was much too fast, but not a lot actually happened in the action-packed chapters.
- The last 12 chapters of the book. Because this is when Raisa being obsessed with all the boys and Han being (kinda?) obsessed with all the girls comes back in full force and I wilted a little inside because I'm really not a fan.
- The cliffhanger because WHY. (I don't know if this is a valid dislike or not because it was part of the epilogue that I loved but...)
So, despite being seriously disappointed, I'm going to continue with the series and really hope that it returns to the awesomeness level of the first and second books. Because I checked out books 1-3 of The Heir Chronicles with my precious limited checkouts from Hoopla so...
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 3)
I'm not going to lie, this book seriously disappointed me. The pacing problems that irritated me at the end of The Exiled Queen were prevalent and kind of ruined the story for me. I felt like there was way too much action crammed into this tiny stretch of time, and all the twists and turns were way too much for me. I felt like if the book had progressed at half the speed it actually did that it would have been much better. My hope is that in the next book these pacing issues are resolved and that it slows down to a safer speed.
I also really didn't like the fact that, despite all the action, nothing seemed to really happen in the book. People debated one action for 20 chapters, then made a certain decision. Then they debated another issue for 17 chapters and just kind of left it there to be addressed in the next book. I didn't feel nearly as drawn into the story as I did with the previous two installments. All in all, it felt like the pacing was too fast with not a lot of actual change or content.
LIKES:
+ Despite all the issues I had with it, I still felt attracted to the story. I still cared about what happened to the characters, and I still want to finish the series. Most of the time when I have similar issues with books I want to abandon the series altogether, but not with this one.
+ I liked Raisa's chapters a lot more in this book! I felt like I got to know her better as a character and got to see her develop more, and, besides the last couple of chapters, there was more emphasis on her feelings towards things other than guys.
+ I just liked Raisa more in this book in general. A lot more. I actually like her as a character now, versus being unsure about it earlier in the series. She seemed stronger, and more sure of herself and the actions she wanted to take. I also really liked her actions in the very end of the book.
+ The epilogue. Because it redeemed at least part of the book because in those very short 4 pages the writing seemed more like the first book (which, so far, has been my favorite). I also hated the ending of the book (it was super anticlimactic) but then the epilogue came and everything was kind of okay again.
DISLIKES:
- Han's chapters. After the "big reveal" that Rebecca is Raisa (which was kind of spoiled in the blurb?) he puts his blinders on and wallows in his anger/other negative emotions and it made me not like him as much. Hence why I preferred Raisa's chapters to his.
- The pacing of the book. I already touched on this, but I felt like it was much too fast, but not a lot actually happened in the action-packed chapters.
- The last 12 chapters of the book. Because this is when Raisa being obsessed with all the boys and Han being (kinda?) obsessed with all the girls comes back in full force and I wilted a little inside because I'm really not a fan.
- The cliffhanger because WHY. (I don't know if this is a valid dislike or not because it was part of the epilogue that I loved but...)
So, despite being seriously disappointed, I'm going to continue with the series and really hope that it returns to the awesomeness level of the first and second books. Because I checked out books 1-3 of The Heir Chronicles with my precious limited checkouts from Hoopla so...
See this review on Goodreads.
Monday, July 31, 2017
Book Review: The Exiled Queen
Title: The Exiled Queen
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 2)
While I didn't like this as much as The Demon King, it was still a pretty good book and definitely an enjoyable read. I read 20 out of the 36 chapters before I finally convinced myself that I should do what I promised myself and actually study. I don't think studying the events of this book are going to help me pass my exams, but you never know. Maybe a question about the series will pop up on my science exam, it's possible (not).
This book basically takes up where The Demon King left off, but I think it really gives the reader a deeper insight into the characters of Han and Raisa. We get to learn about their experiences at this really awesome school that I want to go to (the classes sound so much more interesting than the curriculum at my school) and the struggles that both of them have balancing their past lives with their current ones. My favorite character is still Han, but I feel like I got to know Raisa a lot better in this book because her chapters were (somewhat) less boy-focused than in the previous installment and they focused more on her developing as a person and less as a princess (although because she is a princess I guess she is still developing as one but you get my drift).
I also really liked that we got to know some secondary characters better as well (Dancer, Amon, and a couple others) because it meant that their stories didn't get lost in the whole huge shuffle of things. I'm not going to lie, this series has a lot of action (at least so far) and it would be really easy to just throw away everyone but the main characters, but China does a great job of making sure to develop the secondary characters as well and even introduce some new ones that help Han and Raise develop as characters/people.
LIKES:
+ Less boy-craziness on Raisa's part and more of a focus on her getting to know the conditions in which other people live and how she can apply what she learns in school to ruling
+ The school, because if it was a real place I would totally go there because the classes sound super interesting or at least more fun than the ones that I am in right now...
+ Still dual narrators! I'm really glad that didn't go away and I hope it continues into the next book, especially because I love Han's POV more than Raisa's and if his went away...
+ Han is a wizard now. Who doesn't like wizards? Plus MAGIC.
+ Character development & more secondary characters! I feel like I got to know everybody's motives better and the story made way more sense
+ Action & plot-twists because those are (almost) always awesome
DISLIKES:
- The last couple chapters of the book. I felt like they were super rushed and it made me feel kinda panicked inside even though I had no reason to be. It was like the rest of the book was going at a reasonable 60 mph on a fun-curvy road and then decided to go 100 mph on this super confusing twisty windy road like what was with all the plot twists at the end? I feel like it would have been better if the book had kept that pace and maybe been a bit longer versus just speeding through the end.
- Love triangles. I'm just going to leave this one here.
So while I liked this book slightly less than the first one (I think mostly because of the ending and how it left me feeling rushed) I still loved it and am definitely going to continue the series! I'm so glad that I found another fantasy author to read and that the series is actually a decent length because nothing bothers me more than awesome series that end too soon. I'd definitely recommend this to basically anyone!
See this review on Goodreads.
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 2)
While I didn't like this as much as The Demon King, it was still a pretty good book and definitely an enjoyable read. I read 20 out of the 36 chapters before I finally convinced myself that I should do what I promised myself and actually study. I don't think studying the events of this book are going to help me pass my exams, but you never know. Maybe a question about the series will pop up on my science exam, it's possible (not).
This book basically takes up where The Demon King left off, but I think it really gives the reader a deeper insight into the characters of Han and Raisa. We get to learn about their experiences at this really awesome school that I want to go to (the classes sound so much more interesting than the curriculum at my school) and the struggles that both of them have balancing their past lives with their current ones. My favorite character is still Han, but I feel like I got to know Raisa a lot better in this book because her chapters were (somewhat) less boy-focused than in the previous installment and they focused more on her developing as a person and less as a princess (although because she is a princess I guess she is still developing as one but you get my drift).
I also really liked that we got to know some secondary characters better as well (Dancer, Amon, and a couple others) because it meant that their stories didn't get lost in the whole huge shuffle of things. I'm not going to lie, this series has a lot of action (at least so far) and it would be really easy to just throw away everyone but the main characters, but China does a great job of making sure to develop the secondary characters as well and even introduce some new ones that help Han and Raise develop as characters/people.
LIKES:
+ Less boy-craziness on Raisa's part and more of a focus on her getting to know the conditions in which other people live and how she can apply what she learns in school to ruling
+ The school, because if it was a real place I would totally go there because the classes sound super interesting or at least more fun than the ones that I am in right now...
+ Still dual narrators! I'm really glad that didn't go away and I hope it continues into the next book, especially because I love Han's POV more than Raisa's and if his went away...
+ Han is a wizard now. Who doesn't like wizards? Plus MAGIC.
+ Character development & more secondary characters! I feel like I got to know everybody's motives better and the story made way more sense
+ Action & plot-twists because those are (almost) always awesome
DISLIKES:
- The last couple chapters of the book. I felt like they were super rushed and it made me feel kinda panicked inside even though I had no reason to be. It was like the rest of the book was going at a reasonable 60 mph on a fun-curvy road and then decided to go 100 mph on this super confusing twisty windy road like what was with all the plot twists at the end? I feel like it would have been better if the book had kept that pace and maybe been a bit longer versus just speeding through the end.
- Love triangles. I'm just going to leave this one here.
So while I liked this book slightly less than the first one (I think mostly because of the ending and how it left me feeling rushed) I still loved it and am definitely going to continue the series! I'm so glad that I found another fantasy author to read and that the series is actually a decent length because nothing bothers me more than awesome series that end too soon. I'd definitely recommend this to basically anyone!
See this review on Goodreads.
Book Review: The Demon King
Title: The Demon King
Author: Cinda William Cima
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Series: Seven Realms (Book 1)
I became acquainted with this book after I recently discovered Hoopla (and by recently discovered I mean that it’s been around for ages but I was too lazy to figure out what it actually was) and was scrolling through the YA fantasy section at my kitchen table instead of, you know, studying or something productive. The cover was what attracted me, but the good ratings on Goodreads didn’t hurt either (and yes, I research my books before I read them…sometimes…). Let’s just say that Hoopla/Goodreads/cover judging didn’t let me down—I loved this book. It was fast enough that I wasn’t bored, yet didn’t rush through the plot like a lot of books that I’ve read recently. The story sucked me in, and instead of duel-reading it with Dreams of Gods and Monsters like I was planning, I wound up reading it all the way through by itself. Whoops. The only major complaint I had was the romance, since it felt like it didn’t fit into the story all the way and both Han and Raisa seemed to fall in love with every single person of the opposite sex that they met. Also, a lot of these romances didn’t seem super well-developed, and I was left trying to figure out when so-and-so came into the picture and how they fit. Then again, I am not a fan of romance by any means so maybe I’m just being picky.
LIKES:
+ Wizards and magic. You can rarely go wrong with wizards and magic (I would say never but I just *tried* to read a trilogy with wizards and magic and it was awful and I wound up not finishing… two books was enough)
+ Fast-paced plot but not so fast that it felt like I was on a runaway train
+ Duel narrators! I love it when a novel is narrated from more than one character’s perspective because I feel like it helps provide a more comprehensive view of the story. Like 360 degree YouTube videos but for books? Not sure exactly how to describe it but I like it.
+ The fact that one of the narrators is a guy. Most of the books I’ve been reading recently (excluding Strange the Dreamer) don’t have male narrators and all the male characters are love interests. It’s nice to have a male character with some actual character development even if, like I said, he falls in love with almost every girl he meets…
+ I liked how Raisa was more down-to-earth than a lot of stereotypical princesses. The development of her character after being exposed to people less fortunate than she was really interesting and I liked it. However…
DISLIKES:
- I didn’t like that Raisa was more down-to-earth than a lot of stereotypical princesses because I just read another book with the same deal going on and it reminded me too much of that. Maybe it was just bad timing for this book, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Also, it wasn’t really a gradual transformation.
- Han fell in love with almost every girl he met and Raisa fell in love with almost every guy she met. It was really confusing and frustrating, especially since there seemed to be no valid reasons for them loving the people that they did. I feel like there was a whole chapter on how these romances developed that I skipped. Also, I feel like the romance was forced, it didn’t really seem to fit with the rest of the story and was just awkward.
- The end of the book felt rushed to me. The rest of the book was at a nice pace but all of a sudden 20 different things happened at the very end of the book leaving me feeling confused and a little robbed.
Overall I really liked this book! It was super interesting, full of action, and had MAGIC <3. I’m definitely going to continue reading this series and probably all of Cinda Williams Cima’s other books. Because by TBR isn’t big enough already.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)