Author: Freedom Matthews
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Oftomes Publishing
Language: Anglais
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
Release: 12 july 2016
Price: 3,99€(ebook); £12,99 (~15,24€) (paperback)
Blurb:
If saying 'I love you' meant death, would you still say it?
The Wilted Rose, of faery tale and folklore, is a pirate ship filled with unfortunate souls—each forbidden to love. One such soul is Valencia 'Lennie' Roux. Raised in a brothel and an heir to a curse, Lennie never expected to pique the interest of any man. Yet with the arrival of vivid-eyed Nathaniel, she is torn between wanting to know him better and fearing what that knowledge would mean.
With Nathaniel bringing the crew's total to six, the Wilted Rose sets off in search of the remaining two heirs. They hope that in reuniting, they will convince the faery Sorceress responsible for the curse to end it. However lurking beneath the water is a long standing enemy of the Wilted Rose—who is determined to thwart their quest and bring down its leaders.
Together the eight heirs fight for survival, friendship, and love.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Oftomes Publishing
Language: Anglais
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
Release: 12 july 2016
Price: 3,99€(ebook); £12,99 (~15,24€) (paperback)
Blurb:
If saying 'I love you' meant death, would you still say it?
The Wilted Rose, of faery tale and folklore, is a pirate ship filled with unfortunate souls—each forbidden to love. One such soul is Valencia 'Lennie' Roux. Raised in a brothel and an heir to a curse, Lennie never expected to pique the interest of any man. Yet with the arrival of vivid-eyed Nathaniel, she is torn between wanting to know him better and fearing what that knowledge would mean.
With Nathaniel bringing the crew's total to six, the Wilted Rose sets off in search of the remaining two heirs. They hope that in reuniting, they will convince the faery Sorceress responsible for the curse to end it. However lurking beneath the water is a long standing enemy of the Wilted Rose—who is determined to thwart their quest and bring down its leaders.
Together the eight heirs fight for survival, friendship, and love.
My review :
OK, to tell you the truth I had incredible difficulties finishing this book. I wanted to DNF it, but I guess I’m still not in this mature place where I can leave a book unfinished without wondering what happened to the characters. So, even though it took me ages, I finished it. There will be spoilers, because I can’t explain everything without it. Sorry, guys.
The book starts with an introductory chapter that, although relevant to Lennie, our heroine, doesn’t seem to be linked clearly to the rest of the book, and certainly not to chapter one. I think that it gave a tone that wasn’t really followed through in the book.
The story is written in first person through Lennie’s eyes, and she is the kind of character that really reflects a lot. Too much, to tell the truth. The other characters didn’t seem really fleshed out to me. They had some personality but I never really got to know them as people. Lennie is always described by the other characters as someone strong but I didn’t really perceive her that way. She has no confidence, everything is a front. She’s supposed to be a master sworsds(wo)man, but she is pretty easily in difficulty in a lot of fights throughout the book.
Nathaniel is the newcomer arriving on their pirate ship in the first chapter and soon seems to be interested in her. The way their relationship evolves didn’t really seem natural to me. They have two conversations and seem to be already on the verge of feelings really too deep to be based on anything but looks. (To tell the truth, in the beginning I thought he would turn out to be a villain...)
Although the author has a nice style, the storytelling is jerky. Sometimes, few things happen and then a lot happens at once. Seems normal, you would think, since there has to be some character development to go with the action, but it’s not really what happens. The calm moments are spent in Lennie’s reflections and not much else.
The reason for the curse is flimsy at best and the way it’s resolved didn’t make any sense to me. I thought it was going the main goal in this book, but to tell the truth I didn’t even know what was the real purpose of this story except to have a lot of things happen to the characters without any explanation.
Once, Lennie founds herself in a really tricky situation that really kinda makes you want to grip the edge of your seat, but since a sort of ‘prophecy’ was made some time before concerning those same events, you already know what will happen, so this scene lost all its punch potential even before it happened.
Two characters were sacrificed in a way that didn’t further the plot at all, except to create a moment of drama. Or well, that’s a guess on my part, because I didn’t understand the first one at all, and the second one I kinda saw coming and it kinda made me want to give a forced laugh. Not the reaction it was supposed to get, I’m sure...
Hadnaloy, the villain of this story has an interesting story but isn’t really fleshed out, she seems kinda one dimensional, well, like the rest of the characters, I guess. The way she is defeated doesn’t make any sense to me, because it makes the characters’ journey redundant. It could have been done since the beginning, the way I see it, without including our heroes.
In conclusion, the characterization of everyone except the heroine seemed flimsy, the storytelling rhythm was jerky, the way some things happened seemed forced and the romance was kinda far-fetched. Not a book for me at all.
OK, to tell you the truth I had incredible difficulties finishing this book. I wanted to DNF it, but I guess I’m still not in this mature place where I can leave a book unfinished without wondering what happened to the characters. So, even though it took me ages, I finished it. There will be spoilers, because I can’t explain everything without it. Sorry, guys.
The book starts with an introductory chapter that, although relevant to Lennie, our heroine, doesn’t seem to be linked clearly to the rest of the book, and certainly not to chapter one. I think that it gave a tone that wasn’t really followed through in the book.
The story is written in first person through Lennie’s eyes, and she is the kind of character that really reflects a lot. Too much, to tell the truth. The other characters didn’t seem really fleshed out to me. They had some personality but I never really got to know them as people. Lennie is always described by the other characters as someone strong but I didn’t really perceive her that way. She has no confidence, everything is a front. She’s supposed to be a master sworsds(wo)man, but she is pretty easily in difficulty in a lot of fights throughout the book.
Nathaniel is the newcomer arriving on their pirate ship in the first chapter and soon seems to be interested in her. The way their relationship evolves didn’t really seem natural to me. They have two conversations and seem to be already on the verge of feelings really too deep to be based on anything but looks. (To tell the truth, in the beginning I thought he would turn out to be a villain...)
Although the author has a nice style, the storytelling is jerky. Sometimes, few things happen and then a lot happens at once. Seems normal, you would think, since there has to be some character development to go with the action, but it’s not really what happens. The calm moments are spent in Lennie’s reflections and not much else.
The reason for the curse is flimsy at best and the way it’s resolved didn’t make any sense to me. I thought it was going the main goal in this book, but to tell the truth I didn’t even know what was the real purpose of this story except to have a lot of things happen to the characters without any explanation.
Once, Lennie founds herself in a really tricky situation that really kinda makes you want to grip the edge of your seat, but since a sort of ‘prophecy’ was made some time before concerning those same events, you already know what will happen, so this scene lost all its punch potential even before it happened.
Two characters were sacrificed in a way that didn’t further the plot at all, except to create a moment of drama. Or well, that’s a guess on my part, because I didn’t understand the first one at all, and the second one I kinda saw coming and it kinda made me want to give a forced laugh. Not the reaction it was supposed to get, I’m sure...
Hadnaloy, the villain of this story has an interesting story but isn’t really fleshed out, she seems kinda one dimensional, well, like the rest of the characters, I guess. The way she is defeated doesn’t make any sense to me, because it makes the characters’ journey redundant. It could have been done since the beginning, the way I see it, without including our heroes.
In conclusion, the characterization of everyone except the heroine seemed flimsy, the storytelling rhythm was jerky, the way some things happened seemed forced and the romance was kinda far-fetched. Not a book for me at all.
The series - Curses of VIII:
0.5. Into the Forest
1. Inherited
2.
{??}
About Freedom Matthews
Freedom is a twenty-something book hoarder with a fondness for all things vintage. She lives in rural Hampshire, UK, with a hotchpotch of family members, ponies and wonky bookshelves. Creating stories has been a passion since before she can remember, and she has been consciously writing since she was 14 years old. An introverted and shy girl, Freedom found her voice in imaginary worlds and has continued to do so…
0.5. Into the Forest
1. Inherited
2.
{??}
Freedom is a twenty-something book hoarder with a fondness for all things vintage. She lives in rural Hampshire, UK, with a hotchpotch of family members, ponies and wonky bookshelves. Creating stories has been a passion since before she can remember, and she has been consciously writing since she was 14 years old. An introverted and shy girl, Freedom found her voice in imaginary worlds and has continued to do so…
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