The book delivered exactly what it was expected to. I like that it makes the effort to appeal to contemporary romance lovers and to those who love hisThe book delivered exactly what it was expected to. I like that it makes the effort to appeal to contemporary romance lovers and to those who love historical romances. Very spicy. Proceed at your own risk. Youngsters not allowed.
Merged review:
The book delivered exactly what it was expected to. I like that it makes the effort to appeal to contemporary romance lovers and to those who love historical romances. Very spicy. Proceed at your own risk. Youngsters not allowed....more
Rounded down from 3.5 stars. Arca follows the journey of Effie, a slavegirl, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world, aboard a spaceship bound for Eden, Rounded down from 3.5 stars. Arca follows the journey of Effie, a slavegirl, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world, aboard a spaceship bound for Eden, after the Earth becomes inhospitable for humans. Effie is strong, sharp-minded and very observant. This is a world where nothing is how it seems and Effie must uncover the truths that lie beyond her reach. The book deals, most primarily, with the class system and the manner in which the rich exploit those without the privileges that they have. This book couldn't have screamed "eat the rich" any louder. Its dystopian vibes are very reminiscent of The Hunger Games and the manner in which the rich from the Capitol treated the people from the Districts. The sci-fi bits of the book are pretty straightforward, with no complex ideas that would seem too tough to understand for a novice to the genre. No throwing "quantum" or "nuclear" in front of every damn word just to complicate matters. The art is pretty great but the copy that I read still has a lot of colouring left to do and that certainly affected how much fun I had... but the bits with colour were gorgeous and I'm sure once the colouring is finished for the entire book, this would be a great read. I will say this, the number of questions that still remain unanswered in this book is pretty high. None of those questions I can mention here due to the heavy spoilers that they would give away. I don't think this is a series, but if it was, I would've really liked to know why certain things happened, why they happened, and what happens next... too many questions....more
Based on the synopsis, I had high hopes for this book. It did not deliver at all. I am a big fan of stories with women going absolutely feral, but CamBased on the synopsis, I had high hopes for this book. It did not deliver at all. I am a big fan of stories with women going absolutely feral, but Camilla is not a protagonist who can make you support her rights and wrongs. I was unable to root for her, and I certainly wasn't able to find any big thrills in the novel. She is an unreliable narrator and a murderer who believes what she's doing is justified... and I absolutely love to read about that kind of psycho character... but unfortunately, Camilla just does not give me the thrill that such characters usually do. There is absolutely no need for a grey character to be sympathetic, but (s)he should have at least something in her perspective, that a reader can connect with or understand his/her twisted logic (not accept but at least understand) but that simply wasn't present here... that je ne sais quoi that a character like this needs was not found in Camilla.
Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book
PS: the amount of name-drops for big brands in this book... way, way, way too much....more
Rounded up from 3.5 stars. First, let us just get the most obvious point out of the way. Yes, this has severe Harry Potter vibes. Now that doesn't haveRounded up from 3.5 stars. First, let us just get the most obvious point out of the way. Yes, this has severe Harry Potter vibes. Now that doesn't have to be a very good or a very bad thing. In this case, it was complex. In some places it felt amazing to get the nostalgic feeling of Hogwarts taking over but - a book needs to be mostly original (unless it is an actual retelling) for it to fully work. The amount of parallels I can draw from that series is astounding. Not necessarily in the best way. Too many similarities I'd say. The vibes are good, don't get me wrong - they just seem a tad bit more similar than they ought to be.
What worked in this book? Well, Ivy is pretty awesome. A middle-grade fantasy series with a female lead is not something as common as one might want it to be and for a rare entity, you have higher expectations. And Ivy delivered. The world-building is good and I do absolutely admire the original aspects that the author has brought to the book. A very intriguing fmc and an enigmatic female villain that we know pretty much nothing about yet, even after book one - two BIG wins in my opinion honestly. It really is interesting to learn about Ivy's past and I do want to find out what is up here and why the villain became the villain.
I felt that the writing was slightly anachronistic for the setting. Certain words and phrases don't actually fit in with the otherworldly, fantasy space that this was set in.
Thank you Netgalley and D.E.Night for giving me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review....more
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