Ana
The author gifted me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
Let's start with the setting. This story centres a classic fantasy setting, with different races such as humans, elves, dwarves and other creatures like, a dragon. The magic isn't really explored in this first book, which left me quite disappointed, I like when magic systems are explored, I want to understand them. However, in this world we do have religious groups that are very prominent in the story, something that I truly enjoy.
The story also has a very classic fantasy feeling to it. It's a quest centred story where a very unlikely group of characters have to team up and go on a quest to fight off a dragon. One is going in the hopes of restoring his honour, another was present in the dragon attack in the north, and she's the only clue that they have of the dragon's whereabouts. Lastly, a young boy goes because he wanted to leave his small town. The premise seems interesting, but my main issue was how slow the pacing was. We spent the entirety of the book following them throughout their journey, but not only did they not get to the dragon; the story barely had any action that made the plot move forward. I know this is the first book in a trilogy, but I found myself bored throughout the book.
We follow three POVs. A disgraced soldier, a half elf and half dwarf young man that lives in a small town and a young women, daughter of an important noble that ran away from home. In my opinion, it was quite difficult to distinguish these three characters in their mannerisms for they were all quite similar. Their sense of humour was witty, sarcastic and rude, which made it difficult to distinguish them. Plus, the secondary characters also suffered from this, it felt like everyone was the same. Not only that, but the characters weren't memorable or different from any others that I've encountered.
The antagonist is rather plain; his motives are to gain power through religion and the appearance of the dragon. Although the reason behind his actions is quite common in fantasy books, the antagonist could've had more presence and his plans could've been more detailed. In my opinion, it was too obvious why he was doing what he was doing and there wasn't much scheming or planning that made his actions interesting or intriguing to me.
Overall, I think this book would've benefited if it was longer, more detailed and the story had more plans or reveals that made the companies travelling more interesting.
O autor disponibilizou-me a cópia de um livro em troca de uma review honesta!
Oliver Nightfall é um livro fantástico que tem lugar no nosso mundo, é uma fantasia com um setting urbano. Ao ler este livro consegui aperceber-me das inspirações que o autor teve na criação do mundo e sistema mágico, nomeadamente Harry Potter e Avatar: The Last Airbender. Aqueles que têm habilidades são encaminhados para uma escola mágica, Aethercrest, dividida em quatro casas, dependendo da magia de cada um. O sistema mágico é uma inspiração clara de Avatar, é um sistema baseado nos quatro elementos, algo de que gosto muito e me divirto sempre a ler. Porém, o setting urbano não é, pessoalmente, algo de que goste muito, dou sempre preferência a um mundo completamente novo. Em suma, o mundo foi bem criado e estruturado.
Quanto à história, Oliver Nightfall descobre que consegue controlar o fogo e é convidado a entrar em Aethercrest. Ele aceita o convite de forma a poder controlar os seus poderes para não magoar mais ninguém e aí começa a sua jornada. Contudo, a escola está em constante ameaça do Culto Obscuro, um Culto liderado pelo Auradon Morgan. Oliver terá de evoluir rapidamente nas suas habilidades de forma a proteger-se a si e aos seus amigos. Na minha opnião, o autor precisa de melhorar a estrutura da história e o seu ritmo. Oliver entra demasiado rápido na escola, não chegamos sequer a conhecer, de forma um pouco aprofundada, a sua rotina normal e como interage com os seus amigos no quotidiano. Além disso, os obstáculos colocados pelo autor são facilmente superados, nunca deixando o leitor em dúvidas de que algo de mal possa acontecer, sabemos que tudo irá ficar bem. Resumindo, o ritmo da história é demasiado acelerado em alguns momentos e a evolução de Oliver também, sendo que haverá mais livros nesta saga.
Consequentemente, as personagens também não são bem desenvolvidas. Oliver tem um melhor amigo que, por coincidência, também é um invocador, neste caso de água. Todavia, não vejo assim uma grande amizade entre eles e não partilham muitos momentos juntos. Oliver passa mais tempo com a nova amiga e futuro interesse amoroso Orquídea, uma invocadora de vento. A dinâmica entre as personagens precisa de ser um pouco mais trabalhada e acho que beneficiariam de alguns momentos rotineiros, ou seja, ver a sua dinâmica no dia a dia ajudaria a que os seus relacionamentos fossem mais credíveis.
No que diz respeito à escrita, o autor fez um bom trabalho. Este livro é direcionado para jovens adultos e a escrita é adequada a essa audiência. É uma escrita fácil de se seguir, com boas descrições da escola, do local onde se encontram e do que está a acontecer, o que faz com que o leitor consiga mergulhar no mundo. No entanto, o autor deveria mostrar mais alguns acontecimentos como, por exemplo, mostrar ao leitor os treinos de Oliver de forma a acompanharmos a sua evolução. Mostrar os treinos é mais eficaz do que dizer ao leitor que o Oliver treinou muito e agora consegue fazer bolas de fogo e controla-las facilmente, quando há pouco tempo não o conseguia fazer.
Os temas deste livro giram em torno da importância da amizade e do esforço. Oliver demonstra que mesmo sem saber controlar a sua magia e estar muito atrás dos restantes, é possível alcançar os outros com esforço, treino e dedicação.
Concluindo, o mundo, escrita e tema foram das coisas que mais gostei neste primeiro livro. Tal como referi, o autor necessita de melhorar na história e personagens e espero que o segundo livro seja melhor, fico à espera!
“The Crowns of Croswald” is the first book in The Crowns of Croswald series, inserted in the middle grade literary genre, written by D.E Night. I was contacted by her publicist, Daniela, and they offered me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The concept of this book revolves around a school of magic, The Ivy Halls, where several students who have a gift for magic are invited to study and develop their skills. There are two categories of magic manifestation, and all young nobles are entitled to a crown with a stone that gives them a specific ability, having to learn how to use it. On the other hand, we have those who can become scrivenists, magicians with the ability to draw everything they see with precision, having a photographic memory, and the function of studying and writing about all their discoveries in order to contribute to the advancement of magic. In addition, each noble family is assigned a scrivenist. This concept was well developed in the book, it was what enchanted me the most, because throughout my reading I always felt that I was in a magical and joyful world, being able to immerse myself in it. That's why I give the concept two stars.
As for the story, we follow the point of view of Ivy Lovely, a sixteen-year-old girl who has the qualities of a scrivenist having, since childhood, a photographic memory and a talent for drawing everything she sees or remembers. At the beginning of the story, Ivy lives in a small village as a baker, having no friends, only Rimbrick, a dwarf who tells her several stories from different places. However, her adventure begins when she is fired and banished from the bakery and, with nowhere to go, Ivy walks with no destination in mind, but a strange person finds her and takes her to the school of magic, The Ivy Halls, stating that he had been looking for her for a long time. Entering the school, Ivy studies to one day become a scrivenist, but fate awaits her something else, something she could never have imagined. Overall the story was entertaining, easy to read and fun, the plot twists weren't surprising, I was expecting them all, making it a bit predictable. One star.
The protagonist of this story is Ivy Lovely, a sixteen-year-old girl who has always lived in the small village where she works as a baker. Despite not liking the life she leads, Ivy is still an optimistic, fun, empathetic, friendly and kind young woman, helping everyone whenever she can. One of her passions is drawing everything she sees, dreaming of studying to be a scrivenist at the Halls of Ivy. Ivy made the story even more magical, as we follow her school adventures, she is enchanted and impressed by everything she sees, bringing the magical atmosphere of the book to life. I give one star.
On the other hand, the antagonist of this story is the Dark Queen, the queen of Croswald. She is portrayed as a mysterious woman, as none of her subjects have seen her, no one knows what she looks like, spending most of her time in the palace, only going out in her carriage when necessary. I liked this mysterious element, however she almost never appears throughout the story and in the end I was a little disappointed because the confrontation between her and Ivy ended in a predictable and convenient way. Zero stars.
Finally, we have several secondary characters such as Fyn, Rebecca, Winsom and Rimbrick. Fyn is Ivy's love interest, having met him at one of the student scrivenist supply stores. He's older than she is, being a third grader, and overall a polite and friendly person, but I felt he didn't have much of a personality or anything to set him apart. On the contrary, Rebecca is Ivy's roommate, a noblewoman with a cheerful and fun personality, using her skills in a comical way. She becomes a great friend to Ivy, helping her whenever she needs it, even when plans can be a little risky. Winsom is a character with a peculiar personality, an elderly scrivenist who practices his magic inside the castle in a secret way. He taught Ivy many things, including things about her past, having been an important mentor to her. Rimbrick is a dwarf who is introduced to us at the beginning of the story, he is one of Ivy's great friends, since he was the one who told her lots of stories from distant places and brought her books for her to read, having been her source of joy during the years she worked as a baker. I liked all the characters, but I felt that some could have been better worked out and explored, so I give one star.
In conclusion, I give five stars out of ten to the first book in the series “The Crowns of Croswald”. However, I want to make it clear that this is a middle grade story, that is, it is for children, and I would recommend this book to that target audience, I think it would be a good story to start in the fantasy genre.
I was given this novella by the author in exchange for an honest review.
This novella is set in the Know World, which is ruled by The Usharian Empire. A corrupt entity known as the Deceiver has returned to destroy the world, but in order to do so, he needs to find an avatar that can do his bidding. Although this is a short book, the author manages to fit four POVs, but there isn't much world building, which is understanding due to the dimension of the book and, for that reason, novellas are hard for me to rate and not my cup of tea. However, I was left wanting more of the world and magic system, so I give one star to the concept.
The story begins with a ton of action, for the Deceiver has found his avatar and is creating havoc throughout the lands. Monsters of different kinds are coming from the depths of the land attacking the people of The Usharian Empire. Jeha is a sentinel of the Empire, she is one of the sisters that are meant to protect the King and she fights until her very end, never failing her duty. Matala is a young smokesmith that has never been in a real battle and has just learnt how to control the smoke. He's terrified at first, not knowing what to do, but has the battle progresses, he finds courage to fight and manages toc lose one of the rifts. Agor is the King's brother, an imperial general that decides to act after seeing all of the destruction caused. Alamankar is the King of Ushar and the world's most powerful man, for he controls the opposite force of the Deceiver, the Essence and has to find a way to defeat his old enemy. I liked the story, always wanted to know what was going to happen next, it's a good preview for the first book in this series, but, in my opinion, four POV's were a bit much for such a short story.
Overall, I would give this novella three out of five stars. Novellas are not my favourite, I find it hard to connect with the characters and story in such a short amount of time, but I was definitely left interested in Seeds of War!
Comecei a ler a saga “Memórias de Idhún” entusiasmada, tendo descoberto os livros através da série na Netflix. A saga é uma trilogia, onde cada livro contém dois livros, havendo seis livros no total.
O primeiro livro, “Memóras de Idhún, A Resistência”, contém dois sub-livros: O Livro um, “A busca”, e o Livro dois, “A Revelação”.
O conceito do primeiro livro, gira em torno do planeta Idhún ter sido conquistado pelas trevas e as duas criaturas mágicas que o poderiam impedir, os Dragões e os Unicórnios, foram extintas. Foi este mesmo conceito que despoletou o meu interesse em ler os livros, pois, na minha opinião, não encontro muitos livros que juntem estas duas criaturas mágicas e ambas estejam em pé de igualdade ou tenham a mesma importância para o desenvolvimento da história. Contudo, o conceito de a magia dos Unicórnios não poder ser usada de forma ofensiva é clichê e pouco entusiasmante.
A história é mediana, podendo não prender o leitor nos primeiros capítulos. Os dois primeiros capítulos começam cheios de ação e suspense, porém os seguintes capítulos são um pouco aborrecidos, tendo ação e alguns acontecimentos inesperados.
Jack e Victoria são os protagonistas desta história. Jack passa por um evento traumático no início do primeiro capítulo, moldando o seu comportamento ao longo da história. Por vezes é egoísta, mas tal comportamento pode ser explicado pelo evento traumático, contudo há um grande desenvolvimento na sua personagem para melhor. Victoria é caracterizada como sendo uma boa aluna que não tem amigas, passando a maior parte do tempo com a Resistência, afastada da vida normal. Victoria também tem um desenvolvimento, mas, na minha opinião, menor do que Jack.
Por outro lado, o antagonista é Kirtash, um assassino a mando das trevas. É um bom antagonista, é representado como sendo frio, calculoso, impiedoso e sem quaisquer sentimentos, porém ao longo da história vai sendo demonstrado que ele tem um lado humano e sentimental.
As outras personagens que fazem parte da Resistência, Shail e Alsan, não foram muito desenvolvidas, apenas se sabe um pouco do seu passado, o que é uma pena. Contudo, não deixam de ser boas personagens.
Em suma, daria a este primeiro livro três estrelas e meio de cinco.
I started reading the “Memories of Idhún” saga with enthusiasm, having discovered the books through the series on Netflix. This saga is a trilogy, where each book contains two books, being six books in total.
The first book, “Memories of Idhún, The Resistance”, contains two sub-books: Book one, “The Quest”, and Book Two, “The Revelation”.
The concept of the first book revolves around the planet Idhún having been conquered by the darkness and the two magical creatures that could prevent it and defeat it, the Dragons and the Unicorns, were extinguished. It was this same concept that triggered my interest in reading the books, as, in my opinion, I can't find many books that bring these two magical creatures together and both are on an equal footing or have the same importance for the development of history. However, the concept that Unicorn magic cannot be used offensively is cliché and unexciting.
The story is average and may not hold the reader in the first chapters. The first two chapters start full of action and suspense, however, the following chapters are a bit boring, but afterwards having action and some unexpected happenings.
Jack and Victoria are the protagonists of this story. Jack experiences a traumatic event at the beginning of the first chapter, shaping his behaviour throughout the story. Sometimes he is selfish, but such behaviour can be explained by the traumatic event, however, there is a great development in the character for the better. Victoria is characterized as being a good student who has no friends, spending most of her time with the Resistance. Victoria also has a development, but, in my opinion, less than Jack.
On the other hand, the antagonist is Kirtash, an assassin at the service of darkness. He is a good antagonist, represented as cold, calculating, ruthless, and without any feelings, but throughout the story, he has been shown that he has a human and sentimental side.
The other characters that are part of the Resistance, Shail and Alsan, were not very developed, only a little about their past is known.
In short, I would give this first book three and a half stars out of five.