Hannah West (1)

More of a 3.5, but we're gonna rate this up because I really liked Bristal.

At some point I got it into my head that this was a middle grade, which it's not really. Bristal is 16 at the start and she undergoes some terrifying moments both during her apprenticeship and later when she's out in the wider world.

The beginning dragged however - there was a lot of info dumping in obvious ways that annoyed me. It ruined some of the tension between Brack and Tamarice, leeching the discord between them.

The beginning is also heavy handed about "good" vs "evil" vs "right" vs "wrong". You KNOW that neither Tamarice nor Brack is approaching their job as elicromancers correctly. Whether born of centuries of just them or willful ignorance to avoid past mistakes, they're both so obviously not going to compromise I found it hard to understand how they survived together.

Things pick up later when Bristal goes off to join up with Prince Anthony and his merry band of warriors.

Bristal's cleverness and resourcefulness are on full display during that part. And while I didn't believe she'd go dark, I appreciated the fact she tried her abilities as much as possible.

Overall I enjoyed this book and loved West's style.… (mehr)

*A Thank you to edelweiss for allowing me to read this. This is my fair and honest review*

Due to the synopsis I had pretty high expectations for this book unfortunately it did not deliver. For me, the book just took way too long to start. I was about 33% in before anything remotely interesting happened. It was because of this that when the book had it's interesting moments I was not as invested as I felt I should have been.

This also took me way too long to read because I kept stopping and switching to other books that could hold my attention. I did not mind the characters but none of them really stood out to me too much. Natalie and Levi were a bit bland to me, but I did enjoy the "flashback" scenes and fictional book inserts. Surprisingly for a book about witchcraft not a lot of spells and magic until the end.

Overall, Not a bad book just not my Cup of tea, but it might be yours.… (mehr)

Compelling story, characters I could easily see in my mind and develop Opinions about. Only had a few beefs: for all that Nat was such a "natural" with the revolvers, why did she *always* seem to miss or just wing the Woodwalker she was aiming at? How did she manage to have all the needed spells memorized right from the get-go? (Hand-wave: because of the Oath, I guess.) And how did she lose interest in studying history when so much of the book's climax was due to reconnecting on a powerful level with history? Where the hell did the sudden desire to work with animals come from?

But those were small things, in the face of an otherwise really good book.… (mehr)

*A Thank you to edelweiss for allowing me to read this. This is my fair and honest review*

Due to the synopsis I had pretty high expectations for this book unfortunately it did not deliver. For me, the book just took way too long to start. I was about 33% in before anything remotely interesting happened. It was because of this that when the book had it's interesting moments I was not as invested as I felt I should have been.

This also took me way too long to read because I kept stopping and switching to other books that could hold my attention. I did not mind the characters but none of them really stood out to me too much. Natalie and Levi were a bit bland to me, but I did enjoy the "flashback" scenes and fictional book inserts. Surprisingly for a book about witchcraft not a lot of spells and magic until the end.

Overall, Not a bad book just not my Cup of tea, but it might be yours.… (mehr)