I tried...I really did. It just wasn't working for me. When there's no driving plot, it's hard to stick with it. :/I tried...I really did. It just wasn't working for me. When there's no driving plot, it's hard to stick with it. :/...more
I'm sorry...I just can't get through it. And I'm not even motivated to pick it up another time. I know how it ends, and the middle just isn't fascinatI'm sorry...I just can't get through it. And I'm not even motivated to pick it up another time. I know how it ends, and the middle just isn't fascinating enough.
Magical books, a wicked Countess, three lonely orphans, funny characters, a strange wizard, and a hidden land.
What's not to like? Well, those things caMagical books, a wicked Countess, three lonely orphans, funny characters, a strange wizard, and a hidden land.
What's not to like? Well, those things can be wonderful. But whether or not they're interesting...now that depends on how the story is put together.
For me, this one didn't quite cut it. It was fascinating for a good 100 pages, funny and intense and sweet. Then it started fluctuating between interesting and boring, until around 220 pages I had had enough. I didn't care enough about the characters; one had just been seriously injured and I didn't even really care very much. The Countess turned out to be very different from her original creepiness, which actually took away the creepy in her character and, to me, made her like every other evil witch in stories. There were actually dwarves (!) which shouldn't surprise me but for some reason it did and I didn't like it. And then there was a strange time-warp that I didn't feel was properly explained.
Now, this this an entirely bad book? Most definitely not. A lot of what I read was great, and even the un-awesome parts were written well. I just lost patience with it, having read only 220 pages in a whole week... (I can normally finish a book the size of The Emerald Atlas, about 400 pages, in less than four days...) Sorry, time to move on.
Should you read this book? That most certainly depends on you, as the reader. Do I recommend it? Not necessarily, but I won't say I don't, either. There are just others I would rather see someone reading. (Such as: 100 Cupboards, Leepike Ridge, The Roar, The Clockwork Three, The Legend of Holly Claus, or Museum of Thieves.)...more
DNFed at the beginning of Chapter 5. Too dark and weird for me. I kept getting this sense that things were going to get disturbing. Sometimes weird anDNFed at the beginning of Chapter 5. Too dark and weird for me. I kept getting this sense that things were going to get disturbing. Sometimes weird and dark and disturbing are awesome, but not this time. I don't know if I'll try again. I'm so bummed, I really liked Bunce's "A Curse As Dark As Gold". I really loved the writing here, but I didn't really like Digger. :(
Stopped around 30 pages. I don't know...it wasn't clicking. At all. Nothing had happened, except for in the prologue. Maybe I'll give it another try lStopped around 30 pages. I don't know...it wasn't clicking. At all. Nothing had happened, except for in the prologue. Maybe I'll give it another try later, but for now I'm disappointed....more
Like 20 pages in. Sorry, didn't grab me. And I didn't like so many crude references in the first 10 pages. Sorry, maybe I'll try again later. But not Like 20 pages in. Sorry, didn't grab me. And I didn't like so many crude references in the first 10 pages. Sorry, maybe I'll try again later. But not for me this time....more