11. kol 2014.

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

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Book summary:
It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning…
Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.
Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he's also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.
But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.
         This was one of the books everyone read and loved last year. I meant to read it for a long time but somehow couldn't find time for it. So when The Perilous Sea was close to the publishing date I knew it was time. Honestly I didn't know what to expect from this one, but it's not what I hoped for.

         Iolanthe was a really interesting character from the start. I really enjoyed her desire for knowledge and also for developing her powers. It was so easy to understand why she acted like a rebel and decided to act on her own even though it brought so much pain to her later on. Then we saw Titus, future prince of the Domain who knew that his task and future won't be only about that but that he is meant to do much more. It was so interesting to meet his characters as I really liked the layers he possessed. How he acted differently in given circumstances. He was a really good actor and he really owned the show. Then there is romance between them, which was slow building and really emotional. It was really nice to see how their emotions developed and I really enjoyed both of them.

        But the problem for me here was the world-building. I do like the idea of this story, mage and nonmage people living in this world, but honestly I had no idea where to place the palace or some other places in this story. Another thing is that this was set in Victorian England and while we don't see much of England itself it wasn't done in Victorian manner if you ask me. Everything was somewhere in the air but nothing here felt concrete.

        With the easiness I connected with the characters and really enjoyed their story, but The Burning Sky didn't develop this world for me to gasp it. So my hopes lay in The Perilous Sea.

Rating: 3 stars.

Until the next time,

Broj komentara: 36:

  1. Sounds interesting, sad that it didn't full meet your expectations of what you wanted.
    Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings

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  2. I've been trying to find a way to fit this in for months, but now I think I'm going to hold off until I know what you think about the next one ;) Great review, Tanja!

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  3. This is one I meant to read but then never got around to. I'm not a fan of poor world building so its probably a good thing I skipped this one. Great review!

    Teresa @ Readers Live A Thousand Lives

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  4. EEK iffy world building is one of my pet peeves and it's a pity that even though everything else was enjoyable, that one bit brought down the whole book for you. I do hope you enjoyed TPS a whole lot more!

    Great review, Tanja!! :)

    Rashika @ The Social Potato

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    1. Yes it had some bad moments here, but it got fixed in the sequel ;) Just sayin' :D

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  5. I know we already talked about how you felt about this book, Tanja and I'm sorry it didn't completely work for you, but I'm crossing my fingers that the next book will be better for you.
    Great review, Tanja!

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  6. How come I had never known of this book before? Well, I know now and it sounds pretty good to me. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Fabulous review, girl!

    Sarika @ The Readdicts

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  7. This is going to sound terrible but I am so glad I am not the only one that had a hard time liking this book. For some reason I just couldn't get into it and I still don't understand what all the fuss is about.

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    1. Yes I have seen many glowing reviews that yeah I'm glad I'm not the only one! You get some answers in the sequel ;)

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  8. I'm happy that you finally found time for this one, even though it wasn't exactly what you had hoped for. At least that's one more book off your TBR pile, right?

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  9. Oh it's really too bad about the world. I didn't know this one I confess but maybe one day.

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  10. Oh gosh. I have both books too and I was hoping for a series I would love. I am such a stickler for good world building, I am afraid I might have issues too.

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    1. It gets better with the sequel so you should go for it. Thanks, Heidi :)

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  11. I remember this being a really popular read as well, but for some reason it never really caught my attention. I hope the sequel is a bit better for you in the world building department. Great review :)

    Janina @ Synchronized Reading

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  12. I've been curious with this series as well with book two around the corner, and those covers just draw me in. But, I may wait it out a bit - the world building sounds somewhat lackluster. I hope the sequel expands on it, the other elements sound like something I would enjoy. Thanks for the thoughtful review, Tanja :)

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    1. It really gets better in the sequel so you should go for it. Thanks :)

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  13. Like you, I definitely enjoyed this installment but also wanted more. I loooved The Perilous Sea, Tanja! I really can't wait to see what you make of it. :)

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  14. I liked this one but I wasn't quite as WOW'ed as I wanted to be. I am anxious to read The Perilous Sea though so we'll see what I think!

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    1. I really hope you'll read TPS soon! It was really good :)

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  15. Oh no, for me a world-building is quite important in those kinds of books. The Perilious Sea cover is so cool by the way. I thought it was a standalone at first lol and wanted to read it. :/ I don't know if I'll start this series though but great review!

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    1. It's amazing! I couldn't stop staring at it. Thanks, Lola :)

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  16. I really loved this one, mostly because of Iolanthe and the rest of the characters, I just got totally sucked into it. But I totally agree with you on the worldbuilding - it definitely could have been stronger. Hopefully the Perilous Sea will win you over more. Lovely honest review!

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  17. This one didn't even cross my radar until now. The concept did sound interesting and it's sad to know there's not much world-building that would enable you to make sense of the world. I think I'm reserving judgment whether I'll start with this one until The Perilous Sea comes out. I hope that installment is more to your liking, Tanja. Great review!:)

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    1. I hope you'll give it a try as it's worth reading so you can go for TPS! Thanks, Sarah :)

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  18. It looked good, too bad it didn't fullfill...

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