leaning more towards a,/right now I think, just because I liked the ending, It wasn't as good as I hoped it would be but I didn't not enjoy it, I hated most of the Dragon characters, Actually, the only character I really liked was Florence, I didn't really care either way about Cvareh or Arianna until near the end, so I'm hoping the next book picks up right from there.
The worldbuilding wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, but again, I'm hoping the next book makes up for it.
I was mostly confused the whole time by the world and the magic which is why,is the highest I'm going, What annoyed me most though was how sloppy some of the formatting was, The indents were so far into the page that it looked ridiculous, The chapters always started on the right page, sometimes leaving a blank left page, which is common enough, but it happened where the heading and page number was carried over on to the blank page at least once that I can remember.
Little things like that make it seem like the book was rushed, I know I'm nitpicking, but it annoyed the hell out of me, All that aside, however, I'm looking forward to the next one, We only get the essential world building information which I really appreciated because reading the obvious can get tedious, I dont need it all spelled out, Im an intelligent reader who can connect the information given to me, I didnt feel like any important information was missing and I usually complain when a book has too many unnecessary details so this type of world building was refreshing.
I like being able to use my imagination and the information that we are given painted a wonderfully creative world, Little things like the Dragons realistic reaction to flat teeth made this story come alive, There was also a steampunk vibe that I really enjoyed, The world had an interesting way of measuring things in peca and veca,
The magic and the different races were riveting, I liked how the human race wasnt the main focus, We have Fenrhi, a grey skin race who value knowledge and have guilds for learning different crafts, Then we have the colorful and magical Dragons who live on floating islands in the sky, I liked how different organs gave them different abilities, For example, if a Dragons magic is concentrated in their lungs they possess the ability to slow time, Dragon organs can be harvested for their magic by transplating them in a Fenrhi who would then be consisered a Chimera, I thought the ability to whisper was pretty awesome, We also see a bit of mind control from the King,
I loved the main character Arianna, the White Wraith, but it took me a while to connect with her because we arent told why shes so angry until later on.
Although being oppressed is a good reason to be angry and her mysterious past with a girl named Eva was intriguing, I freaking loved that the main character was bisexual and the way Loom views relationships, Having a winch box as her signature weapon/tool was really unique and made Ari standout even more, I liked how Ari planned her heist but certain fight scenes felt dragged out which deminished the intensity and danger, We also have the lovely relationship between Ari and her student Florence, I was able to connect with Florence a lot faster because we get some of her backstory, Even though shes not the best in a fight, shes really smart, kind and resourceful,
Finally a love hate relationship that doesnt bother me, Maybe this one didnt bother me because it wasnt very romantic in nature and the characters werent falling in love with each other while getting abused.
Both characters were evenly matched and there wasnt one character unwilling submitting to the dominant character, Despite them having deep seated prejudice I didnt notice any serious abuse, which was a relief, Yes they butted heads but it didnt make me cringe like most love hate relationships do, If one of them said something that was insulting the other one noticed and had a reasonable reaction to it, Plus, I thought there was an LGBT relationship going with Florence but it wasnt very clear,
I thought the Wretches were imaginative and freaking creepy, Leona made an interesting antagonist, Shes desperatly in love with the King and will do anything to please him but I dont know why or how she fell in love with him.
The Dragon King wants to control the Fenrhi land below but not everyone agrees with him, The motive of power for the sake of power is a little over done in litterature but the message behind this story was incredible.
Fighting against what society expects you to become so you can be whoever you want to be and that you dont have to limit yourself to one passion.
There was also some beautiful quotable passages, I noticed the panopticon prison reference which is always fun for a psychology grad like me,
Received in exchange for an honest review I actually struggled a bit with this one,
But let me start off with this I loved Elise Kova's other series Air Awakens and I think she's a fun author with a brilliant mind.
I was really expecting to love this one and I was excited to see how her writing grew, And grew it did the writing was much improved in comparison, But I just connected to her other series more perhaps because the genre resonated with me more,
This one was a bit confusing, I kept trying to connect but had a difficult time doing so with all the descriptions/world building, Honestly its hard to put a finger on what I didn't like because there were a lot of really neat/unique elements in this book.
Think fantasy meets steampunk with hints of sci fi, Elise had some legit world building going on even if it was too much for me, The names, races, and magic system are unlike anything else I've read before, The characters were multi dimensional with loads of backstory which I appreciated, Some of the relationships were gray especially that of Florence and Arianna,
I think part of my problem was the pace, The first half even a little more is just traveling, Not that nothing happened, but I just struggled with it, As I mentioned above, the descriptions were so vast and lush that I couldn't keep it all straight in my head, I kept getting lost. The last half was a bit easier to swallow and I liked some of the fight scenes/etc,
So this is more of a "its me, not you" situation because my brain just couldn't handle everything, Either way, give it a go if you feel like this genre is appealing! Also check out her other series if you're looking for a fun fantasy/romance!
sitelinkMy Blog sitelinkInstagram sitelinkTwitter sitelinkEtsy UPDATE: IT'S RELEASE DAY, AHHHH!!! HAPPY RELEASE DAY, ELISE ltltlt
The Alchemists of Loom is bloody, epic, and brimming with violence.
Fantasy fans, I give you: Arianna older, clockwork version of Arya Stark from Game of Thrones PLUS a female, kickass version of Sherlock BBC version with Florence as her Watson.
In AoL, Elise Kova gives fantasy, and steampunk fans, two whole new worlds to delight over as new characters strike out in an adventure sure to leave readers reeling for more.
The cast of characters takes readers into a darker realm where no one is pure, everyone has an agenda, and, sometimes, the best friends one can have can be formed between enemies.
World building SO CRAZY GOOD, Honestly you will need to read the appendix or glossary for terms, that's how awesomely detailed Elise made Nova, SO CREATIVE. And Arianna So freaking kicka, And she's not perfect, either, Unapologetic. Intelligent . my fangirling over Ari is strong,
gtgt is Cvareh as devastatingly swoony as Aldrik Well, he's certainly swoony, but to say he is the equivalent of Aldrik from sitelinkAir Awakens would be like tearing out my own dragon heart and feeding it to someone else.
I still love Aldrik best because he's such a jaded, dark prince, Cvareh is more of an alpha leaderfighter who believes in what's right, I just have a thing for hot darkhaired jerksP
"But a soul driven by vengeance was a selfish soul.You will know why this was my favorite quote when you get to the end of the book:D
A soul driven by vision was a generous oneone that bore itself before others and put the needs of the many before the needs of the few.
"
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my author blurb, because Elise Kova is one badass, amazeball author that trusted me to read her precious and tell y'all about it.
.because here's the thing this book has no sympathy for lazy readers, but I am one of those aforementioned lazy readers.
Bad book chemistry right off the bat,
This book treats itself like the middle of a story or the middle of a sequel, . . meaning that that there's little exposition, There's no basic, introductorysecondelevatorspeech for who our characters are, no helpful inner narrative giving us a cleverlydisguised rundown of what's going on, and there's certainly no info dumping.
We have species of creatures that are never explained, terms and titles that are casually tossed left and right, different brands of magic that aren't distinguished from one another, and species wars that treat themselves as part of history so basic that it's apparently beneath itself to recap.
Instead, you have to figure this out on your own over the course of the book via inductive reasoning, Now, that may be intriguing to some readers who appreciate the experience, but to "lazy readers" like me who generally enjoy the experience through understanding the overall journey, this book was tough to get through.
There was also a level of detachment with this book, not just between the book and me but also between the characters themselves.
Leona and Cvareh, for instance, are enemies both on the political and personal front but I never got that sense of a bitter and volatile backhistory.
Ariana and Florence have the closest chemistry, but most of it comes from repeated mentions of "tell not show" of how Ari broke Florence out of prison,
thus creating a gratitude and sense of devotion that Florence has for her.
Ari and Cvareh are disconnected from one another, the King and Leona's relationship with our protagonists are bland, and secondary characters we meet along the way are so interchangeable that they are almost indistinguishable from one another.
As a result, there's no emotional/personal depth to the book, We have terrific world building and a wholly imaginative caste of species and powers, a twisted duo of Big Bads, and a heroine with a mysterious past, That's all external, though. Cvareh needing Ari to take him to the Alchemists is an external element, Where's the internal Where's the internal struggle Ari's deepseeded emotional flaws What's her biggest internal obstacle that she needs to overcome Beyond reaching the Alchemists, what emotional void does Cvareh need to fulfill These elements are what makes a wellrounded character and plot that not only entertains but also draws the reader in for personal investment.
This book almost didn't have that at all,
But steampunk Action Smart writing Hints of themes from sitelinkThe Final Empire and Celaena from sitelinkThrone of Glass Who knows this book might speak book chemistry to you.
For me The writing, characters, and plot were too dry, detached, and technical, I wouldn't recommend, nor would I read the sequel,
Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the advanced copy!,