Posted by The Deliverer’s Destiny by Sara Jolene – DNF – Kristen
This was an interesting story that takes place in an alternate world, but still in a more modern setting. Cars and things of that nature exist in this world, but it read (to me, at least) more like an epic fantasy than an urban fantasy. The world itself is ruled by an evil dragon named Motch, who has taken the throne away from the Creator and it is up to the Deliverer to find the son of the Creator to give that throne back to him. We see the story unfold from several different points of view, and I will admit that I had trouble getting into any of them, as they didn’t seem to share much commonality in the beginning. Just as I would almost get invested in someone’s part in the story, we would hop to someone else, and I would lose interest. But, even with that said, this one had some solid writing and a very unique setting, and so this story will definitely have fans out there, as long as they don’t mind a few POVs.
Chaos by Jimi Rodriguez – DNF – Kristen
This is the story of Jacob Titus, who is a young boy from a remote island. His mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s, and so Jacob does his best to take care of himself while bringing her extra money he earns. When he gets scouted into what is basically a magical school in the capital one day, he goes with the intent to study science to help cure his mother. Shenanigans ensue as he fights to survive at magical school.
This was a well written story that seemed also to be edited very well. It’s told from a couple points of view, though mostly Jacob’s, but I just found myself never really connecting to any of the characters, and so I found myself losing interest in the story. I think that this book would appeal to a younger audience, like middle grade or young adult, and would be of interest to those who are into magical academy stories.
The Tribesman by Paul Freeman – DNF – Esme
The quality of prose for this one caught my attention early on and I immediately felt engaged with the character and plotline. I liked the original premise laid out in the first few chapters. A rich merchant wants to find his daughter who has been abducted by foreigners; and so said merchant enlists the MC’s help since he’s a native of where his daughter might be being held, if she’s still alive.
Culainn isn’t all that interested in the mission, but gold is gold so off he goes. From here things just get lost? He meets this woman named Persha along the way and he falls in love with her. They wander around the countryside and bad shit happens to them. There are strange creatures of all kinds that lurk in these foreign lands rendering it impossible to travel at night. However, all of this felt more like meandering than a steady progression to a conclusion.
Then at 65% there was an even further detour from the original plot when the woman he loves is raped on page, in her POV, and then he sets out to find the perps and kill them. It’s at this point I set it down because the plot had wandered so far from the original goal I was already starting to lose interest, but then when rape was used as a way to further a plot it was one push too far since that’s one of my pet peeves. Persha was not given much page time before she was assaulted on-page in her perspective, making it feel like she was being used as a prop and I didn’t have the drive to continue reading.