*Book provided by FairyLoot for May, 2018 box
Book: Onyx & Ivory
Author: Mindee Arnett
Genre: fantasy (dragons, magic)
Age Rating: young adult (12+)
Page Count: 512 pages
Star Review: 2/5
Summary: They call her Traitor Kate. It's a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king of Rime.
Cast out of the nobility, Kate now works for the royal courier service. Only the most skilled ride for the Relay and only the fastest survive, for when night falls, the drakes-- deadly flightless dragons-- come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge. She is a wilder, born with forbidden magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals.
And it's magic that leads her to a caravan massacred by drakes in broad daylight-- the only survivor Corwin Tormaine, the son of the king. Her first love, the boy she swore to forget after he condemned her father to death.
With their paths once more entangled, Kate and Corwin must put their pasts behind them to face this new threat and an even darker menace stirring in the kingdom.
Memorable Quote: "'The rest of us merely use swords and guns and call it justice."
Why? Just WHY, may I ask? There are so many ways this book could have gone right but it just DIDN'T!! I really wanted to love it, since it was my favorite genre (YA fantasy) and it had FREAKING DRAGONS!!! But sadly, this was actually a huge waste of time. Just found out it's a series and I know I'm not finishing it.
My biggest issue was that the whole book felt really unoriginal. Wilders were way too similar to Grisha from Leigh Bardugo's Shadow & Bone or Six of Crows and while I really loved the concept of uror, it felt a loooot like the Triwizard Tournament from JK Rowling's Harry Potter. And royal family names? SO LAZY! We had Corwin and Orwin and Borwin. Like, c'mon. Gimme a bit of a variety, if you will. The most different royal name was Edwin and that's not even much better.
Other than those things, this book just grabbed and lost my interest far too quickly. I mean, it started really strong and I thought I'd genuinely like it but I didn't. By the end, I only cared about two characters, Dal and Bonner. And they both gave off 'I'm gonna die' vibes. Oh, speaking of characters Arnett tried way too hard to turn comedy relief characters into complex characters with feelings, which made the transition sloppy. They went from not giving a crap to giving every crap in a matter of pages, which felt really unrealistic.
I'm actually so sad to give this book a low rating, but it's really everything I was scared of and more...
Would I recommend? I guess if you like slow burn fantasy romance. It just wasn't for me.
My biggest issue was that the whole book felt really unoriginal. Wilders were way too similar to Grisha from Leigh Bardugo's Shadow & Bone or Six of Crows and while I really loved the concept of uror, it felt a loooot like the Triwizard Tournament from JK Rowling's Harry Potter. And royal family names? SO LAZY! We had Corwin and Orwin and Borwin. Like, c'mon. Gimme a bit of a variety, if you will. The most different royal name was Edwin and that's not even much better.
Other than those things, this book just grabbed and lost my interest far too quickly. I mean, it started really strong and I thought I'd genuinely like it but I didn't. By the end, I only cared about two characters, Dal and Bonner. And they both gave off 'I'm gonna die' vibes. Oh, speaking of characters Arnett tried way too hard to turn comedy relief characters into complex characters with feelings, which made the transition sloppy. They went from not giving a crap to giving every crap in a matter of pages, which felt really unrealistic.
I'm actually so sad to give this book a low rating, but it's really everything I was scared of and more...
Would I recommend? I guess if you like slow burn fantasy romance. It just wasn't for me.
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