This book started off pretty great for me. I found the story to be exciting and I liked the characters a lot. But then I started having some issues. And I just could not ignore them. And so this book ends up being a three star for me. I have too many thoughts to share about it. Some not so positive, but some good things too.
As there were parts of this book that I loved. Then there were parts that I did not. Even so, there was nothing about this book that I hated. Which is always positive. And so, three stars, as it ended up being in the middle for me. I so wish it had been more. But the book was simply just not enough for me, I'm sorry to say.
I'm going to start my review by writing down all the things that I liked about this book, before I share the things I didn't. The book is told from the point of view of seventeen-year-old Bria. She and her family owns an inn in the mountains, having worked at it their whole lives. But this book begins with Bria being a prisoner. For three weeks she has been stuck in a small cage. This is the part I liked most about this book, honestly. The beginning. It was dark and depressing and just so good. It was so sad too. As it begins with Bria being almost dead, stuck in a cart next to her sister, who was dead. Bria does not think she will live much longer. Until a stranger shows up on the road. And somehow ends up killing all of the enslavers and rescuing Bria. Though the rest of the prisoners died, as their enslavers would not let anyone go free.
And so our story begins. With Bria being days away from her home, stuck in the middle of the mountains. And her deciding that she needs to stay close to the person who rescued her. A boy named Titus. It takes forever before we finally learns that he is just eighteen-years-old. But he did not seem much older either, once Bria got to know him. He did try to leave her behind, but she caught up quick. As she did not think she could survive on her own, having been without food for so long. He agreed to help her get to others.
One of the parts that I really liked about this book were the horses. Titus had a great one. And Bria ended up with a cute one she named Apple. I liked how they took care of them. I liked the beginning of this book the most. When it was just Titus and Bria for a long time. He is on a very secret quest. And Bria is unsure if she should go back home, as she saw her dad die and is sure her mom is dead too and the inn burned down. And so she ends up going with Titus further up the mountain to join him on his dangerous mission.
That was a part that confused me a bit, to be honest. How she decided to be his shield maiden. To swear to protect him and to anything for him. They were a bit too young for that, I thought. But I guess it was a way for them to stay together. What I liked most about the beginning of the book was how it was just the two of them. And how there were monsters in the mountains. I liked the mistwraiths. Wish there had been more of them, to be honest. We get to see an ice cat too. Which I fount to be pretty exciting to read about.
I'm already writing too much about this book. And yet not nearly enough about the actual story. It is about Bria and Titus being on an adventure, of sorts, because he was visited by a god. It was a little weird. And so they have to travel all over this world. And from the moment they left the mountains, it got a bit boring. I did not care much for all the travelling. Or the people they met, honestly. I liked the sea creature, though it was over too soon. And was a bit depressing too. They were both pretty much always filthy. Shudders.
I'm trying to think of what else to say that I liked about this book. I did like reading about Bria and Titus. I liked their story. But I had so many issues with it too. Oh. But I never hated this book, so a three star fits best. Though it could have been lower, to be honest. But the beginning of the book was a four star. Then it just went down. I really liked the ending of this book, though. That was more exciting and sad and just done really well. I liked how it ended and how slow it was. But it needed more pages at the end as well.
My biggest issue with this book was the writing. I simply could not stand it. I did not fully hate it, of course, but I did not like it one bit. I had hoped that I would grow to ignore it, at least, but no. Every time I picked the book up again, I wanted to put it back down because I got so annoyed at the way it was written. Sigh. But the story was enought to get me to continue reading. But yes. The writing. It was not for me. It was highly annoying. Unsure how to describe it. Felt more like telling, not showing. And I never got used to it.
Because of that, I had issues connecting to the characters. I liked them a whole bunch. But I did not love them. I did not swoon over the romance, that was not really there. As it took over four hundred pages for them to kiss. Yeah. And all we got were two kisses, written badly. It hurt my heart. I wanted the swoony romance. But it was just not there. Only Bria telling us she likes him. And her thinking he loves her back, because someone told her so. And she can see all his thoughts on his face. Yeah. Yet no real chemistry.
The whole point of the book is that Bria ends up becoming the shield maiden of Titus. And gods, I disliked that name so very much. I cannot help it. It annoyed me every time it came up. Which was often. And him being her liege. Just, yeah. The words were just not for me. It seemed silly. There was an argument in the middle of the book. Were Titus walked away for a moment, without saying anything. And Bria overacted so much, saying he was cruel to her. I did not get it. It became such a big deal and it just felt weird to me.
I also have to mention the world this book is set in. There is too little information about everything. Sure, the book tries to give us small moments of details. But it was not enough. There were two moons, with so weird names. There was a whole bunch of gods, doing nothing, I suppose. There were magical creatures that were evil. I loved those. But there was too little of them. Sigh. I wanted more danger. One sentence near the end of the book bothered me the most. Those juicy tears. Just. What even is that. It took me out.
What bothered me the most, I think, was that there was no map in this book. I do not get it. Because Bria and Titus travels for weeks and weeks in this story. Going all over their world. And there definitely should have been a map, as all the travelling drove me crazy. Ack. I also wish the cover had been done better. Aw. It's not that awful, but I do not like it. Wishing there had been pretty chapter artwork. Okay, so. This book could have been so gorgeous looking. Makes me sad that the publisher did not make a better effort.
While writing about this story, I was reminded about one part that made no sense to me. Why Bria's inn got raided. It was never really explained. And not why she was stuck for three weeks in the mountains, going in circles while captured. It was a loose thread. Bothered me. I really liked the plot about Titus and the ice cat. But it was not done well enough at all. There was too little about it. I wanted so much more. Sigh. It was an excellent part of the story, though, I just wish there had been more focus, more details.
I'm unsure what this book is. The summary keeps calling it a romance. But it's very much a young adult story, at least. And very little romance. Fully a fantasy story, though. But I only liked the first part of it. The rest grew too boring and too slow. I wanted more monsters. I wanted more romance. I just feel a little bit disappointed with this book. I wanted it to be more. I did enjoy it. And I am glad that I read it. But wishing that I loved Monster, Monarch, Maiden more. But I will always read books by Rae. And you should too.
Editing my review to add another part, as I suddenly remembered that I completely forgot to mention the magic part of this story. Every person gets a magic gift when they are old enough, usually early teens, I suppose. The gifts are so many and so different. They are mostly kept secret from others. Bria is able to make things freezing cold. and Titus has two royal gifts, which I thought was awesome. I liked Bria's gift too. And learning more about what gifts others had too. Wish there was more of it. A favorite part of mine.
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