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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Book Review: The Rose Throne by Mette Ivie Harrison

The Rose Throne by Mette Ivie Harrison
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publication date: May 2013
Pages: 400
Source: ARC from publisher
For: Review


In a world of unbalanced magic, where the neweyr (a female and more nature-oriented magic) and the taweyr (a male more violent, controlling magic) seem completely incompatible, two princesses in opposing kingdoms must find their places. Uniting the two lands seems like the best option, and may just fulfill the prophecy that predicts a healing of their world, but it seems impossible. And if they were to unite, which princess would hold that throne?

Things I Liked:
I have to admit that was an awful summary, but I had a hard time coming up with anything.  This book induced some kind of delicious reading addiction for me.  I wanted to know what happened - I was dying for the ending and I wanted to see all my characters resolutions.  I liked the characters, they were interesting and flawed and so very different, though I admit I didn't much care for Ailsbet and prefered Issa.  I think the reading power of the book, it's ability to make you want to know what happens, is its best asset.  However, I was ultimately disappointed.


Things I Didn't Like:
I found the ending was not satisfying at all.  I felt like the entire book was building up to this great finale and then it just kind of fizzled.  I am not sure what I was expecting, which was one reason I was so eager to find out, but what I got left me feeling cheated.  I really can't put this into reasonable terms, but I didn't think it was quite good enough for the build up.  Also, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out if there were supposed to be modern-day parallels with the taweyr and neweyr and the ekhonos (people who are born with the "wrong" kind of magic).  When I finally stopped spending time wondering what the author was trying to say about it, I enjoyed it more.  I am also left wondering if there are sequels or if that ending was supposed to be so ambiguous.


Read-alikes:
Reminded me a bit of her other books, notably The Princess and the Hound


BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none
that I recall

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: ->
a very little bit of action

Overall rating: ***

Do you often read books that you really wanted to love, but didn't end up liking much?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage

4 comments :

  1. I have this one coming up this month. Her books seem to be hit and miss so I guess we'll see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I've felt that way about her stuff too. I'll be interested to see what you think of this one!

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  2. I completely agree with you on this one. I was expecting so much more than I ended up with. I haven't read any of her other books, though. I might not now. :S If there's not a sequel and that's the way she ends books, then definitely not!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would give The Princess and the Hound a try, if you want to read another Harrison book. I really enjoyed it a lot. I'm with you on the sequel though, that was just weird.

      Delete

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