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Re-read, April 4, 2021
The first time I read this I absolutely devoured it. It affected my memory of it - all I remembered was a vague feeling of empowerment and dread and some of the larger storylines. Specifics were lost to me as I read it so feverishly. This time, well, I DID THE EXACT SAME DAMN THING. I could not put it down even though I knew what was going to happen.
Some of the flaws were more glaring this time and some of the ones I remember disliking did not bug me at all. I remembered wh ...more
The first time I read this I absolutely devoured it. It affected my memory of it - all I remembered was a vague feeling of empowerment and dread and some of the larger storylines. Specifics were lost to me as I read it so feverishly. This time, well, I DID THE EXACT SAME DAMN THING. I could not put it down even though I knew what was going to happen.
Some of the flaws were more glaring this time and some of the ones I remember disliking did not bug me at all. I remembered wh ...more
Agnieszka lives in small village in a pastoral valley, the setting of which is strongly rooted in Polish folklore. There is a deep, dark, sinister, magical wood which extends into the valley, and out of the wood come horrors unspeakable. Every ten years, the "Dragon", who is actually a wizard and the feudal lord, picks a girl and takes her to his tower. No one in the valley really knows why. Against all expectations, Agnieszka is taken by the wizard, and against her own expectations the wizard t
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The first half of this book was amazing. Great pace and atmosphere. But halfway through, it lost me. The character of Kasia was underdeveloped (how exactly does one deal with becoming an overpowered tree abomination? Tell me!) and the literary equivalent of those big CGI battle scenes began.
I had a similar experience with the Majesty's Dragon books: dragged in immediately, and then fell off the wagon. Still, I ended liking this one better, so I'm curious about her or her standalone book. ...more
I had a similar experience with the Majesty's Dragon books: dragged in immediately, and then fell off the wagon. Still, I ended liking this one better, so I'm curious about her or her standalone book. ...more
This book was really really compelling. Agnieszka is a great character and I found her relationship with the Dragon to be a complex and interesting one. I think my primary complaint in the book is that the events in the second half came about too quickly and were not resolved in a way that I felt was organic to the story. In some ways I wish that this book was divided into two volumes, with more time devoted the capital which I did not feel was developed to the same degree as the tower at all. T
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Having been introduce to Novik through the Scholomance books, I was eager to check out her other work while I wait for The Golden Enclaves this Fall, and this one did not disappoint. Rooted in Eastern European folklore, the story is compelling and self-contained. The protagonist is a bit of a Mary Sue ("I am just a simple peasant girl, I'm not special in any way- oh wait, except I'm (view spoiler)") and the
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Aug 01, 2015
Larry Tuxbury
added it
Sep 05, 2015
Shelby
marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2016
Alex
marked it as to-read
Mar 03, 2016
Josh Fish
marked it as to-read
Aug 07, 2016
Christopher Brennan
rated it
it was amazing
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review of another edition
Shelves:
kindle,
nebula-award-winners
May 16, 2018
Brian
marked it as to-read
