Melinda's favourites book montage

The Mark of Athena
The Son of Neptune
The Lost Hero
The Last Olympian
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Titan's Curse
The Sea of Monsters
The Lightning Thief
Throne of Glass
City of Glass
The Red Pyramid
City of Ashes
City of Bones
The Golden Door
The Farseekers
Obernewtyn
The Poison Diaries
Mockingjay
Catching Fire
The Hunger Games


Melinda's favorite books »

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Review: Sworn to Raise by Terah Edun

Series: Courtlight #1
Publisher: Amazon Digital 
Published: April 10th 2013
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy 
Source: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

Synopsis (from Goodreads)
Seventeen-year-old Ciardis has grown up in poverty, a cleaner in a small vale on the outskirts of the kingdom. But beneath her kingdom’s seemingly idyllic surface lies a hidden secret. Whispers of an inept crown Prince are growing ever louder—intensified by the five year anniversary of the soulbond initiations. Amidst scandalous whispers, Ciardis finds herself chosen to train for the Companion’s Guild. She leaves her home and sets off on a personal journey to become a Court Companion. A position she’d never thought possible for a lowly servant to obtain, she must prove that she has the skills to attract a Patron.  But she must master those skills quickly. If the legends are true, only Ciardis can harness the power to raise a Prince in an Imperial Court sworn to bring him down.
Sworn to Raise (Courtlight #1)

Sworn to Raise was an interesting book that I enjoyed reading. It was a reasonably well written, quick read that was full of magic and action.

I really liked the main character, Ciardis. I felt that she was a strong female character, who still remained fairly feminine, which to me doesn’t necessarily happen all that often in young adult books. I liked that despite her strength, she still had fears and she still had a vulnerable side. I also liked Sebastian, who was loyal, strong and willing to take a stand. I did find him a little arrogant at times, which annoyed me a little, but overall I still liked him. Damias was another character I liked because of how he mentored Ciardis and was what she needed. I didn’t really like Serena because I found her to be too shallow and vain for my liking.

I really enjoyed the magical elements in the story. I loved that there were different types of mages and that they varied so much in skills and strength. I felt that maybe this could have been explored a little bit more in the story, but maybe that is to come in the next book.

The plot was enjoyable and I thought that it was fairly unique. I hadn’t read a book that really covered what this story was about before. The problem that I had with the plot though was that it was a little simple and predictable. Not much really surprised me with the story and I was never really pushed to think about the story line. This did make for a quick and easy read, but I was wishing for a little more complexity.

I also felt that everything was convenient for Ciardis. For example, Ciardis just so happened to come across the only person who could get her out of her situation and have her offer Ciardis the way out. This happened quite regularly throughout the book and I was often sound sitting there rolling my eyes and going “of course she would happen to find that thing there, without really looking,” which did annoy me a little. I also felt that the ending was a little too neatly wrapped up.

Another issue I had with the story was the pacing. I felt that the story was too fast-paced. It was all action, action, action and there wasn’t any time for really processing what was going on. I think that this was one of the reasons that I found the story to be simple. I also think that it was one of the reasons that I didn’t really connect emotionally with the story. There was a point in the plot where I should have felt even a little bit upset but I hardly felt anything. I also would have liked there to be a little more exploration into the character’s past because I didn’t feel like we really learnt much about anyone.


Despite my issues with the book, I did really enjoy it and I can’t wait to read the next book. I give this book 4 stars. 

Mel.

Up next - Review: Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood

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