fantasy – Page 30 – Down the Rabbit Hole

Review: Ally by Anna Banks

December 20, 2017December 19, 2017 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Nemesis #2

Princess Sepora of Serubel and King Tarik of Theoria have formed an uneasy truce between their kingdoms since the deadly plague began to rip through Theoria.

Since their feelings for each other are entangled in politics and power, they must use their own trusted resources to find common ground.

But when traitors with powerful allies arise from unexpected places, Tarik and Sepora face challenges that will change both of their kingdoms forever.

Will they learn whom to trust—including each other—in time to save their kingdoms, their relationship and even their lives?

2.5 Drink Me Potions

I was looking forward to reading Ally after the first book’s set up, but the storyline felt haphazardly slapped together. Slow at times, but rushed and hurried in other areas, there was little room for new character development yet plenty of space, apparently, for misunderstandings between our two protagonists, Tarik and Sepora.

Where do I even start?

There were certain highlights to Ally that I admit to enjoying.

1) The continual romantic tensions between Tarik and Sepora. I did find this kept me somewhat interested in finishing the book as I wanted to know if they ever could resolve the deep-seated trust issues they had with each other stemming from book 1. However, it got a bit unnecessary later on (more below).

2) Exploration of a bit more of the world they lived in. There were little moments of expansion about other kingdoms and how they lived, for example her mother’s home kingdom of Pelusia.

3) The mystery behind the Quiet Plague that has devastated Tarik’s home of Theoria since the very beginning of the series. I always love a good solution to the main ailments of a book, especially if it’s conducted well.

But as you may imagine, these very things I liked were also flipped on its head and were the things I thought weren’t good enough.

1) The misunderstandings between Sepora and Tarik take a turn for the worst (if that’s even possible). I honestly sided with Tarik half the time and was extremely annoyed reading from Sepora’s POV. She felt lied to and used for her ability to Forge yet Tarik had never truly made her feel trapped about using her abilities for his kingdom. In fact, he gave her room to make these decisions on her own without truly forcing it on her as he could have.

Yet the stupidity of their situation couldn’t all be her fault. Tarik just couldn’t admit to Sepora about his darn feelings half the time, expecting her to know about what he felt as any Lingot could, but she would have to solely rely on his actions to relay what he truly meant as words can so easily be used for deception.

Just…arghhh. The endless misunderstandings between them got old real fast. Was this really all necessary to keep the story momentum going? Plus, the way thing were resolved super-duper fast in the span of a few TINY chapters in Part 5 just wasn’t satisfactory. No matter how much I enjoyed the ending.

2) World building is only as strong as the time spent lovingly crafting it and stoking it into the main storyline. I felt this was poorly done, with little random facts such as the Pelusians love for DISGUISING thrown into the book for fun like an afterthought to make the book more interesting besides problems in Tarik-Sepora land.

3) And what of the mysterious plague? It wasn’t so mysterious after all, falling prey to my initial prediction for its cause. And the cure? Also such a throwaway. “Oh hey, here’s the *thing* that can heal your people, says the Master Healer.”

I don’t know if it’s just me not rubbing well with Anna Banks but this is the 2nd series I really wanted to like by her and it just falls short. With so many stories out there in this genre, there’s really no time to waste on a book that doesn’t stand out from others. I did enjoy the romance component to an extent, but there were too many things that I found at fault with the book. If you enjoy a story mostly centred on its romantic tensions between the girl and her lover interest, with all else INCLUDING the action of impending war – which totally fell flat in its execution and lasted mere pages – acting as a secondary component of the book, then you’re in luck. This is YOUR book! Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d suggest you try.

Overall Recommendation:
Ally was a promising sequel and conclusion to this series, but it really fell flat with my expectations. While the book had many advantageous parts to it – mysterious plague, impending war with other kingdoms, world building, tensions between lovers – none of these things were really explored extensively. Aside from spending way too much time on the misunderstandings between the protagonists, the other things were not given the appropriate amount of time to flourish into a genuinely amazing novel. If these things would bother you, I recommend you don’t read it. Otherwise, fans of Nemesis may enjoy it well enough.

3 star, YA

Review: Nemesis by Anna Banks

December 14, 2017December 19, 2017 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Nemesis #1

Princess Sepora of Serubel is the last Forger in all the five kingdoms. The spectorium she creates provides energy for all, but now her father has found a way to weaponize it, and his intentions to incite war force her to flee his grasp. She escapes across enemy lines into the kingdom of Theoria, but her plans to hide are thwarted when she is captured and placed in the young king’s servitude.

Tarik has just taken over rulership of Theoria, and must now face a new plague sweeping through his kingdom and killing his citizens. The last thing he needs is a troublesome servant vying for his attention. But Mistress Sepora will not be ignored. When the two finally meet face-to-face, they form an unlikely bond that complicates life in ways neither of them could have imagined.

Sepora’s gift may be able to save Tarik’s kingdom. But should she risk exposing herself and her growing feelings for her nemesis?

3 Drink Me Potions

Nemesis had a delicious slow-burn kind of romance between rival kingdom heirs that had me gripping the edge of my seat as I tore through the book. Where it mostly delivered on its promise for romance, it neglected to expand and explore the fantastical components of the story.

Who doesn’t love the kind of love story between enemies? Especially when one is living unbeknownst in the midst of the other’s household. Sepora held the key to a dangerous element that could be used against others if it fell into the wrong hands. Fleeing her home country and falling into the absolute worst place in her enemy kingdom may seem like a familiar trope, but it worked well for this novel.

I enjoyed the witty banter between Tarik and Sepora, although he only viewed her as his highest servant throughout most of the story. They may have been attracted to each other in the beginning but it wasn’t instant love for these two. They got to know each other a bit more, explore Tarik’s kingdom together and learn what it meant to rule.

Where it went wrong in this book mostly resided in a few things:

1) Sepora’s escape and initial journeys to Theoria took AGES, yet we know from the synopsis that she would end up in Tarik’s harem at some point. Did we have to spend so much time with her captors and the endless trek to their destination? I’m not sure we learned all that much about Sepora or this world in that time.

2) The lack of “real” action in this story may not be immediately evident but action only came in the sense of the THREAT of war from Sepora’s kingdom of Serubela. Nothing actually really “happens” on this front. If one didn’t come in hoping to get mostly a love story brimmed with romantic tensions, then it would very noticeable.

I know I shouldn’t be too harsh. I overall did enjoy Nemesis and the slew of several secondary characters. I’m not sure how realistic these people were (for example, Rashidi and Master Healer Cy) as they either fall under stereotypical tropes of these types of characters (grouchy old adviser) or weren’t described as someone you’d think would fit this description (ridiculously mature 13-year-old the king would consult on like, everything). But either way, they spiced up the story a bit more or else this book really would just be about Tarik and Sepora’s romantic problems.

How you’d fare with this book is pretty subjective, but at the heart of it, it would seem that Nemesis is just a romantic story like any found in a contemporary novel but set in some fantasy world with bits of special abilities in individuals.

Overall Recommendation:
Nemesis was slow to start and lacking of any true action that the synopsis may hint as the romance takes priority. While it can’t be described as any action-packed fantasy novel by any means, it can be applauded for its slow-burn romance that had my heart racing at times as I waited for sweet hot moments between enemies Tarik and Sepora. At the end of the day, I’d say this book is more recommended for romance lovers than fantasy lovers as the time allotted for each aspect is clearly unbalanced.