Hello everyone! Welcome to this Friday that has started a bit too early for my taste for me, since I'm working morning shift today. It's all for a good cause since I'm gonna be going to see one of my besties performing in the evening.
For this week's Friday Reads I'm gonna be catching on my ARCs for review since I've been slacking on them a bit as of late, but I needed a little of pushing the review pile order after book hangovers and the like. As an ARC for review this one counts towards my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge.
Unwept: Book One of The Nightbirds by Tracy Hickman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
When I first saw this book on NetGalley I was very much intrigued and decided to request it, and I was quite pleased when I got approved (thank you, Tor Books!).
Upon starting I was quite right hooked by the very eery and creepy beginning and then quite even more with the mystery and unknowns that are all over the story. This book has such a gothic mystery and romance feel to it, with a very compelling atmosphere and full of creepy and disquieting moments.
The narrative was a very mysterious one, no matter how many tiny clues we kept on getting here and there, nothing seemed to make sense cause we seemed to be lacking some foundation of information so none of the pieces would click. The writing was quite beautiful too, so while I kept devouring page after page trying to come upon some more answers, I was also quite enchanted with the words themselves.
As a first book in a series or trilogy, I feel that it sets up the world in a rather interesting way, but I felt like by end of the book I was left with too many questions unanswered and a rather narrow view of the world of the Nightbirds. Also, some of the explanations were a bit on the vague side and that's mostly where the paranormal (so to speak) part of the book came into view. My confusion and lack of more world building is probably what has knocked the rating down for me. Also, even if the explanation seems like a nice twist on well known religious beliefs, it seemed a bit timid? grey?... I dunno, I guess I was expecting a bit more after all the mystery!
The main character Ellis was quite a challenge, not that she was unlikeable but at first as an amnesiac and infirm recovering she seemed to have very little of a will at first, and although she doesn't know who she is or what is going on, she develps a very healthy self preservation sense and even if she sometimes fail to show common sense, by the end of the book she shows that she can stand for herself and ready to fight, and that gave me quite a lot of hope for the coming books.
The other characters are rather mysterious, keeping in tune with the feel of the book, but they just felt a bit cartoonish on occasion, like augmented characterstics but not real feel behind them... might have been intentional given our later discoveries but left me a bit unsatisfied.
I will probably be checking out the next book and despite some of my grips with the book I still give it 3 stars, Ellis seems like a character with progression and the atmosphere and writing were quite fantastic.
View all my reviews
For this week's Friday Reads I'm gonna be catching on my ARCs for review since I've been slacking on them a bit as of late, but I needed a little of pushing the review pile order after book hangovers and the like. As an ARC for review this one counts towards my 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge.
Unwept: Book One of The Nightbirds by Tracy HickmanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
When I first saw this book on NetGalley I was very much intrigued and decided to request it, and I was quite pleased when I got approved (thank you, Tor Books!).
Upon starting I was quite right hooked by the very eery and creepy beginning and then quite even more with the mystery and unknowns that are all over the story. This book has such a gothic mystery and romance feel to it, with a very compelling atmosphere and full of creepy and disquieting moments.
The narrative was a very mysterious one, no matter how many tiny clues we kept on getting here and there, nothing seemed to make sense cause we seemed to be lacking some foundation of information so none of the pieces would click. The writing was quite beautiful too, so while I kept devouring page after page trying to come upon some more answers, I was also quite enchanted with the words themselves.
As a first book in a series or trilogy, I feel that it sets up the world in a rather interesting way, but I felt like by end of the book I was left with too many questions unanswered and a rather narrow view of the world of the Nightbirds. Also, some of the explanations were a bit on the vague side and that's mostly where the paranormal (so to speak) part of the book came into view. My confusion and lack of more world building is probably what has knocked the rating down for me. Also, even if the explanation seems like a nice twist on well known religious beliefs, it seemed a bit timid? grey?... I dunno, I guess I was expecting a bit more after all the mystery!
The main character Ellis was quite a challenge, not that she was unlikeable but at first as an amnesiac and infirm recovering she seemed to have very little of a will at first, and although she doesn't know who she is or what is going on, she develps a very healthy self preservation sense and even if she sometimes fail to show common sense, by the end of the book she shows that she can stand for herself and ready to fight, and that gave me quite a lot of hope for the coming books.
The other characters are rather mysterious, keeping in tune with the feel of the book, but they just felt a bit cartoonish on occasion, like augmented characterstics but not real feel behind them... might have been intentional given our later discoveries but left me a bit unsatisfied.
I will probably be checking out the next book and despite some of my grips with the book I still give it 3 stars, Ellis seems like a character with progression and the atmosphere and writing were quite fantastic.
View all my reviews
I need to get caught-up in my ARCs too. Taking 2 weeks off seriously killed my reading momentum! I'm trying not to add to my TBR pile until I've cleared out the backlog, and 3 stars just doesn't cut it for me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, sometimes you have to be selective of what new things to add!
DeleteHope you had a blast on your break and honeymoon, Carmel!
I haven't heard much about this book, but I love that you described that it has a mysterious gothic feel to it. That's something I feel like I would really like.
ReplyDeleteI'm also curious about the main character. She does sound a little confusing at first, but I'm intrigued by your description of her.
The lack of answers when it comes to first books in a trilogy is so common these days. Hopefully, they will all be answered in the next few books.
Lovely review, Pili! :)
Thank you Nick! I'm hoping so too, the atmosphere in the book was quite fantastic and creepy!
DeleteI've been thinking about tbr-ing this one. It looks interesting but world building is quite important for me... Will have to think about this one. Great review!
ReplyDelete-Mari
It's a very intriguing book, Mari but I'd probably advice to wait till book two comes out to see what happens with the world building and explanations...
DeleteThis sounds pretty mediocre from the looks of it. I don't mind withholding information about the world-building, but I don't like it if it leaves me unsatisfied and without a clear picture of what the setting looks like. I'm on the fence regarding this one because WB is highly important to me!
ReplyDeleteFaye at The Social Potato
For a big part of the book the mystery about the world is part of what the book is about but when we get the explanations... I either missed something, or it was vague enough to explain but withhold information at the same time!
DeleteAw, I'm sorry you didn't love this book sweetie. Sigh. But I'm glad you liked it a little :) Creepy beginning? Sounds awesome. And I love this cover. GORGEOUS. But have not felt the need to read more about the book, lol (A) Not sure I want to either. Sigh. Maybe one day :D Thank you for sharing. <3
ReplyDeleteThe creepiness and the cover are amazing, Carina! Thank you sweetie!
DeleteHmmm, this one sounds too mysterious for me. Like, too much is unknown. Definitely not my cup of tea, I hate not knowing things D: The cover is gorgeous though ^_^
ReplyDeleteFantastic review, Pili!
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Thank you sweetie! I don't mind the mystery if when we get reveals we get the info, but here we didn't get as much as I would have liked!
DeleteHmm . . . I need to read this too, and I'm not sure how that's going to go for me. I'm glad that it wasn't a total loss for you, but I am definitely leery . . . I guess we'll see ;)
ReplyDeleteThe writing is beautiful and the atmostphere is creepy and eerie, so those are pluses Jessica! I hope you'll manage to enjoy it more than I did!
DeleteThis sounds so creepy and intriguing! Too bad in the end is too much :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if it's my kind of book. We'll see.
Great review, Pili!
Yeah, I like having a bit more in the way of explanations myself!
Delete