Reviews

The Early Spring – Review

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Title: The Early Spring

Language: Chinese – Mandarin

Episodes: 24

Where to Watch: Netflix

Genres: Romance, Life, Drama

Objectionable Content: Suicide, Toxic Relationship

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): Shang Zhi Tao, a determined recent graduate from an ordinary background, unexpectedly lands a job at a prestigious, top-tier global advertising agency in Beijing. Stepping into the corporate world as a complete rookie, her first day begins with a harsh wake-up call when her brilliant yet ruthlessly sharp-tongued boss, creative director Luan Nian, bluntly tells her to resign. Undeterred by the fierce environment and intense professional pressure, Shang Zhi Tao pushes forward, determined to grow through the challenges and prove her worth as a capable professional. What starts as an uphill battle against a demanding mentor gradually evolves into a complex, hidden workplace romance. As intense career ambitions, personal choices, and underlying misunderstandings pull them in different directions, the two are forced to navigate the heavy costs of love and success.

My Review of The Early Spring

Where do I even begin with this drama? Watching The Early Spring brought to mind when I first watched Boys Over Flowers. I wanted so much for the female lead in that to come to here senses and see that the better guy had been beside her all along. In The Early Spring, I just wanted this girl to grow a spine and stand up for herself, to realize she deserved so much better and finally kick this guy to the curb.

In the beginning of The Early Spring, Shang Zhitao is fresh out of college when she lands her dream job at an advertising company called Lime. From the first second, the manager, Luan Nian or Luke, is harsh with her, telling her to quit and that she’s not good enough. To give Zhitao credit, she doesn’t cave to his rudeness and works hard to prove herself and show she deserves to be at the company.

What makes very little sense to me, is why Luan Nian suddenly becomes enamored of her. He looks down on, insults her, and belittles her constantly yet starts to show jealousy whenever someone of the male gender gets close to her. I can somewhat understand why Zhitao might be attracted to him. She’s a prodigy of the company, someone who’s approval she would naturally crave, and he is handsome.

The first time they get together was so annoying. Zhitao is drunk at a bar, when Nian steps in to take care of her. Not knowing where she lives, he takes her to his apartment to sleep it off. When she wakes up, she basically sober and he pretty much tries to seduce her pretty quickly. This guy cannot take a hint. She literally covers her mouth with her hands the first time he tries to kiss her. Then, he does it anyway. Despite, her obvious discomfort and feeble attempts to say no, he persists. In the end, she does give in and chooses to stay and sleep with him.

Afterwards, she tries to draw a line between them, to keep things professional at work and stop whatever relationship is starting. Again, Nian will not take no for an answer. No matter how many times she tries to push him away or keep her distance, he repeatedly comes back and seduces her.

I feel like he took advantage of her from the very beginning. Using her youth and naivety to get what he wanted from her. For someone who was at least 30 at the beginning of the show, he had no emotional maturity to speak of. Anytime he felt like she wasn’t paying enough attention to him, or someone was paying attention to her, he would get jealous and throw a tantrum like a toddler. At one point he even tells her not to wear certain clothing because he doesn’t like other men looking at her. He constantly insults her and acts like she should be grateful that he’s even with her.

They do show some growth throughout the run of the show. Zhitao especially become more confident in her works, earning her way up in the company and getting promotions. Miraculously, Nian does recognize her hard work and dedication, not giving her any special treatment because of their relationship. I wish I could say that he became a fully developed person by the end, who understood Zhitao and her feelings, but he doesn’t. He gets better, but he’s still a jerk.

When the show wasn’t focused on the relationship between the two leads, it was a good show. I enjoyed the dynamic between Zhitao and her roommates. I also like when the focus was more on Zhitao excelling at work and earning her own place in the world.

I wish so much there had been an alternate love interest for her, someone who would have treated her the way she deserved instead of like a toy. Although, had that been the case, I’m sure I would have been even more frustrated when in the end she still chose Nian. As I learned from Boys Over Flowers, the leads will end up together no matter how unsuitable they may be for one another.

My rating for The Early Spring is 2 out of 5 stars. Only the stuff that didn’t focus on the main relationship saved it from being one stars. I wouldn’t really recommend this drama unless you enjoy toxic relationships where the woman is a push over and the man is domineering.

If you have watched The Early Spring, I’d love to know what you thought.

Thanks for reading!

The East Palace – Review

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Title: The East Palace

Language: Korean

Episodes: 8

Where to Watch: Netflix

Genres: Historical, Action, Mystery, Fantasy, Supernatural, Horror

Objectionable Content: Violence, Death

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): In a fictional kingdom haunted by strange and terrifying events, the king secretly summons Gu Cheon, a proud and powerful ghost-slayer who can transform into a spirit and traverse the spectral realm, and Saeng Gang, a court lady cursed with the ability to hear and communicate with the dead. Tasked with investigating a sinister force lurking within the Crown Prince’s East Palace, the unlikely pair uncover long-buried secrets hidden behind the royal walls. As they venture deeper into a world where the living and the dead intertwine, they must confront vengeful spirits, dark conspiracies, and an unimaginable evil that threatens the palace from within.

My Review of the East Palace

Gu Cheon drowned as a child and was revived. Afterwards, he gained the ability to see spirits and traverse the Realm of Gwi (the realm of the dead). When the princes in the palace start dying in the same way they did 30 years ago, the king summons Gu Cheon to the palace to find the spirit responsible, destroy it and save the last remaining prince. Having little other choice, Gu Cheon works together with, Saeng Gang, the king’s only daughter, to rid the palace of it’s curse and hopefully save his own life.

Gu Cheon is a reluctant kind of hero. He complains about how bothersome it is to fight spirits and banish them, but he also does what needs to be done in order to protect innocent people. Saeng Gang is headstrong and curious, constantly asking questions of Gu Cheong despite him getting annoyed with her. They make an unlikely pair, but form a bond quite quickly.

The East Palace is definitely a supernatural horror at it’s core. From the first second of the first episode, a very dark and spooky atmosphere is established. Within the first 10 minutes we see a child getting possessed and trying to kill himself with a pair of scissors. I was completely hooked from the beginning.

There is a good balance here between the suspense and revelations. Shows like this sometimes try to be too mysterious and don’t really reveal anything, making it feel needlessly dragged out. I didn’t feel that way with the East Palace. However, I do feel like they tried to a few too many twists in there. You’d think you knew what the mystery was, who the culprit was, and then it would twist again and the narrative would sort of reform. There’s nothing wrong with this, but do it too many times and it’s no longer shocking.

The visuals in this drama, I think, were particularly stunning. The Realm of Gwi made me think of the Upsidedown from Stranger Things, but with more red. The editing showing the juxtaposition between the real world and the world of the dead was spectacular.

Then there is the true scene stealer of the show. This little thing called a ggeomeoksali. Gu Cheon is terrified of this adorable creature at first because it feeds on Yang energy. It could potentially kill him if it were to drain his energy. However, it attaches itself to Gu Cheon and starts following him around the palace, and even protecting him.

The ending of the show did leave things open for a possible second season, but I don’t think one has been announced yet.

My rating for The East Palace is 4 out of 5 stars and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a spooky, unsettling watch.

Have you seen The East Palace? What did you think?

Pursuit of Jade – C-Drama Review

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Title: Pursuit of Jade

Language: Chinese – Mandarin

Episodes: 40

Where to Watch: Netflix

Genres: Historical, Romance, War, Mystery

Objectionable Content: Violence, Death

Buy From: Amazon

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): It follows Fan Chang Yu, a butcher’s daughter, and Xie Zheng, a fallen noble seeking revenge. Their fake marriage turns into true love, but war tears them apart. Determined, Fan Chang Yu wields her butcher’s knife on the battlefield, searching for justice and her husband. Meanwhile, Xie Zheng reclaims his title, fighting to protect his country and love. Reunited in battle, they stand together, defying fate and uncovering the truth.

My Review of Pursuit of Jade

This drama came across my Netflix feed a few times, but I passed it by due to the number of episodes. At the time, I wasn’t in the mood to commit to such a long drama. So when I had some time off work, I decided now was the time. Honestly, I wished I’d watched it sooner but at the same time I’m glad I waited til I was on vacation because I ended up staying up til 4 am because I just couldn’t stop watching.

At Pursuit of Jade begins, Fan Chang Yu has just lost her parents. In order to support herself and her young sister, she takes up her father’s trade: slaughtering pigs and selling the meat. She finds a young man in the snow, gravely injured, and against her better judgement, saves his life. Initially, he gives her the name Yan Zheng, in order to hide his identity. When Chang Yu’s uncle tries to take her house from her, Yan Zheng, agrees to a live in marriage so she doesn’t lose everything.

To explain, as I had to look it up myself, a “live in marriage” or “live in husband” is where the man marries into the woman’s family. This means, that instead of the woman moving into the man’s family home, taking his name and basically become subject to him, the man agrees that the woman is the head of the household. This is important because during this time period, women couldn’t inherit property, only a male heir could. After Chang Yu’s parents die, the only male relative is her uncle, who tries to take her house from her in order to pay off his gambling debts. By Yan Zhang marrying in to Chang Yu’s family, the Fan family now has a male heir and Chang Yu is able to keep her house.

Initially, this agreement is one of convenience. It’s a way for Yan Zheng to repay Chang Yu for saving his life. They both know the marriage isn’t real and that when he is well again, he will leave. We soon learn that Yan Zheng is actually a nobleman who nearly died in battle and the time comes for him to leave and return to his responsibilities.

From the moment they meet, Chang Yu and Yan Zheng have amazing chemistry. Yan Zheng is fairly reserved in the beginning, being unsure of the people around him and his identity being revealed. Though he rarely smiles, he’s never rude or mean to anyone (unless they deserve it) and he quickly becomes protective of his new found family.

I honestly loved every moment of this drama. The couple is so sweet together, gradually falling deeply in love. Even when they’re separated, you know they’re thinking of one another and doing everything they can to be together again. There’s a lot of funny moments too, though not outrageously so. The comedy doesn’t deflect from the mood. The acting is perfection from all the characters, even the psychotic ones can evoke some sympathy while the so called “good” ones can be bad. The costumes are beautiful and the sets spectacular.

The blood effects are a bit lacking for the amount of death and war there is. However, the show is rated 14+ so it makes sense the gore would be minimized.

I will admit that I had some trouble following the political intrigue. There are a lot of names, places and titles being said, some being used interchangeably that I found it hard to follow. This is totally on me and no a criticism of the show.

My rating for Pursuit of Jade is 5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical romance with a nice dash of comedy, action and mystery.

Have you watched Pursuit of Jade? I’d love to know what you think!

The Griffin’s War – The Fallen Moon #3 by K.J. Taylor

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Title: The Griffin’s War

Author: K.J. Taylor

Series: The Fallen Moon

Sexual Content: Minimal

objectionable Content: Violence, Racism

Buy Now From: Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads): After promising his allegiance to the Night God, Arenadd Taranisaii escapes death for the second time and vows to free his people. With the dark griffin Skandar by his side, Arenadd begins to gather an army and prepare for war using the power gifted to him by the Night God to move through the shadows.

But even as Arenadd’s strength grows his nemesis sets out for the Island of the Sun, seeking the one weapon that can truly kill Arenadd, the man without a heart.

My Review of the Griffin’s War

Once again I find myself at a loss of just how to review this book. To say that I loved it, while true, is also pretty vague. I think there’s just something in the way it’s written and the chosen main character.

Had the first book started from Erian’s point of view, following him from his childhood, or even just coming to Eagleholm, he would have been seen as the hero of this story. I think I said this in my review of the Griffin’s Flight. It feels like Erian is on the traditional Hero’s Journey while Arren is going down the path of becoming a villain. Had the story been told in that way, the audience would definitely have backed Erian as the hero and rooted for him to succeed.

This review is seriously lacking and may the shortest I’ve written. Please just know that The Griffin’s War and it’s predecessors are amazing and truly worthy of a read. I wish more people knew about K.J. Taylor and her books.

I was also happy to learn that there is a sequel trilogy, which took some digging to get my hands on but I have them now.

My rating for the Griffin’s War is 5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it!

The Griffin’s Flight – Book 2 of The Fallen Moon by K.J. Taylor

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Title: The Griffin’s Flight

Author: K.J. Taylor

Series: The Fallen Moon

Sexual Content: Minimal

objectionable Content: Violence, Racism

Buy Now From: Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Although he was once chosen as a griffin’s companion, Arren Cardockson was reviled, betrayed, and ultimately killed. Brought back to life by a power beyond his understanding, Arren flees for the frozen sanctuary of the North. With the man-eating griffin Skandar by his side, and an entire country hunting him, Arren has little hope of reaching the place of his ancestry and of lifting his curse. But then he comes across a wild woman who may hold the key to making his lifeless heart beat once more.

My Review

*NOTE this review will contain spoilers for the previous book*

I’m not normally the type of person to try to predict how a book is going to go. I like to just read and the let the story unfold before me, but there was no way I could have predicted how this book would go. I am intrigued by this author’s imagination.

As with the previous book, I find I’m struggling review The Griffin’s Flight adequately. Which I’m finding really frustrating because this book is just so good. But calling it “good” just doesn’t do it justice. I will try my best.

The characters feel very rich and real. Not necessarily that I relate to them, as most of them are men, but that their emotions with the situations they find themselves in are believable. They get scared and anxious or confused when it’s appropriate.

Although Arren is the protagonist of the books, his story feels more like a villain arc. Where as, Erian, who is the antagonist feels like he’s on a hero’s journey. It’s interesting to see the different perspectives, not only in how they view each other as enemies, but how other people view them as well. To the people of the South, Arren is a vile murderer and a madman, while the Northerners see him as a hero or a lord to be followed. Even as the reader, it’s sometimes hard to believe that Arren is the good guy here. He appears to be a good person, but then we learn he’s done some terrible things in the past. It really shows how people can be driven to certain things based on how others treat them. How do you not burn with anger when everyone around you treats you differently based on the colour of your hair?

I know this review isn’t an in depth analysis of the book and I’m sorry for that. Just know that despite my ability to give this a proper review, this book is amazing. I’m already devouring the third book.

My rating for The Griffin’s Flight is 5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy, or just a good book in general. Read the Dark Griffin first though.

Thank you for reading!

The Dark Griffin – The Fallen Moon #1 by K.J. Taylor

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Title: The Dark Griffin

Author: K.J. Taylor

Series: The Fallen Moon

Sexual Content: Minimal

Objectional Content: Violence, Racism

Buy from: Amazon

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Being chosen as a griffin’s companion has allowed Arren Cardockson to gain a place of status within the land of Cymria. But Arren can never escape the prejudice that comes with his Northerner slave origins. For chained within the Arena where rogue griffins battle to entertain the crowds, there lies another soul crying out to be freed-a kindred spirit that will allow Arren to fulfill his destiny and release the darkness in his heart.

My Review

For some reason I can’t quite fathom, I’ve been avoiding writing this review. Even now, I feel like I’m forcing myself to type. I honestly don’t know why this is, but I am annoyed by it because now it’s been over a month since I finished the book and the details are no longer fresh in my mind. Therefore, I will try to do my best here.

Arren, our main character, is a Northerner. At least, his parents are from the North, which automatically makes him one of them despite that fact that he was born in the South and has never been to the North. The people of the North are considered savages, inherently aggressive, and after the South conquered their country, the people of the North became slaves. The only reason Arren has any status or respect in society is because he was chosen by a griffin.

After Arren is tricked into going on a dangerous mission on his own, betrayed by someone he trusted, his griffin tragically dies. No longer considered to be a Griffiner, he’s now just seen as a Northern and the ingrained prejudice becomes apparent. If he becomes angry about the injustice he’s suffered, that’s his Northern aggression coming out. The amount of societal discrimination ingrained in this book is rampant and made me so angry on Arren’s behalf. Even the people close to him who say they don’t care about his heritage, on some level, feel some sort of prejudice against him.

I feel like this review isn’t doing this book justice, and I just don’t know how to get my feelings about it into words. So please know that I really loved this book. I thought it was fantastic. The world is rich and the characters are relatable. There aren’t a lot of fantasy books involving griffins, so I also really like how prominent they are here.

My rating for The Dark Griffin is 5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it to all lovers of fantasy, and even people who don’t necessarily love fantasy.

Thanks for reading and if you’ve read The Dark Griffin, I’d love to know your thoughts.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy- Review

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Title: The Road

Author: Cormac McCarthy

Series: NA

Sexual Content: None

Objectional Content: Violence, descriptions of death, including children

Synopsis (from Goodreads) : A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

My Review of The Road

What did I just read? The Road has received so much praise and has won a Pulitzer and I just can’t imagine how. I won’t say that I out right hated this book, because I didn’t hate. Honestly, I don’t feel enough about it to even say dislike. However, I definitely didn’t like it. There was nothing to like or dislike because nothing happens! The entire book is a nameless man and son walking, starving, finding food, repeat. I felt nothing for these characters, no sympathy, no empathy, no concern. I was basically just waiting for them to die.

Now, despite all that, this book is extremely easy to read. For starters, it’s a fairly short book, and there are no chapters, which means there isn’t really a logical stopping point. Also, the writing is so…juvenile? If I didn’t know better I would have thought The Road was written by someone in their late teens and this was their first book. The writing would go something like this: “The man woke up and checked on the boy and then wrapped the blanket around him and then stirred the fire.” Just unnecessarily long run on sentences that barely describe anything. There was also no use of quotation marks for the dialogue, which was the worst dialogue I’ve ever read.

I will say that there is an atmosphere of mystery that initially drew me in. What happened to the world? How did these characters come to be in the situation their in? Well, that is left up to the reader’s imagination. There is description of trees and ground being ash and the snow being grey as it falls from the sky. I guess we’re just supposed to make something up in our own minds about what occurred.

So, my rating for The Road is 2 out of 5 stars and if I’m being completely honest, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.

Sorry to those who truly love this book and think it’s a masterpiece. Maybe I’m just dumb and I don’t understand the subtle nuances or something.

Anyway…

Thanks for reading and I’d love to know what you thought as well!

The Weaver’s Lament – Symphony of Ages #9 by Elizabeth Haydon

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Title: The Weaver’s Lament

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages

Sexual Content: Minimal

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Acclaimed author Elizabeth Haydon returns with a heartbreaking tale of love and valor in The Weaver’s Lament, the ninth and final installment of her USA Today bestselling Symphony of Ages series that began with Rhapsody.
For a thousand years, the lands ruled by the Cymrian Alliance have been at peace. When the brutal death of a dear friend catapults the kingdom to the brink of civil war, Rhapsody finds herself in an impossible forced to choose between her beloved husband, Ashe, and her two oldest friends, Grunthor and Achmed. Choosing her husband will mean the death of thousands of innocents. Siding against him will cost Rhapsody the other half of her soul, both in this life and the next.

In The Weaver’s Lament, the lines between the past and future are irrevocably blurred, and the strength of true love is tested in unthinkable ways. Bestselling author Elizabeth Haydon has delivered a spectacular conclusion to the Symphony of Ages.
“A full-scale tale of warfare and political intrigue that high-fantasy fans will enjoy. Fans of the series will be satisfied, and newcomers will find themselves welcome.” —Booklist on The Hollow Queen

My Review

My initial thought regarding this book was “Why does this even exist?” The Hollow Queen, in my opinion, wrapped up the series very nicely. The war was over, Ashe and Rhapsody reunited with their child, everything seemed at peace. Apparently I forgot about some things.

The Weaver’s Lament takes place 1000 years after the events of the last book. Rhapsody continues to thrive, having no aged a day since arriving on the Middle Continent. Ashe, on the other hand, is growing old, beginning to deteriorate. Their family has expanded significantly, with several generations of their progeny. Honestly, I felt like a needed a list of characters to keep all these people straight. They were introduced pretty quickly and then didn’t really come back.

The synopsis for this book says “a dear friend is murdered.” I could not in a million years have guessed who that would be and i was utterly shocked when it happened. Due to the misunderstanding that caused this death, the continent is nearly plunged into war once again.

There is a lot of reminiscing in this book. Characters constantly thinking back to events that happened in the first book or so. Particularly the time the Three spent on the root. We also learn what the future would have been had Meridion not originally changed the timeline, which I found very interesting and really liked.

I could not have predicted how any of this book would go. In the beginning I wasn’t really expecting much from it, but as the story progressed I was absolutely hooked. I certainly didn’t expect to cry while reading this either.

My rating for The Weaver’s Lament is 4 out of 5 stars. I don’t know that I would necessarily recommend it if you read the rest of the series. I’d say that you could be completely satisfied with how The Hollow Queen ended. However, this book does wrap up a few loose ends that hadn’t occurred to me and the story is truly at an end.

Thanks for reading!

To Defy A Dream by Mary Mecham – Review

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Title: To Defy A Dream

Author: Mary Mecham

Series: The Shattered Tales

Sexual Content: None

Objectional Content: Mild Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads): What if Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on purpose?

Princess Aurelia’s kingdom is plagued by the Eternal Slumber, a disease progressively ensnaring the minds of her subjects. After Aurelia wishes for the means to revive her brother, her sinister fairy godmother presents an ominous Aurelia must stab herself with a poisoned spindle.

Accepting this fate plunges Aurelia into a nightmare where victims of the Eternal Slumber are being held hostage by a dark djinni. However, Aurelia’s brother isn’t the only familiar face she finds herself reunited with; Everett, the love of her life who mysteriously disappeared years ago, is there as well. As the djinni’s power grows, Aurelia must decide who to save before the djinni escapes and enters the waking world.

Failing on her quest could trap her in the dream world forever. Will she forgo her chance at a happily ever after and protect her brother, or will she choose to rescue herself and the man she loves?

No matter who she chooses, someone will be doomed to remain in the nightmare that never ends.

To Defy a Dream is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. It is one of twelve novellas in The Shattered Tales, a collection of twelve fractured retellings of your favorite fairy tales. They can be enjoyed in any order, so fall in love with the swoony sweet romance, magical adventures, and tale-shattering twists one happily-ever-after at a time!

My Review

I discovered Mary Mecham on Instagram, when a reel of hers was suggested to me. I thought it was clever and funny so I decided to follow her. Not long after I learned that she writes fairly tale retellings with no spice. In fact, she markets herself on being a “no spice” author. I’m personally not a fan of spicy books, so I was immediately intrigued and added her books to my Amazon wishlist. To Defy A Dream was one of two of her books I got for Christmas.

This book hooks you in from the very beginning, opening with a quick run down of what is happening in the kingdom and what the Princess intends to do. In no time, she has stabbed herself with the spindle and thrown herself into the dream world where many of her subjects, including her brother, are trapped.

To Defy A Dream isn’t a very long book, being only 150 pages, so it does move quite quickly. Thankfully, it doesn’t feel rushed. Instead, it keeps with the sense of urgency that is established at the beginning. A solution to the sickness needs to be found, and the heirs to the throne need to return. In true fairy tale fashion, we get a little twist and everything works out in the end.

At the time I read this, I was in a pretty bad reading slump. I’d been reading a fairly long series that was starting to feel like too much and so I just sort of stopped reading. When I felt like I actually wanted to pick up a book again, my eyes fell on To Defy A Dream. Being fairly short and geared more towards YA, I figured it would be a nice easy read. It was exactly what I needed and I’m hoping this has kick started me back on reading more regularly.

My rating for To Defy A Dream is 5 out of 5 stars. There was nothing I could find fault with in this book. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys fairy tale retellings where the female lead has a more kick ass role.

As always, friends, thanks for reading!

The Hollow Queen – Symphony of the Ages #8 by Elizabeth Haydon

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Title: The Hollow Queen

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages

Sexual Content: Minimal

Objectional Content: Violence

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Acclaimed author Elizabeth Haydon returns with a heartbreaking tale of love and valor in The Hollow Queen, the eighth installment of her USA Today bestselling Symphony of Ages series that began with Rhapsody.

Beset on all sides by the forces of the merchant emperor Talquist, the Cymrian Alliance finds itself in desperate straits. Rhapsody herself has joined the battle, wielding the Daystar Clarion, leaving her True Name in hiding with her infant son. Ashe tries to enlist the aid of the Sea Mages. Within their Citadel of Scholarship lies the White Ivory tower, a spire that could hold the key to unraveling the full extent of Talquist’s machinations. Achmed journeys to the reportedly unassailable palace of Jierna Tal, to kill emperor Talquist—all the while knowing that even if he succeeds, it may not be enough to stop the momentum of the war.

As they struggle to untangle the web of Talquist’s treachery, the leaders of the Cymrian alliance are met with obstacles at every turn. Rhapsody soon realizes that the end of this war will come at an unimaginable price: the lives of those she holds dearest.

My Review

I’ve been trying to think of how best to write this review. I started reading it back in January, got about a quarter of the way in and then just…stopped. To say I’ve been in a reading slump would be a bit of an understatement. I didn’t read anything for nearly 5 months, which is very unusual for me.

In the last week or so, I picked up the Hollow Queen again. I read a couple chapters here and there, then last night I started reading and finished the book.

This is honestly one of the worst reviews I’ve ever written. The amount of time it took me to read it and how I basically forgot most of what happened in the beginning of the book really makes it hard for me to really say anything negative or positive.

What I will say, is that if you have read the rest of the series, The Hollow Queen is a must read. It brings a conclusion to the war of the Known World and wraps up things nicely. I know there is a ninth book, that I do intend to read, but I’m not sure it needs to be read. The Hollow Queen wrapped everything up so nicely I’m not certain this next book is really necessary. I guess I’ll find out.

My rating for The Hollow Queen is 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you for reading this random and not so great review!