What do you think?
Rate this book
Cursed: The Hunter Inside
A war rages between kings and clans for centuries, their nations split and their kingdoms fallen. Caught in the midst of poverty and bedlam, twenty-year-old Aldor faces a choice. Should he leave home and start his life anew, or stay and protect what little he has?
Aldor has only made one friend in his life and has never seen a legendary creature before. As soon as he steps beyond his door, he finds himself an outlaw, hunted by creatures of pure fantasy.
Forced into joining a team of misfits in a race to recover a sacred, lost stone, Aldor finds unexpected friendships and adventure. But just as things start to look promising, disaster strikes, wielding the unexpected and the terrifying!
Aldor's life will never be the same as he struggles with true feelings of fear, loss, love, and suffering for the very first time.
Aldor has only made one friend in his life and has never seen a legendary creature before. As soon as he steps beyond his door, he finds himself an outlaw, hunted by creatures of pure fantasy.
Forced into joining a team of misfits in a race to recover a sacred, lost stone, Aldor finds unexpected friendships and adventure. But just as things start to look promising, disaster strikes, wielding the unexpected and the terrifying!
Aldor's life will never be the same as he struggles with true feelings of fear, loss, love, and suffering for the very first time.
First published March 27, 2018
3 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Casey M. Millette
1 book19 followersCasey M. Millette has been into writing since she was five. Her love of The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia has inspired her to write the Cursed series. Casey lives just outside Atlanta, Georgia with her family and cat, Hudson.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
February 5, 2018
Cursed: the Hunter Inside (Part 1), is the next book that you’ve got to get! As the father of teenage author I took special interest when sixteen year old Casey Millette queried my blog for a review. I thought I might have to reach in order to find nice things to say, but dang, this girl can write.
It opens with a phenomenal hook and the action keeps driving forward from there. In checking out her publisher, I also see that Parliament House (an IBPA member) is no slouch, either. They demand top- notch stories, and this is one of them. Millette writes with a tightness and descriptive ability typically only found in writers with several books under their belt; she does a great job of resisting waxing passive and falling into “tell” vs “show.” This is a story you won’t regret picking up and from a voice that is guaranteed to be a fresh one in the industry.
The Hunter Inside promises to be the first book in the Cursed series. Millette seems to have all the natural skill and talent of a young Robert Jordan (and Aldor’s struggles strike me something akin to Rand al’Thor or the Wheel of Time in many ways, though Millette claims to have struck out to write a YA themed Lord of the Rings style epic.) The final pages of the book promise that book two is forthcoming. Of course, I received book one as an ARC for review purposes, so it may be a while. Book 1 releases on paperback on March 27.
I got a review copy for free in order to review it at my blog, Inside the Inkwell.
It opens with a phenomenal hook and the action keeps driving forward from there. In checking out her publisher, I also see that Parliament House (an IBPA member) is no slouch, either. They demand top- notch stories, and this is one of them. Millette writes with a tightness and descriptive ability typically only found in writers with several books under their belt; she does a great job of resisting waxing passive and falling into “tell” vs “show.” This is a story you won’t regret picking up and from a voice that is guaranteed to be a fresh one in the industry.
The Hunter Inside promises to be the first book in the Cursed series. Millette seems to have all the natural skill and talent of a young Robert Jordan (and Aldor’s struggles strike me something akin to Rand al’Thor or the Wheel of Time in many ways, though Millette claims to have struck out to write a YA themed Lord of the Rings style epic.) The final pages of the book promise that book two is forthcoming. Of course, I received book one as an ARC for review purposes, so it may be a while. Book 1 releases on paperback on March 27.
I got a review copy for free in order to review it at my blog, Inside the Inkwell.
February 26, 2018
-I received a free e-arc of this book for my honest review from the publisher-
Cursed: The Hunter Inside was a 2 and a half stars for me, as it was certainly entertaining and an interesting read, but with some flaws that made it less than three stars in my opinion. This is a good book if you are looking for an adventure filled world that has light fantasy and worldbuilding that is short but diverse.
My favorite parts were in the world building and monsters of the book. I wish there had been a better description aspect, but it was still a very colorful and interesting world that left me curious for more. The monsters were very interesting, and I would want to learn more about them! :D
Some aspects that made it a less than three stars for me were the characters and the overall lack of a forward propelling plot.
-Characters: The main character, Aldor made the story feel bland. He made some decisions against logic that I couldn't get behind and his overall lack of motive made me feel as if he was just a vessel in the story, instead of seeing through his eyes. His group of friends are all pretty one dimensional, and they seem to have no motivation outside of pledging to die for Aldor even though they knew him for less than a week. Cliche dialogue topped it all off to create some mediocre characters.
-Plot was non-existent up until halfway, and at that point, I didn't really care. It was fairly predictable, and I didn't feel the stakes were especially high. The plot didn't seem to have a direction other than the general RPG feel of 'go kill this dragon for me' 'go get this stone for me' gig. Which is fine, but when nothing else is interesting, it kills the motive for me to read.
Some qualms before I get on with some positives:
-I'm sorry, Keria was a bit much. She's just allowed to go with this total stranger to kill a dragon which she has no experience doing? :\ Without a plan?
-Aldor apparently can't die...my suspension of disbelief can only be so much and this crossed it.
-cowboy hats?? I would have liked more worldbuilding for this.
-Everyone seems to jump headlong into 'suicide missions' with zero plans and then when they start dying, that's when they question why they didn't plan anything.
Some things I liked:
-Jalior: this character seemed really interesting (although a bit overdone with the 'i serve the chosen one of the world' bit) and although it was a short scene, it was one of my favorites.
-Ash falling like snow! (just because I love snow and this was a great image.)
-Dale. Although he turned out to be a little less than I expected, I still liked his character.
Overall, this is a book I likely won't read again, but it was still fairly enjoyable. It is a good read for some quick action and a fast reading experience. I encourage Casey to keep writing as this story has so much potential and could turn out really well!
Cursed: The Hunter Inside was a 2 and a half stars for me, as it was certainly entertaining and an interesting read, but with some flaws that made it less than three stars in my opinion. This is a good book if you are looking for an adventure filled world that has light fantasy and worldbuilding that is short but diverse.
My favorite parts were in the world building and monsters of the book. I wish there had been a better description aspect, but it was still a very colorful and interesting world that left me curious for more. The monsters were very interesting, and I would want to learn more about them! :D
Some aspects that made it a less than three stars for me were the characters and the overall lack of a forward propelling plot.
-Characters: The main character, Aldor made the story feel bland. He made some decisions against logic that I couldn't get behind and his overall lack of motive made me feel as if he was just a vessel in the story, instead of seeing through his eyes. His group of friends are all pretty one dimensional, and they seem to have no motivation outside of pledging to die for Aldor even though they knew him for less than a week. Cliche dialogue topped it all off to create some mediocre characters.
-Plot was non-existent up until halfway, and at that point, I didn't really care. It was fairly predictable, and I didn't feel the stakes were especially high. The plot didn't seem to have a direction other than the general RPG feel of 'go kill this dragon for me' 'go get this stone for me' gig. Which is fine, but when nothing else is interesting, it kills the motive for me to read.
Some qualms before I get on with some positives:
-I'm sorry, Keria was a bit much. She's just allowed to go with this total stranger to kill a dragon which she has no experience doing? :\ Without a plan?
-Aldor apparently can't die...my suspension of disbelief can only be so much and this crossed it.
-cowboy hats?? I would have liked more worldbuilding for this.
-Everyone seems to jump headlong into 'suicide missions' with zero plans and then when they start dying, that's when they question why they didn't plan anything.
Some things I liked:
-Jalior: this character seemed really interesting (although a bit overdone with the 'i serve the chosen one of the world' bit) and although it was a short scene, it was one of my favorites.
-Ash falling like snow! (just because I love snow and this was a great image.)
-Dale. Although he turned out to be a little less than I expected, I still liked his character.
Overall, this is a book I likely won't read again, but it was still fairly enjoyable. It is a good read for some quick action and a fast reading experience. I encourage Casey to keep writing as this story has so much potential and could turn out really well!
February 27, 2019
*I was sent an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*
I really wanted to like this book. I thought it was amazing that Casey Millette was only 16 and getting her first book published. It was inspiring for me in hopes I could get my own book published. And I tried, I really tried but I just couldn't get into this book.
I'll start off my saying that I enjoyed Casey's writing and description well enough. The dialogue on the other hand just wasn't working for me. It simply felt awkward and to me didn't fit the surrounding high fantasy settings or the characters. Most of these characters are supposed to be in their twenties but the dialogue along with other factors just made them feel much younger.
The characters were just kind of alright to me. They really don't seem their age, like I mentioned before. Not a whole lot of character development either and a bit of Insta love was occurring which I just don't like. I also felt like this extended into the friendships. I just didn't see a lot of development in the relationships or really them getting to know each other at all. I feel like one day they know absolutely nothing about eachother and then the next they're like best friends without really showing them getting to know each other.
In my opinion the story didn't seem to be driven by a strong enough force. The fact Aldor just left simply because he was feeling restless and wanted adventure didn't feel right to me. I think something stronger should have driven him out or if there was something stronger it wasn't stressed or made clear. The stakes didn't seem high or weren't stressed enough, leaving me to not really be on the edge of my seat and anticipating what's next or if they'll survive.
I hate having to write bad reviews especially if it's for a book I was hoping to love but I can't help feeling what I felt. The book and writing had a lot of potential but it just wasn't there for me.
I really wanted to like this book. I thought it was amazing that Casey Millette was only 16 and getting her first book published. It was inspiring for me in hopes I could get my own book published. And I tried, I really tried but I just couldn't get into this book.
I'll start off my saying that I enjoyed Casey's writing and description well enough. The dialogue on the other hand just wasn't working for me. It simply felt awkward and to me didn't fit the surrounding high fantasy settings or the characters. Most of these characters are supposed to be in their twenties but the dialogue along with other factors just made them feel much younger.
The characters were just kind of alright to me. They really don't seem their age, like I mentioned before. Not a whole lot of character development either and a bit of Insta love was occurring which I just don't like. I also felt like this extended into the friendships. I just didn't see a lot of development in the relationships or really them getting to know each other at all. I feel like one day they know absolutely nothing about eachother and then the next they're like best friends without really showing them getting to know each other.
In my opinion the story didn't seem to be driven by a strong enough force. The fact Aldor just left simply because he was feeling restless and wanted adventure didn't feel right to me. I think something stronger should have driven him out or if there was something stronger it wasn't stressed or made clear. The stakes didn't seem high or weren't stressed enough, leaving me to not really be on the edge of my seat and anticipating what's next or if they'll survive.
I hate having to write bad reviews especially if it's for a book I was hoping to love but I can't help feeling what I felt. The book and writing had a lot of potential but it just wasn't there for me.
April 9, 2019
See my full review of this book on my blog along with others at: foalsfictionandfiligree.com.
I received a copy of this book via The Parliament House in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Content Warning: Death, Violence, Gore, Cannibalism
For having been written by a sixteen-year-old author, this book is a feat! There are several passages throughout this book which are a true joy to read. Millett’s sense of writing in high-fantasy style is there, and mimics a Tolkien-style world. Told from the perspective of a twenty-year-old male protagonist (I know, rare in this day and age) Aldor leads the reader on a massive adventure.
To be a twenty-year-old and not have more than one friend is quite an odd thing. Aldor, however, quickly accrues a “squad” of friends who join him on a long and arduous quest. Aldor, seemingly inexperienced as he sets out, quickly becomes very experienced in fighting and the like, which just isn’t logical.
The most-developed portion of this book are the various creatures and encounters with them. Scenes when these creatures appear are long, well-executed, and very descriptive. This too, is where this book resembles popular worlds like in The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, and even Pirates of the Caribbean.
In general, when viewing the story as a whole, it feels disjointed as scenes jump from one action scene to the next without much tying them together in-between. Because of this, the plot was hard to follow at times. I feel like with some editing and adding more of the “in-between” scenes to balance it out, this book would be quite enjoyable.
Vulgarity: Minimal.
Sexual content: None.
Violence: Quite a bit.
My Rating: ★★1/2
My Blog ¦ Bookstagram ¦ Twitter ¦ Pinterest ¦ Facebook
I received a copy of this book via The Parliament House in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Content Warning: Death, Violence, Gore, Cannibalism
For having been written by a sixteen-year-old author, this book is a feat! There are several passages throughout this book which are a true joy to read. Millett’s sense of writing in high-fantasy style is there, and mimics a Tolkien-style world. Told from the perspective of a twenty-year-old male protagonist (I know, rare in this day and age) Aldor leads the reader on a massive adventure.
To be a twenty-year-old and not have more than one friend is quite an odd thing. Aldor, however, quickly accrues a “squad” of friends who join him on a long and arduous quest. Aldor, seemingly inexperienced as he sets out, quickly becomes very experienced in fighting and the like, which just isn’t logical.
The most-developed portion of this book are the various creatures and encounters with them. Scenes when these creatures appear are long, well-executed, and very descriptive. This too, is where this book resembles popular worlds like in The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, and even Pirates of the Caribbean.
In general, when viewing the story as a whole, it feels disjointed as scenes jump from one action scene to the next without much tying them together in-between. Because of this, the plot was hard to follow at times. I feel like with some editing and adding more of the “in-between” scenes to balance it out, this book would be quite enjoyable.
Vulgarity: Minimal.
Sexual content: None.
Violence: Quite a bit.
My Rating: ★★1/2
My Blog ¦ Bookstagram ¦ Twitter ¦ Pinterest ¦ Facebook
April 11, 2019
A fantasy novel by teen author, Casey M. Millette, Cursed: The Hunter Inside has good bones that only just holds up the meaty 354 page body. Ms. Millette is a seventeen year old with a rather remarkable grasp of literature. Cursed: The Hunter Inside is in the vein of Lord of the Rings and/or Game of Thrones in terms of fantasy story. Overall this is a good book though it could be a little more streamlined plot-wise and at times the dialogue felt somewhat stunted and unrealistic. What this teen author holds in ability to create characters and creativity regarding the world the characters reside in is immeasurable and overshadows those negatives. This can be enjoyed, especially by younger readers, as is but it wouldn't take much to turn Cursed into a commercially successful series, catapulting Casey M. Millette into the fantasy fiction world wide stage in a leading position. I expect to see more from this talented author.
February 21, 2018
Caveat: I was supplied a free copy of this book, prior to imminent release.
One thing about reviewing, is you read a lot of books. Pretty soon you learn what your pet peeves are and I’m afraid this book suffers from what is rapidly becoming one of mine.
TGTQ or, “too good too quick” syndrome.
Maybe I’m getting old and cranky but it feels like it’s more prevalent than ever. The main character decides to go on an adventure and immediately discovers that they are absolutely amazing with no apparent struggle, training or hardship. For those of us who grew up with Logan Nine Fingers (Joe Abercrombie), or Fitzchivalry Farseer (Robin Hobb) it feels like we are rushing to the end of book three. Even Luke Skywalker couldn’t swing a lightsabre until the end of the third movie. (Don’t get me started on The Force Awakens, but Rey is a classic TGTQ).
Often however, I seem to be a lone voice. Others I speak too, don’t seem to mind TGTQ, at all. In particular in books aimed at YA markets. So maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps I just shouldn’t review YA.
So, rant over. Casey Millette’s fantasy novel, Cursed is set in a familiar Tolkien style world. Orcs and Dragons and the like. She writes well, with a clear and descriptive voice. The exposition / dialogue balance is good and it doesn’t drag. A very comfortable author to read.
In the pre-release version I was provided, there were only a few editing errors but there were a few annoying lore inaccuracies. In particular around weapons and combat. The book didn’t do it for me because of rampant TGTQ syndrome. I just find it very unsatisfying when the characters arrive fully formed with nothing to learn and very little that truly challenges them. Younger readers (perhaps 10-15) may love it.
One thing about reviewing, is you read a lot of books. Pretty soon you learn what your pet peeves are and I’m afraid this book suffers from what is rapidly becoming one of mine.
TGTQ or, “too good too quick” syndrome.
Maybe I’m getting old and cranky but it feels like it’s more prevalent than ever. The main character decides to go on an adventure and immediately discovers that they are absolutely amazing with no apparent struggle, training or hardship. For those of us who grew up with Logan Nine Fingers (Joe Abercrombie), or Fitzchivalry Farseer (Robin Hobb) it feels like we are rushing to the end of book three. Even Luke Skywalker couldn’t swing a lightsabre until the end of the third movie. (Don’t get me started on The Force Awakens, but Rey is a classic TGTQ).
Often however, I seem to be a lone voice. Others I speak too, don’t seem to mind TGTQ, at all. In particular in books aimed at YA markets. So maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps I just shouldn’t review YA.
So, rant over. Casey Millette’s fantasy novel, Cursed is set in a familiar Tolkien style world. Orcs and Dragons and the like. She writes well, with a clear and descriptive voice. The exposition / dialogue balance is good and it doesn’t drag. A very comfortable author to read.
In the pre-release version I was provided, there were only a few editing errors but there were a few annoying lore inaccuracies. In particular around weapons and combat. The book didn’t do it for me because of rampant TGTQ syndrome. I just find it very unsatisfying when the characters arrive fully formed with nothing to learn and very little that truly challenges them. Younger readers (perhaps 10-15) may love it.
May 1, 2019
First I want to thank the author for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review. I am honored!
All thoughts are my own and I will always be honest!
I put 4 stars because this has the potential to be a fantastic book/series! Really I rate it as a 3.5 though. Here’s why:
The action in this book was fantastic. That had to be my favorite part of all.
The world building was great but lacked in the beginning.
The characters...I just couldn’t connect with any of them. I felt like you really didn’t get to know them. However there is one friendship that developed through the book that I thought was really nice.
The plot: This is where the book seemed to fall short. There were some scenes that took place, especially in the beginning, that seemed to just be thrown in there with no buildup to them. They would have been awesome had there been a reason or more details that led up to it.
I had a really hard time trying to rate and review this book because there were many things I loved and other things that just seemed to fall short. With that being said the fact that the author was 17 when she wrote this book is just amazing. It really has a lot of potential and I cannot wait to read more of her work.
All thoughts are my own and I will always be honest!
I put 4 stars because this has the potential to be a fantastic book/series! Really I rate it as a 3.5 though. Here’s why:
The action in this book was fantastic. That had to be my favorite part of all.
The world building was great but lacked in the beginning.
The characters...I just couldn’t connect with any of them. I felt like you really didn’t get to know them. However there is one friendship that developed through the book that I thought was really nice.
The plot: This is where the book seemed to fall short. There were some scenes that took place, especially in the beginning, that seemed to just be thrown in there with no buildup to them. They would have been awesome had there been a reason or more details that led up to it.
I had a really hard time trying to rate and review this book because there were many things I loved and other things that just seemed to fall short. With that being said the fact that the author was 17 when she wrote this book is just amazing. It really has a lot of potential and I cannot wait to read more of her work.
February 7, 2018
*I was sent an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*
I'm a little conflicted when it comes to this book. The premises were very promising, especially when I read other reviews for this book that compared it to high fantasy. Maybe that's what made me set my expectations too high?
Let's start with what I liked. Casey M. Millette's writing is very good, especially considering that this is a very young debut author. I loved the eloquence and vividness of her descriptions. What I liked a little less, I think, was the dialogue parts. There, the tone seemed to become a little bit more middle grade style for me, and it made the transitions from spoken word to prose a bit confusing for my tastes.
What I feel was the biggest flaw in this book though were the characters. I couldn't get attached to them, and I found a lack of character develoment. I would have liked to see more of Aldor's life before he sets off on his adventure to get to know him better, and the book could have used more character introspection.
Overall, the story was enjoyable, although there were no major surprises. I would recommend it to young fantasy readers.
I'm a little conflicted when it comes to this book. The premises were very promising, especially when I read other reviews for this book that compared it to high fantasy. Maybe that's what made me set my expectations too high?
Let's start with what I liked. Casey M. Millette's writing is very good, especially considering that this is a very young debut author. I loved the eloquence and vividness of her descriptions. What I liked a little less, I think, was the dialogue parts. There, the tone seemed to become a little bit more middle grade style for me, and it made the transitions from spoken word to prose a bit confusing for my tastes.
What I feel was the biggest flaw in this book though were the characters. I couldn't get attached to them, and I found a lack of character develoment. I would have liked to see more of Aldor's life before he sets off on his adventure to get to know him better, and the book could have used more character introspection.
Overall, the story was enjoyable, although there were no major surprises. I would recommend it to young fantasy readers.
March 6, 2018
Cursed: The Hunter Inside is about a world caught in the midst of war and how one young man, Aldor, and his band of misfits must race to capture a lost stone in order to save a kingdom.
This book was a bit of a let down for me. From reading the blurb I was certain I would be taken on a great journey of action, adventure, love and loss but I wasn’t able to finish Cursed: The Hunter Inside. This is due to a few reasons, the first being lack of character development and the second, that there was no real motive for the characters actions and choices.
I understand that Aldor wanted to see the world but it felt as if there was a rush for him to encounter danger, to face a dragon and lead a quest. It was unclear who Aldor was, as a character, apart from his appearance and that he was the son of some great warrior. Aldor develops his skills out of thin air, going from a farm town kid to a full blown warrior, able to take down 3 opponents, in a matter of pages. When Keira gives Aldor a special momento there is no real *woohoo* moment for me, its just awkward as I feel that their characters haven’t made a real connection apart from their joint goal to defeat a dragon. The characters are also lacking in a clear motive to find the stone. It is supposed to save their world but from what. Their quest was just plain confusing and odd.
I commend Casey for writing a book and getting it published, however, this book lacked in some areas and just wasn’t for me.
This book was a bit of a let down for me. From reading the blurb I was certain I would be taken on a great journey of action, adventure, love and loss but I wasn’t able to finish Cursed: The Hunter Inside. This is due to a few reasons, the first being lack of character development and the second, that there was no real motive for the characters actions and choices.
I understand that Aldor wanted to see the world but it felt as if there was a rush for him to encounter danger, to face a dragon and lead a quest. It was unclear who Aldor was, as a character, apart from his appearance and that he was the son of some great warrior. Aldor develops his skills out of thin air, going from a farm town kid to a full blown warrior, able to take down 3 opponents, in a matter of pages. When Keira gives Aldor a special momento there is no real *woohoo* moment for me, its just awkward as I feel that their characters haven’t made a real connection apart from their joint goal to defeat a dragon. The characters are also lacking in a clear motive to find the stone. It is supposed to save their world but from what. Their quest was just plain confusing and odd.
I commend Casey for writing a book and getting it published, however, this book lacked in some areas and just wasn’t for me.
March 1, 2018
**I was sent an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review**
First of all, I want to say how amazing it is that Casey is a published author at 16! It's an amazing accomplishment!
But, this book just wasn't for me. I found that the storyline jumped around a lot with no explanation of what is going on, there's very little information given on the mythical beings, very little character development (I can't actually remember most of the characters names as they seemed to become best friends immediately and there is also some insta love), I don't remember any world building so had no idea where anything was in relation to each location and I also drew some similarities to other stories such as Lord of the Rings.
This may be a book better suited to younger readers (I'm 29) but I really wasn't enjoying it so dnf'd at 68%
First of all, I want to say how amazing it is that Casey is a published author at 16! It's an amazing accomplishment!
But, this book just wasn't for me. I found that the storyline jumped around a lot with no explanation of what is going on, there's very little information given on the mythical beings, very little character development (I can't actually remember most of the characters names as they seemed to become best friends immediately and there is also some insta love), I don't remember any world building so had no idea where anything was in relation to each location and I also drew some similarities to other stories such as Lord of the Rings.
This may be a book better suited to younger readers (I'm 29) but I really wasn't enjoying it so dnf'd at 68%
March 18, 2019
*i was sent a free ARC of this book for an honnest review*
The spoilers are hidden, so you can read the visible parts of the review withouth getting spoiled.
Before diving into the review, I have to ask the author, WHO is your narrator ? I'm so confused. The story starts with Aldor narrating (so 1st person POV) even though it's written in the 3rd person. Okay, that was pretty well. But then comments start appearing in the text, comments which could only be made by an omnisicent narrator. ("he didn't notice the motion of someone slinking throuh the tree--someone too impish to be human." If Aldor's narrating, and he didn't see it, then we shouldn't either...) Yet, we read Aldor's every feelings, and own thoughts about past or present events, which is clearly reserved for a 1st person narration (no matter if you use I or he).
So, either I was in Aldor's head and clearly annoyed by omniscient comments, either I was outside the story, but disturbed by Aldor's own thinking. Ugh.
And, please, stop refering a hundred times a chapter to instinct, or adrenaline moving characters in action, because it becomes more and more unbearable.
Well, now that I've said that, let's go!
Universe : 5/5 stars
It was awesome ! And probably the best thing about this books.
I liked how the names of places and people sounded. I liked following the son of an former hero. I liked the descriptions and place allowed to nature, and especially forests and streams through the story.
I enjoyed the idea of parallel universes BUT these are mentionned once but never again. I know you have to built mysteries for the following books, but this, gave the readers too little to be excited over.
And I LOVED the idea of guardians,
Also loved the island in general
Plot/Story : 3/5 stars
The story took some time so start in the first place. And then it felt more like a series of events, one coming after another, than a real story. Plus, there was a lot of dead-ends. (cf parallel universes, or riders who added nothing to the story)
However, some lines were funny and I happened to laugh several times while reading, which means it was not too bad.
But the numerous incoherences made the sory hard to follow/believe. Like when Dale's forced to use is sword because he ran out of arrows (while fighting the sindies), but then he uses his arrows once more later in the chapter. But he couldn't have found his arrows back in the meantime, since they were all lost in the river or in sindies' heads.
Same goes for their shirts, which they take off/lost/rip apart numerous time but always found to have other appearing on their backs...Magic...
Finally, the story was still written as real in some aspects, even more real than most of the books I've read. I'm thinking particulary about the conditions when they're in the pit. They're awfull and grossed, but they're real, and MIlette wasn't affraid of writing the word diarrhea, so that must count for something.
Characters : 3/5 stars
Aldor : I like his name. and the way he's lost at the begininng is painfully accurate. "I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life, which is a lot harder than I thought it would be" HA! I know how you feel, trust me :') But the more the story goes through, the more I disliked him and turned to second-hand characters, such as Dale and Laurence for instance. Aldor's isn't heroic enough to be the lead hero. I know heroes are to depend on thier friends to succeed, but I just don't understand why he's the one in charge and leading the other. Bc apart from beeing Rowan's son and quite good at arms, I don't really find him any particular leader's traits. He has compassion, tha'ts for sure. And can sometimes be funny. But I didn't quite got along with the character.
Jon : He was alright, but is becoming more interestin with the new settings in his kingdom. I want to see where that leads.
Rolav He is not credible as a king at all. He trusts a kid out of nowhere, has no secret plans or dark secrets, is open and loving and naive. He just sounds like a baker or butcher from a small town near the forest, and certainly not like the king of one of the greatest kingdoms in Eldoran.
Tempest and Keira : One rubric for the two, because they aren't important or elaborate by the author, and there's obviously no romance developped here (which is clearly lacking, but I love romance so I'm obviously biased.) It's even worse that there are some attempts of Aldor connecting with them, but it leads NOWHERE.
Gregory : UGH. The sarcasm was okay. The whole scene in the forest with the riders was not. And the scenes with Marie were.... What ?! I really don't know where that came from. It arrived out of the blue, and was never mentionned again (another dead end). Gregory should be despicable for defecting, but since it's never mentionned again, I guess we don't care anymore ? We can't ike him bc he decided to betray Aldor, but we can't hate himbc nothing ever happens. So what do we do ? I'm lost.
Laurence, Dale and Jasper : These were awesome. I loved them and they clearly savec the books. They were the most humans, and lovely and heart-warming characters. Prooves that Milette is capable of creating great and attaching characters, so that was a really good point! Oh, and Laurence being a scientist and passionated about it is REALLY AWESOME. Honeslty, these three are the only reasons I'm giwing more than 1,5 stars to the character's section.
Ace : Also, every mention of this girl and Dale is heart-breaking, so that's a big YES for me.
Writing : 2/5 stars
Casey Milette is young, and has a young writer style. It feels more like reading a first draft than a real book. Yet, I like the richness of vocabulary she used, especially during the description scenes. There's also some poetry here and there that I liked ("Her eyes looked sunken, they probably held the stars once, but the glow was gone"), but it was never followed through and often felt out of place.
The metaphors and comparisons were also interresting and I believe they're good sign Milette will developp a greater writing style with time and practise. ("The castle resembled an old man perched on a hillside, gnarled fingers gripping rock on a column of stones.")
Then, the biggest issue : DIALOGUES
I really had a hard time following and living dialogues. A lot of lines are flat or worn-out clichés. ("Wow. At least I can always trust you to be honest." I can't read that out loud and living it, so it does not work for me. It should have an exclamation point, or the text mentioning the character laughing or something...)
Besides, the replies and lines don't follow each other well. ("Tell me the truth, lying's just going to make things way worse." "You want honesty ? Fine. I was trying to see if I could swipe that fish of yours before you left the forest." Can't read that outloud either. Aldor's trying to be rational and calm here and Tempest is replying like they just had a fight or something, while he just asked her questions. It doesn't make sense to me. She sounds angry and just says something funny/sarcastic after ? Idk, but i felt out of the scene the whole time.)
Plus, it isn't always clear who is talking and when, the ARC making it even harder because of the editing issues. (There are a lot of typo mistakes, caps or dots missing every now and then, etc...)
And some sentences just don't sound right. "Their skin stretched across their knucles appeared broken." Hum, what ? I know I'm not a native speaker, but I believe it should be written "The skin accross their knucles." Or "Their skins accros the knucles." ? Idk.
But then again, C. Milette is a fresh-new auhtor, and still very young, so the fault here behoves more to her agent or editor than to herself.
All in all, this book had great potential, especially regarding the universe and some of the second-hand characters. Yet, the incoherences in the plot, the uneven course of events and the unedited writing made it hard to get through.
But we can definetely say that Milette has possibilities to improve and to create something better and more enticing (in the next books of the series I hope). I wish her all the best in her writings to come.
The spoilers are hidden, so you can read the visible parts of the review withouth getting spoiled.
Before diving into the review, I have to ask the author, WHO is your narrator ? I'm so confused. The story starts with Aldor narrating (so 1st person POV) even though it's written in the 3rd person. Okay, that was pretty well. But then comments start appearing in the text, comments which could only be made by an omnisicent narrator. ("he didn't notice the motion of someone slinking throuh the tree--someone too impish to be human." If Aldor's narrating, and he didn't see it, then we shouldn't either...) Yet, we read Aldor's every feelings, and own thoughts about past or present events, which is clearly reserved for a 1st person narration (no matter if you use I or he).
So, either I was in Aldor's head and clearly annoyed by omniscient comments, either I was outside the story, but disturbed by Aldor's own thinking. Ugh.
And, please, stop refering a hundred times a chapter to instinct, or adrenaline moving characters in action, because it becomes more and more unbearable.
Well, now that I've said that, let's go!
Universe : 5/5 stars
It was awesome ! And probably the best thing about this books.
I liked how the names of places and people sounded. I liked following the son of an former hero. I liked the descriptions and place allowed to nature, and especially forests and streams through the story.
I enjoyed the idea of parallel universes BUT these are mentionned once but never again. I know you have to built mysteries for the following books, but this, gave the readers too little to be excited over.
And I LOVED the idea of guardians,
Also loved the island in general
Plot/Story : 3/5 stars
The story took some time so start in the first place. And then it felt more like a series of events, one coming after another, than a real story. Plus, there was a lot of dead-ends. (cf parallel universes, or riders who added nothing to the story)
However, some lines were funny and I happened to laugh several times while reading, which means it was not too bad.
But the numerous incoherences made the sory hard to follow/believe. Like when Dale's forced to use is sword because he ran out of arrows (while fighting the sindies), but then he uses his arrows once more later in the chapter. But he couldn't have found his arrows back in the meantime, since they were all lost in the river or in sindies' heads.
Same goes for their shirts, which they take off/lost/rip apart numerous time but always found to have other appearing on their backs...Magic...
Finally, the story was still written as real in some aspects, even more real than most of the books I've read. I'm thinking particulary about the conditions when they're in the pit. They're awfull and grossed, but they're real, and MIlette wasn't affraid of writing the word diarrhea, so that must count for something.
Characters : 3/5 stars
Aldor : I like his name. and the way he's lost at the begininng is painfully accurate. "I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life, which is a lot harder than I thought it would be" HA! I know how you feel, trust me :') But the more the story goes through, the more I disliked him and turned to second-hand characters, such as Dale and Laurence for instance. Aldor's isn't heroic enough to be the lead hero. I know heroes are to depend on thier friends to succeed, but I just don't understand why he's the one in charge and leading the other. Bc apart from beeing Rowan's son and quite good at arms, I don't really find him any particular leader's traits. He has compassion, tha'ts for sure. And can sometimes be funny. But I didn't quite got along with the character.
Jon : He was alright, but is becoming more interestin with the new settings in his kingdom. I want to see where that leads.
Rolav He is not credible as a king at all. He trusts a kid out of nowhere, has no secret plans or dark secrets, is open and loving and naive. He just sounds like a baker or butcher from a small town near the forest, and certainly not like the king of one of the greatest kingdoms in Eldoran.
Tempest and Keira : One rubric for the two, because they aren't important or elaborate by the author, and there's obviously no romance developped here (which is clearly lacking, but I love romance so I'm obviously biased.) It's even worse that there are some attempts of Aldor connecting with them, but it leads NOWHERE.
Gregory : UGH. The sarcasm was okay. The whole scene in the forest with the riders was not. And the scenes with Marie were.... What ?! I really don't know where that came from. It arrived out of the blue, and was never mentionned again (another dead end). Gregory should be despicable for defecting, but since it's never mentionned again, I guess we don't care anymore ? We can't ike him bc he decided to betray Aldor, but we can't hate himbc nothing ever happens. So what do we do ? I'm lost.
Laurence, Dale and Jasper : These were awesome. I loved them and they clearly savec the books. They were the most humans, and lovely and heart-warming characters. Prooves that Milette is capable of creating great and attaching characters, so that was a really good point! Oh, and Laurence being a scientist and passionated about it is REALLY AWESOME. Honeslty, these three are the only reasons I'm giwing more than 1,5 stars to the character's section.
Ace : Also, every mention of this girl and Dale is heart-breaking, so that's a big YES for me.
Writing : 2/5 stars
Casey Milette is young, and has a young writer style. It feels more like reading a first draft than a real book. Yet, I like the richness of vocabulary she used, especially during the description scenes. There's also some poetry here and there that I liked ("Her eyes looked sunken, they probably held the stars once, but the glow was gone"), but it was never followed through and often felt out of place.
The metaphors and comparisons were also interresting and I believe they're good sign Milette will developp a greater writing style with time and practise. ("The castle resembled an old man perched on a hillside, gnarled fingers gripping rock on a column of stones.")
Then, the biggest issue : DIALOGUES
I really had a hard time following and living dialogues. A lot of lines are flat or worn-out clichés. ("Wow. At least I can always trust you to be honest." I can't read that out loud and living it, so it does not work for me. It should have an exclamation point, or the text mentioning the character laughing or something...)
Besides, the replies and lines don't follow each other well. ("Tell me the truth, lying's just going to make things way worse." "You want honesty ? Fine. I was trying to see if I could swipe that fish of yours before you left the forest." Can't read that outloud either. Aldor's trying to be rational and calm here and Tempest is replying like they just had a fight or something, while he just asked her questions. It doesn't make sense to me. She sounds angry and just says something funny/sarcastic after ? Idk, but i felt out of the scene the whole time.)
Plus, it isn't always clear who is talking and when, the ARC making it even harder because of the editing issues. (There are a lot of typo mistakes, caps or dots missing every now and then, etc...)
And some sentences just don't sound right. "Their skin stretched across their knucles appeared broken." Hum, what ? I know I'm not a native speaker, but I believe it should be written "The skin accross their knucles." Or "Their skins accros the knucles." ? Idk.
But then again, C. Milette is a fresh-new auhtor, and still very young, so the fault here behoves more to her agent or editor than to herself.
All in all, this book had great potential, especially regarding the universe and some of the second-hand characters. Yet, the incoherences in the plot, the uneven course of events and the unedited writing made it hard to get through.
But we can definetely say that Milette has possibilities to improve and to create something better and more enticing (in the next books of the series I hope). I wish her all the best in her writings to come.
July 4, 2018
**eARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own**
The best thing about this book is the gorgeous cover. I feel terrible rating it so low, but I honestly can't find almost anything good to say about it. The concept was wonderful, and the general gist of the plot could have made a really great story, but unfortunately it didn't deliver on execution.
It reads like a first draft: there were slight inconsistencies in the plot - just small things, but confusing enough to pull you out of the experience - and pacing issues that made the timing of a lot of events actions seem off. I also think it was too short - I know there's a sequel coming, but even books in series should have a proper conclusion, and there were far too many loose threads here for it to feel like a satisfying ending.
' "I own every key to every world created. All I have to do is... find the door."
"Are you saying there are other worlds out there?" asked Aldor. "Besides ours?"
"Why, of course," said the Jailer with a cackle. Portals and parallel words are never mentioned again.
On the other hand, I have to say I'm glad it wasn't longer. I seriously considered DNFing this at 25% - certainly would have it I hadn't committed to reviewing it - and only just made it to the end, so I'm not sure I would have had the strength to continue much further with it. The world-building was confusing and underdeveloped - very little was explained, and at the end of the book I have equally little understanding as I did in Chapter 1. The writing style felt messy and unpolished, and too modern for a medieval high fantasy ('cowboy hat circled by gator teeth'), making the characters felt out of place in the setting. There were grammatical errors and random paragraph breaks in the middle of dialogue which often made it very difficult to tell who was talking, but because I'm feeling generous I'll put at least that down to it being an ARC...
' I am trying to put together a team brave enough to find it."
"Exactly how many men have you sent off to recover this weapon?"
"This would be the first time."
...
"Although he was uncertain, excitement and a surge of recklessness pumped through is bloodstream. It's not like he had anything better to do."
I didn't care about the characters or feel I understood them at all, and there were several inconsistencies in their abilities and behaviour. The king who sends Aldor on his missions trusts him to take care of his daughter immediately, after one conversation. Aldor accepts a quest to almost-certain death seemingly just out of boredom, and before embarking somehow wins one-on-three against champion warriors after previously displaying zero fighting ability. Again, I think it comes down to the pacing and length: more time ought to have been given to their backstories and motivations. The two romances are instalove cliches and add nothing to the story, and feel like they were thrown in as a second thought, just because YA novels are 'supposed' to have them.
' "I don't want to leave you."
Marie's hands gripped the armrests. "Why not?"
"Because... I'll have to take your heart because you've taken mine." '
I'm so sorry not to have anything better to say about this book, because with tighter editing and a bit more polishing it could have been wonderful. But I can only give my honest opinion, and ultimately I didn't enjoy it at all.
The best thing about this book is the gorgeous cover. I feel terrible rating it so low, but I honestly can't find almost anything good to say about it. The concept was wonderful, and the general gist of the plot could have made a really great story, but unfortunately it didn't deliver on execution.
It reads like a first draft: there were slight inconsistencies in the plot - just small things, but confusing enough to pull you out of the experience - and pacing issues that made the timing of a lot of events actions seem off. I also think it was too short - I know there's a sequel coming, but even books in series should have a proper conclusion, and there were far too many loose threads here for it to feel like a satisfying ending.
' "I own every key to every world created. All I have to do is... find the door."
"Are you saying there are other worlds out there?" asked Aldor. "Besides ours?"
"Why, of course," said the Jailer with a cackle. Portals and parallel words are never mentioned again.
On the other hand, I have to say I'm glad it wasn't longer. I seriously considered DNFing this at 25% - certainly would have it I hadn't committed to reviewing it - and only just made it to the end, so I'm not sure I would have had the strength to continue much further with it. The world-building was confusing and underdeveloped - very little was explained, and at the end of the book I have equally little understanding as I did in Chapter 1. The writing style felt messy and unpolished, and too modern for a medieval high fantasy ('cowboy hat circled by gator teeth'), making the characters felt out of place in the setting. There were grammatical errors and random paragraph breaks in the middle of dialogue which often made it very difficult to tell who was talking, but because I'm feeling generous I'll put at least that down to it being an ARC...
' I am trying to put together a team brave enough to find it."
"Exactly how many men have you sent off to recover this weapon?"
"This would be the first time."
...
"Although he was uncertain, excitement and a surge of recklessness pumped through is bloodstream. It's not like he had anything better to do."
I didn't care about the characters or feel I understood them at all, and there were several inconsistencies in their abilities and behaviour. The king who sends Aldor on his missions trusts him to take care of his daughter immediately, after one conversation. Aldor accepts a quest to almost-certain death seemingly just out of boredom, and before embarking somehow wins one-on-three against champion warriors after previously displaying zero fighting ability. Again, I think it comes down to the pacing and length: more time ought to have been given to their backstories and motivations. The two romances are instalove cliches and add nothing to the story, and feel like they were thrown in as a second thought, just because YA novels are 'supposed' to have them.
' "I don't want to leave you."
Marie's hands gripped the armrests. "Why not?"
"Because... I'll have to take your heart because you've taken mine." '
I'm so sorry not to have anything better to say about this book, because with tighter editing and a bit more polishing it could have been wonderful. But I can only give my honest opinion, and ultimately I didn't enjoy it at all.
January 30, 2018
An eARC has been provided by the publisher for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Cursed: The Hunter Inside tells the tale of Aldor, the son of a hero called Rowan, who leaves his hometown to start on an adventure of his own. He seeks his renown, slaying dragons and traveling to dangerous land with a band of men to retrieve a weapon of immense power, Haran’s Stone.
First Impression:
This novel is riddled with grammar errors and misspelled/unnecessary words that are impossible to ignore even if this is just an ARC. (Case in point: You don’t need to go far. Look at the promotional poster/cover. “A league of friends will become heroes in the faces of monsters.” It should have been “in the face of...”. It’s an idiom, look it up.) Moreover, it’s not just the typos. It’s the flow of the story that makes me wish this could have been edited further.
Book Talk:
Inconsistent Tone
I was imagining this is set in a medieval Europe setting but then someone says “Oh my gosh”.
Bad Prologue
This section should have introduced an event so significant that it will later affect the whole plot. The only effect of the prologue to the whole story is Aldor losing his father and the town being peaceful since then. Too peaceful, in fact, that Aldor soon becomes bored with it and leaves to seek his fortune.
Unbelievable Survival Skills
Aldor is able to survive mortal wounds and journey for two weeks (duration of travel from Dagon to Alyeth and vice versa). By mortal wounds I mean rotting arm oozing with pus, so bad that the muscles are peeling off, and torn skin and muscle at the back from twenty lashes. Note that these wounds have been described to be fatal by the author herself. She made sure we know the intensity of each. When you do that it is impossible to ignore the consequences bought by each injury. Things like these tend to fester and cause blood loss, fever and delirium which would stop anyone from being able to travel for a few days, much less for two weeks.
Plus, whenever the protagonists are in a tight spot, for some reason, they immediately figure out riddles and puzzles! Or maybe it’s just the fact that the riddles aren’t challenging at all... Like the puzzles that lead to Philosopher’s Sto--- I mean Haran’s Stone.
Lazy Descriptions
One rule often invoked when it comes to writing, especially in fantasy settings as this, is show, don’t tell. “Oddly Viking-like” to describe a large man is one of the laziest I could find here.
There was also “elf-like”. Nothing about the way the character was described made me think of an elf. I was thinking more of a hobbit especially when Willcome’s feet was described as having fur-like hair on his toes.
Bad Phrasing
Here comes one of my favorites, in which Aldor is in love with a horse. Like, in love:
“There was one animal in particular that had stolen his heart. Its name was Dawn, a massive, black horse. As Aldor walked through the market, admiring all the goods, he beheld the animal of his dreams. Every time he entered the stables, a trickle of cold (sweat) seemed to douse his sense(s) when(ever) Dawn would look him in the eye. Slightly wistful, Aldor kept walking.”
There are better ways to admire horses. I know you’ve read LotR as some characters in your novel are so similar to the ones in JRRT’s books (Willcome = Tom Bombadil/Radagast?), I think Shadowfax was described well enough without sounding like anyone was in love with a horse… er, romantically. For other examples, see Harry Potter admiring the Nimbus Two Thousand and the Firebolt.
Shallow/Inconsistent Characterization
There is no depth to any of Millette’s characters. Everyone has one trait. Example, Aldor is too heroic, Keira is… to heroic. Gregory is too sarcastic. Oh maybe not one trait each, as everyone is also stupid. And please stop making other characters say about another “You’re too kind to a fault” or “too heroic for your own good” without even enough instances to make them conclude that.
Also, there will often be instances that characters get motivation to do things from an as-of-then unintroduced character/event. Example, Dale’s morale is often boosted by the mention of "Ace”. Gregory’s distrust towards a guardian is from a wizard destroying his family. But the reasons behind these motivations are not introduced beforehand. So imagine my confusion when Gregory starts to spout unfounded accusations at Willcome. I went like, “How could you say that?” Or when Jasper yells “Ace wouldn’t want you to do that!” or something like that to Dale, I was thinking, “Who the hell is Ace?” And the worse thing is, these mystery people/reasons don’t ever get explained. How are we supposed to sympathize with a character’s anger or sadness or joy when we do not understand where it’s coming from?
Why is every girl in this book, namely, Keira and Marie, want to “be brave” aka go slay things? And “being brave” is always equated to manly stuff, like, slaying things. Keira is insufferably stupid, not brave. She calls people who make plans before they charge at live, fire-breathing dragons cowards, and charges straight into the beast despite having zero battle skills! She jumps right in front of every danger without thinking, without preparation, without capacity to do anything! And the author seems to glorify acts. Keira also throws a knife straight to a bad guy. Do you have any idea how hard it is to throw a knife with a path? Or to learn how to wield a sword?
Both Aldor and Dale claim to not be team players but instantly makes friends with everyone.
Instalove
Stuff I didn’t bother to classify
Search Party - The king sends a search party (with him in it) the very night Aldor and Keira slays a dragon as if he expected the task to be done so soon
Keira’s knowledge of the terrain NEAR THE DRAGON’S LAIR despite her being cooped up in the castle for basically forever.
The king allowing his daughter to join suicide quests despite knowing she doesn’t have an ounce of training and telling Aldor to protect her. I mean, I was pretty sure the king hates Keira secretly and is actually planning to feed her to the dragon because there can’t be no other reason to let someone so ill-equipped near a dangerous beast! And with a stranger! And then you let her go on a quest everyone calls a suicide mission!
The shortcut out of the desert and back to Alyeth that Dale knows, which, for some reason, he did not bring up when they were travelling from Alyeth to Haran’s Desert
Everyone saying they are willing to die for Aldor, a guy they have never been on a quest before the one they’re banding up for
Bringing weak teammates. By that I mean everyone. All everyone does is complain about the heat, the lack of water, the traps, all the hardships
No one took “suicide mission” seriously even though they kept on throwing the term around so lightly
Aldor being melodramatic about everything, how these people depend on him, how he broke his promise to protect Keira, how something as beautiful as Keira lies broken at the foot of a dragon, ashes on her long lashe---- GEEZ, YOU’RE BATTLING A DRAGON AND YOU HAVE TIME TO NOTE HOW LONG HER LASHES ARE?!?
A lot of useless characters and events. Or maybe they aren’t entirely useless. Maybe they will appear on the next books but the way they are tied to the rest of the novel is not seamless.
Final Verdict: Rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (0.9 out of 5)
Sadly, this book seems like it was written in a hurry although I think I’ve read she has been writing this since she was twelve and she’s sixteen now... I didn’t like it from the very beginning up til the very end. It wasn’t neat, tone was bland, characters weren’t memorable at all. I don’t see the point of the plot. Needs major revision aka plot overhaul. Total rewrite.
Synopsis:
Cursed: The Hunter Inside tells the tale of Aldor, the son of a hero called Rowan, who leaves his hometown to start on an adventure of his own. He seeks his renown, slaying dragons and traveling to dangerous land with a band of men to retrieve a weapon of immense power, Haran’s Stone.
First Impression:
This novel is riddled with grammar errors and misspelled/unnecessary words that are impossible to ignore even if this is just an ARC. (Case in point: You don’t need to go far. Look at the promotional poster/cover. “A league of friends will become heroes in the faces of monsters.” It should have been “in the face of...”. It’s an idiom, look it up.) Moreover, it’s not just the typos. It’s the flow of the story that makes me wish this could have been edited further.
Book Talk:
Inconsistent Tone
I was imagining this is set in a medieval Europe setting but then someone says “Oh my gosh”.
Bad Prologue
This section should have introduced an event so significant that it will later affect the whole plot. The only effect of the prologue to the whole story is Aldor losing his father and the town being peaceful since then. Too peaceful, in fact, that Aldor soon becomes bored with it and leaves to seek his fortune.
Unbelievable Survival Skills
Aldor is able to survive mortal wounds and journey for two weeks (duration of travel from Dagon to Alyeth and vice versa). By mortal wounds I mean rotting arm oozing with pus, so bad that the muscles are peeling off, and torn skin and muscle at the back from twenty lashes. Note that these wounds have been described to be fatal by the author herself. She made sure we know the intensity of each. When you do that it is impossible to ignore the consequences bought by each injury. Things like these tend to fester and cause blood loss, fever and delirium which would stop anyone from being able to travel for a few days, much less for two weeks.
Plus, whenever the protagonists are in a tight spot, for some reason, they immediately figure out riddles and puzzles! Or maybe it’s just the fact that the riddles aren’t challenging at all... Like the puzzles that lead to Philosopher’s Sto--- I mean Haran’s Stone.
Lazy Descriptions
One rule often invoked when it comes to writing, especially in fantasy settings as this, is show, don’t tell. “Oddly Viking-like” to describe a large man is one of the laziest I could find here.
There was also “elf-like”. Nothing about the way the character was described made me think of an elf. I was thinking more of a hobbit especially when Willcome’s feet was described as having fur-like hair on his toes.
Bad Phrasing
Here comes one of my favorites, in which Aldor is in love with a horse. Like, in love:
“There was one animal in particular that had stolen his heart. Its name was Dawn, a massive, black horse. As Aldor walked through the market, admiring all the goods, he beheld the animal of his dreams. Every time he entered the stables, a trickle of cold (sweat) seemed to douse his sense(s) when(ever) Dawn would look him in the eye. Slightly wistful, Aldor kept walking.”
There are better ways to admire horses. I know you’ve read LotR as some characters in your novel are so similar to the ones in JRRT’s books (Willcome = Tom Bombadil/Radagast?), I think Shadowfax was described well enough without sounding like anyone was in love with a horse… er, romantically. For other examples, see Harry Potter admiring the Nimbus Two Thousand and the Firebolt.
Shallow/Inconsistent Characterization
There is no depth to any of Millette’s characters. Everyone has one trait. Example, Aldor is too heroic, Keira is… to heroic. Gregory is too sarcastic. Oh maybe not one trait each, as everyone is also stupid. And please stop making other characters say about another “You’re too kind to a fault” or “too heroic for your own good” without even enough instances to make them conclude that.
Also, there will often be instances that characters get motivation to do things from an as-of-then unintroduced character/event. Example, Dale’s morale is often boosted by the mention of "Ace”. Gregory’s distrust towards a guardian is from a wizard destroying his family. But the reasons behind these motivations are not introduced beforehand. So imagine my confusion when Gregory starts to spout unfounded accusations at Willcome. I went like, “How could you say that?” Or when Jasper yells “Ace wouldn’t want you to do that!” or something like that to Dale, I was thinking, “Who the hell is Ace?” And the worse thing is, these mystery people/reasons don’t ever get explained. How are we supposed to sympathize with a character’s anger or sadness or joy when we do not understand where it’s coming from?
Why is every girl in this book, namely, Keira and Marie, want to “be brave” aka go slay things? And “being brave” is always equated to manly stuff, like, slaying things. Keira is insufferably stupid, not brave. She calls people who make plans before they charge at live, fire-breathing dragons cowards, and charges straight into the beast despite having zero battle skills! She jumps right in front of every danger without thinking, without preparation, without capacity to do anything! And the author seems to glorify acts. Keira also throws a knife straight to a bad guy. Do you have any idea how hard it is to throw a knife with a path? Or to learn how to wield a sword?
Both Aldor and Dale claim to not be team players but instantly makes friends with everyone.
Instalove
Stuff I didn’t bother to classify
Search Party - The king sends a search party (with him in it) the very night Aldor and Keira slays a dragon as if he expected the task to be done so soon
Keira’s knowledge of the terrain NEAR THE DRAGON’S LAIR despite her being cooped up in the castle for basically forever.
The king allowing his daughter to join suicide quests despite knowing she doesn’t have an ounce of training and telling Aldor to protect her. I mean, I was pretty sure the king hates Keira secretly and is actually planning to feed her to the dragon because there can’t be no other reason to let someone so ill-equipped near a dangerous beast! And with a stranger! And then you let her go on a quest everyone calls a suicide mission!
The shortcut out of the desert and back to Alyeth that Dale knows, which, for some reason, he did not bring up when they were travelling from Alyeth to Haran’s Desert
Everyone saying they are willing to die for Aldor, a guy they have never been on a quest before the one they’re banding up for
Bringing weak teammates. By that I mean everyone. All everyone does is complain about the heat, the lack of water, the traps, all the hardships
No one took “suicide mission” seriously even though they kept on throwing the term around so lightly
Aldor being melodramatic about everything, how these people depend on him, how he broke his promise to protect Keira, how something as beautiful as Keira lies broken at the foot of a dragon, ashes on her long lashe---- GEEZ, YOU’RE BATTLING A DRAGON AND YOU HAVE TIME TO NOTE HOW LONG HER LASHES ARE?!?
A lot of useless characters and events. Or maybe they aren’t entirely useless. Maybe they will appear on the next books but the way they are tied to the rest of the novel is not seamless.
Final Verdict: Rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (0.9 out of 5)
Sadly, this book seems like it was written in a hurry although I think I’ve read she has been writing this since she was twelve and she’s sixteen now... I didn’t like it from the very beginning up til the very end. It wasn’t neat, tone was bland, characters weren’t memorable at all. I don’t see the point of the plot. Needs major revision aka plot overhaul. Total rewrite.
March 27, 2018
How many sixteen year old authors can hit a breakthrough fantasy novel through the roof. Now ask, how many have a successful series in hand. Not too many! But Ms. Millette has done just that. She has created a new world for adventurers to explore and rich characters to love and hate. There’s magic and monsters galore.
Cursed: The Hunter Inside has everything! Betray, romance, high adventure and even talking trees.
This is a young author to watch!
Cursed: The Hunter Inside has everything! Betray, romance, high adventure and even talking trees.
This is a young author to watch!
March 26, 2018
Cursed: The Hunter Inside is an exciting fantasy book containing quests, legends, super cool creatures (including a dragon!), and, of course, a hero on a mission. I loved the vivid descriptions and the determined characters, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!
March 2, 2018
**Disclaimer** I was sent an E-ARC of this book by the publisher for an honest review.
This was a fun, quick read. I loved the adventure, the hints of things to come in future books of the series, and the sweet, wide-eyed wonder of the writing style. I will most definitely pick up the next book in the series, because while I did have some issues with the character development, worldbuilding, and sometimes the writing itself, I have a feeling most of these things will get more fleshed out in future books. Something I knew going in was that this book was written by a teenage author, and there are places where I could tell that the writing was not as developed as a more mature, established adult’s. However, this wasn’t always a bad thing—I mentioned that I liked the clear-eyed, youthful feel of the writing. But in some places, it did have a tendency to get tell-instead-of-show-y, and the characters made snap changes in who they were in the span of sentences. I feel like there’s plenty of room for Millette’s writing to mature, and it will be interesting to watch over the next few books, which, like I said, I most definitely will read.
I'd rate this book about 2.5 stars, but I'll round up because I did have a really good time while reading it.
Worldbuilding: This is one of my main concerns with any high-fantasy novel, and Cursed doesn’t start particularly well in this area. “Bombs” and “bullets” are mentioned, but to describe sounds and shapes. Neither bombs nor bullets appear anywhere in the story, which made them out-of-place, jarring references to the real world. I did love the interesting locales we got to visit in Cursed, and I look forward to seeing more of them as the series continues! More issues appear when “Vikings” are mentioned—again, is this an appropriate reference, since it references the real world instead of the high fantasy world of Cursed? There’s a throwaway reference to microscopes at the end of the book, which is again a very modern technology, and I’d like a little explanation as to how it appeared in this world. Electricity. Same, same. I do love the glimpses of history we’re given, and it’s one of those toward the end of the book that made the world fall a little more into place for me. I think this is something that will improve with the coming books.
Characters: One of the first things that caught my eye about this book was the characters. I loved Aldor’s relationships with his mother figure and best friend—they had genuine, emotional interactions, and I believed that they’d known each other for a long time. This does become the downfall of later character interactions, as the story tends to skip the fledgling parts of relationships with new characters in favor of getting straight to the adventure. The members of our band of heroes, therefore, go from just meeting each other to being the best of pals, with very little interaction being shown between them. Aldor, our main character, is likeable and sweet, but I had lots of questions about him in the beginning, mainly: where did he learn how to fight, and how good is he really? What prior leadership experience does he have, because his skills in that area seem to come out of nowhere and without much effort or concern on his part?
Plot: The plot is your typical, fun-filled fantasy adventure story: young man develops into a leader with dragon-hunting and artifact-seeking along the way.
Writing: The thing that bothered me most about the writing was that there was an abundance of typos. At least twice, “reigns” is used to refer to the reins of a horse. Scrapping instead of scraping, cloths instead of clothes, wiped instead of whipped, that sort of thing. These errors range from those that could lead to tragic misunderstandings (“I’ll be in your man on the inside”) to sentences that are missing or lacking words and therefore make little sense (“Its supply of never runs out”). There’s also a tendency to tell instead of show, and to say things way too on the nose instead of leaving space for the reader to infer/interpret. That being said, the writing has a sweet, whimsical, wide-eyed feel that I really quite enjoy.
Here are some quotes I really loved:
“Of course I remember bacon, Gregory,” Laurence growled. (I truly laughed when I read this, it was a great moment.)
“Easy for you to say,” grumbled Gregory coldly. “You aren’t being thrown over the chasm of death like a bushel of apples.”
All of the above illustrate something I’ve forgotten to mention: there’s a gentle undercurrent of humor running through this book, and through the fellowship of warriors, that occasionally rears its head and makes me wish there was more of it, and more banter.
Was it filled with rocks? Why? Why would he need a bag of rocks?
The air was sticky, clinging to his chainmail like damp velvet.
~~~ Okay, end of quotes! I’m looking forward to hearing about the next book! Friendly reminder that Cursed comes out on March 27th, so head over to Amazon to preorder an electronic copy for just $0.99!!
This was a fun, quick read. I loved the adventure, the hints of things to come in future books of the series, and the sweet, wide-eyed wonder of the writing style. I will most definitely pick up the next book in the series, because while I did have some issues with the character development, worldbuilding, and sometimes the writing itself, I have a feeling most of these things will get more fleshed out in future books. Something I knew going in was that this book was written by a teenage author, and there are places where I could tell that the writing was not as developed as a more mature, established adult’s. However, this wasn’t always a bad thing—I mentioned that I liked the clear-eyed, youthful feel of the writing. But in some places, it did have a tendency to get tell-instead-of-show-y, and the characters made snap changes in who they were in the span of sentences. I feel like there’s plenty of room for Millette’s writing to mature, and it will be interesting to watch over the next few books, which, like I said, I most definitely will read.
I'd rate this book about 2.5 stars, but I'll round up because I did have a really good time while reading it.
Worldbuilding: This is one of my main concerns with any high-fantasy novel, and Cursed doesn’t start particularly well in this area. “Bombs” and “bullets” are mentioned, but to describe sounds and shapes. Neither bombs nor bullets appear anywhere in the story, which made them out-of-place, jarring references to the real world. I did love the interesting locales we got to visit in Cursed, and I look forward to seeing more of them as the series continues! More issues appear when “Vikings” are mentioned—again, is this an appropriate reference, since it references the real world instead of the high fantasy world of Cursed? There’s a throwaway reference to microscopes at the end of the book, which is again a very modern technology, and I’d like a little explanation as to how it appeared in this world. Electricity. Same, same. I do love the glimpses of history we’re given, and it’s one of those toward the end of the book that made the world fall a little more into place for me. I think this is something that will improve with the coming books.
Characters: One of the first things that caught my eye about this book was the characters. I loved Aldor’s relationships with his mother figure and best friend—they had genuine, emotional interactions, and I believed that they’d known each other for a long time. This does become the downfall of later character interactions, as the story tends to skip the fledgling parts of relationships with new characters in favor of getting straight to the adventure. The members of our band of heroes, therefore, go from just meeting each other to being the best of pals, with very little interaction being shown between them. Aldor, our main character, is likeable and sweet, but I had lots of questions about him in the beginning, mainly: where did he learn how to fight, and how good is he really? What prior leadership experience does he have, because his skills in that area seem to come out of nowhere and without much effort or concern on his part?
Plot: The plot is your typical, fun-filled fantasy adventure story: young man develops into a leader with dragon-hunting and artifact-seeking along the way.
Writing: The thing that bothered me most about the writing was that there was an abundance of typos. At least twice, “reigns” is used to refer to the reins of a horse. Scrapping instead of scraping, cloths instead of clothes, wiped instead of whipped, that sort of thing. These errors range from those that could lead to tragic misunderstandings (“I’ll be in your man on the inside”) to sentences that are missing or lacking words and therefore make little sense (“Its supply of never runs out”). There’s also a tendency to tell instead of show, and to say things way too on the nose instead of leaving space for the reader to infer/interpret. That being said, the writing has a sweet, whimsical, wide-eyed feel that I really quite enjoy.
Here are some quotes I really loved:
“Of course I remember bacon, Gregory,” Laurence growled. (I truly laughed when I read this, it was a great moment.)
“Easy for you to say,” grumbled Gregory coldly. “You aren’t being thrown over the chasm of death like a bushel of apples.”
All of the above illustrate something I’ve forgotten to mention: there’s a gentle undercurrent of humor running through this book, and through the fellowship of warriors, that occasionally rears its head and makes me wish there was more of it, and more banter.
Was it filled with rocks? Why? Why would he need a bag of rocks?
The air was sticky, clinging to his chainmail like damp velvet.
~~~ Okay, end of quotes! I’m looking forward to hearing about the next book! Friendly reminder that Cursed comes out on March 27th, so head over to Amazon to preorder an electronic copy for just $0.99!!
March 8, 2018
I really wanted to love this book, I really did.
On paper it ticks all my boxes: fantasy universe, found family with a ragtag bunch of misfits, quests. And the author, she’s sixteen years old and has got a book published! #livingthedream
Unfortunately her age showed. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t get into this book with the medieval setting at odds with the more modern attitudes of the characters. There seemed to be running threads through the book that ultimately lead nowhere. This may be subject to change in the future but for now they are unsatisfying dead ends. It caused the plot line to become more of jumble than a somewhat linear sequence of events which left me confused as to what was happening and what was important to the current storyline. Her writing voice as well seemed young despite the setting lending itself to an older voice.
Her characters were… I’m honestly not quite sure how to describe them. I am all for ragtag groups becoming found families but despite this group fitting the spirit of the description I had no emotional connection to any of them really. If i had to pick a favourite, then it would be Laurence, but that is more due to the fact he is strongly coded as being Australian and I’m fond of the accent. I cannot say with any certainity what each characters motivation is and they came across as trope-ish. I had hoped with the author being a woman, she would have taken this oppourtunity to bunk the tired tradition of a single girl in a group of men and at least one of them is in love with her, but sadly this was not to be.
I wish the supporting cast had been given more screen time particularly with the events that were set into motion that took me by surprise due to the lack of familiarity with the side characters. The author definitely had her favourites I feel which lead to the others fading into the background. And this would be fine if they were still expanded and possessed character growth but I did not see this happening through the book. Characters were the same at the beginning as they were at the end with very few changes occuring.
I did like the potential consequences of Aldor’s actions with his lack of planning leading to danger in the desert. However other situations were too similar to events from the Pirates of the Carribean for example. It was an alright book, I didn’t dislike it but neither did I like it.
Ultimately, the book had potential and I look forward to seeing Casey’s writing develop and grow. I wish her all the best luck for her future work.
On paper it ticks all my boxes: fantasy universe, found family with a ragtag bunch of misfits, quests. And the author, she’s sixteen years old and has got a book published! #livingthedream
Unfortunately her age showed. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t get into this book with the medieval setting at odds with the more modern attitudes of the characters. There seemed to be running threads through the book that ultimately lead nowhere. This may be subject to change in the future but for now they are unsatisfying dead ends. It caused the plot line to become more of jumble than a somewhat linear sequence of events which left me confused as to what was happening and what was important to the current storyline. Her writing voice as well seemed young despite the setting lending itself to an older voice.
Her characters were… I’m honestly not quite sure how to describe them. I am all for ragtag groups becoming found families but despite this group fitting the spirit of the description I had no emotional connection to any of them really. If i had to pick a favourite, then it would be Laurence, but that is more due to the fact he is strongly coded as being Australian and I’m fond of the accent. I cannot say with any certainity what each characters motivation is and they came across as trope-ish. I had hoped with the author being a woman, she would have taken this oppourtunity to bunk the tired tradition of a single girl in a group of men and at least one of them is in love with her, but sadly this was not to be.
I wish the supporting cast had been given more screen time particularly with the events that were set into motion that took me by surprise due to the lack of familiarity with the side characters. The author definitely had her favourites I feel which lead to the others fading into the background. And this would be fine if they were still expanded and possessed character growth but I did not see this happening through the book. Characters were the same at the beginning as they were at the end with very few changes occuring.
I did like the potential consequences of Aldor’s actions with his lack of planning leading to danger in the desert. However other situations were too similar to events from the Pirates of the Carribean for example. It was an alright book, I didn’t dislike it but neither did I like it.
Ultimately, the book had potential and I look forward to seeing Casey’s writing develop and grow. I wish her all the best luck for her future work.
April 30, 2018
**I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest voluntary review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by my source.**
I have a bit of a hit or miss relationship when it comes to adventure novels and this one lies somewhere in the middle.
For one thing, I loved the vibes I got while reading this novel. It's very reminiscent of Lord of the Rings in its style though it lacks the considerable depth those novels have. But it follows the same prototype of a group of seemingly strangers following an unlikely hero as he completes an impossible quest.
That depth was something I wish was more prevalent here. I felt like the characters weren't as developed as I would have liked so I didn't really form any bonds with them. I think that's a result of only getting Aldor's POV for the longest time and getting a singular viewpoint of the events. The crew also doesn't interact too much inside themselves so I missed that banter and tension between them. I love watching a group of people become a team and I felt that was lacking a little.
One of the biggest reasons I tend to not enjoy adventure novels is the delivery of the plot. I tend to get bored as the characters just mosey along to the final destination. Aldor and crew do go through a lot of interesting obstacles so I wasn't bored in that sense. However, I did feel like there was a suspense lacking in the plot itself. I like a lot of things happening in my stories and I felt like the plot here tackled Problem A before Problem B is ever introduced so I felt like we were just going through the motions.
I will say there we do get some interesting plot progression near the end that gives me hope that things will become more elaborate in the sequel...but I think time will tell!
Check out more spoiler-free book and series reviews on my blog SERIESousBookReviews.com as well as read book series recaps!
Full Review: https://wp.me/p7hLUw-2AL
Actual Rating: 2.5/5
I have a bit of a hit or miss relationship when it comes to adventure novels and this one lies somewhere in the middle.
For one thing, I loved the vibes I got while reading this novel. It's very reminiscent of Lord of the Rings in its style though it lacks the considerable depth those novels have. But it follows the same prototype of a group of seemingly strangers following an unlikely hero as he completes an impossible quest.
That depth was something I wish was more prevalent here. I felt like the characters weren't as developed as I would have liked so I didn't really form any bonds with them. I think that's a result of only getting Aldor's POV for the longest time and getting a singular viewpoint of the events. The crew also doesn't interact too much inside themselves so I missed that banter and tension between them. I love watching a group of people become a team and I felt that was lacking a little.
One of the biggest reasons I tend to not enjoy adventure novels is the delivery of the plot. I tend to get bored as the characters just mosey along to the final destination. Aldor and crew do go through a lot of interesting obstacles so I wasn't bored in that sense. However, I did feel like there was a suspense lacking in the plot itself. I like a lot of things happening in my stories and I felt like the plot here tackled Problem A before Problem B is ever introduced so I felt like we were just going through the motions.
I will say there we do get some interesting plot progression near the end that gives me hope that things will become more elaborate in the sequel...but I think time will tell!
Check out more spoiler-free book and series reviews on my blog SERIESousBookReviews.com as well as read book series recaps!
Full Review: https://wp.me/p7hLUw-2AL
Actual Rating: 2.5/5
March 28, 2018
A young man named Aldor has always been content with his life, but still felt as though something was missing. He decides to venture out on his own into the world which he knows little about and discovers many challenges along the way.
Soon Aldor is fighting dragons and legendary beings on his journey to uncover a mythical stone that could save his world. He sets out on this quest with his hand-picked teammates that are fitted with an array of skills; however, their skills will be put to the test as the struggle for their survival as they journey through the treacherous landscapes.
Will Aldor and his friends be able to save the world that they have come to know, or will their adventure be extinguished before it has barely begun?
(I received an ARC of Cursed from Casey Millette in exchange for my honest review.)
Cursed: The Hunter Inside has great potential to become a great story. There is a lot of creativity that went into creating this magical world. I enjoyed the variety of characters and the adventures that they set out on. However, there are a lot of high points to the story that aren't supported by enough background information. At times the details would conflict with what the author had previously written and could become confusing. Over all, the theme of the novel was good, I just think it needs a little more work to become a great story.
Soon Aldor is fighting dragons and legendary beings on his journey to uncover a mythical stone that could save his world. He sets out on this quest with his hand-picked teammates that are fitted with an array of skills; however, their skills will be put to the test as the struggle for their survival as they journey through the treacherous landscapes.
Will Aldor and his friends be able to save the world that they have come to know, or will their adventure be extinguished before it has barely begun?
(I received an ARC of Cursed from Casey Millette in exchange for my honest review.)
Cursed: The Hunter Inside has great potential to become a great story. There is a lot of creativity that went into creating this magical world. I enjoyed the variety of characters and the adventures that they set out on. However, there are a lot of high points to the story that aren't supported by enough background information. At times the details would conflict with what the author had previously written and could become confusing. Over all, the theme of the novel was good, I just think it needs a little more work to become a great story.
March 14, 2019
Now before I start this review I want to appreciate that the author of this book is a teenager, and it is incredible to have such an accomplishment at a young age.
But I like to have an honest opinion when I do reviews, so here we go. Overall, the story line trying to be told was good. I had a very hard time following at times though, it was jumpy. We would be talking about one description and then jump to another to follow with going back to the original. It made it hard for me to picture what was trying to be described and the placement of the scene.
I would also like to notate that some of the conversations had between the characters were abit awkward as well, very abrupt, and could have been a bit more in depth. But the fact you are 16-17 years old I am appreciative you asked for me to do a review for you, and still very much astonished at what you have accomplished. I think you have great potential and the story was fun, just needs a bit fine tuning.
But I like to have an honest opinion when I do reviews, so here we go. Overall, the story line trying to be told was good. I had a very hard time following at times though, it was jumpy. We would be talking about one description and then jump to another to follow with going back to the original. It made it hard for me to picture what was trying to be described and the placement of the scene.
I would also like to notate that some of the conversations had between the characters were abit awkward as well, very abrupt, and could have been a bit more in depth. But the fact you are 16-17 years old I am appreciative you asked for me to do a review for you, and still very much astonished at what you have accomplished. I think you have great potential and the story was fun, just needs a bit fine tuning.
February 23, 2018
I was sent an e-ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This book was overall hard for me to enjoy because I felt that the pacing was really off in a lot of ways. There were ghosts and dragons and cowboy hats galore, but I didn't feel like I knew where anything was coming from or why a lot of things were happening. The main character, Aldor, has lived a pretty secluded life but is able to survive a dragon and is chosen to lead a dangerous mission for a King within the first two chapters. It just didn't feel believable in any way. I think if the pacing had slowed down a bit and the details of the story were more fleshed out, I would have enjoyed it a bit better.
The premise of this book was really interesting and I wanted to enjoy it a bit more than I ended up enjoying it. I think that if you aren't an avid reader of high fantasy, this is a great book to pick up
This book was overall hard for me to enjoy because I felt that the pacing was really off in a lot of ways. There were ghosts and dragons and cowboy hats galore, but I didn't feel like I knew where anything was coming from or why a lot of things were happening. The main character, Aldor, has lived a pretty secluded life but is able to survive a dragon and is chosen to lead a dangerous mission for a King within the first two chapters. It just didn't feel believable in any way. I think if the pacing had slowed down a bit and the details of the story were more fleshed out, I would have enjoyed it a bit better.
The premise of this book was really interesting and I wanted to enjoy it a bit more than I ended up enjoying it. I think that if you aren't an avid reader of high fantasy, this is a great book to pick up
February 27, 2018
* I received an e-arc of the novel for an honest review*
ACTUAL RATING : 2.75/5
The synopsis of this book had my book, the beginning had me interested, and by the end I was a bit underwhelmed. I’m sad to write this, because I have high respect for Casey publishing a book at such a young age, but this book just wasn’t for me. I think for a younger high-fantasy age group this would be perfect.
The plot didn’t really pick up until about halfway through, I was confused with events happening, and I just couldn’t connect with the characters. Also, I felt there’s was some InstaLove and I’m never a fan of that.
The writing with some more polishing, could be amazing. So even though I didn’t enjoy this story overall, I would read future work by this author.
ACTUAL RATING : 2.75/5
The synopsis of this book had my book, the beginning had me interested, and by the end I was a bit underwhelmed. I’m sad to write this, because I have high respect for Casey publishing a book at such a young age, but this book just wasn’t for me. I think for a younger high-fantasy age group this would be perfect.
The plot didn’t really pick up until about halfway through, I was confused with events happening, and I just couldn’t connect with the characters. Also, I felt there’s was some InstaLove and I’m never a fan of that.
The writing with some more polishing, could be amazing. So even though I didn’t enjoy this story overall, I would read future work by this author.
March 2, 2018
I received a free e-arc of this book for my honest review from the publisher-
The premise was intriguing, young guy making his mark on the world, finding his meaning and learning his fathers history, goes out on this crazy adventure.
But I have to say this book frustrated me. I needed a bit more world and character building. I felt like I was thrown in and a bit flustered. Throughout the description we were told a lot of things straight forward where I’d like to be shown.
This would be a great middle grade novel and for people who are stepping into the fantasy genre. I just think there is still some work to be done.
The premise was intriguing, young guy making his mark on the world, finding his meaning and learning his fathers history, goes out on this crazy adventure.
But I have to say this book frustrated me. I needed a bit more world and character building. I felt like I was thrown in and a bit flustered. Throughout the description we were told a lot of things straight forward where I’d like to be shown.
This would be a great middle grade novel and for people who are stepping into the fantasy genre. I just think there is still some work to be done.
September 25, 2019
FBRC REVIEW :
DISCLAIMER : I received an ARC of this book from The Parliament Press in exchange for an honest review. The book was provided for participating in the Mabon celebrations. Thank you Parliament press for providing me with an arc of this book.
The synopsis for the book was really interesting and it was the reason I wanted to check this book out. I also found out that the author is a 16 yr old girl who started writing the book from when she was 12yrs old. I believe for someone so young to come up with the idea is really impressive, and I am marveled by her imagination as well. The number of magical creatures and places and horrors she managed to bring to life in the book is really fascinating. I was however not so excited by the story itself.
I was excited by the synopsis, but the story itself didn't do a good job of executing it. The book was OK in my opinion. The plot itself was lacking a proper direction, the world sounded interesting enough, the characters were a bit bland and felt their personalities shifting around at times. The events in the book were very much rushed at times, and at times new elements were introduced without proper introduction or groundwork. The book is set in medieval times, but at times the guy's conversations were modern. The dialogues also felt a bit stilted and awkward. I believe the book had potential but it wasn't used well. The storyline is a cliched trope, but if executed well would have made for a better story. The plot needed to be more clear and the characters needed more development in my opinion.
I liked the idea of a young guy who lives in the shadows of someone greater who sets out into proving themselves, finds the group of misfits who join him on the quest for the exclusive, dangerous task. This story is essentially that with our central character being Aldor. The story is centered around Aldor who is the son of a warrior by name of Rowan. Aldor was raised by a nurse who smuggled him into Dagon and raised him as her own son. Aldor has never met his father and he was always bombarded with heroic tales from Rowan's adventures. Aldor always felt less than what he was expected to be as Rowan's son. He wants to go on a journey and find himself and his purpose. Various unfortunate events lead him into exile from him home.
Aldor then gets welcomed into another kingdom from where he is designated various tasks. The fact that at times Aldor is a young 19yr old shy, timid, not-a-people person suddenly becomes this leader figure without much prior training makes it hard to believe that he is tasked with the responsibility of the fate of a foreign kingdom. The shift in his personalities and the way his interactions made me feel confused a lot.
Keira is the princess of the Kingdom that welcomed Aldor. The insta-love between the characters was the other aspect that I felt was unnecessary. Kiera's character was impulsive, irresponsible and immature. I believe the author's intention was to portray her as strong and brave yet the situations didn't make her seem strong or brave.
The warriors or other characters were also full of inconsistencies. Gregory was whiny, annoying and simply indecisive in my opinion. He chose to be part of the mission, yet all he does is complain. He is not a strong character to be part of the mission. Laurence the navigator is the one with all the information about things, and I felt he was a good character with a lot more potential to bring more to the story.
Dale and Jasper were the brothers who joined the mission at Aldor's request. Dale was a huntsman and Jasper had skills with a knife. The brothers were also good characters but didn't have much to offer to the story in terms of character development.
A lot of the details from the past of these characters were glossed over and offered at odd times, which made it difficult to have a connection with them. The friendship between the characters also was quick and not so believable and something you could connect to. I believe that if the storylines for these characters and certain events in their life were foreshadowed before springing on us we could have had a better understanding of the story.
The plot was vague and with just the mission at the forefront, it was a race filled with full of adventure and events. The world the author built was good, a lot of imagination and potential to be more. The book could have been split into two parts with the adventures to be set apart on their own. Each could have been a mission of its own with the number of details and characters that were introduced later. The stakes were high majority of the time, the adventure and risk factor was also very high. I feel like if the individual events were fleshed out more with a lot more character groundwork, this book would have been a masterpiece.
Overall the book is OK, but needs an overhaul in terms of plot, defined characters, less insta-love, and more organic interactions between the characters will make the story more real and easy to connect with.
If you are a younger audience and have no aversion to gore, violence, and death then this book will lead you to the most action-packed ride of your life. The world and the creatures described in the books were definitely unique and fantastic. If you favor a plot and great characters then this book might not be for you. The main focus I will say for this project is the various adventures the team embarks on and how they deal with the circumstances. The world is very complex and will be fascinating for readers who love that.
DISCLAIMER : I received an ARC of this book from The Parliament Press in exchange for an honest review. The book was provided for participating in the Mabon celebrations. Thank you Parliament press for providing me with an arc of this book.
The synopsis for the book was really interesting and it was the reason I wanted to check this book out. I also found out that the author is a 16 yr old girl who started writing the book from when she was 12yrs old. I believe for someone so young to come up with the idea is really impressive, and I am marveled by her imagination as well. The number of magical creatures and places and horrors she managed to bring to life in the book is really fascinating. I was however not so excited by the story itself.
I was excited by the synopsis, but the story itself didn't do a good job of executing it. The book was OK in my opinion. The plot itself was lacking a proper direction, the world sounded interesting enough, the characters were a bit bland and felt their personalities shifting around at times. The events in the book were very much rushed at times, and at times new elements were introduced without proper introduction or groundwork. The book is set in medieval times, but at times the guy's conversations were modern. The dialogues also felt a bit stilted and awkward. I believe the book had potential but it wasn't used well. The storyline is a cliched trope, but if executed well would have made for a better story. The plot needed to be more clear and the characters needed more development in my opinion.
I liked the idea of a young guy who lives in the shadows of someone greater who sets out into proving themselves, finds the group of misfits who join him on the quest for the exclusive, dangerous task. This story is essentially that with our central character being Aldor. The story is centered around Aldor who is the son of a warrior by name of Rowan. Aldor was raised by a nurse who smuggled him into Dagon and raised him as her own son. Aldor has never met his father and he was always bombarded with heroic tales from Rowan's adventures. Aldor always felt less than what he was expected to be as Rowan's son. He wants to go on a journey and find himself and his purpose. Various unfortunate events lead him into exile from him home.
Aldor then gets welcomed into another kingdom from where he is designated various tasks. The fact that at times Aldor is a young 19yr old shy, timid, not-a-people person suddenly becomes this leader figure without much prior training makes it hard to believe that he is tasked with the responsibility of the fate of a foreign kingdom. The shift in his personalities and the way his interactions made me feel confused a lot.
Keira is the princess of the Kingdom that welcomed Aldor. The insta-love between the characters was the other aspect that I felt was unnecessary. Kiera's character was impulsive, irresponsible and immature. I believe the author's intention was to portray her as strong and brave yet the situations didn't make her seem strong or brave.
The warriors or other characters were also full of inconsistencies. Gregory was whiny, annoying and simply indecisive in my opinion. He chose to be part of the mission, yet all he does is complain. He is not a strong character to be part of the mission. Laurence the navigator is the one with all the information about things, and I felt he was a good character with a lot more potential to bring more to the story.
Dale and Jasper were the brothers who joined the mission at Aldor's request. Dale was a huntsman and Jasper had skills with a knife. The brothers were also good characters but didn't have much to offer to the story in terms of character development.
A lot of the details from the past of these characters were glossed over and offered at odd times, which made it difficult to have a connection with them. The friendship between the characters also was quick and not so believable and something you could connect to. I believe that if the storylines for these characters and certain events in their life were foreshadowed before springing on us we could have had a better understanding of the story.
The plot was vague and with just the mission at the forefront, it was a race filled with full of adventure and events. The world the author built was good, a lot of imagination and potential to be more. The book could have been split into two parts with the adventures to be set apart on their own. Each could have been a mission of its own with the number of details and characters that were introduced later. The stakes were high majority of the time, the adventure and risk factor was also very high. I feel like if the individual events were fleshed out more with a lot more character groundwork, this book would have been a masterpiece.
Overall the book is OK, but needs an overhaul in terms of plot, defined characters, less insta-love, and more organic interactions between the characters will make the story more real and easy to connect with.
If you are a younger audience and have no aversion to gore, violence, and death then this book will lead you to the most action-packed ride of your life. The world and the creatures described in the books were definitely unique and fantastic. If you favor a plot and great characters then this book might not be for you. The main focus I will say for this project is the various adventures the team embarks on and how they deal with the circumstances. The world is very complex and will be fascinating for readers who love that.
February 27, 2018
I honestly was not too crazy about this book. The beginning started off strong, but it spiraled out of control from there. The time frame seemed unrealistic and choppy, with details added out of nowhere and some things not explained fully. The story moves too fast because of this, and also because there are a lot of concepts introduced in a short amount of time. The moods change very quickly too. The story and characters hold promise, but the writing style is unprofessional and could be improved.
March 24, 2019
This book shows the talent and imagination of a very talented writer who is only going to grow with age. She started writing this at age 12 and is now 16. The book was easy to read and follow, showed her creativity and imaginative with the various fantasy elements and read within the YA genre. Not without its imperfections, character development needs some building and more background for the setting but for a first book by a 16 year old, it’s a fantastic well written book and she should be so proud of herself!
Looking forward to watching you grow and develop as a writer.
Looking forward to watching you grow and develop as a writer.
April 4, 2019
I received this as an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review ☺️
First of all, congrats to this talented sixteen year old for finishing and publishing a fantasy novel! Absolutely brilliant!
She did so well with the characters and the descriptions however the dialogue was a bit.. meh. But I’ve read worse.
There was a great flow to the story and I loved the adventure side! Very exciting 😍
There were many instances that could have been done better but all in all she did a damn good job for her age and experience. You go girl! 👌
First of all, congrats to this talented sixteen year old for finishing and publishing a fantasy novel! Absolutely brilliant!
She did so well with the characters and the descriptions however the dialogue was a bit.. meh. But I’ve read worse.
There was a great flow to the story and I loved the adventure side! Very exciting 😍
There were many instances that could have been done better but all in all she did a damn good job for her age and experience. You go girl! 👌
April 10, 2019
Aldor's father, Rowan, was an emperor who passed away during a battle with a dark enemy, Farthan. Aldor was only a babe when he was taken into the care of Glen and smuggled to Dagon, where he grew to become best friends with Prince Jon. Only Aldor is now an adult, trying to figure out his place in the world and he is excited to start his own adventures and live up to the expectations of being Rowan's son. Unfortunately, through a series of strange occurrences he is banished from the only home he knows and sent on a suicide mission by another Kingdom.
Aldor is at once a rookie with little experience and a hero born to lead. He can mysteriously survive attacks that should kill him and he forms quick friendships. He is a bit of an enigma, many of his traits work either against him (his lack of training and having to trust quickly) or for him (his loner characteristics help him to bond with other outcasts/misfits). I also like that Aldor was not afraid to embrace his emotions.
The writing of this book was expressive and drew an elaborate landscape of the fascinating world Aldor lived in. The history was dense and rich, the imagery captivating. There were instances when the writing threw me off and that could have simply been the age of the writer (the use of the word tummy instead of stomach). I also found some of the dialogue stunted or missing pieces (characters would answer unasked questions or would rapidly change the dialogue from important information). Overall though, the world building was phenomenal and the descriptive nature of the text sucked the reader into the fantasy.
The found family trope was perfect for the adventurous nature of the book. The group goes from one death defying feat to another, trusting in others they have only recently bonded with. Which makes for an even more intense read. I enjoyed the character interactions and the closeness they exhibited throughout their adventure. The back and forth adds humour to some of the more frightful moments.
I enjoyed the women in this novel, Tempest and Keira are fierce, independent and working to better their world. Although, I would have loved if they had more time within the novel. Instead, it seemed like they were used as a means to motivate Aldor and less as their own character.
This book was full of action from the beginning, a great start for such a young author. Also, the creatures and some events were especially gruesome, but fascinating!
I was given a copy of this ebook, by The Parliament Press, in exchange for an honest review.
Aldor is at once a rookie with little experience and a hero born to lead. He can mysteriously survive attacks that should kill him and he forms quick friendships. He is a bit of an enigma, many of his traits work either against him (his lack of training and having to trust quickly) or for him (his loner characteristics help him to bond with other outcasts/misfits). I also like that Aldor was not afraid to embrace his emotions.
The writing of this book was expressive and drew an elaborate landscape of the fascinating world Aldor lived in. The history was dense and rich, the imagery captivating. There were instances when the writing threw me off and that could have simply been the age of the writer (the use of the word tummy instead of stomach). I also found some of the dialogue stunted or missing pieces (characters would answer unasked questions or would rapidly change the dialogue from important information). Overall though, the world building was phenomenal and the descriptive nature of the text sucked the reader into the fantasy.
The found family trope was perfect for the adventurous nature of the book. The group goes from one death defying feat to another, trusting in others they have only recently bonded with. Which makes for an even more intense read. I enjoyed the character interactions and the closeness they exhibited throughout their adventure. The back and forth adds humour to some of the more frightful moments.
I enjoyed the women in this novel, Tempest and Keira are fierce, independent and working to better their world. Although, I would have loved if they had more time within the novel. Instead, it seemed like they were used as a means to motivate Aldor and less as their own character.
This book was full of action from the beginning, a great start for such a young author. Also, the creatures and some events were especially gruesome, but fascinating!
I was given a copy of this ebook, by The Parliament Press, in exchange for an honest review.
April 17, 2019
*I was sent an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*
So maybe this review is a little harsh but I want to give my honest opinion on this book.
I received an ebook copy of this over two months ago now from the author and I was super excited to dive into it from the beginning but I was severely disappointed. Maybe it’s because she started writing it when she was 12 but I had a lot of issues with this.
The amount of ‘quests’ the main character Aldor went on in this book was excessive to me. It should have been spilt into at least 3 different books with each quest fleshed out more. Within the first 30-50 pages he’d already left his hometown because he was helping someone who was wanted for treason (?) and arrived in another village only to be sent off to slay some dragon. He met the kings daughter and after less than 10 lines of dialogue they were madly in love with eachother (!) and had almost died trying to slay this dragon. Also the way that they escaped the dragon in the end was too easy, there just so happened to be an archer there at the same time who killed the dragon and saved them but Aldor still took all the credit when he returned to the king.
Also the LANGUAGE in this book was painful to read at times. The characters who I’m pretty sure were around 15-22 years of age would always say ‘hey guysies’ when talking to eachother. And the amount of typos and sentences that just didn’t make sense at all. For example; ‘He roared a challenge when the pike left his hand and out of his control.’ I’m sorry what??
The characters to me were also extremely bland and I found them all blending into one another ALL THE TIME.
Oh and there was some random juggling bit which was not useful at all to the story line and horribly inaccurate and as a circus artist myself was super painful to read about.
The story did pick up a little towards the middle but at that point I just found myself irritated by everything the characters did and so it was super hard to push through.
If I hadn’t been sent a free copy of this book I would have not read past the first 10 pages and I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone as unfortunate as it is.
So maybe this review is a little harsh but I want to give my honest opinion on this book.
I received an ebook copy of this over two months ago now from the author and I was super excited to dive into it from the beginning but I was severely disappointed. Maybe it’s because she started writing it when she was 12 but I had a lot of issues with this.
The amount of ‘quests’ the main character Aldor went on in this book was excessive to me. It should have been spilt into at least 3 different books with each quest fleshed out more. Within the first 30-50 pages he’d already left his hometown because he was helping someone who was wanted for treason (?) and arrived in another village only to be sent off to slay some dragon. He met the kings daughter and after less than 10 lines of dialogue they were madly in love with eachother (!) and had almost died trying to slay this dragon. Also the way that they escaped the dragon in the end was too easy, there just so happened to be an archer there at the same time who killed the dragon and saved them but Aldor still took all the credit when he returned to the king.
Also the LANGUAGE in this book was painful to read at times. The characters who I’m pretty sure were around 15-22 years of age would always say ‘hey guysies’ when talking to eachother. And the amount of typos and sentences that just didn’t make sense at all. For example; ‘He roared a challenge when the pike left his hand and out of his control.’ I’m sorry what??
The characters to me were also extremely bland and I found them all blending into one another ALL THE TIME.
Oh and there was some random juggling bit which was not useful at all to the story line and horribly inaccurate and as a circus artist myself was super painful to read about.
The story did pick up a little towards the middle but at that point I just found myself irritated by everything the characters did and so it was super hard to push through.
If I hadn’t been sent a free copy of this book I would have not read past the first 10 pages and I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone as unfortunate as it is.
January 27, 2019
Though I enjoyed parts in the book..I have a few things that keep me from giving it a higher rating.
First off I have to say that Casey should be extremely proud of herself. Writing and having a book published at the age of 16 is such a huge accomplishment! And just so awesome.
I'm not sure if I will by accident put spoilers so if I do I apologize in advance.
Cursed: The Hunter Inside follows our main character Aldor as he goes on this question to find this stone..that most people think is a legend. With the help of Keira, Dale, Jasper, Gregory and Lawrence, they embark on this mission. The groups journey is far from easy and they face many obstacles and near death experiences.
What I liked:
- I really did like the main character Aldor. He was volunteers to take on these crazy challenges and agrees to go on this basically death wish of a quest for a kingdom that he didn't even live in. Though he was kind thrown into the leadership roll, he did put the other safety and needs above his own.
- The book had very Lord of the Rings feel which I enjoyed
- The different creatures that the character saw on their journey were very cool
-I also liked Dale, Keira, Lawrence and Jasper. I think that they all worked well together.
What I didn't like
- Though the story was good...there were parts that dragged and were a little difficult to get through. I honestly think it could have been 100 pages shorter.
-It also felt a little jumpy at times and there were a few scenes that were hard to follow
-I started out liking Gregory but he ended up really pissing me off. He just came off immature and whiny. Which may have been Millette's plan with character but he ended up being more annoying then funny.
Overall, really great idea for a book with a whole lot of potential. But I most likely wouldn't have picked it up on my own.
I wish Casey the best of luck with her future as an author.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ebook for my honest review.
First off I have to say that Casey should be extremely proud of herself. Writing and having a book published at the age of 16 is such a huge accomplishment! And just so awesome.
I'm not sure if I will by accident put spoilers so if I do I apologize in advance.
Cursed: The Hunter Inside follows our main character Aldor as he goes on this question to find this stone..that most people think is a legend. With the help of Keira, Dale, Jasper, Gregory and Lawrence, they embark on this mission. The groups journey is far from easy and they face many obstacles and near death experiences.
What I liked:
- I really did like the main character Aldor. He was volunteers to take on these crazy challenges and agrees to go on this basically death wish of a quest for a kingdom that he didn't even live in. Though he was kind thrown into the leadership roll, he did put the other safety and needs above his own.
- The book had very Lord of the Rings feel which I enjoyed
- The different creatures that the character saw on their journey were very cool
-I also liked Dale, Keira, Lawrence and Jasper. I think that they all worked well together.
What I didn't like
- Though the story was good...there were parts that dragged and were a little difficult to get through. I honestly think it could have been 100 pages shorter.
-It also felt a little jumpy at times and there were a few scenes that were hard to follow
-I started out liking Gregory but he ended up really pissing me off. He just came off immature and whiny. Which may have been Millette's plan with character but he ended up being more annoying then funny.
Overall, really great idea for a book with a whole lot of potential. But I most likely wouldn't have picked it up on my own.
I wish Casey the best of luck with her future as an author.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ebook for my honest review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews