Rate this book

Escapement (2013)

by Ciara Knight(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Smashwords Edition

series

The Neumarian Chronicles

review 1: I kind of had a love/hate relationship with this book. In fact, it took me most of the book to actually gain interest in it. And then, I gained interest only in the last few chapters. However, those chapters were good enough that they sparked my interest to read the rest of the series, so the book cannot be that bad. Right?Okay, so it wasn't terrible. In fact, the story itself is quite interesting. A girl who is a princess is haunted by the decision she made almost four years before to basically sentence her best friend to death by dumping her sick and frail body out in the middle of nowhere. Keep in mind she is not the one who caused the girl to become sick, that can be put on her mother, who basically tortured the girl for information. Well, supposedly for information. I... more mean, there was a chance the girl knew something that could potentially aid this queen in her genocide of an entire race, but it is an even bigger possibility that the queen just likes torture, likes to feel powerful. Anyway, the girl escapes right before her mother is about to replace her heart with one of stone or metal, cannot remember which, in punishment for finding out the supposed dead girl is really alive, with the help of the very girl the princess felt so guilty over and her brother. They go on the run, and basically find out about a supposed prophecy that involves the three of them and the end of the queen's rule.*deep breath* That sounds like a mouthful, but pair that up with science fiction and you've got yourself quite the story. No, that is not what caused my interest to slowly gain momentum throughout this book. It was the fact that the beginning started weirdly. I mean, we find that the princess contains powers. Powers that actually are prevalent in the race that the queen is trying to destroy. But the author doesn't even introduce those powers. She basically states throughout the story that the powers started before the time that the actual story begins for the reader. She mentions a couple of situations where the powers actually began to manifest, but I would have liked for the story to start there. She could have kept the fear the princess feels toward her mother, but then added the element of even more fear when something happens that the girl cannot explain which just happens to be one of the reasons her mother kills. I just felt the beginning was a bit incomplete and couldn't connect with the beginning because of that.Then comes the rest of the book. Most of it just felt jumbled to me. Because of its rocky start I just didn't feel as if I could truly understand or connect to the characters throughout the rest of the pages. And also, the whole love interest aspect seemed a bit confusing to me. The princess and the boy who helped save her, only due in part to his sister's wishes, feel an unexpected connection. But the thing is, because she is in fact the queen's daughter, he keeps his distance, or at least tries to anyway, and shows animosity toward her. But instead of one situation bringing them together and them finally coming to terms with their connection and basically admitting their love for one another, which kind of did happen in a way, they have a love/hate relationship. Well he has a love/hate relationship with her. One moment he is basically snapping at her due to his despise at how she has lived and her immediate relations, and the next he is cuddling up to her and treating her like his heart belongs to her completely. I just couldn't get over that.All in all, I have never given up on a book, and I did not want to with this one. It is worth the read, and I have seen people give it at least four stars, but to me, it only became worth the read when the last few chapters came up. They just seemed put together and so much less jumbled than how the rest of the book felt.
review 2: 3.5 stars - I did like it but there were some issues with the writing that made it a little difficult to read. A few times it switched from I to her and I had to go back and re-read to figure out who was talking and who they were talking about. And I didn't quite catch the romance on his side - but that could be because it is all from her POV. It just was never made clear to me. But the story was fast paced, and kept me interested well into the night. I am still looking forward to the next one! less

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