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The Wretched Of Muirwood (2013)

by Jeff Wheeler(Favorite Author)

3.92 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1612187005 (ISBN13: 9781612187006)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

47North

series

Legends of Muirwood

review 1: This story centers on what I would consider your more typical orphan character in the fantasy genre. There are hints that she might be more than she seems which is also pretty standard, but what I enjoyed about this character is that she’s up front about her dreams and her selfish desires. This wasn’t a story about a young orphan looking to sacrifice herself for God and country, but rather about a thirteen-year-old girl driven to improve her lot in life. Her dream of learning to read is one that is near and dear to my heart, so I whole-heartedly approved of her priorities from page one.The side characters were not great, and for the most part there was very little character development outside of the main character. That said, I enjoyed the interplay between the main c... moreharacter, Lia, and her friends. Her general attitude toward the others seemed authentic for a thirteen year old.The magic system was interesting. The idea of a living magic source that guides its users is not exactly ground breaking, but it was curious the way that it unfolded for Lia as it paralleled the role of faith in other fantasy novels. Rather than call it faith, though, it is dealt with as the absence of doubt, which was a telling choice for the author. I’m hoping we will see more of the actual system as opposed to the dogma in the next books.The action in this story kept me reading, and once it really got going I found myself needing to know what would happen next. Quick page turning is the main thing I’m looking for when I read this kind of fantasy. Yes, I figured out the plot pretty early on, but it didn’t detract from the action to the point that I didn’t want to finish the book. With a quick pace and an interesting main character, I was pretty happy with this book. I will definitely be adding the sequels to my TBR pile.
review 2: 3.49 StarsI so wanted to give this one a 4-5 Star review - but the writing holds me back. The story is very well told - it kept me captivated and enthralled through 3/4ths of the book. Then we reach the crux of the matter.The last 1/4th of the book felt incredibly rushed - too little of the book was given over to the battle that the entire book was working up to. It was started, it was there, it was over. And no one knew that Lia saved the day. This felt incredibly unfair, since she had risked her life again and again to get Colvin to the battle site. And then Lia just gets shoved back in the Abbey and forgotten. Again.The sudden displays of affection at the end of the book were unexpected and kind of out of no where. Lia wasn't treated like a valued family member; she was treated like a servant. So why did everyone treat her as the prodigal child returned home?? It made the affection seem unlikely. Also unlikely was Lia's sudden affection for the Abbey and Pasqua; neither of these things were things she had shown any affection for while there, but as soon as she left, she missed both of them to the point that she was no longer able to function the way she was expected to.That brings us to the writing. I was able to overlook it for the first 3/4ths of the book because I was so caught up in the story, but when the story started dragging and being rushed (I'm not even sure how a book manages to do both), I started paying more attention to the writing style. The sentences don't flow together very well, and the way the characters talk to each other is a little silly. The sentences were abrupt. The characters jumped from talking about one thing to talking about another with no transition. The way they talked to one another just wasn't very believable. In spite of all of this, I did truly enjoy the book, and have already started the next one (which, to my dismay, has the same writing style issues). I plan on finishing out this series, and am hoping that the writer grows with the consecutive books. less

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