review 1: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Goodreads really needs to allow for 1/2 stars!!)- A little predictable in a few smaller plot points, nothing major though.- Loved the twist with the children, but I feel the author should have gone into more detail with this.- I felt like some sections of the story dragged, but then other sections, which had the potential to be great, were kind of rushed through without enough character or storyline development.- I felt that the world development could have been broadened a little more, but being that this is the first book in a series, I'm hopeful that this will happen in the next book & that we'll learn a lot more about the other countries in this world.- Loved the characters & character development for the most part, but REALLY disliked James!! Aarrg... moregh! (Not that he was a badly written character, but his personality & some of his actions were shady) review 2: For a 17 year old to write this is amazing. Lucy has great imagination and is easy to follow. The book certainly needs polishing up though as she loses the audience after half way through the book. To have the Heroine start a rebellion so fast and easy is unbelievable. Best way I could describe it was if you was watching/reading LOTR Fellowship of the Ring and Frodo says lets burn the ring, then everyone just agrees without debate. Also the romance needs work as you cant have two characters hate eachother then fall in love. However, the story was good and made me cry at the end. less
