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The Eighth Guardian (2014)

by Meredith McCardle(Favorite Author)

3.86 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Amazon Children's

series

Annum Guard

review 1: I think this book does not receive enough attention, it is severely underrated. I was hesitant to pick it up although I thought the synopsis sounded interesting because it is not talked about much and I saw a few reviews of people not happy with the book and not to add the fact that I have never read a time travel book.There were some slight issues I had with this book, but for the most part it was intriguing, action packed, fast paced and filled with fantastic shocks and twists!Although I listen to this on audiobook, I could not put it down. It captivated me right away causing me to stay up for hours at a time listening instead of sleeping. The historical elements woven into the story were so well done paired with the time traveling and missions of Annum Guard really make... mores you think "What if?" It made me think of when people ask "if you could redo it or go back and chance the outcome, would you?". It is so crazy how every fabric of our world weaves to together and how one small change can cause a chain reaction. The pacing of this book was fantastic and the book is layered with huge unexpected twists that keep you on edge wondering where McCardle is going to take the story. For the most part the world was greatly developed and all the components of the time travel were well thought out and the system was unique, but there were times I was a little confused because some small things did not stay consistent or match up.The Annum Guard was an interesting organization. The way the whole system works, the outcomes, the awesome watches and everything else was just fantastic. Although there is a lot of the time in the book that Amanda/Iris spends alone and not much time with the other characters, they were all so well developed. McCardle did a phenomenal job with creating and developing complex and dynamic characters that fit into her story line and worked well for what she was trying to achieve (at least what I felt like she was trying to achieve.) I do admit there were times that I was annoyed and frustrated with Amanda/Iris. She was whiney and acted without thinking. Some of that I understand from the situations she was put in and there was some character growth seen with her as well, but she just was not the best protagonist (in my opinion). She was clever, intelligent and pulled off some kickass moves, but I enjoyed some of the other characters more and wish that she wasn't so selfish. Overall I thought this book was super great and needs more attention. If you have any interest in time travel or history this is a book for you. It was packed full of twists that kept the book gripping and leaving you with no idea what the outcome was going to be. It was sprinkled a little with romance, sassy and fierce characters, action packed scenes and leaves you wishing that you were able to project as well! It was brilliantly done, completely surprised me and I am so happy I picked it up!
review 2: I devoured this book pretty quickly, and enjoyed the experience, but right now I'm not sure whether I'll reread it or go looking for the next book. Basically, I found it to be a good story, with an interesting premise, lots of action, and some character development, but it had two critical problems my perspective.The first problem was that I didn't really like any of the characters that saw much development. The main character seemed to alternate between being cock-sure and being an emotional basket-case. Maybe this was intended to be a believable portrayal of a teenager in crisis, but she would have been more sympathetic (and still believable) if she'd demonstrated redeeming traits throughout. Other characters were similarly difficult to sympathize with, and I think I'm left with Alpha as my dark horse favourite. Seems like it might be difficult to work him into future books so I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to show up, but with a time-travel story you never know....My second problem was with how the time-travelling was handled. The problem of paradoxes was basically ignored, the effects of changing their own pasts were kept very vague and inconsistent, and everything was handled as simply as possible. Compared to the Chrono Guard in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books, for example, the way the Annum Guard was handled just seemed a little too simplistic. Overall, I wasn't blown away by this book, but I didn't hate it either. Whether or not I try to read any more might depend on what people have to say about how the author further develops the characters and the time-travelling premise. less

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