Friday 31 October 2014

Review: Hidden

Review of Hidden
by Megg Jensen:


My Thoughts:


I don't know what to say about this book. Honestly, I am stuck for words. There was so many aspects of this that I really enjoyed but it just wasn't that good. Well, it was just... ugh! It was good but there was a lot that didn't work at the same time. I can see why many people didn't enjoy this yet at the same time I cannot honestly say I didn't enjoy it...

Lets set this out then.

The bad?

The pacing was a little sketchy. The beginning was a little tedious, and while I understand that there was a lot of information and word-building required to introduce us into the fantasy would, a little action would have been nice. Towards the end though the pacing was way too fast. The battles were a tad too rush and too much drama conspired within a couple of chapters. It needed more time to develop.

One thing that particularly bugged me was the fact that we literally got to know nothing about the dragon lore of this fantasy world, yet it is one of the most important aspects of the story. Why haven't we been told more about them? Where do they come from? What can they do? How does the "shifting" work? Is it a hereditary ability or what? My brain is spinning with the possibilities...

Also the romance wasn't that great. While I loved Bastian and Tressa as a couple I didn't appreciate the way the love triangle was handled. It made me feel conflicted and I didn't like that. Vinya didn't deserve loyalty but she didn't deserve betrayal either. I just hate cheating!

The good?

I think the best part of this book was how unique the storyline was. Originality is something highly sought in the young adult genre as it seems to becoming a rather rare quality. The concept of having a village entirely cloaked in a impenetrable wall of fog is bloody genius! There was so much potential with the idea and I felt
Megg Jensen definitely used it all.

Tressa and the other characters were all developed out nicely. I admired Tressa's bravery and determination and Leo's loyalty. Really there wasn't anything to fault character-wise.

In the end, I quite enjoyed this book. It wasn't literary genius but it had a lot of good parts and I eagerly await the sequel.

Note: a copy was provided courtesy of Megg Jensen and All Night Books, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. No compensation was given or taken during this process.

Details:
First Line: Sophia woke to the sharp piercing cry of an infant.
Series: Dragonlands #1
Publication: December 20th 2013 by 80 Pages
Source: Netgalley
3.5 stars


2 comments:

  1. Yes, it is hard to find a book with originality in it in these days. But this seems like a very mixed review, and I am not sure whether or not I want to pick this one up yet. I read Seraphina and liked that, so maybe this will be like that one too :3

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    Replies
    1. Sadly it really is very hard to find an original book!
      If you like dragon books or high fantasy-like books then I would easily recommend it, but because I did give it a very mixed review I am not sure! Best of luck either way...

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