It was hard to believe they ever were in danger – certainly not from the curse that was just there until it suddenly had a side effect near the end.Įverything felt so easy. This leads into the lack of stakes, as things are resolved so easily. There were no consequences to their actions, and the “danger” was resolved a few paragraphs later. For example – they endanger a village by destroying the laterns in a snowball fight, smash a magic fire ball, reignite the torches, then sneak away before anyone can realise they caused the problem.
The story felt very episodic and in the middle and the threats didn’t feel real. And then the issue was resolved by the end of the chapter.īoth of these issues undercut tension. It made the chapters rather predictable as I knew what the threat was going to be when they turned up midway through. The stories interspersed between the pages are lovely, but they also tend to be the character who turns up in the next chapter. It sounded like such an interesting premise, but it just ended up being a book that you read to the end to complete a review, without any emotions being stirred up. I’m hoping that, by the time I’ve written this review, I’ll be able to lay my finger on it. Something about this debut fell flat to me. With only his village’s terrifying, ancient stories as a guide, and his two friends Engle and Melda by his side, Tor must travel across unpredictable Emblem Island, filled with wicked creatures he only knows through myths, in a race against his dwindling lifeline. There is only one way to break the curse, and it requires a trip to the notorious Night Witch. The next morning Tor wakes up to discover a new marking on his skin…the symbol of a curse that has shortened his lifeline, giving him only a week before an untimely death. So, on the annual New Year’s Eve celebration, where Emblemites throw their wishes into a bonfire in the hopes of having them granted, Tor wishes for a different power. But he hates his mark and is determined to choose a different path for himself. Twelve-year-old Tor Luna was born with a leadership emblem, just like his mother. Their lifelines show the course of their life and an emblem dictates how they will spend it. On Emblem Island all are born knowing their fate. I received an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
0 kommentar(er)
