Author: Ellen Oh
Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy
Release Date: December 31, 2013
Source: HarperCollins via Edelweiss
Goodreads rating: 4.17 out of 5.00 (30+ ratings)
Goodreads | The Reading Room
First an outcast, now a hero.Review by Nara
But her fight rages on.
Kira, the yellow-eyed demon slayer who fiercely protected her kingdom—and the crown prince—has been proclaimed the Dragon Musado of the prophecy. With the defeated the evil shaman.
But it wasn’t enough.
Hansong is in chaos. The Demon Lord’s minions have infiltrated the city, treason is brewing among the military ranks, and Kira is buried by the overwhelming loss of her parents. She’s also plagued by the annoying feelings that blossom whenever she’s around Jaewon. But she is determined that nothing will stop her from finding the second treasure needed to fulfill the Dragon King’s prophecy. Not even the army of half-breed demons hot on their trail. If only she could learn to trust others…
Her father always said one person can change the world. Will it be Kira?
To be honest, I don't really remember anything from Prophecy so I can't really say whether Warrior is better or worse than Prophecy, but I feel that it's in the same vein. If you disliked Prophecy, you'll probably dislike Warrior. If you liked it, then you'll like both. I say this solely based on the fact that I give both books 4 star ratings (or 7/10). I guess I could be wrong, but I feel like the basic structure of Prophecy is similar to that of Warrior.
I quite liked how there was a nice recap of Prophecy weaved into the first couple of chapters of Warrior (and even throughout). It was very useful indeed, because to be quite honest, Prophecy wasn't all that memorable for me. Then again, I suffer from terrible book amnesia, so maybe I'm not the best judge of whether a book is memorable or not haha.
I did read a lot of reviews for Prophecy which go on about the writing style being bad. Or there being words thrown in that they don't understand. I mean, being Korean, I have to say that there weren't really any words that I didn't understand, but I definitely agree that the writing was slightly...juvenile. It definitely seems aimed at the lower end of young adult, perhaps even middle grade. Also, ye gods, romanised Korean is ugly.
Totally minor point here, but is her name origin explained in book one? Because Kira really doesn't seem like a Korean name at all. If I were to guess, I'd say Japanese, if anything. Also, in the book, there is a dragon called Fulang. THERE IS NO F SOUND IN THE KOREAN LANGUAGE.
I'd really say that Warrior is just a mediocre book overall. Average plot, average writing, average characters. It's okay. Not good, not bad, just okay. The pace was fairly slow, perhaps because of all of these italicised sections which are basically the villain speaking to Kira in her sleep. To be honest, I kinda skimmed those bits because it was pretty much the same thing being repeated over and over again. I did enjoy the action scenes though, and the romance was interesting enough to follow.
Despite the many flaws, I do have to say I still enjoyed reading the book. I'll probably read the third book, just to find out what happens. At this point, I feel like I've invested too much in the story to give up now.
Overall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 4/5
Liked it
RatingsOverall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 4/5
Gaah! I actually rushed to EW to request this book after seeing that it's HF. Good thing that I thought of reading your review first and see if the series is any good. The flaws that you've pointed are sure ways to discourage me to pick up a book.
ReplyDeleteThis one would have been really good though because it's set in Korea. And I don't come across stories like that everyday.
Great review, Nara!
Yeah, quite a lot of people really don't like this series, and I can see where they're coming from- at times the writing is a bit clumsy, a bit "talking down to the reader" type thing. Probably not a book I would buy, to be honest :)
DeleteI don't think I liked Prophecy at all- the writing killed it for me. Warrior doesn't seem any different, so I don't think I'll continue with the series. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDelete-P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex
Yeah, fair enough! Warrior is basically the same as Prophecy haha. I mean, different storyline, but everything else is the same- writing style, characters, pace etc etc
DeleteI love when series books do mini recaps in the latest book. I read so much and sometimes I forget what happened in a story!
ReplyDeleteI know right! So helpful :D
DeleteHmm, I didn't like Prophecy too much (it was a DNF) but I am glad you did! Have you read City of a Thousand Dolls? I think you would really like that one if you like books with this theme.
ReplyDeleteI loved City of a Thousand Dolls! Mostly because Jerrit <3
DeleteFor some reason, average books always leave me with a sour after-taste. It's like going through an entire meal although you don't really like it and in spite of not being truly hungry. There's no satisfaction at the end of it. That's why I usually stop reading a book if I think it doesn't have something good to offer. Seems like you're a whole lot more patient than I am in this respect. :)
ReplyDeleteMada @ All Fantasy Worlds
That makes sense. But yeah, I think I'm fairly patient with books- I very rarely DNF. Basically the only two reasons I ever DNF are if there's too much drama/angst (as in NA books) or if I can't take the writing style (e.g. Gail Carriger's books)
DeleteInteresting info about the names
ReplyDeletehaha it was a pretty minor point, but authors really should do their research if they want to use foreign terms...
Delete