Great elements that just never came together and relied too much on inner monologue.

Amazing story. Rich and varied. I loved the Irish feel of the story. Small things broke concentration and that was frustrating in that it pulled me out of the story.

**spoiler**
For example: Lady Elanna falls asleep, naked, in the woods after dancing the night away etc. Yet, when she's abruptly woken by a friend in the morning, she randomly still has a magic stone with her... How and where was she carrying that!?!?

The Waking Land is an interesting story about magic that draws you in. With revolution at hand, there is a lot of political and history in play.

For the most part I really liked Elanna. I thought it was really interesting that she displays signs of Stockholm Syndrome but it makes sense. I liked how at first she is very dedicated to the her kidnappers but then starts to see the truth of the situation. You don’t see this explored that often. Most of the time the heroine stands her ground and wants to escape. Elanna actually has affection for the King because he has taken care of her all this time. She doesn’t see herself as a political prisoner.

About 70% of the way I got really really frustrated with Elanna. I didn’t understand the, we need these people to help us, the only way they will help us is if I talk to them….I’ll just stay right here because that’s the right choice. What?? What?? It’s really only that chunk of the book that she irritated me.

Victoire is a character that I wish there was more of. She’s a great friend and strong female. I would loved to have had along for more of the story.

I really enjoyed the magic and that it has a great connection to the land. The wedding the land part was a little interesting. I wasn’t sure what I thought about how she has to wake the land. I also felt like every time they talked about it, it just seemed strange. I did like the idea of the land being a part of her and needing it as much as you need lungs to breathe.

I loved Jahan and the relationship between Elanna and him. I enjoyed their fun and cute exchanges and I liked his character. Although we do learn much about him, I still felt a little more could have been revealed.

I also find politics in Fantasy interesting because despite an author creating their own world. There still has to be rules just like any society. So it’s always interesting to learn about and explore those. I also liked learning about the old ways and how many of the people adapted to their rulers. Old customs become alter versions as they try to blend.

I liked the story, there were some things that I wasn’t completely sure about but overall I did enjoy the characters and plot.

This review will go live on The Library Ladies website on August 4, 2017.

First off, thank you to the publisher and Goodreads for providing me this book through a give away! I also read a portion of it through an e-book ARC provided by NetGalley. You know, cuz I need to be able to read the book at ANY GIVEN MOMENT and thus need copies available in every format.

Anywho! On to the review! Beyond the beautiful cover (yes, I do judge a book by its cover when it suits me, thank you very much), I was instantly intrigued after reading the story synopsis. It sounded like an appealing mix of political intrigue, manners and etiquette, and, of course, magic. And while it was all of those things, there were a few stumbling blocks along the way.

First off, the political intrigue. It became very clear early in the book that the author was drawing inspiration from the Jacobite rebellion between Scotland and England to create the history and heart of the conflict in her story. There's a two countries occupying an island nation, one has been overthrown in recent history, but still hopes to put their own choice leader on the thrown and regain independence for their portion of the country. Obviously, there's much more to it than this, but at its core, it's fairly straightforward. I was very pleased with this portion of the story. It was interesting finding similar threads to real history sprinkled within this fantasy novel, especially when those threads diverged from the path with which we are familiar.

Bates clearly had a lot of world building she was trying to pack in this novel. Beyond these tie-ins to the Jacobite rebellion, there's a complicated history that goes back centuries before it, involving not only these two nations, but another powerful nation who at conquered the entire region at one point. Detailed histories likes this make a story interesting, but they also present a challenge to authors. All too often books end up with large info-dumps presenting all of these details, which no one loves. But here, we saw the opposite side of the coin. I was a good 150 pages into this story and was still trying to work out the timeline of who conquered who when and why. At a certain point, it was so frustrating that I simply gave up trying to understand. I hesitate to recommend more info dumping, but in circumstances like this, it's probably the better option than sprinkling in details throughout a long-ish book where much of the plot revolves around the political implications of this history and readers end up just confused.

I did love the magical set up that was brought into the story. Sure there was the cool magic that Elanna was able to create, but the more interesting part was, again, the detailed framework and history behind her power. Not only are her powers needed for the rebellion, but the symbol that she represents as a corner of the tri-part governing force that traditionally ruled the land.

I had mixed feelings with regards to Elanna herself. Her history (the stolen child of a failed rebel leader being held to keep the other side in check) is one that sets her up to have many conflicting feelings and views of those around her. Things like family, friendship, and even national loyalty are all tied together in knots. She feels abandoned by one family, guilty for developing attachments to her captors, questions everyone's motives around her, questions her own loyalties. Much of this was very interesting and created a rich character arc for her to travel. Unfortunately, all too often she would perform complete 180s on a dime with very little explanation for why she changed her mind. She hates her father! She'll join her father in this rebellion! Also, while it is understandable the stress and frustration that would arise from her situation, at times she read as very unlikable and immature. I never could quite decide how I felt about her. Ultimately, I think I was more invested in the story that she was living than in her as a character on her own.

So there are my thoughts! To be summed up, I was very conflicted with this book. It had true moments of brilliance with a unique and complicated history, both political and magical, and the main character also had flashes of greatness. But I was also all too often confused by the same history and frustrated with Elanna herself. I would still likely recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical "fantasy of manners" type books based on its strengths.

I very much enjoyed Naomi Novik’s Uprooted. When I read that this story should appeal to those who liked Novik, I knew I had to read it.
I was not disappointed,
Solid world building with a wide assortment of characters, good and bad, and ambiguous.
It held my interest, especially as the ending was coming.
My only comment is that the end seemed a bit rushed after so much work had gone into the development of the rest of the story.
I can understand a feeling of rushing down a steep hill as the final scenes take place, but some of the depth seemed lacking.
None the less, this is a great read.
Will there be more?

I liked this book, it is a fantasy that incorporates ecology and various kingdoms with different views about magic. Elanna was captured as a young girl and raised by the king as his daughter. When he is murdered she is accused of the crime and escapes to her own kingdom. When wars erupt she uses her power to call forth the land to help. I found myself skimming as I got further into the story, it wasn't holding my interest as well.

When I first read the summary, I was incredibly excited to read this book. I couldn't believe my luck when I managed to snag an ARC at Yall West this year. After the first few chapters, I was sold. I was hooked on the beautiful writing, the promise of intricate world-building, and the premise for the story. Then I kept reading and the book stagnated due to pacing. The middle section was a bit of a mess and the ending was "blink and you missed it" fast. That being said, I think that Callie Bates is an incredibly talented writer and has written a very unique debut novel. I will definitely be continuing with this series, although I do hope future installments are a bit better.

Elanna, the main character, was a thoroughly unsympathetic individual. I could understand some of her feelings at first but her internal monologue was so wishy-washy, I found it difficult to connect with her. I do understand that the author was attempting to portray Stockholm syndrome but, while Elanna's thoughts may have been consistent with that idea, her actions weren't. I also felt as if she were willfully ignorant of politics and made some decisions out of spite rather than common sense. Additionally, the love interest just did not click for me at all. It was insta-love and was never explored in-depth. Plus the whole wed to the land scene was a little weird (it could have used a lot more explanation and less romantic intimacy). Had the other secondary characters been better, I might have forgiven the poor romance storyline. However, I frequently got them confused and very few of their roles were clearly laid out or well-explained. The villains were pretty much one-dimensional, which was a shame. Overall, the characters themselves were definitely the weakest link.

While there are negatives to this book, there were also many things that were done well. The world-building and concept were so unique and I liked the magic system. The writing was beautifully done in parts and it was a very easy book to read. Some parts of the book were so well-written that the world came alive for me. The plot had the potential to be amazing and, had there been better characters and not so much of a focus on Elanna's inner dialogue, I think it would have lived up to that promise. The pacing was a little off but I think that was due to the fact that the author explained what Elanna was thinking at each step, elongating parts that otherwise would have been quite brief.

I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone but if you're looking for a unique fantasy novel with political intrigue and an interesting plot, consider checking this one out. This book wasn't perfect but it was still an enjoyable read. I do plan on continuing with the series.

Hmmmm...a lot of potential, but ultimately this book fell short for me. The heroine was hard for me to connect to and the world building (and this is where I can see lots of potential) was not as ironed out as I would have liked. If you took out the constant and somewhat confusing monologue of the heroine the book would have been a lot better. Indecisive characters who act impulsively or opposite to what they say irritate me. Especially when it is then spun as the person being brave or cunning. To me that means character development needs a lot of work.

I did however, love the whole land magic idea. This was great, but I feel the book would have been
much better if the author didn't use the whole Stockholm syndrome as a way to info dump. It coloured how Elanna was learning about her magic and made it much less magical and more haphazard.

Not going to lie, wasn't feeling the comparisons to Uprooted (which I LOVE) or Throne of Glass (the development of that series is AWESOME). I remember reading Throne of Glass and feeling that while it was clear S. Maas was a fledgling author, as a reader, you got a very clear sense of her developing as a writer. She knew that this was going to be a big series and so started off "small". It meant that the massive scope of the series could be properly managed and contained as the books went on. I don't see that over the course of this book. There's way too much going on and it gets confusing and irritating because Elanna acts like a child one second and then like an entirely different person the next.

This all being said, I would be very interested in seeing what Bates writes next...

Thanks to the publishers for providing an ARC!

I couldn't get a hold of this book fast enough after reading the synopsis and perhaps that was a bit too much excitement because I ultimately found it to be a a less than average read.

The Waking Land follows in the steps of the epic fantasies before it, but with a young adult twist (and the cliches that come with it). I enjoyed a step back into the familiar territory of fictional worlds steeped in magic and rich histories. But all of these features are barely mentioned. Like I knew they existed but the world wasn't explained enough to really give it the depth that it could have had. 

I started out liking Elanna as a protagonist. Then she got on my nerves. Back and forth, she was quite indecisive to the point that it was annoying. I began losing interest in her successes and failures. Her attitude sucked and made me dislike her even more. And I'm not even going to mention the romance because I didn't find it worthwhile. Insta-love and all that business. 

As I said, the book isn't stellar, and a lot of that comes from the plot. It moved a bit too sluggishly for my tastes and was fairly predictable at that. I don't usually mind predictability in fantasy if the characters are interesting but, as I mentioned, I wasn't a fan of the protagonist.

Now granted, I finished the book. It wasn't the worst thing I've read and honestly there was potential in the story but it was a bit too messy, a bit too cliched, for me to really enjoy it and rate it higher. At the end of the day, I didn't even have enough to say about it for a full review. I don't see myself reading further in the series down the road, but may give the author's future work a chance.

I honestly was going to give it a 1 star rating and then thought that even though the book was entirely not for me, it at least was written well for what it was. Hence, the 2 star rating. This book unfortunately put me into a huge reading slump. If I didn't receive this book for a review, there's no way I would have finished it and I hardly ever leave books unfinished. The first quarter of the book felt entirely like a history lesson except more boring because they were all names and places I've never heard of. The last 75% of the book felt like a non-stop battle. It was constant scheming and talk about strategy and extreme detail about battle. If that's not your thing, Don't read this book. The main character goes back and forth so much with her views I feel like my head is going to fall off. The "plot twists" if you want to call them that did not catch me off guard. Maybe that's because ultimately I didn't' care about any of the characters. It felt like too many people went back and forth between being allies and traitors then allies...I just stopped caring. Especially since most of what you learn about characters are from a tactical and political standpoint and nothing really about them personally. The magic in this book...could have been good but I feel like the explanation was drawn out and... well, boring. The magic was confusing even to the characters themselves at first. I like magic in books to have fake science in it that at least gets explained even if it's not technically possible in real life, it doesn't seem so far off. I did not feel like the magic in this was like that at all. The character seems to understand the magic in the end but it was not explained in a satisfying way to the reader. Plus, I feel like the author just drew on the main character's magic too much where it just got boring. Like, I get it, I know what she can do. What happens next? Don't even get me started on the love aspect in this book. Who Elanna marries? Just....No. As I've said, I would have given this a 1 star if it wasn't written well for what it was. Several times throughout this book I just did not want to pick it up again and just wished for it to end. Never a good feeling for a 400 page book.

First of all, The Waking Land by Callie Bates has one of my favorite covers EVER. I'm a vintage romantic, and the green scene within the silhouette reminds me of vintage wallpaper and I. AM. OBSESSED. Seriously such a pretty cover that actually seems to fit the book. I haven't seen it in real life yet, but I want it on my bookshelf – just so I can stare at it.

This book has some interesting magic and I'm really intrigued by it. I loved the magic coming from the land and actually wielding the land as a weapon was cool too. I really wanted to see more of her experimenting with her magic and actually seeing what she could do. I'm one of those readers that isn't really into battle scenes.... so once the book started getting battle heavy, I started to get bored. But again, I think that was more about my taste than anything to do with the writing.

I think the book did get a bit bogged down with kingdoms, names and politics that didn't have much bearing on the book. I wanted more to do with her magic, and Jahan... and less to do with the other stuff. Especially the other kingdoms that we never actually see during the course of the book. That being said, I would completely be in for another book. It seemed to get set up well for a sequel/series and I will be reading it if it does.

This was a masterpiece. Going into it I wasn't quite sure what to think, but the history and world building just brings its to life. As the battle rages for who will take control and what powers will be revealed, this book will keep you on your toes! I couldn't put it down. What an amazing book and I'm hoping there's another after this!

I love the story, I could not put it down! The characters pull you in into their story!

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this - the author brought an interesting twist to the "brave girl leads revolution" story by adding what I think is a more believable story arc - she is hugely conflicted, after being essentially a hostage most of her life. But, a hostage who's treated much like a beloved member of the family - so she has bought into the narrative told her there. When circumstances force her into a situation opposing that ruling family, she doesn't immediately buy into the change. Stockholm syndrome - but, to me, that felt real - having been treated pretty well since she was 5 years old, it would seem normal that she wouldn't just flip a switch and change all her long-held beliefs.

Unlike many fantasy books, there was - gasp - more than one strong female character, and they were much more developed than is often the case. I have read that this is planned to be the first in a trilogy and I'll definitely get the next book if/when it comes out - it will be fascinating to see where the author goes with these characters and how they develop.

Every once in a while a book will come along that I have to ask myself what in the world is this? This one for this year is that one. I have to ask myself what was the author and publisher thinking when they decided to write and publish a book with SO much to keep track of? This one has so many characters and so many kingdoms to keep track of that I DNFed it about 40% in. I ended up restarting the book twice just to see if I could get things straight and ya it just wasn't happening. This book started out great but got so frustrating shortly into it.

So although this one had a lot going for it the author just bogged down the story in a way that you just can't follow it.

I loved this book so much that I did something I rarely do- I emailed the author and asked her "Will there be more?" She kindly and quickly replied that this is the first in a trilogy, so more is on the way! I rarely give out five stars, but this fantasy deserves them.

There are two opposing lands in a pseudo-medieval world. The Ereni Empire outlaws magic. The Caerisians are mounting a Revolution against the Ereni because they value their rare magic that allows some of them to communicate with nature in a very beautiful and also scary strong way. Stuck in the middle of these two empires is Elana (El) who was held as a hostage by the Ereni King since she was 5 years old. While growing up Ereni, she comes to think of herself as Ereni and the Ereni King as her father even if everyone there has not been nice to her. But El has strong powers. Shes not allowed to use them in Ereni and she does not feel like she belongs with her true family.

This is such an entertaining story with great characters. El is strong and coming into and magic and learning about love, duty, and family. The story reminded me a little of Uprooted but I enjoyed this one much more. It also reminded me a little of The Fifth Season based on how things in the environment can so drastically change. Highly recommended.

This book was provided by NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated.

I liked the concept of this book including the fact that the author got her inspiration from nature and the Lord of the Rings and I absolutely loved the ending, but there were some parts throughout where I was extremely frustrated that the main character, Lady Elanna, couldn't make up her mind on what she was feeling or thinking and the fluctuation was confusing. But all in all it was pretty good!

I was kind of disappointed with this book. Which is unfortunate because I really, really wanted to love this book. The cover was gorgeous and the premise sounded really interesting, but in the end, the execution fell short.

My main issue with this book was Elanna aka El, the protagonist of the story. While I love having strong main characters in books, it's not necessarily bad when a female character isn't amazing all the time. Characters can have flaws, of course. However, what really bothered me was El's personality and how quickly it flipped when she became the "steward of the land".

Initially, El was kind of likable in that she was stuck in another land, raised by a man who wasn't her father, and disliked by so many of the people in the castle. I felt a little bad for her situation and I wanted her to rise up from it at the end of the book to show them how she wasn't all the things they said she was. 

It was when she met up with her father's comrades/the rebellion that I started to get really irritated with Elanna. She was constantly complaining about her life in a way that bordered on whining. She was constantly crying or feeling sorry for herself. 

Not only that but even after she was treated so poorly by others for being Caerisian, she went on to look down on her companions just because of where they came from. She acted like she was better than them like they were ignorant and backward. It irritated me so much because you would think that she would know more than anyone else how terrible it felt to be treated that way, to be in that position, and she still did it anyways. Sure, part of it was that was raised to believe so many lies by the king, but for someone who claimed to be so smart she was quick to believe just about anything.

The only change I saw in Elanna was that once she had her parents attention--when she could see how "proud" they were--she started to change her mind about things. It wasn't her as a character making a choice to stand up for what was right, but about getting approval from others. She kept repeating how she was the "steward of the land" and acting with authority without really understanding everything that came with that title. I felt like Elanna shouldn't have been the face of the rebellion.

Finn was also a really pathetic character. He was cowardly and complained about his situation often enough that it made me roll my eyes. I could understand him not wanting the responsibility put on him, but he couldn't even try to fake being a leader when people needed him the most just for morale.

Aside from Elanna and Finn, the rest of the characters didn't necessarily feel especially memorable. I can't remember the name for most of the people that Elanna traveled with. I think the only exceptions to this might be Victoire and Rhia--both of whom had a more (consistent) character, in my opinion, than Elanna.

Now, some of the descriptions in the book were nice. The writing wasn't too terrible for most of the time, but it was repetitive. I can't even guess the number of times that we were reminded that Elanna was the steward of the land and that the land was alive or waking. We get it. 

As for the pacing, the book felt slow. It was hard to remember that the story was moving toward a rebellion because it just didn't feel like it was moving in that direction. Plus, the ending just felt... cheap. Hardly anyone died. I know, that sounds like a weird thing to complain about, but really... if you're having a rebellion someone has to die right? And I'm talking about characters that mattered, even a little.

The only people who really died were faceless, nameless characters. Hardly anyone that actually mattered to Elanna was lost in this book. It was like no one wanted anything bad to happen to Elanna besides being forced to grow up in another kingdom. And that hardly even counts because her situation wasn't that bad, even with people making fun of her for being Caerisian. The king cared for her more than he did his own daughter. Elanna wasn't treated like a prisoner, and she made it clear more than once that she preferred living there, so I can't feel too bad for her.

In the end, it felt like this was the story of a whiny girl who got returned to her homeland, got some cool powers, realized said powers were cool and people liked her for them, and then proceeded to act like her powers suddenly made her a better person. Honestly, the book was just kinda boring. If you like strong female characters or even just good character development, this would probably not be the book for you.