Welp, that was the most confusing book I have read all year.

I don't know if I can call it "bad" outright, as there were some things that I did like about the book, yet the plot as a whole felt a little underwhelming. The opening felt like the middle of the book rather than an opening. None of the characters in the first few chapters really grabbed me they were all fairly flat. Vesperi was interesting in the opening, but her sections of the book were not what I was expecting in a YA book, I don't mind reading content like that but I just don't expect it from YA.

The writing was just okay in my opinion. It took far too long for the "big bad" to show up, and I had already started to not care how things turned out at that point. The politics were a little confusing, and the world building was a little weak beyond not covering the politics the way they should have been.

It took me a long time to get through this book, and I must say that I don't really remember details of what happened, things started to blur together at some point.

This is a very difficult one to review because I enjoyed the story at the beginning, but there are SO many things that make this just not a very engaging read. SO many things go unexplained that by the end I was more confused than anything. There were tons of unfamiliar terms thrown out without any sort of explanation. At about 20%, this story began to drag for me. I had to alot myself 10% per day on my Kindle just to finish it.

All of the cities (what I'm assuming were cities) were named with no explanation as to where they were situated in relation to one another. Animals (or again, what I assume were animals) were named, but not described. Apparently there are 4 moons and a goddess-like-entity named Madel, but again (do you see the pattern here?) neither of these are explained. So, for me this book was SERIOUSLY lacking some world-building. After finishing the Grisha trilogy a few weeks ago, I'm a bit picky in that aspect. Nothing has lived up to that imagery, and this one fell flat as well. I actually found myself researching this book to make sure I hadn't accidentally picked up a sequel.

I just wasn't impressed with this book, unfortunately. I will say that I enjoyed Vesperi, though... because who doesn't love a book to start with a vilanous character? Maybe this is to blame for my enjoyment early on that began to wane.

This was an entertaining book. I had a little bit of trouble getting in to it at first, but once it picked up it was a really good read.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

This novel is most certainly an adventure, trial/combat, novel that feels very much like a Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones type of story. Right away, you get swept into this world with many characters that are sometimes hard to keep track of. Some have similar names, making it even more difficult to remember who is related to who and who is the enemy, but after awhile it does begin to focus solely on a few main characters. There are a few chapters with what I like to call "Random" characters or stories that could have been left out as I felt there wasn't a good enough reason to introduce a character and tell a chapter from their perspective and then kill them off or never hear from them again. I will say, even though Rebecca switches characters with each chapter, I did like how she added their crest or icon to help remind us who they were or what family they were from.

The world building is not bad in this novel. I had a hard time keeping up with time jumps or lapses as they traveled or how far away places were. I will say, that the author commented on one of my posts about her book and said there would be a map in the final edition, which YAY, that is exactly what it needs to help the reader follow along. Bonus points for that addition to the finalized copy!!

Overall, the story wasn't bad, although I did find myself getting bored at parts and forcing myself to continue waiting for the climax. The ending moved very quickly, too quickly for my liking, and it felt a little unrealistic at how the three were thrown into this prophecy and excelled at it without ever knowing they had those type of skills or abilities? It took one of the main characters the entire novel to understand his role in the whole thing when a majority of the book had been focused on him and his namesake. Just seemed odd he didn't question his role until the very last moment and he had like an "Oh, I see" moment.

I think the whole concept of this story is fantastic. I love the ideas and relationships that were put into the book and intertwined within the cities/towns/kingdoms. I would have liked the epilogue to bring closure to the other two main characters as well instead of only a tidbit of one that I really didn't feel needed to be rounded out in the end. Seeing as one is the prince, it would have been nice to know what happened to him and the other female character. Just a thought.

But, I would still recommend this to someone who enjoys a good adventure novel, especially those who enjoy LOTR and GOT type reads. It was fun story.

(I hope they caught some of the grammatical errors or repetition of phrases on their last round of edits...! I wish I had kept track of exactly where they were because there were many times words would get repeated "I should have should gone with.." kind of things scattered throughout where removing one extra word would have made it flow more smoothly.)

This book had tremendous potential, but lost its way, repeatedly. The main characters were incomplete, with motivations that I could not understand, and stories that were mere sketches. At times I disliked all of them, and could find no redeeming characteristics - only their flaws. They lived in a world that was equally vague and undefined, or with details that felt artificially added to the plot when they became essential. Overall, a disappointing read.

The story is really interesting and fun to read, but I found it a little difficult to follow sometimes because the prose was very verbose and a little flowery for my taste. I would recommend reading this if you are a fan of high fantasy and excellent world-building. Honestly, I would probably read this a few times to get the story straight for myself, but in the initial read-through, it's easy enough to get the main details and it's a generally enjoyable read.

This author's exceptional first full length novel boasts epic world building, strong character development, brilliantly complicated plot twists, and rich political commentary about environmental factors influencing people at their human core.

I had a great time reading this! Can't wait to read this again and again

I so badly wanted to like this book, y'all. I really did. The cover and the description just screamed PERFECTION. And it just wasn't. It drug on and on with very little pick up. That being said, slower stories and larger world building can sometimes be exactly what someone is looking for--so do not count this book out just yet if that's what you enjoy.

I ended up marking this book as DNF --did not finish-- at a little over 25% read. I will always give a book time to get going, but even getting past 25% was a struggle. This is Farrell's first full novel, and though well written, is bogged down with entirely too much detail and stiff prose. Plus, the detail didn't seem to have any meaning. I had no idea where we were, I didn't know what I was supposed to like or dislike. And I couldn't follow all the places the author spoke about--especially because too many were introduced all at once. I felt like I was dropped into the middle of a very large adult fantasy novel where I was expected to fill in the first half on my own. It was disorienting and off-putting, but I attempted to keep wading through it and then got to the point where I realized I just couldn't.

So,with it being her first book in mind, I gave Wings Unseen two stars.

Vesperi, Serra, and Janto were lovingly diverse racially and culturally and I give Farrell incredible props for this. The violence and language (especially in Vesperi's POVs) seems more New Adult to me than YA, so parents of younger readers may not find this to be a great choice, but it made for an interesting premise in the world--that evil was created by the good guys, as well as the bad, and needed them both to defeat it.

I did fast forward to the last three chapters, and it seems to close nicely while leaving things open for a possible sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Meerkat Press, and Rebecca Gomez Farrell for the ARC of Wings Unseen in exchange for an honest review.

Wings Unseen drew me in with an interesting blurb and attractive cover (I'm all about the cover love). Warring nations, magic and the promise of some badass characters is a sure fire win for me. But unfortunately I don't think the story quite matched up to the blurb. The first few chapters were really confusing, and I couldn't keep track of all the characters and their names. I think this was down in part because of the chopping between so many characters for each chapter. If we'd stayed with one character for more than one chapter I probably wouldn't have felt so disorientated at the beginning.

I enjoyed the magic, but felt the world building was a bit lacking and again confusing. There was little description describing the politics of the lands and about the different cultures/races. I wanted to know more about the people populating these lands.

Vesperi was my favourite character, but even she came across as a little bit more sullen and bad tempered than badass.

All together, a good concept that falls flat a little in execution.

Wings Unseen by Rebecca Gomez Farrell sounded quite intriguing. Fantasy is a genre I tend to orbit around and I was keen to be immersed in a new fantasy world. I did enjoy some parts of the book and I though the magic was pretty cool, but overall I was rather disappointed. 

First off, the aspects of magic and religion were interesting.

I enjoyed Farrell's ideas of a female god and the forces of magic working together in this society she's created. However, there was a lack of context or explanation when necessary. I understand that in fantasy we're usually left to fill in the gaps ourselves, but these gaps were too wide and it was hard for me to comprehend what was happening in some moments. I did enjoy the use of magic towards the end of the book more so.

The characters have specific voices, which was great in guiding the story across three perspectives.

Wings Unseen features three voices: Janto, the heir to the throne; Serra, the prince's betrothed; and Vesperi, the daughter of a Meduan lord. I had a lot of hope for these characters considering the trials they were about to face, but there were inconsistencies with their development and I found the short and quick shifts between them to be jarring. Their development was better towards the end though, and I particularly liked reading Serra's perspective. Also, a couple of the plot directions and changing relationships added an element of surprise I enjoyed.


The lack of world-building and descriptions was frustrating.

It could be because there was no map, but I found this world to be completely messy and confusing. There wasn't much in regards to orienting the reader with the land, or longer descriptions about the Meduans, the Lanserim and the other races. The politics between these countries was also left to the imagination.

Basically, this book is in need of further polishing as quite a few sections were convoluted. I had to reread many sections to fully understand what was occurring simply because sentences were too long or descriptions were confusing. An example of a description I questioned is: "Uzziel waved the club so lustily that he drooled."

Furthermore, the opening chapter simply does not work. It will either turn readers away or leave them confused. Upon reading, it felt like walking into the middle of Game of Thrones season 2 and being expected to know the politics, relationships and issues within the world. Also, it is marketed to young adults, yet some sections feel like they were closer to New Adult, whereas other parts catered to more Middle Grade. It was all over the place and I found it difficult to pinpoint the audience.

Overall, Wings Unseen has an interesting story that would benefit from more descriptions about the world itself and polishing of the text so it's more comprehensive for the reader. Farrell has created some really cool characters and I would love to see them fleshed out more and given longer sections for us as readers to settle in. The use of magic and religion was also fascinating and it would be great to see this with more explanation or context.  

Rating

1.5/ 5.


Disclaimer: Netgalley gave me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Rebecca Gomez Farrell, Meerkat Press, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.


Well, I've debated my review for about a week. To say I was underwhelmed may be a bit strident, but I'm still left with a flat feeling. While I'm certainly glad I read Wings, I was never excited about any plot twist. The opening of the book threw me for a loop because it reads like a third chapter. I had no idea about whom I was reading. There was just no preparation. I had to start over three times before I firmly had my bearings. Vesperi was meant to be a despicable creature but came across as grumpy and misunderstood most of the time.

Once I finally got into the groove of the pattern of the chapters there was suddenly a spanner thrown in the works when a fourth cretin of a religious order was introduced and completely threw off my flow. Why did it take half of the book for this evil doer to come along? Shouldn't he have maybe either had a few earlier chapters or at least been integral in the previous storyline? As it is it seems like the author decided just then where the book needed to go and wrote him in. It wasn't a smooth transition.
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The book has some good points: the buzzing flesheaters, the squabbling kingdoms of goodness and vice, the "three heads". It was interesting. I just wasn't blown away.

I decided to get a copy of this book by seeing its book cover and reading the description. I found it to be very intriguing and once I was able to remember the characters I really enjoyed the book. I enjoyed how the characters in this book grew. There is a lot that happens to these characters throughout the book but it was certainly a page turner! I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.