Your comment about needing an extra sentence really resonated with me. It's one of my biggest pet peeves when reading, When I go to the effort of building a mental image in my mind built off of the limited information given to me, and then a couple of pages in I find out that it's taking place in a marble-walled mansion instead of a log cabin, or the monster attacking is reptilian and not fur covered, it really pulls me out of the story. I don't at all mind certain aspects being left to the imagination, as long as there's enough there that I can build an image without too much effort. But if you consciously make the decision to leave it to the reader's imagination, then don't change your mind later and feed me a vivid description halfway through the book about a aspect I've already constructed in my mind! And if it's not a conscious choice and you just forgot to give a description till later, well then that's a whole other issue.
Yeah I had that happen a few times here, but often we just never got a descriptor... Ever? So you're left just kinda "wingin' it" (oh god). It wasn't *too* bad but it happened enough that I really started to notice.
Has happened to me a few times that 2/3 of the way through the book the author says that the character is short/redhead/green eyed or whatever and I've gotten so used to my mental image of them by that point that I just don't bother fixing it
Glad you're back! Not only that, but you just saved me wasting my time on that book! When I found myself running out of series to read a couple of years ago, a friend of mine made me realize I was eliminating half the authors by only reading men. So I spent over a year reading nothing but female authors, and enjoyed the vast majority of them immensely, particularly the Shades of Magic trilogy by VE Schwab, or The Night Circus by Ellen Morgenstern, just off the top of my head. But she's been trying to convince me to read The Fourth Wing and it just did not sound like it was up my alley. And you've confirmed it! So thank you for your service!
If you're not looking for equal parts romance and fantasy, you're probably correct in that assessment. I think for those coming from romance it's a great intro into fantasy, but think it would struggle harder going the other way, unless you grew up more with the kind of YA books I mentioned.
There he is, glad to see you’re doing good Paul. Saw your comment on Joe Robinets channel and had to come see if it was you. All the best bud, let me know if you’re ever in Ottawa!
Oh hey bud! It's been a while man. Crazy connection ahaha. The weird intersection of my love of books and bushcraft. I'm down in LA now, but if I'm ever back up that way I will absolutely hit you up! I have family there now so that's a real possibility.
Funnily enough the one that bugged me the most was "badass". It's just such a modern word that it felt so wholly out of place. Also it could have been an interesting plot point if all the riders swore like sailors but Violet didn't, given she was meant to be a scribe. Small things like that go a long way to sell that character depth.
