Reviews

The Novice by Taran Matharu

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potat0es's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I dont think this is a 5* for everyone, but for some reason this book is so comforting to me

jess_walkinshaw's review against another edition

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4.0

Thus book was a great late night read. Fletcher is an amazing main character and I thoroughly enjoyed his friends. I liked the magic system and how it works as well as Ignitious!!!! Cute little guy..
But I am excited to learn more about the orcs and Ignitious's life and adventures :)

arayofreading's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars

(I'd just to put a disclaimer that I read this book at a time where I was very busy, and it took me FOREVER to get through it simply because I didn't have time for it. This probably affected my experience since there were large gaps of time that I didn't read it)

The first half of this book was a little rough for me. The development of the world was interesting, but frankly not enough to fully grasp and hold onto my attention. There's nothing really particular that I can pinpoint that it did wrong, perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for it.

The second half, though, picked up tremendously! We are introduced to so much more intrigue and conflict, both between the characters and throughout the world, increasing the stakes and making you actually feel nervous about the outcomes of certain circumstances. I loved learning about the history of summoners, elves, and dwarves, and of course, who can resist a magical school setting :)

Overall, I really like where the book left off, and I'm excited for the sequel!

rizz_amae's review against another edition

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4.0

Delve into an entertaining, game-like fantasy world of elves, dwarves, humans, demons, and orcs.

Game-like because it features concepts like summoning and mana, which made it a refreshing read for me because it is my first time reading a book with this kind of attribute. Kudos to the author who was able to create a well-developed fantasy world complete with politics, discrimination, chauvinism, but also with a refreshing dash of friendship that were developed with trust and loyalty.

If you like to read high-fantasy books then this book is for you!

whattamess's review against another edition

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2.0

Buddy read with the MacHalo gang

I wouldn't put this in the genre of YA. It firmly belongs to the Middle Age genre.

Very kiddie like and a bit annoying. I'm sure if I was 10 years old and loved Harry Potter and Pokemon I'd probably get a kick out of this book.

It started off good. Then Fletcher gets to the school and his whole personality changed. Bummer. I was enjoying the Fletcher I was introduced to.

The author had some great ideas, it's just that the whole school thing killed the story for me. I think if Fletcher ran off and got training elsewhere this story would have turned into an adventure fantasy. I feel if the grade level storytelling was brought up to YA this would have been a more exciting book.