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A review by sinamile
Enlightenment: Book One of the Bathala Series by Reno Ursal
3.0
ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review
CW: ableist slurs
Okay, I will say that this is an enjoyable read, I did like it and at times could get lost in the story, but it had issues that could not be ignored.
1. Sometimes I had no idea what was going on. Like I'd be reading along and then something would happen and I'd be so confused about what was going. Like, I don't know if I wasn't concentrating enough or what, but there were times where I'd have to reread a section because I felt like I missed something important.
2. Some things were explained enough. Like the communication thing between kindred, is it like a Skype thing or what, like I couldn't understand it. And how is Adrian connected to his Vegas family? Like how do they know each other.
3. Some things were over explained. Like clothing, too much explaining went into clothing. And celebrity name dropping, too much celebrity and brand name dropping. Describing something like “my DKNY luggage” is not necessary, and describing every song that's being played, and the details of every item of clothing, unnecessary.
4. Some of the exchanges between characters was kind of cringe, especially when the bad guys were interacting with the good. Some of the villain lines were just too much, like they're almost comical instead of scary.
5. The ending. The ending felt so choppy and random. The last chapter was too much without enough time. The story, as far as we knew, was about two people, but then a third person was added and then there were two male side characters who confused me. Like I don't know, everything got really choppy and confusing by the last chapter. I couldn't put together why thing went on the direction they did, like did I miss something that had been said in the rest of the book? And the Epilogue was just as confusing as the final chapter. Usually Epilogue are supposed to kind of roundup everything, give us some closure while setting us up for another book (I hope there is another book because there are so many questions that weren't answered: ie Adrian's Vegas Family) but this one didntdo that. It confused me kor than anything.. Is the Epilogue a setup for the next book, is it going to be the prologue of another book. Like I didn't understand that part.
Overall, this wasn't a bad book. I did like it, an as mentioned before could get lost in it. I just wish there were better explanations in some things and less in others.
CW: ableist slurs
Okay, I will say that this is an enjoyable read, I did like it and at times could get lost in the story, but it had issues that could not be ignored.
1. Sometimes I had no idea what was going on. Like I'd be reading along and then something would happen and I'd be so confused about what was going. Like, I don't know if I wasn't concentrating enough or what, but there were times where I'd have to reread a section because I felt like I missed something important.
2. Some things were explained enough. Like the communication thing between kindred, is it like a Skype thing or what, like I couldn't understand it. And how is Adrian connected to his Vegas family? Like how do they know each other.
3. Some things were over explained. Like clothing, too much explaining went into clothing. And celebrity name dropping, too much celebrity and brand name dropping. Describing something like “my DKNY luggage” is not necessary, and describing every song that's being played, and the details of every item of clothing, unnecessary.
4. Some of the exchanges between characters was kind of cringe, especially when the bad guys were interacting with the good. Some of the villain lines were just too much, like they're almost comical instead of scary.
5. The ending. The ending felt so choppy and random. The last chapter was too much without enough time. The story, as far as we knew, was about two people, but then a third person was added and then there were two male side characters who confused me. Like I don't know, everything got really choppy and confusing by the last chapter. I couldn't put together why thing went on the direction they did, like did I miss something that had been said in the rest of the book? And the Epilogue was just as confusing as the final chapter. Usually Epilogue are supposed to kind of roundup everything, give us some closure while setting us up for another book (I hope there is another book because there are so many questions that weren't answered: ie Adrian's Vegas Family) but this one didntdo that. It confused me kor than anything.. Is the Epilogue a setup for the next book, is it going to be the prologue of another book. Like I didn't understand that part.
Overall, this wasn't a bad book. I did like it, an as mentioned before could get lost in it. I just wish there were better explanations in some things and less in others.