Frey (The Frey Saga Book 1)

I gave the book a poor rating for a few very specific reasons but will start with the good. There are some very interesting characters traits I've never seen before and I liked them. Different in fantasy is normally a good thing! The characters are well drawn and I can see character development and story line are headed in a good direction. However, as much as I would like to buy the next book to continue I simply can't. I despise authors who "over" manipulate the reader to the extent you want to choke them. In this case, the author abuses and tortures the reader when it comes to answering the question about what is going on with the main character. Several characters know but, as usual, won't say. Worse, like a cheap soap opera, our protagonist frequently asks those in her company but they are "ALWAYS" interrupted before an answer is given. ALWAYS! And then when she clearly has time to follow up, she never does. This goes on-and-on to the end of the first book. Incredibly annoying. No author should drag something out like this for an entire book. Initially she also appears to be really slow-witted as she doesn't understand what's happening to her even after multiple occurrences. I guess I can live with this but in this department the reader is way ahead anyways which is natural. I will say she starts to understand by the end of the book regarding her "changes". In this first book, overall, nothing is happening other then her advancing changes, pointless discussions never answered, and a couple of run-ins with the council elders chasing her and her party...and of course, unanswered questions. For me, I can't stand a soap opera format consisting of lots of secrets and known questions that never get answered for one manipulated reason after another. Bottom line: I don't like soap operas or being endlessly manipulated by an author for the sole purpose of buying the next book. Even if the next book finally brings answers (I'm sure it will), the authors style of writing leads me to believe there will be more of the same tom-foolery. Maybe...if I get really bored...I'll take the leap...maybe.

Wow, absolutely amazing job by the author.There is alot of mixed reviews posted here so let me try to explain in a non-spoiler way.The first book of this series was extremely frustrating to me because it is very confusing and fragmented with the main character disoriented due to regaining lost memories in little bits and pieces. I almost didn't bother reading the second book because I trumped it up to bad writing.However, I decided to go ahead and start the second book and it was a few chapters into that book that I hit upon the idea that the confusion I had from the first book was actually on purpose by the author in order to bring readers into the state of mind of the main character. I kept reading, watching for evidence of this and saw how as Frey picks up more and more memories throughout the 2nd book, the author actually slowly brings the reader out of the confusion. It was absolutely awe inspiring! I can't think of any other author who has nailed bringing the reader through such an immersing experience.Naturally the last book, in which Frey has all her memories is completely void of the fog and confusion of the first two books. She still needs to puzzle out and solve the problems presented but she has the full use of her brain to do it.My advice: Read this, and when you get frustrated by the main character forgetting things and walking around, following blindly and being stuck with the same thoughts recycling through her mind over and over, realize what she must be feeling as she struggles to grasp memories that are just out of reach and use that to immerse yourself into the story. Stick with it and prepare to be amazed.

I really wish I hadn't wasted my time with this book. Excellent cover caught my attention and the description seemed promising. However halfway into the book and I'm questionig what's going on. The story is horribly disjointed in that it jumps from situation to situation with no transition or explanation as to what is going on. I found myself unable to believe something as simple as the timeline because the transition was that broken. I also found it hard to even want to invest or like the characters because of this style of writing. I'm a bit sad overall because I had hope this was would be pretty good.

I picked this one up for free, so I'd like to thank the author for a few hours of entertainment.The concept was interesting, but the ride was a bit rough. There's not a lot of description, so it's hard to form a picture of what's going on most of the time. At other times, I had no idea where the characters were, what time of day it was, or how quickly or slowly time was passing. It got a bit confusing in places.Reading a book about a protagonist who's also reading a book didn't really work well, and I think Frey stayed up all night reading something that took me ten minutes to read, then complained about being tired until it was time to sneak the book out at the end of the day. How you read a book in the dark or hide it from the people you're sharing a campfire/light source with is a tricky proposition, too. The whole thing felt like a shortcut and, in the end, it felt like I was reading Cliff's Notes.I'd love to see how the rest of the story goes, but I don't think I'll be continuing on.