The ultimate friendzone story, jeeze.

I like it! It's your typical fantasy-adventure-magic story but it's fun! Soooooo many things happened. ahh! I can't wait to read the next one, the ending, ahhhhhhhhhhh

Why would you do that?! ( )

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I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!



I really liked the cover, it is simple yet effective, because people do judge a book on it's cover (at least if they don't know anything else about it).



Mae is -secretly- the craftborn, the one person in the realm who has the ability to restore magic to its former glory (and will marry the crown prince). Mae is a poor girl, ignored by everyone in the village except her dad. (Her mother is -surprisingly- dead). When another girl from her tiny, tiny village is found to be the craftborn, the prince himself comes to collect her, but before that can actually happen, terrible thing happen.

To avenge her father and save the 'craftborn', Mae and the prince (please recall, she is a very poor girl who's never had the chance to train social skills) go - on their own - on a quest in the haunted magical forest 'The Waerg Woods'...



OK, I couldn't stand Mae. She is - as I mentioned before - very poor, though she acts more arrogant and spoilt than Casimir, who's the Crown prince! That doesn't make a lot of sense, especially when Mae keeps saying how spoilt Casimir is and everything. One of her better qualities is saving Casimir, because, hell, he needs a lot of saving! (Don't let him wander alone for more than two minutes).

She's also far to proud. There are multiple occasions where here being the craftborn could have easily saved the two of them, but she is to proud to use it because he laughed at her. Silly girl!



And if she hates Ellen that much, why would she not just expose her to the world? Why go and do this kind of theatre, with the blood in a bottle and all that? Why?!



Onto the world. We don't get to know too much about it. What I wondered though, it is probably changed in the final version of this book (I haven't been able to check), but there is a great inconsistency in the name of the realm. Aegunlund is most common, but there's also Agenlund and Aegunland?

The Waerg Woods are haunted and creepy. Or so we're told. No one dares enter except - of course - Mae. The woods reminded my of the clock-arena in Catching Fire. It's divided into little parts, each of which have special threats for you. (Think fog, rain, animals etc). There's also a clicking monster, who's apparently not bound by any boundaries.



The story is not that original. It's a series of getting caught, escape, getting caught, escape etc. A lot happens very fast, so there isn't really time for a lot of details, background story or real character development. Mae doesn't learn to be less arrogant, either. Some of her decisions seem so weird to me, that it was hard for me to see them as part of the story rather than being a plot device to come to the end of the story. Which isn't really an ending! It just starts to get excited from this point, I believe. I don't mind reading trilogies and I don't need full closure at the end of a book, but this seems just like it ended somewhere halfway, with an enormous cliffhanger... ( )

This fantasy series is impossible to put down! I binge read all three books in two days! Just fair warning, there is a HUGE cliffhanger at the end of book one, so if you liked it at all, you will need the next book like the air you breathe! Mae, the main character, starts off as a grungy, mouthy, poverty stricken young teen, in a very small village near a haunted wood. She lives with her semi-crippled father, and is shunned or bullied by the other villagers. She is the Craft-born, the one magic user born in each generation, and is desperately trying to hide it so she won't have to marry the prince. Great story! ( )

I'd received this free in exchange for a review.

I thought it was okay, not necessarily my cup of tea, as the story, plot, and characters were very basic. The protagonist, Mae, is very underdeveloped. I mean this in the sense that even the other characters seem to look at her and think, "Really, you're going to do that, even though I'm telling you not to because it will end badly...okay, you're doing that...oh look, and it ended badly...and now you're doing it again."

I found it very difficult dealing with Mae. It was a struggle getting through it (and it's a relatively short read)! So much so that I had to take a few months off before starting the second one (and a heads up, it doesn't get any better).

I understand that this meant for a younger audience, but still. Ultimately, I would've liked it if Mae was more developed. Like, "I've made this choice/mistake and have learned my lesson and will apply what I've learned in my next choice," instead of what we get with her.

I gave it 3 stars because halves aren't a 'thing' on librarything I guess, though I'd give it more of a 2.5 (I rounded UP to be nice). I liked the description/idea of the woods (1 star) and the fantasy world/lore/history in general (1 star) and a half star for what the author did with it all. Overall, it could've been much better! ( )

I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.

I love a well written fantasy novel which is what [White Hart] by [Sarah Dalton] could be described as. The story of Mae, a young poor girl, who also happens to have magical abilities. She hides these so she will not be forced to marry the prince. When tragedy strikes she ends up on a quest with the prince.

I thought the characters were well developed and the plot was good. There could have been more description of the setting since it is a magical land. I liked that Mae was not a weakling but she also lacked confidence due to lack of experience.

I have started reading [Red Palace] the second book which I also received free for review. ( )