Title: Terres

Author: VioletSun5

Genre: Fantasy

Quick Summary: The bird-people have issues and lots of them.

Thoughts:

Honestly I should've read this book sooner and I'm glad opening reviews finally gave me the chance to do it properly.

The writing is [for the most part] smooth and easy to follow. Violet uses many colorful - and at times, strangely interesting - descriptions in her work that help give depth to the world readers find themselves in, as well as the characters that live in it. I'm quite pleased with the life breathed into the world of Terres, even though the world itself is quite cruel and devoid of it. Set on a desert plain with a slowly moving caravan, there's so much wonder to be had in this dust-bowl wonderland.

The characters are all morally questionable - except Griffon, Griffon was a good boy and he deserved much better than he got in the end. Most of them are also traumatized and/or angst-riddled, which makes sense given their ages and the circumstances they had to go through and the choices they make in the course of this story. Even though there was a lot of "woe is me!" moments in Terres, I didn't feel they were misplaced or unjustified - except in Armand. In the beginning he was a bit TOO sorry for himself and it made me irritated with him, but then he did some bad shit and while he of course is at fault and needs to own up, the self-pitying from the second half of the book onward made sense considering the circumstances so.

I mean, they're whiny, but they're teenagers stuck in really bad circumstances so. It can be forgiven.

The plot itself moves at a nice pace. At times it felt kind of slow and I'm impressed there's so much to do in a desert wasteland, but overall it moved and built itself up at a nice pace so that nothing felt too rushed, even at the end. And while it's obvious this is a series, the conclusion tied itself up nicely without relying on the fact that there's a sequel too badly. Which is what a book in a series should do.

I think my complaints are limited to the fact that Griffon deserved way better than he got, really. Also Armand is a fucking idiot and I can't wait to see how Violet tries to get me to like him in later installments... Also, Rannok. Fuck Rannok. And Aegan. Filthy capitalist. It's also mentioned that Wren's parents had a bad relationship towards the beginning, but I didn't really see it until Meron walked out on them later in the book? I would've appreciated that being made clearer, unless this is coming from Wren's own bias of their relationship... in which case, still make it clear. 

I'm not one for arbitrary number scores so just trust me when I say it's really good and if you like fantasy books with angsty bird teens [and a teen who isn't a bird man] then you'll probably like this.