Review: Needs work
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 01 3, 2013
Don't read this book if you haven't read at least book 1 of the trilogy. It's technically a prequel but it'll make more sense if you wait to read it.I give this book 2 stars because it does explain the back story to the trilogy (or at least some of it), but it is seriously lacking in a number of ways:1. The basic plot of this story is fine, but the interactions between the characters made me want to roll my eyes constantly. The sickly sweet over-the-top way Athen and Ana talk and interact with one another is relatively understandable in book 1, but it does get annoying. In Taken, however, it gets old really really fast.2. The editing is sloppy.3. There are multiple places where the phrasing is awkward.4. There is no depth in the writing. I wasn't expecting to read War and Peace or The Lord of the Rings here as this is YA fiction but compared to a lot of other YA books, and even compared to most of the rest of the trilogy, the writing comes across as flat. The writing style in this book does not come across as that that of an experienced or skilled author.Overall, the idea of this prequel was a good one, but it was poorly executed, and I would advise others just to skip it and stick with the rest of the trilogy.*Review re-posted from Goodreads.com