Chains Carried on Wings ~ Marina Ermakova (Clydian Chronicles #1)

★★☆☆☆

I received this digital copy from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way.

Obligatory Summary

Three cousins live in the same isolated town of Running Water, but their perspectives on life couldn't be more different. Auris, the headwoman-in-training, has a strict view of how the world should and shouldn't be, and Saig seems intent on going against all of it. But both Saig and her cousin Trei have never felt like they entirely belonged to Running Water. Their parents have mysterious origins, and when outsiders and goblins attack their town, the status quo is shattered.

The Writing and Worldbuilding

I honestly thought I was going to like this. I hadn't known what to expect going in to things, but the first few chapters really won me over, and I felt invested in and intrigued by the world. But around 48% through, things went swiftly downhill and never managed to really get back up.

The world was promising, but all too often rendered confusing by the inconsistent worldbuilding. There was a lot that was interesting, but it was often overshadowed by the petty drama of the main cast or random, almost silly observations, like how oh my! the grass is different here! I've never seen such strange grass. :/

The pacing didn't help matters. It was all over the place. I honestly couldn't tell you what and where the climax was. The whole book felt like build-up to nothing. It quite literally put me to sleep at one point. After the 50% mark, I was just impatient for it to end.

The Characters

Saig: She was okay. Felt generic most of the time and lacked proper characterization, at least in my opinion. Her personality was described one way, but she acted another way, so I honestly couldn't tell who she was supposed to be.

Auris: She was my favorite--well, at least at first. She's wrong in a lot of her opinions, but she isn't wrong in why she believes them, and I really appreciated her levelheadedness and rational thinking. She wasn't driven by impulse or personal desires like most YA heroines, and I found that really refreshing. But she was stagnant, and her change of opinion was spurred by extremes, which doesn't always work in the long run. And she practically disappeared by the end of things, her role seemingly null and void.

Trei: This little idiot. He was funny sometimes, but oh my goodness, he was so obnoxious!!! He's constantly complaining about literally everything. He's the whiniest character I've ever read! I hate him!

Ande: I really liked Ande and I wish we'd gotten more of his story (especially since he wasn't related to the rest of the perspective characters), as I feel like it was revealed to me (partly because of the way this was written) as if I already knew who he was, which only served to confuse me more half of the time. But he was a good person, from what I could tell, and I really appreciated him.

Literally everyone else: Names were thrown around so often, without any character introductions, that I had no idea who most of these people were. And they were all so petty and annoying, I don't even want to know who they are.

Conclusion

I am intrigued about the sequel, just because this felt like half a book, but I honestly don't think I'll be continuing this series, especially I either can't stand or am entirely indifferent towards the vast majority of the characters, and the world isn't something I haven't seen before.

Also, this title makes absolutely no sense for this book.

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