Wren reads The Age of Scorpius by Audra Winter (2/?):
Okay, so this book is kind of a mess, unsurprisingly, but it's not bad! I'm really enjoying reading it, I know some people saw it as a chore to get through or gave up, but so far, I'm having so much fun! I like the dry sense of humor in some of the dialogue, I see the potential in the plot, I think the world is incredibly flawed (like I don't know how'd you fix it type flawed) but I can personally forgive a flawed world (my suspension of disbelief is abundant) with good characters and an interesting plot....
Chapter one starts, and I immediately had questions. "I'd only recorded the lower carvings, my arms too short to reach the tallest stones." Why didn't Reika just use another stone, clearly shown in the artwork, to use as a stool?
This idea is never thought of, and instead, the only idea Rieka has is to get help from someone taller than her. When she's unable to get help from family (and never thinks to wait until she can get help from them), she recruits a random guy she just met for help on this very secretive, very illegal mission?? I do like how Chase is described as "Conveniently tall." though, I thought it was funny.
While we're discussing Rieka recruiting a guy she just met, Rieka is way too trusting! I am fantastic at suspending my disbelief and taking things at face value in fiction (perks of growing up a comic book fan), but the thing that always takes me out is how trusting all of the characters are in this book, except the "bad guys" of course.
The Scorpio Code: never show emotions, never befriend others, never fall in love. Rieka accidentally breaks the first law multiple times in public. Union Law: only marry within your Union (multiple Zodiacs make up a Union, I forget how many Unions there are). Rieka's mom and step-dad are in separate Unions. Scorpios cannot raise their non-scorpio children. Rieka's mother, a Scorpio, raised Rieka's sister, an Aries. Rieka and her family break the law so easily, it's hard to feel any tension.
There is a "Glossary Terms" section at the end of the book, along with a page on the "Government Systems" but I'm trying really hard NOT to look at them. I want to judge the book purely on the book itself and not Audra's TikTik of cheatsheets (my word choice, not Audra's), and it's HARD. This book throws so many new ideas at you, and while it does try to explain it, it's hard to keep track of everything.
I can easily forgive the name "Chase" in a medieval fantasy world (that actually takes place in the future), I'm familiar with the Aerith and Bob Trope. But reading "wearing a white polo", multiple "dudes", "boxers", and I'm sure I'm missing more, is shocking, to say the least!
(Block the tag #wrenreadsaos if you don't want to see more of this)
Meyer asks you to ghostwrite a new twilight book. What do you write?
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD QUESTION.... new moon from alice’s perspective. she’s the one bella was talking to through the book/movie and i think it would be a really cool perspective.. 👁
Wren reads The Age of Scorpius by Audra Winter (1/?): Start
First off, I won't be discussing the drama surrounding this book or its author. If you'd like to learn about all that, then I recommend Book Lover Laura and SAVY WRITES BOOKS' videos on the topic! I really just want to read the book for myself and discuss the book on its own.
I'm in no way a professional reviewer or even the "typical" reader for this kind of stuff (or at least what it was hyped up to be). I love reading and read nearly everyday, but I have a low reading level for my age, and I'm also autistic (mentioning because autism is a huge part of this book's identity). I typically miss misspellings (I didn't notice "knowledge" was misspelled on the back of the book until someone else pointed it out 🫣), and what people describe as "awkward dialogue" can sometimes look perfectly normal to me.
I was honestly really intrigued by the first two sample chapters publicly available, and how Audra described her writing style (assuming she was being genuine and not just making excuses for mistakes), so I'm excited to read and see what's up! I plan on posting whatever I find interesting, good or bad, so stick around if you'd like a closer look into the book!
(Block the tag #wrenreadsaos if you're not interested and don't want to run across it)
Wren reads The Age of Scorpius by Milo Winter (3/?):
So it's been a minute, oops! A lot has happened since my last update, but like I said in my first post, I will not be discussing the drama, just my thoughts on the book! This post will also be messier than previous posts, because I really want to talk/rant about characters and missed opportunities, and what I hope to see in the future! I only have a couple more chapters left, so it's possible that some of my comments will be fixed in the final pages, but it's highly unlikely..
Kaia: Water Bender, Water Mage, Spirit Walker, Cancer. Can control water and other's emotions. Kind, empathetic, level-headed, sadly pretty boring as she isn't given much emotional range (a common problem in this book).
I want to see Kaia blow up and get angry, REALLY angry, her brother was murdered and she SAYS she wants the people to pay but I want to FEEL it. Sorry if this is cliche, but I want the water mage to watch the world burn. (And then get pulled back, because she is one of the good guys obviously.) I'm also just a sucker for the soft one losing their shit.
Reika: Shapeshifter (though I think she should be called an object-shifter or object-morpher instead), Zodiac Turner, Scorpio. Can shift objects (but can't shapeshift herself or others) and change her's and others zodiac signs. The main character yet I have a hard time describing her, she's a mixed bag.
I feel like there's such a missed opportunity here with Reika being autistic and the Scorpio Code forbidding her from showing her emotions and any weakness. This story has the perfect setup to be about masking. It's possible this was the intention, but it just doesn't hit the mark for me unfortunately.
Chase: Dreamseeker, Libran Healer, Libra. Can communicate through dreams and heal other injuries. I think he's meant to be "flirt" of the group but it's done poorly and it's very tell not show so I'm not convinced...
Chase is honestly my favorite, no notes. Kidding of course! My biggest issue with Chase is the flirty thing, and I have no issues with flirty characters, in fact I love them. But in this universe Libra's are known to be flirts I guess (I'm not familiar with real life zodiac stereotypes) and comments are made towards Chase about this, but he just doesn't flirt at all (he does the total opposite actually).
Avia: Fire Bender, Aries. Has fire powers that are common for Aries. The angry one I guess. I'd be angry too if all my companions had special forbidden powers and I didn't. It feels like she's just here so there's someone to disagree with Reika and give the other characters a chance to comfort her.
Narah: Libran Healer (sometimes), Zodiac Turner, Pisces-Aries or Libra-Scorpio. Can change her's and others zodiac signs and has healing capabilities when she changes her sign to Libra-Scorpio. Reika's love interest turned assassin.
With the amount of flashbacks in this book featuring Reika and Narah from before, I really think this book could/should have been split up into two. The first book being a full romantasy about Reika and Narah's love story and growing rebellion, and slowly developing the world within the small area Reika and Narah are in, leading up to the tragic ending. The second book having "The Age of Scorpius", establishing more of the world's lore, plot and switching from romantasy with a growing plot to jumping straight into that plot and the romance being pushed to the background.
I know this is just a pipedream, and maybe it's a terrible one. But I feel like personally it would have made me care about Reika and Narah's relationship more, and Narah as a character in general. But also a slower buildup and a less world changing plot (with a world not even established yet), would have helped the world building not be so overwhelming.
(Block the tag #wrenreadsaos if you don't want to see more of this)
