I could not get into this book. I'm not sure if it was the writing or the story, but it did not pull me in. Unfortunately, I did not finish this book

Vivatera is an amazing (want for a better word) book. Naomi grew up under the guardianship of Malindra, sister to Jeanus. She lived contentedly until a magic user by the name of Lockwood came and killed Malindra. Naomi has prophetic dreams, a scar and a silk scarf. Once Malindra was gone she went to live with a farmer who was recently widowed and looked after his son Zander. One day while selling meat at the local market, a procession crossed through with the Crown Prince in a carriage with a woman with the same scar as Naomi. In a bid to get closer to her Naomi rushed into the procession and was soon swarmed by guards who tried to capture her. Enter Reynold's. He has been watching Naomi all her life and rescues her from the fray. Although protecting Naomi, he is enigmatic and strange keeping more secrets then he tells. All is not right in this world and Naomi may be the key to saving it; she just doesn't know yet........

Sound interesting? Well keep reading......

Some of the things I liked:

1. The mystery throughout the book kept me on the edge of my seat. Many times I started to put pieces of the puzzle together only to realize I was mistaken.

2. The character development throughout, especially Naomi's development as a character.

3. The mystery of the enigmatic Reynold's life and appearance. Although Reynold's eyes are described as "steely grey", the rest of his face is described with ambiguity, "his untidy, unshaven face".

4. The web of deceit and lies as well as the promise of more adventures to come. Could there be an unrequited or forbidden love between Reynold's and Naomi? Is Reynold's there only out of honour or is he there out of love?

5. The world building was AMAZING. I loved Candace's new take on magic and how people came to control it. Each scene was described with vivid detail and easy to imagine.

Omg......... this book was amazing I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed I was hooked from the very first page. I found it full of twists and turns threw out and it kept me on the edge of my seat all the way threw  I would defiantly recommend this book if you like a good book to keep you reading threw the night hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did

I started this book over a year ago, if that gives you any idea of how this review is going to go. I remember requesting it for the cover and the description, but was quickly nervous after getting approved because the reviews were not all that great. I understand why now and am a little disappointed overall.

Vivatera is part of a series that I’ve already decided I won’t finish reading. The character development wasn’t all there for me and the romance aspects of the book were contrived. I kept walking away from the book because of boredom and coming back for something better. I never got it. I definitely wanted more all around from this piece -- more development, more world-building, more time to really enjoy the romance instead of the insta-love we received. There’s potential overall, but it really didn’t hit the mark for me.

Vivatera, part of the award-winning YA fantasy series of the same name, was previously published in 2013 to critical acclaim, but I have to admit I found it tough to get through from the very beginning. The worldbuilding and magic system weren't explained enough and left a lot to be desired, and no matter how hard I tried simple couldn't connect with the characters. There desperately needed to be more backstory, and although the premise was a great one with bucket loads of potential it fell flat due to poor execution.

The insta-love dropped into the plot out of nowhere felt contrived and superficial adding further issues. The pace needed to be quicker and the whole novel felt bland, and, at times, boring. That said, I didn't see the ending coming which was satisfying. I'm interested to know whether I'd like the second instalment better than this, so I will likely pick it up to see whether anything's changed.

There are too many coincidences and very weak character motives used to push the plot forward. Weirdly the plot moves quickly, while at the same time, not much happens. By the end, I felt like I had finished reading a prologue... This should not take almost 400 pages to do.

The worst aspect for me was the poorly written romance. It's a pet peeve of mine when romance is done badly, and when one character kidnaps another and abandons them at a camp they can't escape from with so much as a goodbye... Only for the book to then tell me they both have fallen madly in love with each other??? I don't get it.

There are some redeeming parts. The writing isn't bad and I do like some of the characters. As for the Magic system, there are interesting aspects (magical stones) and then moments of magic being powerful with no explanation (yay plot armour!).

I don't think that this book was for me. I found it pretty slow and I struggled reading it a lot. I thought that the premise of this book was really interesting and I was definitely intrigued by it. But I didn't enjoy it. The book seemed to focus more on the world building than the characters.

I had difficulties to continue reading as I found this book to be quite slow. The premises was really intriguing but I felt the author concentrate more on building the world around the story than on the story itself. I love when at the beginning there is worldbuilding but just to introduce the new world. Even though, other 2 books are part of the serie, I don't think I will continue reading it.

I found this book to be quite slow but not uninteresting enough to not finish it. The characters as well were a bit dull as well the majority of the book was spent worldbuilding - which is necessary to some degree but may have led to the dull feeling. The ending was a bit surprising so it gives hope to the second and third installments; however I don't think that I will continue reading on.

DNF @56%

This book was a bit boring, I sadly didn't liked that much the main characters and the plot felt a bit bland. The plot was inconsistent? I stopped reading because I still couldn't get the purpose of my reading, the plot was just too transparent. It was vague, just like the characters, they had no backstory. No world building, no depth.

The story was kind of hard to connect to for me personally. I did not enjoy the worldbuilding and the characters did not connect with me. The concepts felt likable but the execution was off putting.

This one was a bit disappointing. I honestly just didn’t enjoy how slow it was and I couldn’t relate to Naomi. The writing style was overly-simplistic for my taste and I do wish we could have had some more twists and turns to really get the story going and get it to its maximum potential.

That being said, the book did wrap up nicely and the concept/ premise was so good. Unfortunately I feel like it just didn’t take advantage of all that potential.

This novel is a good one that I’ve read this year! The characters are so dynamic yet relatable. I loved the flow of the story. It held my attention the whole time.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this title. I will review this title at a different date.

I liked this book and it was easy for me to enjoy it. I wish the book went further into the lore and general world building. It didn't stop me from enjoying it though.

This young adult book bubbled along quite happily and it was an easy read for me to enjoy. I wish the book went further into the lore and general world building. However, I have seen that this is only the start of a series, so I'm sure that this is built upon in following releases. This didn't stop me from enjoying the book and I will be sure to check out the next book in the series.

I received an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion & review

Between the characters, magic and just the book overall, it was hard to make a connection. The idea was there, but the undertaking of it was just poor.

I’ve found this book exhausting to read, fighting every page to understand the connection between every scenario. Usually, I would just DNF this kind of novel, but the concept and ideas of this book were just too interesting to stop reading. Can you imagine that it took me exactly 3 months to read! But now that I’ve made it all the way to the end, I kind of regret it. There is no joy, only confusion for this story.

Simple writing but chaotic ideas not intertwining or just overall not well explained. There were no true back-stories from the characters; we just needed to guess.

The main character Naomi, I just don’t care about her. She’s annoying and irrelevant in any scenario she found herself in. She is an anchor to the development of the story.

Description
A tight-paced adventure with magic for young adult audiences.

The mark on Naomi's neck, the one she was carefully instructed to keep covered with a scarf, is the secret key to a world of dangerous magic beyond her imagination. The elemental balance of Parbraven has shifted and is haunted by Stains, spirits who once were touched my elemental magic, now tethering them restlessly to the world. Their salvation lies dormant within this simple girl, kept secret away from the powers controlling the elemental harmony.

The only one who knows her secret is the mysterious rogue, Reynolds; and their instant attraction weaves deeper than either expect. Reynolds recognizes the magical connection between them and must act quickly before unraveling everything he has tried to keep hidden--and safe.

My Review
Vivatera is not quite what I expected, and it took me a while to get into the story. The characters are interesting and I was hoping to fall in love with this novel as i truly enjoy most writings that are about magic. I believe the story itself has potential.

This was a struggle. I had a hard time understanding the magic and the world building just didn’t work for me. This kept me at a distance from the story and I was unable to connect with the characters and thus the story. There needs to be more exposition or backstory. The beginning is awkward and just kinda throws you into the world without any build up to make sure you truly understand what is happening. This book had so much potential but fell flat.

The world building isn't the best. I would like to know more about the situation, the setting, and the characters. I'm not very invested into the characters because of these lacking factors.