Sebastian Darke Book

Real rating: 2.5 stars.

I really wanted to like this book. And I did at certain points. For instance, the cover design and parts of the interior design were awesome! I didn't like the margins--they were huge. Also, Cornelius was a great character. I loved how fierce he was and what an amazing warrior he was, better than anyone else even though he was a little person.

The thing that bothered me was that it seemed like the book couldn't figure out if it was YA or middle readers. I'm sure it was YA, even though there were pictures in it and sometimes the dialogue was simple. The ages of the main characters were 17 (YA) and the diction was too advanced for middle readers. And don't get me wrong, I liked the pictures, they were a cute addition. But it added to the confusion of who this book was for.

The dialogue also seemed forced at times. I couldn't shake the feeling that it sounded fake. But you know, dialogue can be really hard.

Everything seemed kind of convenient and clichéd. There was an evil king who wanted to continue ruling. He had an ugly old crone of a witch who egged him on and did his evil bidding. He used the lowlife scrum of Brigandia to carry out his plots.

We never learned how he came to be aligned with the Brigands. Why did he have them at his disposal? It's assumed they're mercenaries but never explained. I think this is why I liked Cornelius so much. He wasn't a usual character in the story of an Evil King with an Ugly Crone Witch.

The story was entertaining for the most part though. To me, though, it didn't live up to its potential.