Published: January 10, 2013
Pages: 400
Source: For Review from Penguin
Rating: 3.5 Stars
There is a new king on the throne of Tildor. Currents of political unrest sweep the country as two warring crime families seek power, angling to exploit the young Crown's inexperience. At the Academy of Tildor, the training ground for elite soldiers, Cadet Renee de Winter struggles to keep up with her male peers. But when her mentor, a notorious commander recalled from active duty to teach at the Academy, is kidnapped to fight in illegal gladiator games, Renee and her best friend Alec find themselves thrust into a world rife with crime, sorting through a maze of political intrigue, and struggling to resolve what they want, what is legal, and what is right.
In short: The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell was an incredibly exciting and fast-paced read, but unfortunately, it was at the expense of character and world building.
I do think the story was a bit too fast-paced for my liking, however. As fun as fast pacing in a novel can be, I felt that certain key elements of The Cadet of Tildor were lacking at its expense and could have used more time to develop - namely, the character development (I felt mostly detached and uninterested in the characters) and the politics and world building (I feel like I have only the barest grasp of these things). Personally, I'd rather take some time out from non-stop action (as fun as it is) to develop the world and characters more fully - or else the end result is that I kind of stop caring about those things.
Something else that I disliked about The Cadet of Tildor that is very subjective: Savoy, Renee's love interest, and their relationship. Try as I might, I just can't seem to fall for the bad boys that other girls go crazy about. Savoy was an arrogant jerk and I really disliked the way he patronized Renee for much of the novel. And meanwhile, Renee spent much of the novel mooning over him, despite his treatment of her, so that was also annoying. Again, I do think this is just my personal taste though - I have no doubt lots of ladies will love Savoy's mysterious and wounded character.
While The Cadet of Tildor wasn't my ideal fantasy read, I do think that a majority of readers are going to really enjoy this one, however, as it was a truly fun and thrilling read. I would highly recommend The Cadet of Tildor to readers who love fast pacing and who are more fantasy novices (I fear more experienced fantasy readers might find this one a bit unoriginal).
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What age would you say this is for? The cover makes it long MG or young YA. Not too often that a book is too fast paced. I like quick pacing but I agree that you need to have at least enough substance to back it up.
ReplyDeleteI've fallen out of love with fantasy at the moment. It has to be a very specific sort to entertain me it seems. Savoy sounds like he would annoy me too! Thanks for the review :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alison that this one comes across as MG for me. It's too bad that this one had the quick pacing but not a lot to connect with. I agree that sometimes it's better to let up the pacing to take time to get the reader to connect to the story than it is to just keep them on a thrill ride. Fantastic review, Aylee. I'm not a fantasy reader so this one isn't on my TBR but it's always nice to see what others think.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. I wonder what I'll think of this one Aylee. Typically I fall for that bad boy character again and again, something about asshattery appeals to me, BUT, he has to have some redeeming qualities mixed in - a hint of vulnerability underneath the a-hole armor or I can't deal with it. I don't like that he patronizes Renee throughout and that she's still all swoony over him - if she stood up for herself that dynamic would work for me, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Thanks for your review, I'm thinking I'll wait on this one for a while!
ReplyDeleteI love fantasy books. The cover for one this one looks pretty nice. Have you read Falling Kingdoms? It's pretty good.
ReplyDeleteGreat review Aylee.
I'm not a huge fantasy fan, so this one doesn't stick out to me. Bummer the characters weren't really developed either. I'm a big character person. I'm glad it was fun overall, but sorry it wasn't as full as it should have been.
ReplyDeleteI don't like creepy love interests either. Guys that are jerks most of the time tend to annoy me, so I get where you're coming from.
-Lauren
I've just recently gotten into fantasy novels and I've heard a lot of good things about it. But after reading your review I'm a little nervous, I enjoy character development in my story and have had problems with many books for missing the mark on that. Though I do feel as if the action would probably keep me quite interested LOL. Great review, I will definitely have to see for myself where this fits for me.
ReplyDeletePhew, although it wasn't perfect and you had problems with the pacing, I'm very much looking forward to this one. I signed up for the blog tour and I love the excerpt I have to share.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably find Savoy and their messed up relationship annoying too, but if the other parts are fun enough, I guess I won't mind too much. Wonderful review! At least now I know exactly what to expect.
I'm really curious what I'll think of this one because I love fast pacing, but get really frustrated when I sense a lack of world-building. This wasn't high on my list because I'm not super into POLITICAL fantasy, but it's been getting so many good reviews that I was considering it. Might be a library read.
ReplyDeleteGreat, honest review!
Lauren @ Hughes Reviews
Interesting! I just read another review of this book and they didn't mention some of the stuff you did. It sounds like I wouldn't like Savoy much either - I don't really fall for the bad boy, usually. *Sigh^I guess this goes back tot he maybe pile
ReplyDeleteOne of the blogs I follow did mention that this one was unoriginal but I'm not sure how much I'd mind because I love fantasy so much. What I do think I'd care about is that the characters aren't well-developed and the romance.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a shame when fast-paced books become too rushed. I really like my world-building and character development, so I'm not sure if I will like that. But I still want to give it a shot, because I like the concept of the elite school :)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comment about the pacing being too fast at the expense of character & plot development. I read a book like that last year and I had a really hard time getting past how 'key-points' were happening too quickly - it's really hard to fully appreciate everything that's going on in those cases. Being a pretty hardcore fantasy reader, I'll still be checking this one out, but I'm not in a rush...Thanks for the great & honest review!
ReplyDeleteI guess you'd categorize this as lighter fantasy fare? That's too bad - I kept thinking it had potential to be a great new fantasy book (and maybe series - not sure if it's intended to be a series or not). I agree that nonstop action should never become a substitute for character development and world-building and it saddens me that you think that was the case. Perhaps I'll have to be more on the fence about this one. If I'm in the mood for a lighter fantasy that's just fun to read, maybe this can still fit the bill.
ReplyDeleteI've actually been feeling this way a lot lately in regards to new YA fantasy books. Also, there are so many YA fantasy books that I feel everyone else loves a lot more than I do, and this seem like it will be another one of those cases. I still need to read it though because of all of its Tamora Pierce comparisons, but I have a feeling I will feel very similarly about it.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to request this at NG, I didn't pull the trigger. Now I'm glad I didn't, it sounds like a good book, but it was a bit too long considering all the others I have in line to review already. Great review.
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DeleteToo bad there wasn't enough character / world development - it sounds like it would have been a great book if it had more of both!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honest review :)