A very well done traditional fantasy story about a girl who doesn't seem to fit anywhere encounters her destiny by crossing paths with a dying man who tells her to bring a message to the King of the land. A long and dangerous ride, and a plot of good versus evil unfolds quite nimbly. A lot of interesting and fun characters keep the pacing on point. I pretty much saw every twist coming, but it was really well made. I've been told to not even touch the sequels. But this is a remakable debut from the last gasp of the 90s. ( )

this is my first Kristen Britain book and i thought it was decent.

the story starts out really good and interesting but as it went on it sorta dragged and i was slowly losing interest once the main character reached the main destination. some parts of the ending climax got a bit better but overall id say it was decently enjoyable but nothing fantastic. the main character was the only character i liked. the rest were ok at best but there was a few good character interactions at the starting part and i did like how she described the temperature in this book. whenever the main character was trying to warm up in the cold i really felt it as weird as it sounds. so overall it was not bad but if your a huge fantasy reader i dont think it will blow you away but it does have its good moments. ( )

I'm thinking that this may be a 2.5 more than 3 stars for me even though I pushed onto the next book. The situations seem a bit...simple. And I'm finding the conflict to be slightly childish. I can't put my finger on it and wish I had read on my Kindle instead of audio so I could take better notes.

Unfortunately, this is one of those series that I'll probably read when I'm between books. (I'm between books)
( )

4.0 stars for Green Rider's interesting lore and fast-paced story telling. In Green Rider, the protagonist Karigan (she/her) stumbles into becoming a messenger for the king, runs away from, and into, danger, and eventually saves the day. This is the beginning of a series which has the potential to contain a lot of background lore and depth which I appreciate. The magic system is fairly superficial in this first book by choice and might grow in depth and complexity in the remaining novels. It seems as though Karigan is the sole protagonist, but I hope other characters gain more nuanced description and might even share some of the spotlight or the books might become unidimensional. Definitely will read book 2 ( )

2.75

This is not the sort of thing I would normally choose to read, but was recommended to me by a friend.

Initially when I began reading I assumed Green Rider was aimed at children, what with the setting (runaway schoolgirl gets caught up in adventure), the large font and the writing style. The narration is basic and mostly economic, which at first was pretty refreshing. There are some nice turns of phrase, but the prose is never flowery, and for the most part, it was just an easy read. However, as I read on I came to the conclusion that it must be on the older end of "Young Adult", given the presence of politics, sexual violence and gore. None of it particularly graphic, but enough to be considered unsuitable for children. This was a little jarring, and from what I've read about the series, there is generally a lack of consistency in tone across the board.

The dialogue is pretty mediocre - not always terrible, but functional at best, and overly expository, stilted and lacking identity at worst.

The story hooked me in at first. There's some decent world-building in the first half and several characters are introduced, hinting at the potential for subplots and a narrative with more scope than I'd expect. Unfortunately, much of this turns out to be superfluous and the whole thing does turn into just another YA fantasy adventure after all. By the last 100 pages, I was ready to throw the book away. Its biggest plot twist could be seen from a thousand miles away thanks to unnecessary foreshadowing, and everything that followed was a complete yawn fest filled with convenient "because magic" events.

Although I wouldn't list these as faults necessarily (the book has far bigger problems), it is not free from the crime of being derivative. What with the rise of a dark sorcerer, setting his minions upon the world; a giant spider(ish); a piece of jewellery that grants the wearer invisibility but comes at a cost; a youthful, immortal woodland race that treat our hero's wounds; and the ability to summon a giant eagle when one sets a leaf to the wind in a spot of trouble - there is no shortage of familiar, Tolkien-esque tropes.

Eh, I guess you can do worse. It's not bad for a debut novel, but it does promise more than it delivers and, overall, felt very middle-of-the-road. ( )