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This will be an in-depth review of a duology of books that I can't quite get out of my head. It had good potential but fell flat. The thing is I equally liked it but also disliked it. It hit the right notes at times but missed a lot of notes too. I just can't leave it alone. So I plan to make a fanfic because the second novel left a lot of loose ends or I just did not like how she wrapped up the ending that way. I SO WANTED A THIRD BOOK!
I just wanted to mention this book has many different titles. Such as The Twin Pearls of Wisdom, just plain Eon/Eona, and a couple others.
Review of EON: DragonEye Reborn.
So I read this between 06/22/2012-08/29/2012. Looks like it took me about 2 months to finish it for whatever reason, possible what was going on in life. So this can explain why I did not remember much of what happened. Anyway I remember I got it at the library because I was doing a Book Challenge and I think I wanted a new book so I looked up Dragon books. Or this book was on the shelf while I was there. It had Dragons in it so it caught my eye. It also caught my attention that it could be based on Eastern history/mythology, mainly Chinese. I already had some knowledge about Japan and Japanese history/mythology. The Eastern countries fascinate me more than European ones do. Although I want to learn more about Rome and Greek history, too. Anyway, I thought this would be a good introduction into Chinese-esque world setting. Because the entire time I was reading it I was imaging China, not Japan or Korea or Mongolia. And this is one of the few fantasy novels I have read. I was also trying to find books with Dragons in them, like they are constantly there; an actually character, they don't have to talk but just as long as they are there.
The thing is I liked the book a lot. So much that I probably did not see any flaws in it. But believe me, after reading other people's reviews of what scenes they did not like or what they hated that happened to the character, I went like "I don't remember that! Did that happen?"
I read a review or a thread about how some people did not like the attempted rape of Eona or that she was magically healed of her disability. People liked her because of it but then POOF! ALL BETTER! The thing is I might have hurriedly read those parts not really caring what was going on. It was a blur. My first time reading the book was like "Hey! This is a great book!" But apparently I was not paying close attention.
One thing did disappoint me though and it was the Dragons. They were barley there. They were on another plane of existence. In a mind sight plane, you had to focus on and only some had the ability. The Dragons could not really be seen in the real world but their actions were. Like lightning strikes, its tail hitting the palace walls and debris falling. If it kicked you while you were in the mind sight you were thrown back. Like telekinesis. But only if its DragonEye was there. And connected to it. Oh and they caused storms and disasters or they were able to stop them from a happening. It's like they are there but they are not. And I don't know if I really liked the way of how she describes them.
I do have to re- read it to find out and I will.
A few things I thought were like "HUH?!"
Mainly how the book was summed up. Eon- "Eon has trained for years to become a DragonEye. One who can control the powers of one of the twelve spirit Dragons. But he has a dangerous secret. Eon is really Eona, a girl masquerading as a boy. Females are forbidden form becoming DragonEyes. The penalty is death."
.....
Could you at least let me guess what the secret was? That takes the fun out of a potential mystery. You are told right away that Eon is Eona, a girl pretending to be a boy. Not much of a mystery if you keep telling us. You could have written it in a way, both the summary and the book, to when it's a shocking reveal.
Like, as I would write it, "Eon went to hide behind the fence to get a closer look at his chest wound. When he was out of sight and made sure no one was looking, he pulled his shirt down and looked at his chest bindings. A streak of blood had sunk through the white cloth. He pushed a finger between the cloth and felt the top of his breast mound. Does not look deep. But I should change my bindings soon. He checked his other breast to make sure it wasn't hurt. When he was satisfied he put his shirt to right. I sure hope they don't get any bigger. It'll be harder to conceal them." A reveal like that. But instead the book is 1st Person Point of View. She, the narrator is telling it. And once she says the "bleeding pains" I'm like "Girl! I figured you out. You are a girl." SIGH.
And on the back cover, just in case you were wondering if it's a one-shot or a duology or a trilogy, they tell you to wait for the sequel coming out or the conclusion. And it's name is "Eona".
I don't think the marketing team was creative or they thought their target audience is not so much smart. I mean it is simple to remember. Just either add or take off a letter to the name and you get two different books. UGH!
Another "HUH?!" moment was the age. She is 16 masquerading as a 12 year old boy. How tall are the boys? How tall is she? Or how small is everyone? Some girls, if not most, are already mature or have hit puberty by that age. How are these 12 year old boys suppose to look? Remember they are suppose to be Asian. I'm thinking Chinese. But still. Could you not tell the difference between them? I guess not.
I just wanted to mention this book has many different titles. Such as The Twin Pearls of Wisdom, just plain Eon/Eona, and a couple others.
Review of EON: DragonEye Reborn.
So I read this between 06/22/2012-08/29/2012. Looks like it took me about 2 months to finish it for whatever reason, possible what was going on in life. So this can explain why I did not remember much of what happened. Anyway I remember I got it at the library because I was doing a Book Challenge and I think I wanted a new book so I looked up Dragon books. Or this book was on the shelf while I was there. It had Dragons in it so it caught my eye. It also caught my attention that it could be based on Eastern history/mythology, mainly Chinese. I already had some knowledge about Japan and Japanese history/mythology. The Eastern countries fascinate me more than European ones do. Although I want to learn more about Rome and Greek history, too. Anyway, I thought this would be a good introduction into Chinese-esque world setting. Because the entire time I was reading it I was imaging China, not Japan or Korea or Mongolia. And this is one of the few fantasy novels I have read. I was also trying to find books with Dragons in them, like they are constantly there; an actually character, they don't have to talk but just as long as they are there.
The thing is I liked the book a lot. So much that I probably did not see any flaws in it. But believe me, after reading other people's reviews of what scenes they did not like or what they hated that happened to the character, I went like "I don't remember that! Did that happen?"
I read a review or a thread about how some people did not like the attempted rape of Eona or that she was magically healed of her disability. People liked her because of it but then POOF! ALL BETTER! The thing is I might have hurriedly read those parts not really caring what was going on. It was a blur. My first time reading the book was like "Hey! This is a great book!" But apparently I was not paying close attention.
One thing did disappoint me though and it was the Dragons. They were barley there. They were on another plane of existence. In a mind sight plane, you had to focus on and only some had the ability. The Dragons could not really be seen in the real world but their actions were. Like lightning strikes, its tail hitting the palace walls and debris falling. If it kicked you while you were in the mind sight you were thrown back. Like telekinesis. But only if its DragonEye was there. And connected to it. Oh and they caused storms and disasters or they were able to stop them from a happening. It's like they are there but they are not. And I don't know if I really liked the way of how she describes them.
I do have to re- read it to find out and I will.
A few things I thought were like "HUH?!"
Mainly how the book was summed up. Eon- "Eon has trained for years to become a DragonEye. One who can control the powers of one of the twelve spirit Dragons. But he has a dangerous secret. Eon is really Eona, a girl masquerading as a boy. Females are forbidden form becoming DragonEyes. The penalty is death."
.....
Could you at least let me guess what the secret was? That takes the fun out of a potential mystery. You are told right away that Eon is Eona, a girl pretending to be a boy. Not much of a mystery if you keep telling us. You could have written it in a way, both the summary and the book, to when it's a shocking reveal.
Like, as I would write it, "Eon went to hide behind the fence to get a closer look at his chest wound. When he was out of sight and made sure no one was looking, he pulled his shirt down and looked at his chest bindings. A streak of blood had sunk through the white cloth. He pushed a finger between the cloth and felt the top of his breast mound. Does not look deep. But I should change my bindings soon. He checked his other breast to make sure it wasn't hurt. When he was satisfied he put his shirt to right. I sure hope they don't get any bigger. It'll be harder to conceal them." A reveal like that. But instead the book is 1st Person Point of View. She, the narrator is telling it. And once she says the "bleeding pains" I'm like "Girl! I figured you out. You are a girl." SIGH.
And on the back cover, just in case you were wondering if it's a one-shot or a duology or a trilogy, they tell you to wait for the sequel coming out or the conclusion. And it's name is "Eona".
I don't think the marketing team was creative or they thought their target audience is not so much smart. I mean it is simple to remember. Just either add or take off a letter to the name and you get two different books. UGH!
Another "HUH?!" moment was the age. She is 16 masquerading as a 12 year old boy. How tall are the boys? How tall is she? Or how small is everyone? Some girls, if not most, are already mature or have hit puberty by that age. How are these 12 year old boys suppose to look? Remember they are suppose to be Asian. I'm thinking Chinese. But still. Could you not tell the difference between them? I guess not.
