Overall I quite enjoyed Zarkora, I found it to be a really good middle grade story and thought that it would definitely spark interest in younger kids/teens to take up reading. For that reason I really tried to keep an open mind about it.
However, as a twenty year old avid reader; I found it to be very predictable, cliché and a little tiresome. It is with mindset that I review it. There were a significant amount of content and characters which paralleled with other fantasy novels; and Rohman's character was far too much like Hagrid for me to be able to make him into his own character. My buddy reader said that "It totally felt like we were checking off stages in a quest video game" and I honestly couldn't have said it better myself. I did quite like that though, but just got irritated that everything they needed would just magically appear, and they really didn't have to work for much. I really loved the poems that told of the tasks they had to complete to get the swords; but the actual tasks were quite dull, and I admittedly skimmed through them pretty quickly. I would absolutely recommend this to younger (8-12 year olds) kids who need something light, fun and adventurous to kick start their reading life; just not anyone else.
Rate: 5/10
Pages: 279
Format: ARC Paperback
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Acquired from: Hatchette Australia Publishing
Thoughts and things I loved (as told from my little brown book)
• A good beginners book
• Very Eragon-esque
• I need to go to that library!
*I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own*