Bring: The Last Beholder

Author: Megan Beam and Erin Hicks

One-sentence summary: A step brother and sister find themselves dropped into another world on a quest for a mysterious sword with a band of friends and come to realize that the strange abilities that set them apart in their own world are actually powerful strengths.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: The aspects of the world that the authors built were really original and we loved them.

Our least favorite thing about it: There were not enough details/description.

Main Topics of Discussion: World-Building, Giftedness/Powers, Pain/Emotional States, Truth

Our favorite quote: “She shuddered slightly, feeling more powerful than she was really interested in feeling. Ever. At all.”

Notes: Our overall impression: we enjoyed the story and so many parts of it, but we were left wanting MORE. In other words, there were some un-polished things about the book that left us unsatisfied. Not necessarily the narrative arc, but just details and character development and just plain QUESTIONS that seemed like they should have been answered. Other thoughts:

1. It took almost all of us a little while to get into the book. We know there’s a certain “disorientation” that happens when you open a fantasy book – until you get your bearings and figure out (often along with the main characters, as in this case) what the heck is going on and what kind of “world” is this and how does it work, for crying out loud. We were prepared for that, but when the characters themselves asked questions that not only didn’t get answered when they asked, but never got answered at all, we were left scratching our heads – and not in a good way. We felt some more explanation/back story, etc. was needed in a few areas. We don’t expect to know everything all in the first book, but this was a unanimous feeling.

2. Although it took us a while to attach to the characters, we DID. And we liked that.

3. We really liked the emotional depth that the authors drew in for Wallis and Gus, but we would have liked even more. Where their pain originated and how that related to their powers was really great – we hope future books delve into that even more.

4. Gus’s power of Mending in particular we thought was really brilliant. Seems like partly power, partly curse. And his working through that – although not complete (and it shouldn’t be) – was really interesting to read.

5. We’re still slightly confused on Wallis’s powers. Why could she get the sword and no one else – we hope this is explained in other books. And also, we’re still a little fuzzy on what she and Finn can do as Beholders. We know they can “pull” and open the seams to other worlds (cool concept, by the way – we all agreed), but what about discerning what others are feeling, etc. Just fuzzy about that.

6. We really loved the idea of the vapors and how speaking the truth banished them. Lovely idea, we liked it.

7. The formatting – we all read the Kindle version – was a MESS. The spacing was weird, there were so many typos, and how they separated out (or didn’t) the dialogue sometimes made it really hard to know who was talking. We all said we had to go back and read paragraphs/dialogue again to figure out who was saying what.

8. We loved so many things about the world that the authors built – like Gus’s unique power, and the idea of the “seams” being visible only to some. And the idea that everyone was gifted differently and that they formed a team and were all needed. We loved that prince/King and princess/Queen were not gendered terms. The idea of how the vapors attacked and how much power we give our fears and perceived shortcomings – was really well done. 

9. We felt like Lucienne’s death was sort of unnecessary (for the plot – at least as far as we can tell) and was definitely not explained AT ALL. We got the emotional side that Gus and Wallis felt, but what the heck actually happened to her? We hope it’s crucial to future books that this part is kept from us at this point because it was annoying.

Memorable Meeting Moments: We “helped” Lindsay find her true enneagram number! Dara fought with the fire/logs to light all night! This was Amberly’s birthday month, and even though she was not with us, we sent her a Marco Polo to say hi (couldn’t make a phone call work this time.)

What We Ate: Dara made her FAMOUS roasted chicken for us with carrots, potatoes, and roasted Brussels sprouts. We also had a chocolate chocolate chip Nothing Bundt Cake with cream cheese frosting with our tea.