Junie's Reviews and Promo Book (Closed)

Review: The Isles of Gracidea

The Isles of Gracidea by Cora-chan

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy.

Chapters Reviewed: 7 chapters.

Update Schedule: Every other Saturday.

The Isles of Gracidea is by far one of the best original Pokéfics I've read this year. One of the many things I LOVE about Pokéfic is when writers go outside the Pokémon genre and combine it with something else. That's exactly what Isles of Gracidea does. It reminds me of that old Disney movie Treasure Planet where pirates have flying ships and daring sword fights. Though, it's been a while since I've seen the movie, this book gives me that feel of nostalgia.

If that isn't enough to make it a wonderful book, then there's the details. I crave details as a reader. Sure, there's such a thing as overkill, but just the right amount is always refreshing to see. This writer knows exactly how to do just that. She uses a wide vocabulary that makes a reader feel like their actually in the story. I'm thrilled to see that someone doesn't use cliches or phrases.

These details really help because this is a new realm in the Pokémon universe. As the reader, you are given a clear picture as to how everything works. Each chapter ends with a glossary of the new terms given, which helps the reader understand what's going on. These terms are also placed at the glossary towards the end of the book, which I love as it really helps organize the book.

The only part of the detail I'm not a big fan of is that it takes place in a new realm and I can't quite picture it. Yes, the writer gives many details to describe the place, but I'm still a bit confused as to where places are in relation to one another. While this isn't a big issue, it's something to look into which can be easily solved with a map. This is all preference as creating a map of a new world can be difficult, but it could help readers create an image in their head.

Besides that, the only complaint I really have of this book is the time skip. In the prologue, August Gold is a young girl who has snuck herself onto a pirates ship of all things. Despite this, she able to become a pirate like the rest of the crew. This works for the prologue as the following chapter starts off with "Several years..."

Chapter 02| First Mate, on the other hand, starts off with the phrase, "Two years later..." It's at the point I become detached from the story. While I can see where this is helpful to keep the story going, doing this too much can make readers feel like they aren't a part of the story anymore. Just keep this in mind when writing and use time-skips sparingly. Whether this is at the beginning of the story or at the end, just try not to do too many. I'm glad to see that as the book goes on, these time skips happen less often, but the first few chapters make me feel disconnected as to what's going on in August's life.

Other than this, this story is pretty much flawless. I've read this book twice and I still can't find a single spelling or grammar error. That's amazing! Putting that much time into a story where it's nearly impossible to find little errors like that shows a lot of dedication.

With it being a new fictional realm, I love the length as it's easier to follow what's going on whereas shorter chapters could take away from that. These chapters are at a good length, and aren't ever on the "too short" side (which can get frustrating as a reader, as I crave a good read). They tend to be on the longer side, but that can easily be overlooked when the story is easy to follow and very enjoyable to read.

Even early on in the book, I love the amount of twists and turns that happen. I don't like giving spoilers in my reviews, but the writer is ruthless with her characters. As a reader, you're never going to know what's going to happen to the characters at any given time. Whether they betray an ally without batting an eye, or kill a decent character that readers have fallen in love with, I no longer feel safe on what's going to happen to my favorite characters in this book, which is good. Creating this sense of danger really keeps the reader on their toes.