Reviews

The Teras Trials by Lucien Burr

sivinsg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

philtatoss's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

the mc is so horny

wisecraic's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

noalrmall's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

softshepard's review against another edition

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dark emotional

3.0

vicerry's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

_ash_mac's review against another edition

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Just was not vibing. Too fast paced, not enough established for me to see about Cass and the ust just wasn’t for me :(

living_for_the_hope_of_it_all's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

after accidentally (metaphorically) dropping this book for um... almost a year :P

I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!

now, i actually have no other reason as to why i stopped reading apart from the fact that i started my senior year in hs, was going to driving lessons, as well as other extracurriculars. basically i was busy, and the book wasn't at fault at all!!

for starters, i will admit that i pre ordered "The Teras Trials" MONTHS before it came out solely because of the blurb and the fact that the cover reminded me of jegulus (i regret nothing)

PLEASE, IF YOU PLAN ON READING IT, CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!!

i remember the days i spent last September WAITING to get a little break during my driving lesson so i would have time to read, that's how much i remember enjoying this book

so when i continued reading it the other day (keep in mind, i have read a lot more books since then and my standards have risen) i didn't even know what to expect

at first i did actually have a lot of fun!! the characters are overall very enjoyable to follow, even though they are all very morally gray. in fact, that made me appreciate them even more.

i also loved the setting, with it's horrors and mythology UGH i love it so much!!

AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE LATIN!!! OH I WAS EATING IT UPPP I ACTUALLY LOVE LINGUISTICS APPARENTLY???? thank you lucien for making me realise that<3

my biggest complaint is actually fully personal as well i think, is that it just felt too long for me somehow??? it is so fast paced so i don't know what my deal was??? plus it's only 350 pages long... like cmon girl get a grip

also, i usually never have problems with violence and gore (I've been on the internet since i was a child, cmon), but i think this is the first time i have read gore that is so brutally described that i felt sick to my stomach and needed to skim past it. Keep that in mind going in!! 

from an objective standpoint, it discusses topics of grief, internalised homophobia, religious guilt very well actually (I can't talk about anything else since this is what i personally understand and relate to). Specifically Cass' relationship with his faith and how he perseveres it felt so real, genuine and relatable. It really shows that the author was speaking from experience which makes it more impactful.

another thing that was brilliantly explored was the ACTUALLY morally gray characters!!! they are all put in this horrible situation, have to resort to inhumane actions, but they have regrets, feel grief, and even disgust with themselves.

it also deals with guilt and having to face your own mortality, even in the face of death, despair and brutality, and still managing to cling onto one singular hair of hope and attempting to keep, or maybe find, that sense of humanity within yourself

don't let what im saying fool you thought, the moments of happiness are practically non-existent and everyone is miserable constantly so... yeah it's rough. not for the faint of heart (and i say that only with care), so i would recommend being in the right headspace to read.

the thing is, it feels real. terrifyingly so. while no one wants to actually admit it, it is pretty much exactly what an actual, real human would do in those situations, if only for the fight to survive.


this is genuinely the last thing i expected from a book i decided to randomly buy on a whim even though no one has talked about it.

while i am giving "The Teras Trials" a 3.75 stars, it is solely because i rate based on what i feel in my heart at the moment of finishing a book. i can recognise the insane potential Lucien Burr has, considering their beautiful writing, knowledge of linguistics (i am never shutting up about that), story building, etc. 

and even though i can acknowledge that, have been singing their praises and absolutely believe more people should read their work, i will stay true to myself and rate it what feels right!!

an unusually positive review from your local hater?? idk guys i either finally think critically or am slowly losing my mind. the world will never know~~

athene_sionnach's review against another edition

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4.0

Overall, it's a good book. A couple of things bothered me. 

At one point, the reader was addressed by the main character to defend against any potential backlash for something they said. Specifically addressing Christian readers. It was weird,  out of place, and unnecessary. 

The other issue I had was how extremely the main character seemed to change personalities in the first 100 pages. 

Other than that, I very much enjoyed the book.

bookishsystem's review

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5.0

An honestly amazing book. I was hooked from the beginning and it kept me hooked every page after! I hope this is a series because i will be the first to buy the sequel!