▁The ▁Salt ▁Lake ▁Trib une ▁said ▁that ▁Pa ol ini ▁" has n ' t ▁learned ▁how ▁to ▁create ▁characters ▁that ▁readers ▁can ▁relate ▁to ," ▁although ▁she ▁pra ised ▁him ▁for ▁strong ▁female ▁characters ▁in ▁Br ising r ▁such ▁as ▁A ry a ▁and ▁Nas u ada . ▁Mc F ar land ▁calls ▁the ▁last ▁fifty ▁pages ▁" riv eting ", ▁but ▁says ▁they ▁are ▁a ▁" pal try ▁reward ▁for ▁tr ud ging ▁through ▁the ▁ 7 0 0 ▁preceding ▁pages ." ▁ ▁Publish ers ▁Week ly ▁gave ▁Br ising r ▁a ▁negative ▁review , ▁critic izing ▁the ▁novel ▁for ▁re lying ▁on ▁" class ic ▁fant asy ▁trop es ", ▁and ▁not ing ▁that ▁Br ising r ▁might ▁appeal ▁to ▁younger ▁readers , ▁but ▁older ▁readers ▁might ▁be ▁un im pressed . ▁Vo ice ▁of ▁Youth ▁Adv oc ates ▁( VO Y A ) ▁rev iewer ▁Kath le en ▁Beck ▁critic ized ▁the ▁length ▁of ▁the ▁book , ▁acc using ▁Pa ol ini ▁of ▁" plain ly ▁[ en jo ying ] ▁wand ering ▁around ▁in ▁his ▁fant asy ▁world " ▁and ▁ur ging ▁him ▁to ▁provide ▁a ▁cleaner ▁finish ▁to ▁the ▁series . ▁She ▁further ▁critic ized ▁the ▁content ▁of ▁the ▁book , ▁as ser ting ▁that ▁" there ▁is ▁a ▁lot ▁of ▁action ▁in ▁[ B ris ing r ] ▁but ▁par ado x ically ▁not ▁much ▁forward ▁motion ." ▁H ale y ▁K ee ley ▁of ▁The ▁Buff alo ▁News , ▁however , ▁commented ▁that ▁with ▁altern