The worldbuilding in this series is phenomenal, and there are some truly amazing ideas. The executions, however, is rather bleak andStars: 3 out of 5.
The worldbuilding in this series is phenomenal, and there are some truly amazing ideas. The executions, however, is rather bleak and humorless. Plus, I didn't particularly mesh with the main idea behind this book. I read it for the worldbuilding, but didn't particularly care for any of the characters enough to continue with the series....more
This seems to be the penultimate book in the series (Seven swords = seven books, I think?) and a lot of things come to a head here. Stars: 4 out of 5.
This seems to be the penultimate book in the series (Seven swords = seven books, I think?) and a lot of things come to a head here.
In the previous book, we discovered the purpose of the seven blades. Well, of the six blades that are destined to stop the first blade ever forged. In this book, Guyime and his companions are trying to do just that, and if they have to cut through twenty thousand people to do so, then so be it.
I love that we visit yet another new place in this intricately created world... and wreak havoc to it per usual. As one of the other characters in this book mentions, death and destruction follow the cursed blades, wherever they go. It is sad that their target manages to slip through their fingers in the end, but this makes me want to read the last book in the series even more. Also glad that Seeker is finally free of the Morningstar. She was becoming rather one-dimensional while she owned it.
My only complaint is that even thought this book is about the same length as the others in the series, it feels longer. The middle part dragged a little, at least in my opinion. But don't get me wrong, it's still a fast and enjoyable read to spend a weekend with.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
This is clearly the middle book of the series, and it shows. The pacing is slow, and nothing much happens, just characters moving inStars: 4 out of 5.
This is clearly the middle book of the series, and it shows. The pacing is slow, and nothing much happens, just characters moving into place, like pieces on a chessboard.
I really hope the author continues this series someday, but the last book came out in 2019... that's was a long time ago....more
This was heartbreaking in the best way possible. I loved the progression from an infatuated little girl to the more and more disilluStars: 5 out of 5.
This was heartbreaking in the best way possible. I loved the progression from an infatuated little girl to the more and more disillusioned older soul who fought too many battles just so that a monster could rule the world. The ending is sad but satisfying....more
I gave this a try, but the story ultimately failed to grip my attention even at 25%, so I give up. The writing feels awkward, honestly, and DNF at 25%
I gave this a try, but the story ultimately failed to grip my attention even at 25%, so I give up. The writing feels awkward, honestly, and a little bit too pretentious, especially when it comes to how the main character talks or behaves.
Speaking of characters, they are not very engaging either, or particularly likeable. I didn't care for their goals and motivations or didn't want to stick around and find out what happened to them.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Just like in books 2 and 3, we discover the origin and secrets behind yet another race populating Elantra. This time, it's the LeoStars: 3.5 out of 5.
Just like in books 2 and 3, we discover the origin and secrets behind yet another race populating Elantra. This time, it's the Leontines. Marcus is in trouble, and as usual, Kaylin is in the middle of it all. Oh, and did I mention that there are repercussions from what happened in the end of the previous book? Big tidal wave, anyone? Well, humans are wont to misunderstand everything, so they now think that the race of telepaths summoned the wave to try and murder them, instead of being there to try and stop it. Since they already fear them, hatred isn't that big of a step. The whole city is a powder keg waiting for a spark to explode into civil war and bloodshed.
I love how little things mentioned in previous books come to play in the consequent books in the series. That one scene in the previous book where Kaylin came to help a lone Leontine to give birth in book 3 is front and center in this book. And we finally get an explanation why that mother was completely alone with noone to watch over her and her new baby (something unheard of for this race).
I already mentioned in reviews for previous books that the world of Elantra is fascinating, so I really enjoy uncovering a new aspect of it with each book. It's also wonderful to see how all the pieces tie together into one complex story. For example, the Outcaste dragon from book 1 plays a major role in this book as well. We we are probably not done with him yet.
I also enjoy seeing Kaylin gather a little found family around her. It's wonderful to see a protagonist who isn't a lone wolf. She has friends, surrogate parents (Marcus and his pridelea), even siblings (the foundlings hall), and now an adopted son. She's come a long way from the almost feral child from the fiefs, terrified of her own powers and traumatized by her past. Now she has something to fight for, and people she cares deeply about, and who care about her.
My complaint about this book is Kaylin herself. While she grows and mature in some ways, she remains just as ignorant and pigheaded in others, and that's starting to get on my nerves. For example, she is told repeatedly by her teacher and other very powerful people that she needs to master her magic. Her life literally depends on it. Yet she is less then diligent in her studies. Or just general knowledge of the city around her? Kaylin sees times and times again that she is severely lacking some basic knowledge of history, racial differences and etiquette, and that ignorance landed her in hot water more than once... yet she doesn't seem to want to do anything to remedy this. Why? She is a smart and resourceful woman. She should jump on the opportunity to broaden her horizons, but instead she grumbles and moans about it, and never really pays attention to what everyone is teaching her. This is becoming rather annoying.
My other complaint is with Severn, or rather the lack of any evolution for him as a character. He is a wonderful character, and I would like to know more about him, but as it stands. He has no agency of his own, he is just an extension of Kaylin. The silent friend and protector who seems to not have a life of his own. That's a great disservice to a wonderful character. I hope he gets to act more independently in consecutive books.
I also would like to know what happened to Kaylin in the six month between when she fled Nightshade and when she joined the Hawks.
All in all though, I'm still very invested with this series and I want to see more of that world....more
I managed to finish 6 books since I started this one, but I had to force myself to come back to this time and time again, read about 10 pagDNF at 25%.
I managed to finish 6 books since I started this one, but I had to force myself to come back to this time and time again, read about 10 pages, then loose interest again. I'm calling it quits because I haven't opened this book in 4 days and have no desire to come back to it again.
The sad part is - there is a good story in this book, but it's buried under mounds of useless minutiae that don't do anything to drive the plot forward. Case in point: the book opens with a strong sequence where our protagonist has a run-in with local guards, finds a dying man, and is entrusted with a dangerous artifact... And then we have 4 chapters following a completely different character in another part of the world, sitting through a long meeting discussing school reforms, study rotations, and rations. any tension that the first chapter had built is killed at the vine.
The other problem is that the characters are very lukewarm. I would have followed them if the book was more tightly written, but I don't feel like wading through pages upon pages of worldbuilding and often useless details just for the sake of these characters. I don't care enough about them. As I said, any high stakes that were set up in chapter one were lost by chapter 5 because the story just can't get started in earnest.
It's sad, because as I said, there is a good book somewhere in there, it would have benefited from another content editing session and a 200 pages cut.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Guyime and Seeker have come a long way since the Exacration, in endless pursuit of Seeker's daughter. They traversed several contineStars: 4 out of 5.
Guyime and Seeker have come a long way since the Exacration, in endless pursuit of Seeker's daughter. They traversed several continents and gathered other companions (and cursed swords) along the way. In this book, they finally learn the identity of the demon possessing the sword Seeker's daughter is carrying, as well as the purpose of the Seven Cursed Swords.
I really enjoy this series. The books are pretty short - more novellas than novels, so they are quick to read and full of action and adventure. The author created a wonderfully awful world that each book explores a little bit deeper.
This particular book is a pirate adventure, including sea monsters, a dreaded pirate captain, and a cursed treasure. And we finally learn the purpose of the seven cursed blades, as well as how their bearers can finally break the curse and be free of them. I must admit that the prospects are grim.
I liked the whole sea adventure and the magical Spectral Isle, though I must admit that the author spent too little time on the isle itself. I would have loved to explore it more. But I will have to be content with the sea monsters and a pirate battle instead.
Speaking of the final battle, the dreaded pirate captain that had terrorized the Five Seas is a bit... underwhelming, to say the least. I mean, yes Seeker uses sorcery to defeat him, but even just as a character he was nothing to write home about. He is shown as a husk of a man, possessed by a cursed weapon (curiously, not one of the seven swords), who isn't even capable of rational thought. I would say there was a whole lot of build up to this encounter, but the result is disappointing.
I am still looking forward to book 6. Will Guyime and his companions arrive at their destination on time to prevent the end of the world? Will Seeker be able to save her daughter's soul? Or has she damned herself by picking up the Morningstar?
I would definitely recommend this series to anyone looking for a quick read full of adventure and fast-moving action.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.....more
My re-read of the Witcher series continues with this second anthology of short stories. They are just as good as I remember them, thStars: 5 out of 5.
My re-read of the Witcher series continues with this second anthology of short stories. They are just as good as I remember them, though I see different meanings in them now that I am older.
The tone is definitely darker than the stories in the Last Wish. You get a feeling that some time has passed since the first anthology, because we follow a much more bitter and disillusioned Geralt here. One who struggles with his destiny and with the fact that he is one of the very last witchers with family and no future.
In a way, Yennifer and Geralt are going through the same existential crisis - they are both different, they are both very long-lived, but they will never be able to procreate and found a family, so their legacy will die with them.
It is also interesting to see that no matter how much Geralt tries to cheat destiny, it still ends up finding him. He had claimed Ciri as the child of surprise, so she ended up finding him even though he did everything to run away from her.
This was better than the first book, even though the narrative is still a bit meandering at times which makes it rather confusing. HStars: 4 out of 5.
This was better than the first book, even though the narrative is still a bit meandering at times which makes it rather confusing. However the story is rather fascinating, so I was willing to excuse the less than tight writing style.
We discover a lot more about the past of Elantra and about one of the secretive immortal races that calls this city home - the Barrani. I found this foray into Barrani culture fascinating. How would you live your immortal life if your name truly defines you? Not only that, but it gives whoever knows it power over you as well. So much power that they can compel you to do horrible things. What choice do you have when you know that the only way to escape this influence is death, but you are immortal?
I find the world of Elantra fascinating. And yes, I'm aware that I used the world "fascinating" at least three times since the beginning of this review. We have a whole civilization living on the ruins of another, much older one. And those ruins are still imbued with magic which is often dangerous. Some of them serve as prisons to beings that should never see the light of day if this new civilization is to survive and thrive.
For example, the High Lord of the Barrani isn't just an empty title that anyone can hold. That person needs to have sufficient power to serve as jailer to something berried underneath the High Court. Something even the Dragon Emperor fears. The location isn't vanity. It's necessity.
Or the ceremony of becoming a Lord of the Court? On the surface, it's just an exercise in vanity as well. A riddle to be solved for the dubious honor to call these ancient halls home. The price of failure, however, is worse than death, as it turns out.
The more I read about this world, the more I want to know. And I especially want to know how the markings on Kaylin's body tie into all this. What role will she have to play in what seems to be the continuation of an ancient war between immortal races and forces far more terrible, but long forgotten?
I admit that I am less fond of Kaylin herself than I am of the world she inhabits. For someone who has been through all the horrible things she had lived through, she surprisingly lacks maturity. I know, she is only 18 or so in these books, but sometimes she behaves like a petulant teen who lacks the brains to think her actions and reactions through before she does something. Though I must admit that I see some improvement between Kaylin in book 1 and Kaylin in book 2, so I am holding out hope that she will grow and mature as the series progresses, and hopefully not get on my nerves as much.
As it stands though, I am definitely continuing with the series, because I want to learn more about this fascinating world.
Mark Lawrence delivers an epic story once again. I loved his book of the Ancestors series, but wasn't impressed with his Prince of TStars: 4 out of 5.
Mark Lawrence delivers an epic story once again. I loved his book of the Ancestors series, but wasn't impressed with his Prince of Thorns series. One thing for sure though, he knows how to build fascinating worlds and create memorable characters.
Here, we follow two protagonists whose stories, at first glance, have nothing to do with each other, but who prove to be intertwined at the most intimate level. Evar has been trapped in the Library his whole life. All he's ever knows are stone walls, mountains of books, his four siblings, and the mysterious Mechanism that allows whoever enters it with a book to live inside that book. But Evar can't help but feel like he is missing something, or someone very important to him that the Mechanism made him forget. Livira is a child of the desert and desolation who was brought into the Library after a disaster befell her home. Her situation there is precarious, but she is smart and tenacious, like the weed she is named after.
It was interesting to try and puzzle out how the two stories are connected. Or why Evar is trapped inside the library with no way of getting out. It was also rewarding to follow Livira's journey of self-discovery. Despite all the odds stacked against her, she managed not only to stay in the Library, but also discover more of its secrets than anyone ever had. I liked the fact that the Library exists not only across different worlds, but also across all timelines.
The main themes in this book also hit rather close to home - the intolerance, humanity's tendency to divide people into "my tribe" and "the enemy". The subjugation and hatred of anybody that is different. It was interesting to see how the Library could be used to bridge a gap between cultures and species, if only someone made the effort to do that.
While I really liked this story, I thought the book dragged a bit in the middle. The action slowed. Things were happening to our protagonists, but there wasn't a clear purpose to it. I got a bit bored. The ending though more than compensated for that.
My bigger issue is that even though we are told that Livira's situation is precarious, and there are several attempts on her life throughout the book, I never had a feeling that she really was in danger. Probably because the author uses the convenient time skip when things are about to come to a head, or she is about to face the consequences of her actions, and we only learn of what happened when it's already been 3-4 or five years down the road. The book would have had more impact if we had seen Livira get hurt, or punished, or actually BE in danger before the end of the book, instead of just told about it after the fact.
I would also have loved to learn more about the city beyond the Library, and the wider world in general, but I understand that this is only book 1 of a trilogy, and the whole series concentrates around the Library, so it's normal that we spend most of our time there.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The first book in the duology ended in a rather heartbreaking manner with Elspeth losing her soul and her body to the Nightmare. TheStars: 5 out of 5.
The first book in the duology ended in a rather heartbreaking manner with Elspeth losing her soul and her body to the Nightmare. The King and the Maiden effectively became the Monster. This book picks up almost immediately after that fateful night with Elspeth in shackles and in the dungeons of Castle Stone, and Ravyn Yew reeling from what happened to the woman he loved. The monster and the captain of the Destriers will have to collaborate in order to find the Twin Alders card and lift the curse of Blunder once and for all.
Elspeth takes the backseat in this story, with the Shepherd King coming to the forefront and inhabiting her body for most of the book. And let me tell you that he grows on you the more you discover about his past and what happened 500 years ago when the cards were made and mists came to plague the kingdom of Blunder. It's a classical story of how the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and how by giving too much of himself to his unhealthy obsession, the Shepherd King lost everything that he should have held dear - his family, his kingdom, and his life.
I loved his interactions with Ravyn, who is devastated because he thinks the woman he loves is lost forever, and he hates the monster that is looking out of her eyes now, yet he needs that monster in order to defeat a bigger treat to his kingdom and his family - the current Rowan King. That made for some entertaining banter between him and the Nightmare, as well as some pretty heartfelt interactions further in the book.
Two other characters from the previous book come to the forefront of the narrative in this one - Prince Renelm (or Elm), and Ione. And I was honestly surprised just how much I liked their story. I liked Elm from the previous book, but Ione had seemed a bit standoffish and "frozen" for most of the last book, because she was under the influence of the Maiden card. Well, we discover in this book that it wasn't her choice or her doing, and the things she had been put through are frankly horrifying. I was really happy that Hauth got what was coming to him.
All in all, I really loved this world and the story, even though I thought that the ending wrapped everything a little bit too neatly. But that is just a small gripe and I would highly recommend this book.
PS: I received and advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
This is my absolute favorite in the whole Dark Tower series. This particular book resonated with me like none of the rest did. I thinStars: 5 out of 5
This is my absolute favorite in the whole Dark Tower series. This particular book resonated with me like none of the rest did. I think because I've always loved the Seven Samurais by Akira Kurosawa, and this story is a direct homage. Also, it's very well written....more
This was a heartbreaking story about a much younger Rolland and his friends who thought that they could take on the world and rightStars: 4.5 out of 5
This was a heartbreaking story about a much younger Rolland and his friends who thought that they could take on the world and right all wrongs... and got burned for it. You can see how much that experience changed him....more
The Red Kingdom is a fascinating world. It's dark, brutal, and unforgiving. The caste system is rigid and hopeless, to tell you the tStars: 4 out of 5
The Red Kingdom is a fascinating world. It's dark, brutal, and unforgiving. The caste system is rigid and hopeless, to tell you the truth, and life is hard for anyone who is not a Sun Noble. Resources are scarce, violence is rampant, people are burned at the pyre for the smallest of transgressions, and if you managed to survive that, the black lung will take you to your grave in the end.
It should be dark and depressing, right? And it is dark, but it's strangely beautiful as well. You can see that a lot of love went into creating this world. I already had a glimpse of it in A Pale Box on the Distant Shore where we met some of the characters that Thora and Diem encounter in Death City. This book shows us a bigger glimpse of the Red Kingdom and the capital City of Pillars, but you can see that the Frontier and Death city is a favorite of the author's.
And I can't complain about it. It's a wonderfully grotesque city and island where the harsh nature and living conditions, as well as the remoteness from the rest of the Kingdom and its rigid Red Doctrine have created a unique culture seeped in superstition and "low ways". And it's hard to blame the citizens of Death City when they have a corpse of a god lying in the waves just offshore, and dead giants walk the sea on hollow moon nights...
I liked the mystery our characters came to unravel as well. What seemed at first glance as a simple kidnaping of a Sun Noble's daughter led them to uncovering a whole human trafficking ring. And transformed everyone involved in fundamental ways. Nobody left Death City the same as they arrived into it, though some didn't leave at all.
So why did I give this book 4 stars instead of 5? That's because I didn't particularly like Thora, who is one of our main characters. Oh, I understand her motivation and her desire to be more than mere Dust, to prove herself to her masters and have a chance at doing more than scrubbing floors and cleaning bedsheets all her life. What I didn't like is how selfish she is in her pursuit of that dream and how willing she is to sacrifice everything and everyone to achieve that goal.
Her accusing Diem of taking justice in his own hands and doing things an Investigator shouldn't sounded very hypocritical when she is the one who planted evidence, obtained false eyewitness statements, and created a diversion that got a lot of people killed. Not to mentioned persuaded a colleague to go against direct orders and do something that she knew could put her in danger. And when it got that colleague killed, she raged at anyone BUT herself. Yes, she didn't hold her head under the water or hung her from a tree branch afterwards, but Thora was the one who sent her to her death nevertheless. It's that double standard Thora has towards everyone else that seems hypocritical to me. That self-righteousness when she is definitely in the wrong.
But this is just a small gripe for what is an excellent book. I am definitely looking forward to reading more book about this world and seeing how things progress in the Red Kingdom and outside its borders.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
Now this is a fairy tale retelling done right! It doesn't try to outdo the original, just takes that inspiration and creates sometStars: 4.5 out of 5.
Now this is a fairy tale retelling done right! It doesn't try to outdo the original, just takes that inspiration and creates something new and very readable with it.
I loved the village of Greymist Fair and the atmosphere of mystery and even foreboding the author created for this place and the villagers. Imagine a village in the middle of a dense forest with only one road leading to it and back out. That's already claustrophobic enough. But now add to that the fact that there are rumored to be monsters in the forest, and those who wander under the trees rarely come back alive. Oh, and that road to the village? It can take hours, or it can take days to travel, and some travelers never find Greymist Fair at all.
The author managed to convey the magical feeling that I absolutely love in fairy tales, and she also understands the cardinal rule of those tales - no matter how fantastical the world or the events happening in it, there must be internal rules to that world that everything follows. And if those rules are broken, there must be an explanation as to why and how. Like the ever-flowering tree branch that protects the wearer from Death, or the shoes instilled with magic that allow the person to outrun Death and its wargs.
The characters are less important here than the story they are part of, but I still had fun following along with them. The story is also not told in chronological order, with subsequent stories often going back in time and shedding more light on events mentioned or implied in previous stories, but the whole paints a fascinating canvas of a village at war with Death, even if the villagers don't realize that. See, the forest around the village is Death's domain, and so was this village at one point, until something happened and Death was denied entrance.
I loved the fact that this conflict was resolved not with violence, but with forgiveness and acceptance. The main message of this story is that we are all social animals, and that even entities like Death can be lonely and long for companionship. And that it is always better to show acceptance and love to others instead of prejudice and violence. That's a message we should hear more often today.
It's a well written and heartfelt story with a beautiful message, and I would highly recommend it.
PS: I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sometimes you pick up a book because you like the cover or the blurb and discover a hidden gem. This is what happened to me with EmpiStars: 4 out of 5
Sometimes you pick up a book because you like the cover or the blurb and discover a hidden gem. This is what happened to me with Empire of Exiles. I haven't read other books by this author, so this book was a surprise hit for me. Now I have a new series to look forward to and a new author to follow!
I loved how complex and "lived in" this world feels. There is history there. There is a past. The different races feel distinct but also plausible, with their own religions, philosophies and physical attributes that don't feel shoehorned into the story just for the sake of diversity. I would love to explore Semilla more in future books.
The empire itself is an interesting construct. Like the title of the book says, it's an empire of exiles or of refugees, since all the races who call it home fled their native lands facing extermination by a common enemy - the changelings. Desperation and the threat of extermination are sure to force people to cooperate, but I love what they created out of the ashes. An empire that assimilated all these religions and philosophies and let them coexist.
This world wouldn't be as memorable if it wasn't populated by such vivid characters. I loved all of the protagonists in this story. They felt real. Sure, they had their quirks and their moments of weakness, but they always felt like people. I couldn't help but feel Quill's pain and confusion when his best friend dies in front of him after committing a crime that was completely out of character for him. I rooted for Amadea the more I discovered the depth of horror her childhood has been. Seriously, how did she manage to piece herself together and remain a functional human being after everything she'd been subjected to? I loved all the specialists in the archives and was truly worried about them when their affinities seemed to overwhelm them.
Speaking of the Archives, what a wonderful concept! A central repository of all the knowledge those fleeing nations brought to Semilla when they arrived ahead of a horde of changellings. Where all scrolls, works of art, religious text and everything else is perfectly preserved for future generations.
The magical system is also rather unique. I would like to learn more about it in future books. Especially what differentiates a specialist from a sorcerer, and is that what Yinnii is now? How would that affect the rest of her life?
My only complaint about this book is that the budding love stories feel forced. I mean, there is way too much blushing and stuttering during conversations. I would understand that from teenagers like Quill and Yinnii, but Amadea is in her thirties, so why does she behave like a hormonal teenager who never had a crush? That read so false that it took me out of the story.
Other then that small complaint though, I absolutely loved this book. I can't wait to explore this world more in the next installments. There are still a lot of questions left unanswered, after all. Like is the world behind the Salt Wall really as desolate as we are lead to believe? What really happened with the changellings? What was the Usurper's endgame and why did he need Amadea for it? I'm definitely picking up the next book.
PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I adore Martha Wells' Murderbot series, but the two other books I read by her had left me underwhelmed. They were okay, but not up tStars: 5 out of 5.
I adore Martha Wells' Murderbot series, but the two other books I read by her had left me underwhelmed. They were okay, but not up to the glory that is Murderbot. So I was understandably apprehensive to pick up a new series by her. But I am glad I did.
We start right in the middle of the story with our protagonist Kai in dire circumstances and no memory as to how he got into them. I fell like this was an excellent idea, because the confusion the reader feels, having to wrestle with new words and concepts in a brand new world, mirrors what Kai feels when he wakes up dead and entombed. This might discourage some readers, but I loved it.
One thing Martha Wells does really well is creating likeable characters. They are flawed and sometimes morally grey, but they feel "alive", and you can't help but root for them. I especially loved Kai. Who would have thought that a demon could be so "human". I also loved that the chapters set in the present are interspersed with chapters set in the past, back when Kai first came to the world above in his first body. You can really see how much he changed in the almost two centuries since that event, and you understand him a lot better as a person the more you see how the events unfolded.
I loved all the supporting characters as well. Ziede is baddass and witty and a perfect foible for Kai's often introspective and melancholic nature. Together they form an unstoppable force akin to a hurricane. Especially when they seek answers and their loved ones might be in danger. Kai's relationship with Sanja and Tenes shows his softer side, because even though he is a demon, he has compassion towards people who have been abused and enslaved. He lived through that, so he knows how it feels. I loved his relationship with Bashara in the past.
I also enjoyed going on the road trip with those characters and progressively discovering the world they inhabit. I loved seeing most places through the lens of what they are today and what they were at the time Kai fought the Hierarchs.
This book gives a pretty satisfactory conclusion to the main story. We find out what happened, and Kai and Ziede's loved ones are rescued. Kai is reminded of the purpose him and Bashara had when they fought the Hierarchs and hopefully finds the strength and will to carry on. But there are still a few threads that were left hanging, so I'm hoping that this is the beginning of a new series. I want to know what happened to the other demons Kai had liberated from the Summer Halls. Since none of them could return to their home underearth, are they still living in this world? Or did most of them dissipate after their borrowed body died? Will the Hierarchs be back? Why did they kill off an entire people just because they could reveal their origins? So many questions!
I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I must admit that I liked book 1 better than the continuation. Don't get me wrong, it's still a solid book, and it packs an emotionaStars: 3 out of 5.
I must admit that I liked book 1 better than the continuation. Don't get me wrong, it's still a solid book, and it packs an emotional punch in the end, but it was just not as entertaining as the first book. I think it might be suffering from the dreaded middle book in a trilogy curse.
But all jokes aside, I think I would have liked this book better if I hadn't been so irritated by the main character for about 80% of the story. This is how long it takes Raine to pull her head out of her ass, and by the time she does it, it's too late to change anything and to save a lot of people. Raine spends most of this book in a spiral of self-loathing and self-destruction. She hates what she is becoming, but can't help using the forbidden Sixth gate anyway. So she goes on a bender including drugs, alcohol, and mindless sex.
And even that would have been okay, though reading about it got old fast to be honest. The issue is that she lashes out against everyone who tries to get close to her, especially people who love her the most. She is truly horrible to everyone around her. I'm honestly surprised that she still has friends left by the end of the book. And yes, I understand why this is happening. I even understand her actions and her reaction, but that doesn't make it for a fun read. For most of the book, I wanted to smack some sense into her and tell her to quit the self-pity party.
The other issue I have with this book is that the middle section drags a bit with nothing much happening while the dominos are set in place. We start with such an explosive event that has Raine and her friends fleeing for their lives, but then they get back to Redwinter and... We get more studying, and practice combat, and Raine going to bars and gambling dens with Castus, and people (maybe) plotting something. As I said, there are a lot of words, but minimal action. It took me a while get through that part of the book. I even had to put it down and walk away for a couple weeks.
The last portion of the book kicks things in to overdrive though. Different plotlines collide with devastating results, and the true traitor of Redwinter is revealed. The ending was heartbreaking, and too many good people perished in the battle.
I will absolutely check out the third book when it comes out, because I need to know that bOvitus gets what he deserves, and with extreme prejudice.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
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