Reviews

Hands-down the worst book in phase 1. This dragged, I had to force myself to finish it. I am begging Star Wars to stop having children's authors write YA books, they are incapable of doing it.

A couple thoughts about phase 1 overall. The 3 adult books were phenomenal, as was the first YA book, Into the Dark and the audio drama. Seriously, Temple Runner was amazing to listen to, I burned through that in 3 days. The adult books and Into the Dark were so well-written and engaging, good pacing, I loved them. Bell and Ember are my favorite characters, Burryaga, Elzar, and Ty a close second. I really hope we see Ty again. I did find it absolutely hilarious the constant mentions of Yoda throughout and how he had just fucked off into the void. Cryptic little troll would vanish when there's hard work to be done, lol. Just a few negatives on phase 1. Like I said before, the two YA novels written by children's authors (Ireland and Older) really suffered from that. It skewed way too young, pacing dragged, and not much happened in them related to the overarching plot. They could easily be skipped. I dislike that even though the Drengir were mentioned multiple times as a big adversary, we only actually saw them in Into the Dark when they were introduced. I would have enjoyed more time spent on that. And finally, I think it was a mistake for this book to be the final one in phase 1. Fallen Star has the real climax and that should have been the final book.

The writing in this book is incredibly childish. This is just a middle grade book in a YA length. I honestly hate the word wizard now, it is overused and also was actually defined as a new slang word Ram came up with. The reader can't figure that out from context without it being spelled out? All the dialogue is very 21st century, gen Z/millenial-speak. A character says Ayeeee unironically and all I can think of is the noise the Ewoks make in battle. Author also kept using crescent as a verb (i.e. their smile crescented their face), stop that, it is weird!

I did not like any of the characters created by Older and he ruined the existing ones we already know, Reath and Cohmac. I am actually super mad that Reath was dumbed down into acting like an immature 12-year-old, acting like he's never seen a girl before or been out in public. That is not who he is from the first YA book, where he was maybe a little naive but mature and responsible, relatively level-headed. Cohmac

leaving the Jedi was so out of the blue at the end of the book, especially when we never get his point of view. Also, he literally just runs off into the forest immediately after knighting Reath.

Everyone is melodramatic, acting childish at security briefings. Crash whimpers, gasps, and gushes all in the space of one page, says "aw shucks". Crash is just very annoying in general, please stop putting teenagers in charge of shit. I know it's a YA book but still, please have some plausibility. Girl is a scam artist and also panics at the sight of blood despite being in the security business since age 12.

Unnecessary and overwrought romance abounds. I was irritated enough with the one between Syl and what's-her-name in the last YA book. This time we get 3 teenage romances that add nothing to the plot. Also, they are barely romances, it is a lot of mentioning of crushes and suddenly we're in forever love despite being 14. Very middle school. I was actively rooting for people to die just so the romances would stop. I might even get my wish with one of them.

Lots of plot holes or at least what I consider to be plot holes. 1) I don't think their ages are ever mentioned but since we meet Lula, Zeen, and Ram in a middle grade book, I assumed they were maybe 12/13. Definitely not mature or old enough to

shortly be knighted, like the mention that Lula will soon be a knight and that's why she is given control over the task force. They talked in the last YA book about how Vern becoming a knight at 15 was a massive mistake. I already hated that Vern was knighted so early, especially when she is leagues behind older padawans like Bell and Burryaga.

2) This author is the worst offender at including a lot of callbacks to their other Star Wars stuff that most people have probably not read, especially when they are making callbacks to the comics. There was a lot of stuff that confused me because I am focusing on the books only. 3) Literal

Yoda ex machina. Bro just showed up out of nowhere in the last 3 chapters to help save the day. Just, whatever man.

4) Why are the Nihil attacking Corellia? Didn't Ro give orders in Fallen Star for no one to do anything while Starlight Beacon was attacked, so the entire galaxy would focus on it? Maybe I'm misremembering but it threw me off.

lunashie23's review against another edition

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5.0

I really enjoy how the author brought this plot to life.. One of my favorite stories of the High Republic..

rachelguthro's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense

5.0

dkotamilburn's review against another edition

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Just couldn't connect to the characters

thebooktwins's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.25

vercopaanir's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Supposedly a YA book, this often felt written more for middle grade readers. The first half includes a subplot of a character learning to tell jokes, for example. I also struggled with the number of POVs among people with similar backgrounds and names. Still, it was a fun adventure and I love Star Wars, and I ultimately enjoyed it!

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