spearly's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
oh this literally came out today and i just finished book one. cool.
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Tu ne me manques pas. Je ne te manque pas. You’re not missing from me. I’m not missing from you.
The phrase he taught me has been my mantra since I’ve come to Beau Palais. Soon I’ll be with Bastien. I won’t need Old Gallish words to hold his memory or help me visualize his sea-blue eyes and dark tousled hair. He’s alive. He has to be.
plot holes plot holes plot holes. hypocrisy. evil queen is evil for no reason. idk man.
SPOILERS because I gotta get some things off my chest.
SERIOUS SPOILERS YOU HAVE BEEN WANRED.
Spoiler
First of all, for the first half of the novel, I felt like I was having deja vu. It's pretty much the exact plot of the first book.
Gates open. Something happens, gates close too soon, the dead swarm the living for 2 weeks until the gates open again at the soul bridge. Our MCs can't travel anywhere because of the vicious chained. People lose their Light. Our MCs are wholly unprepared for the ferrying at the soul bridge and shit goes wrong. In book one, Bastien is stabbed and Ailesse is kidnapped. In this book, Ailesse is Stupid (with a capital S) and falls for her mother's lie.
The entire story is gotta sneak into the palace. oh it's not safe, gotta go to Bastien's hideout. okay now we gotta back to the palace and save Cas. oh no we're up against the chained again, I wonder where we'll be safe?! ok, back to the hideout. oh we forgot some books at the palace, guess we gotta sneak back in. oh dang, it still wasn't safe? you don't say! oh going back to the palace put Cas back in danger, which in turn puts Ailesse in danger? NO SHIT. ok, back to the hideout.
What...happened...to the original plot of the movie (i know it's a book, this is a quote from tiktok) This think went round and round in circles until finally something new happened and Ailesse gets sucked into the underworld.
Which... wtf. Ailesse really fell for her mother's fake sincerity and promises? Even Sabine saw through it. all you need to do is touch my hand and i'll teach you how to break the soul bond. it's like Ailesse just conveniently forgot that her mother's original bargain called for Ailesse's life. This whole thing made no sense?!!?!? Why would Odiva "sacrifice" herself to the underworld and then just... trick her daughter into switching places? What was the purpose??? Ailesse was practically about to enter the Underworld gates ON HER OWN at the end of book one and Odiva ran into the gates herself to stop her. so????
Her plan made 0 sense, too. Give Tyrus unchained souls, kill her own daughter, get her lover back. Okay, fine. But then apparently the bargain isn't complete in book 2, and now Odiva still needs to funnel ALL unchained souls from Paradise? Bring the afterlife together? I thought Odiva was just giving Tyrus unchained souls in book 1 to try and appease Tyrus and not have to kill her own daughter? Oh but actually, suddenly she doesn't just want her love back, she wants to rule the fucking world. WUT. I can (grudgingly) accept soul-deep love as a motivation, but Odiva's quest for power made her lose ALL the humanity that kind of made her a faceted villain.
SO MANY PLOT HOLES.
And the plagues!! It was established in book 1 that the recent plague wasn't actually sickness, but rather, the chained sucking the literal life out of people because the Ferrying ceremony was cut short. But here, everyone, even the bone criers, make it seem like there was a plague and the chained fiasco? I DON'T GET IT.
AND THEN WHEN THE GOOD GUYS FINALLY WIN, AILESSE LETS HER AWFUL MOTHER AND ODIVA'S AWFUL LOVER GO TO PARADISE?!?!?!? IS THERE NO JUSTICE?!?!
This book was a bloody mess. I got what Purdie was going for - an epic tale of desire vs. duty, loyalty vs. righteousness, sisterly love vs. motherly love. It could have been great if it wasn't so confined to the same 3 settings and crude villain motivations.
The best part of the story was Sabine, who grows into her role as matroné of the Lauress, who must resist the doubts cast on her from her clan and her own grace bones, who must shed her own insecurities of being second to Ailesse in everything including love. The unwavering support between her and Ailesse was refreshing, especially in YA, and especially because for a few chapters, I honestly thought Purdie was setting her up to be a new villain.
Anyway, that's my rant. Read this if you can stand it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Murder, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
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