bubothereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don’t want to say much because this is a sequel.
I liked it well enough. The plot intrigued me—though I found it a bit unbelievable. The characters’ development annoyed me for a while, but she gave good reasoning for it later that I felt made those changes okay.
The atmosphere is great per usual and the magic system is interesting. But, overall, I wasn’t blown away. Definitely not a read it all in one night kind of book, but still pretty good.
Side note: Some of the magic system scenes were way too graphic for me, which wasn’t fun.
I liked it well enough. The plot intrigued me—though I found it a bit unbelievable. The characters’ development annoyed me for a while, but she gave good reasoning for it later that I felt made those changes okay.
The atmosphere is great per usual and the magic system is interesting. But, overall, I wasn’t blown away. Definitely not a read it all in one night kind of book, but still pretty good.
Side note: Some of the magic system scenes were way too graphic for me, which wasn’t fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Abandonment, Animal death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, Death, and Death of parent
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
This book had me really conflicted when reading. It started off horribly at a 2.5 star read, but did get to a 3.5 in the second half.
I really struggled with the characters in this one. A lot of my issues from the first book were back and worse. It felt like no one in this whole book, no matter the characters' ages or experience, had no emotional maturity or common sense. I found myself constantly frustrated and wanting to DNF. It got better at the halfway mark, but that will be too late for a lot of readers.
The plot wasn't bad but it could be predictable and plot points just happened because reasons and it had to to progress the story. Much like how the characters got better in the second half so too did the plot and ended in a nice way.
I am very glad this is not more than a duology as I don't think I could handle another book. I'm also unsure how to recommend this. If you were like me and struggled with characters in the first book, I wouldn't recommend reading this. If you really liked the first book though and want to know how it ends, go right ahead. I think those who liked the first will also enjoy this and will want to see how it all ends.
I really struggled with the characters in this one. A lot of my issues from the first book were back and worse. It felt like no one in this whole book, no matter the characters' ages or experience, had no emotional maturity or common sense. I found myself constantly frustrated and wanting to DNF. It got better at the halfway mark, but that will be too late for a lot of readers.
The plot wasn't bad but it could be predictable and plot points just happened because reasons and it had to to progress the story. Much like how the characters got better in the second half so too did the plot and ended in a nice way.
I am very glad this is not more than a duology as I don't think I could handle another book. I'm also unsure how to recommend this. If you were like me and struggled with characters in the first book, I wouldn't recommend reading this. If you really liked the first book though and want to know how it ends, go right ahead. I think those who liked the first will also enjoy this and will want to see how it all ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic relationship
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