Reviews

I really wanted to love this book because I love the original trilogy so much, but it just didn’t quite live up for me. A few things I did love- Veronica Rossi’s writing style is so easy to read; absolutely love how everything is described and how dialogue is written. I also think all the characters felt like the same characters they were in the first three books. We got to see a new side of Roar but it wasn’t as if he was a whole different person. His characterization in this book felt like it combined with the Roar from the other books really naturally. I also loved to see Perry a little more relaxed, without the Blood Lord pressure! I really liked the concept of

bringing the readers back to the Mainland,

too. There are a lot of details about that world to explore that weren’t touched on in the first three books.

A few things that bothered me:
First (and this bothered me the most out of everything)-

I really didn’t like how easy it was all of a sudden to get through the wall of Aether to travel back and forth from the Still Blue to the mainland. It really minimized the whole point of Into the Still Blue and really the whole original trilogy. It was such a big deal how Cinder was the ONLY way through the wall of Aether and everyone agonized so much over the decision. Then this book making it immediately super easy to travel back and forth was really off-putting. It didn’t even take 50 pages to figure out a way through and after that it wasn’t really mentioned.

Second-

the beginning of Roar and Tempest’s relationship felt so contrived. I will say in the second half of the book, I really enjoyed the two’s interactions. But, the plot for them to get married didn’t make any sense to me and seemed full of plot holes. It was like the author couldn’t figure out a way for the two to have to stay together and she was just throwing ideas at the wall to see what would stick. I feel like there had to have been a better way to do that.

Third- it just felt like there was too much going on, too many ideas for this book.

There’s one throwaway line that hints about the Dwellers having developed some control over the Aether and the group maybe going to check that out and then it’s basically never mentioned again. Something similar happens with the idea of Perry retaking the Tides; this book just doesn’t have the space to give these ideas the pages they deserve.

I would LOVE to read these ideas fleshed out in other books, but they’re just too much for this book.

lirosao96's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dawndola's review

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

megangw's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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