Reviews

such a drop-off in quality and content, especially after the terrific one-two punch that is wolf speaker and emperor mage. genuinely don't know what pierce was thinking here. the realms of the gods is a significant departure from both the central action of this series and the progressive, eco- and equity-centered politicking of its predecessors. it also––and you knew this was coming––puts its minor student/adult teacher romance in your face and front and center. this was my first reread of realms as an adult, and reading the relationship between daine and numair felt even more icky and disappointing than i'd anticipated. like much of this book, it just feels bad, man.

Content Warnings

marymclellan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

yuna's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

hjswinford's review against another edition

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5.0

A very cool, exciting conclusion to this series. So many things happened. So many things were introduced. I am so glad I finally gave Pierce a chance to enchant me with her world. I look forward to reading more of her books after this.

tearbear20's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

soupertrouper's review

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

4.5

shema's review

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3.0

I'll be honest, I wasn't as big of a fan of Daine's story as I was with Alanna's. Probably because her story could've been 2 books instead of 4 because books 2 and 3 were pretty boring. There were still things I enjoyed about the series. Even though Daine didn't have as much dynamic character development as Alanna, she was still enjoyable to read. I also loved her relationship with her animal companions, especially Kit which, I almost cried what happened to them at the end of this book. Though I kind of wish we could've dived in more on Daine's fear of loising her humanity. It was touched in book 2, but I would've liked to see more inner conflict. Also, while I think the relationship with Daine and Numair was sweet, I guess. It's still...kind of creepy. Like she's 16 and he's in his 30s. They touch on for a brief moment about the age gap, how he'll be pretty old when she's still young. But they don't even mention that she's still underage? Idk. Maybe 16 is an ok age in Tortall, but sorry, no. It was creepy enough with Alanna and George. Well, I'm still a fan of the Tortall books even with its problematic elements.

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