forsakenfates's review against another edition
3.0
Granted in this story the Demons are still evil, but regardless, I love books that bring demon folklore and ideas into them. For me this sequel and conclusion to the duology was not as strong as the first. The first book drew me in with the amazing world building and intricacies of the world. I fell in love with Nina, Finn, and their motley group of misfit exorcists. I loved seeing more of the group together all sticking up for each other.
That being said, this book to me seemed more rushed and not as exciting as the first. I didn’t feel the same pull as I did with the first. However, there were still plot points I did not see coming. And with that came certain aspects that were beyond obvious from the start...
And then that ending! Who ends a duology like that? While there was some resolution, it was not nearly enough for me. There definitely is no need for another book, but i needed a chapter or two more to tie everything up. You cannot just leave the bombshell of an epilogue like was done and expect me to be okay with that.
hoping4more's review against another edition
5.0
littlewhiterabbitreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
alexperc_92's review against another edition
4.0
zanitd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
randomly_kait's review against another edition
3.0
Oh. My. Gosh. I think my brain may have exploded while reading this book. So many things happened. So. Many. Things.
I said in my review for The Stars Never Rise that I had my suspicions about how things were going to go down, and I'm glad to say that I was wrong for the most part. I've never been so happy to have been wrong about something actually.
This book seemed a little more graphic than the last one... Either that or I was just so in love with The Stars Never Rise that I just didn't notice it.
I didn't know that this was a duology until after I finished reading the second book. But when I did find out, I was super upset. Like, throw the book against the wall upset. {No, I did not throw my book against the wall, but I wanted to.} Sure a lot of things wrapped themselves up quite nicely, but there were some others that I'd have liked to see answered. I wish that there had been an epilogue where it tells you where the gang is now, and how Nina's little nephew is, and how things are going since the big ol' revelation about Nina and some of the others... I don't know, the end of this book made me want to cry. I wanted more of Nina and Finn. Oh well, you win some, you lose some... I still love Rachel Vincent.
haleyshoard's review against another edition
2.0
The Flame Never Dies by Rachel Vincent
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
ferretqueennyx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
babygirl06301's review against another edition
4.0
there will be spoilers
Okay, I'm not going to say much on this novel, mostly because, if you read and loved the first installment, you'll love this one.I've seen a decent amount of people talk about this story being predictable overall, and I agree with that statement. Especially in this second novel. In [b:The Stars Never Rise|17788681|The Stars Never Rise (The Stars Never Rise, #1)|Rachel Vincent|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420315185s/17788681.jpg|24878978], the only big plot point I could predict was that the Church was run by demons. Albeit, that's quite a big plot point to predict, but for the most part, it was a suspenseful read. [b:The Flame Never Dies|26514517|The Flame Never Dies (The Stars Never Rise, #2)|Rachel Vincent|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469622005s/26514517.jpg|24878988], however, didn't have that effect for me. But the way [a:Rachel Vincent|415967|Rachel Vincent|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1394768659p2/415967.jpg] writes paired with the story she told made it... okay. This second book wasn't about suspense for me; it was about closing out the characters and the story that I fell in love with in the first book.
That being said, I didn't like this one as much as the first one. I'm all for halting the telling of a story before it gets beat into the ground, but it feels like having this series as a duology was a bit of a waste. A lot of this novel felt rushed, and certain parts of it were cut off before they wore out their entertainment value. For example, I think it would've been interesting to see Grayson, Finn, and Nina spend more time in Pandemonia before they escaped. Plus, it seemed entirely too easy to spread the virus to the entire city, as well as kill Kastor, which seemed quite anti-climatic. Overall, it just felt like the story was well planned out in the beginning, but it ultimately got wrapped up too quickly because of... I don't know, loss of interest on the author's end?
At the very least, it would've helped me out if this second novel was "fluffed" more. A.K.A.: This book should've been longer. There could've been more added, like how, in the first book, there were lots of mentions of the history of the Church and why the rules were the way they were. There was hardly any of that this time around, save for the small pieces we got about the demon world. It just felt like the world [a:Rachel Vincent|415967|Rachel Vincent|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1394768659p2/415967.jpg] created was wasted by lack of use and exposure.
At the risk of making this book sound all bad, I'm gonna say something now that'll contradict everything I said in the past few paragraphs: the way this author tells a story makes all of those things I mentioned unimportant. There's no way to pinpoint exactly why that is, but the manner in which the story of Nina Kane was concluded made it worth any imperfections you could find. Even the ending was satisfactory for me. Knowing that Adam would be saved by his family, but only after he helps kill all of demonkind, that's poetic justice right there. The only real edit/grievance I have here is that I wanted more time with the secondary characters. Although Nina is the main character here, I love all the members of Anathema, as well as Eli. I just wish we'd gotten more of them in this final chapter.
I'd still recommend this series to anyone who likes the genre. It's well worth it, even if it ended too soon for my liking. Check it out, you won't regret it.