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myahthebookfiend's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
oh. my. gosh. absolutely flabbergasted. floored. shocked to my core. the last 40 or so pages of this book had my heart racing at unnatural levels. like, I was so stressed out. i really really liked how this book panned out. there were things that I thought I knew and had guessed about what was to come, and some of them were right, but the others were the ones that had me floored. I don't even know what to think about that ending or what's going to happen in the next book. Lynette Noni is genuinely an amazing writer. so so scared, excited, and nervous to continue on to the last book of the series, but I truly can't wait to find out what happens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse and Death
tabea1409's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
smkelly1997's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Overall, a great book, however not as good as the first one. Blood family vs found family is an interesting pull thought this book. The entire book I wanted to scream at Kiva. This however made her such a complex and interesting character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
ameydireads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“Our scars define us. They tell a story of courage and survival. They tell of who we are at our deepest being, of the challenges we've faced and overcome. Not all scars are as visible as this. I daresay you have many more on the inside. But never forget that every scar is beautiful. And you should never, ever, be ashamed of them.”
I didn’t expect to finish this book so fast. It was amazing and I will tell you why! Kiva goes to Vallenia with Jaren and Tipp, where she meets the Vallentis family, her sworn enemy. It seems they are not as bad as she’s been told. Despite their own problems, the royal family is inherently a loving family, akin to a normal family. Their acceptance and trust in Kiva are astounding and somewhat unexpected. This complicates her task further and, as expected, Kiva is torn between the two sides. She learns more about both sides and discovers some very interesting things about her own family. Prepare yourself for another set of twists. After reading the first book I was expecting there to be twists and I must say, they lived up to expectations. It seems that even outside of Zalindov’s walls the only person you can trust is yourself.
This book introduces us to more characters and one of my favourite, aside from Jaren (duh), is definitely Nanna Delora. This lady just wants to be left in peace to enjoy her book club with some scones. That woman is a vibe. I’m sure my fellow readers can also relate!
Another favourite character of mine is Caldon. This guy has great intuition and there's so much more to him than we think! Queen Ariana also deserves a special mention. She’s a loving mother who cares so much about her children. She gives them a shoulder to cry on and devotes her time to hearing them out. However, she still struggles with her addiction to Angeldust though. It's very mature of Jaren and Mirryn to remember that it's the drug and not the user. It’s one thing to hear Jaren mentioning it, but another to experience it through Kiva’s eyes. That was super scary and heartbreaking.
Overall it was a well-written book, definitely a page turner. I love the way this story is told and how everything is connected. I couldn't stop reading. It was a tense book with some wholesome & hopeful moments but also some really frustrating moments.In the first book Kiva talks to the Warden about Tipp’s release. He tells her that Tipp could be released to his guardian if they came for him, but at that moment I did not make a connection to Kiva. She too was very young when she came to Zalindov. This angers Jaren as well and he demands to know why Torr left her to rot in Zalindov when they had the opportunity to free her. I don't get why Tilda would rather break her out of the notoriously impenetrable Zalindov when they could also just go get her before she turned 12. That was honestly such a horrible thing to do and I don’t get why Tilda would wish that upon her daughter. And how ironic, or I should rather say diabolical, that Kiva ends up in Zalindov!
I am so excited to read the next, and final, book! Kiva might not have turned on Jaren, but as far as he knows she did lie to him and betray his trust. I wonder if there’s still hope for them…
I didn’t expect to finish this book so fast. It was amazing and I will tell you why! Kiva goes to Vallenia with Jaren and Tipp, where she meets the Vallentis family, her sworn enemy. It seems they are not as bad as she’s been told. Despite their own problems, the royal family is inherently a loving family, akin to a normal family. Their acceptance and trust in Kiva are astounding and somewhat unexpected. This complicates her task further and, as expected, Kiva is torn between the two sides. She learns more about both sides and discovers some very interesting things about her own family. Prepare yourself for another set of twists. After reading the first book I was expecting there to be twists and I must say, they lived up to expectations. It seems that even outside of Zalindov’s walls the only person you can trust is yourself.
This book introduces us to more characters and one of my favourite, aside from Jaren (duh), is definitely Nanna Delora. This lady just wants to be left in peace to enjoy her book club with some scones. That woman is a vibe. I’m sure my fellow readers can also relate!
Another favourite character of mine is Caldon. This guy has great intuition and there's so much more to him than we think! Queen Ariana also deserves a special mention. She’s a loving mother who cares so much about her children. She gives them a shoulder to cry on and devotes her time to hearing them out. However, she still struggles with her addiction to Angeldust though. It's very mature of Jaren and Mirryn to remember that it's the drug and not the user. It’s one thing to hear Jaren mentioning it, but another to experience it through Kiva’s eyes. That was super scary and heartbreaking.
Overall it was a well-written book, definitely a page turner. I love the way this story is told and how everything is connected. I couldn't stop reading. It was a tense book with some wholesome & hopeful moments but also some really frustrating moments.
I am so excited to read the next, and final, book! Kiva might not have turned on Jaren, but as far as he knows she did lie to him and betray his trust. I wonder if there’s still hope for them…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Vomit, and Death of parent
Minor: Murder and War
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Medical content, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Blood
Minor: Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
ashleysills's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
Most of this book felt like a filler episode. It was extremely slow paced until the last 10% when everything went down. The ending left me stunned and a little mad, but in a mostly good way lol.
I really like Noni's characters. They're easy to either root for or hate, and I feel like they all have depth and flaws. The twists in this one were better than book one, in my opinion.
I just feel like this book could have been a lot shorter and I wouldn't have questioned it.
Side note: I usually have a hard time with audiobooks, but I listened to a good chunk of this one on audio and was surprised when I didn't hate it 😂 I didn't love the voices but overall it was done well and it was really fun to listen to while I drove (at 1.5x-2x speed)
I really like Noni's characters. They're easy to either root for or hate, and I feel like they all have depth and flaws. The twists in this one were better than book one, in my opinion.
I just feel like this book could have been a lot shorter and I wouldn't have questioned it.
Side note: I usually have a hard time with audiobooks, but I listened to a good chunk of this one on audio and was surprised when I didn't hate it 😂 I didn't love the voices but overall it was done well and it was really fun to listen to while I drove (at 1.5x-2x speed)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Drug abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Spice: kissing with thoughts of wanting morekottengoesbork's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, and Abandonment
ham1s7er's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Incredibly written with an amazing plot. The plot twists keep us on our toes and the suspense could be cut with a knife. The book leaves you on the biggest cliff hanger I've ever seen and wanting to read the next book to find out what happens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Abandonment
Moderate: Drug use and Kidnapping
grace_yin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
kaylaboevers's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Blood