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jeskareadsandteaches's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bleyz16's review
4.0
** I won this in a GR giveaway**
I enjoyed this book better than the first one in the series. The story started out a bit slow for me but picked up speed towards the middle of the book. The story alternates POV between Anna and Matyas. I found Matyas's POV to be more exciting and interesting and Anna's was more dull and political for my tastes although I did enjoy her POV later on in the book.
Overall, Lost Crow Conspiracy was a quick, entertaining read which ended on a high note and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
I enjoyed this book better than the first one in the series. The story started out a bit slow for me but picked up speed towards the middle of the book. The story alternates POV between Anna and Matyas. I found Matyas's POV to be more exciting and interesting and Anna's was more dull and political for my tastes although I did enjoy her POV later on in the book.
Overall, Lost Crow Conspiracy was a quick, entertaining read which ended on a high note and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
septjanoct's review
3.0
Pace picks up closer to the middle, just have to middle through the beginning.
flaviathebibliophile's review
5.0
Rating: 4.5 stars
This does not happen very often with me at all, but I really liked the middle of this series (assuming that this will be a trilogy?) more than the first book! Gasp. I know! I understand that the first book had the responsibility of creating the base for the story, and explaining the world to us readers. But I also think that the characters have matured since book one, which is something that I took note of and appreciated. I can’t go into more detail about that, or a few other things because of spoilers, but I can say that there were a number of factors that lead to my enjoying this book more than Blood Rose Rebellion! For my detailed thoughts about the world (culture, history, fashion, etc.) since I don’t want to repeat myself in this review, here is my review for book one.
A few things that I can talk about, that played a part in why I enjoyed this book, are that a good part of it took place in Vienna (one of my favourite cities, even though I haven’t been back there since I was a child), I think that the author’s writing matured along with the characters, and that the same amount of thought and effort went into researching historical events and the effectiveness of how Eves used them in this series. I was also happy that some of my questions from book one were answered in book two. Of course, Lost Crow Conspiracy made me as a whole bunch of other questions, and I’m eager to have those answered in the next book. I also feel quite attached to a few of the characters, as well as the story, and want to see how both of these things will develop in the next portion! I will definitely be reading the next book!
This does not happen very often with me at all, but I really liked the middle of this series (assuming that this will be a trilogy?) more than the first book! Gasp. I know! I understand that the first book had the responsibility of creating the base for the story, and explaining the world to us readers. But I also think that the characters have matured since book one, which is something that I took note of and appreciated. I can’t go into more detail about that, or a few other things because of spoilers, but I can say that there were a number of factors that lead to my enjoying this book more than Blood Rose Rebellion! For my detailed thoughts about the world (culture, history, fashion, etc.) since I don’t want to repeat myself in this review, here is my review for book one.
A few things that I can talk about, that played a part in why I enjoyed this book, are that a good part of it took place in Vienna (one of my favourite cities, even though I haven’t been back there since I was a child), I think that the author’s writing matured along with the characters, and that the same amount of thought and effort went into researching historical events and the effectiveness of how Eves used them in this series. I was also happy that some of my questions from book one were answered in book two. Of course, Lost Crow Conspiracy made me as a whole bunch of other questions, and I’m eager to have those answered in the next book. I also feel quite attached to a few of the characters, as well as the story, and want to see how both of these things will develop in the next portion! I will definitely be reading the next book!
vickycbooks's review
*SPOILERS for book 1 (Blood Rose Rebellion) ahead*
I wasn't really a fan of the last novel (I found it to have some issues with introducing the historical context as well as just the magical system being confusing and the characters not having a clear focus; find my review here), but I was hoping that this book would be different.
And although its plot thankfully was not confusing, I just ended up not being into it and generally apathetic to the whole thing.
I didn't actually fall asleep reading, but like the first book, I felt like nothing really happened. Anna is just a confusing character in general for me--what are her motivations? Sometimes she's like "Oh I wish the class boundaries would go away why haven't they gone away yet" and other times she's like "Tehehe! It's a prince!" and what she's fighting for didn't seem defined enough for what I was looking for.
She has a lot of desires and she never really focuses on one. Sometimes she wants to help this group, other times it's this group, other times its herself, and although she wasn't annoying per se, Anna was just kind of confused in general about who she wanted to be.
She tries so hard to fit into society despite how she doesn't like society and it comes off as very contradictory to me. I know she has that old fashioned view OMG calves--blasphemy! and all sorts of societal things like that, but part of her viewpoint was getting rid of class boundaries and societal standards. It felt a little hypocritical at times.
I wished she would have had a stronger focus on one thing instead of flitting around to the different issues she wanted to address, and I think this is Eves' way of trying to fit complexity into her character, but it didn't really work for me.
I did have a much easier time understanding what was going on and wasn't perplexed by the complicated magical rituals, compared to book 1. But, in retrospect, I still don't really know what happened?
The plot felt a lot like Anna trying to do stuff but ultimately not really achieving anything? Everything just goes downhill for her throughout the novel and it just gets worse and worse until she's just out of society in general.
I did think there is a lot of potential in the concept of the Praetheria and how they can be used to address social issues and I'm hoping Eves will do a lot with this during book 3.
It was interesting to see how it was almost split half and half between Matayas and Anna, which I was very much not expecting to happen. Matayas ended up spicing things up a bit and although I wouldn't have necessarily condoned this move, it didn't end up really bothering me.
The romance wasn't very present, which was fine by me. I liked Gabor in the last book, he was smart, but if he was in the book, he'd probably also bring love into the picture.
The writing is fine and that was somehow one of this books more redeeming characteristics? I enjoy Eves' writing style and think if she was writing a different story, I'd enjoy it more. It's got that kind of soothing quality that's a nice balance between concise and flowery that helps me read smoothly.
I guess the pacing was okay? It didn't seem overly long when I was reading it, but adding up what actually happened and how many pages makes this book seems like it was too much.
Overall, I think if you liked the first book, you'll like this one. But if you didn't like the first, it's probably better to just read something else because there's no "OH MY GOSH WHEN DID THIS SERIES TURN AMAZING?" moment happening in this book. I liked the writing, but the story was just kind of bland in generally and I ended up pretty apathetic to it all.
I wasn't really a fan of the last novel (I found it to have some issues with introducing the historical context as well as just the magical system being confusing and the characters not having a clear focus; find my review here), but I was hoping that this book would be different.
And although its plot thankfully was not confusing, I just ended up not being into it and generally apathetic to the whole thing.
I didn't actually fall asleep reading, but like the first book, I felt like nothing really happened. Anna is just a confusing character in general for me--what are her motivations? Sometimes she's like "Oh I wish the class boundaries would go away why haven't they gone away yet" and other times she's like "Tehehe! It's a prince!" and what she's fighting for didn't seem defined enough for what I was looking for.
She has a lot of desires and she never really focuses on one. Sometimes she wants to help this group, other times it's this group, other times its herself, and although she wasn't annoying per se, Anna was just kind of confused in general about who she wanted to be.
She tries so hard to fit into society despite how she doesn't like society and it comes off as very contradictory to me. I know she has that old fashioned view OMG calves--blasphemy! and all sorts of societal things like that, but part of her viewpoint was getting rid of class boundaries and societal standards. It felt a little hypocritical at times.
I wished she would have had a stronger focus on one thing instead of flitting around to the different issues she wanted to address, and I think this is Eves' way of trying to fit complexity into her character, but it didn't really work for me.
I did have a much easier time understanding what was going on and wasn't perplexed by the complicated magical rituals, compared to book 1. But, in retrospect, I still don't really know what happened?
The plot felt a lot like Anna trying to do stuff but ultimately not really achieving anything? Everything just goes downhill for her throughout the novel and it just gets worse and worse until she's just out of society in general.
I did think there is a lot of potential in the concept of the Praetheria and how they can be used to address social issues and I'm hoping Eves will do a lot with this during book 3.
It was interesting to see how it was almost split half and half between Matayas and Anna, which I was very much not expecting to happen. Matayas ended up spicing things up a bit and although I wouldn't have necessarily condoned this move, it didn't end up really bothering me.
The romance wasn't very present, which was fine by me. I liked Gabor in the last book, he was smart, but if he was in the book, he'd probably also bring love into the picture.
The writing is fine and that was somehow one of this books more redeeming characteristics? I enjoy Eves' writing style and think if she was writing a different story, I'd enjoy it more. It's got that kind of soothing quality that's a nice balance between concise and flowery that helps me read smoothly.
I guess the pacing was okay? It didn't seem overly long when I was reading it, but adding up what actually happened and how many pages makes this book seems like it was too much.
Overall, I think if you liked the first book, you'll like this one. But if you didn't like the first, it's probably better to just read something else because there's no "OH MY GOSH WHEN DID THIS SERIES TURN AMAZING?" moment happening in this book. I liked the writing, but the story was just kind of bland in generally and I ended up pretty apathetic to it all.
ziareads's review
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
egurgens's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
3.5
I think this book moves a lot slower than the first one did. We start with Anna in Vienna, staying with her sister to go to social events. She manages to meet in secret with Gabor several times, and she spends time with her cousin Noemi, but the majority of her time is spent advocating for the rights of the praetheria, the creatures that she freed from the Binding. The majority of the book is dedicated to her attempts to advocate for them, while trying to keep her secrets safe from the ears of those who would kill her for what she has done. We also get to see from Matyao's point of view, including the attempts of the Lady to get him to fight against the tyranny of both Austria and the genuinely evil praetheria.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Genocide, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Colonisation