zober's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.5
This was wonderful. The main character, Tembi, is fantastic, but there's a great cast of side characters (Bayle, Kalais, Matindi, the Deep, Domino, and more) who are also very distinct and well-written. I liked the world a lot. It's always fun to see an author's take on what would change and what would stay the same in a far-future setting. In this case, more stayed the same than I would have expected, especially with language. But I guess to do otherwise would be difficult for the reader to follow along.
There were some small things that I thought were odd - e.g. mentioning "an arid planet that was somehow also unbearably humid" with no further explanation of how that's possible, or a typo where alienness was spelled alieness. They took me out of the world, which is never great. But overall this was incredibly captivating. I read it in three chunks over two days, and each time I left the book I was eagerly looking forward to jumping back in.
I guessed a couple of the big reveals pretty early - Winter's identity + her final reveal that hints at the plot of future books. But the world and characters were so fun that I didn't really mind. I was really disappointed to learn that the next book isn't out yet, and there's not even a release date.
Honestly I could list a bunch more gripes, but overall I just loved this book despite all of that!
Favorite quotes:
"At first, they thrilled at their access to forces beyond human comprehension; later, they got fed up at the lack of answers. Then they usually took up word puzzles."
"All of the hardest tasks came with checklists."
There were some small things that I thought were odd - e.g. mentioning "an arid planet that was somehow also unbearably humid" with no further explanation of how that's possible, or a typo where alienness was spelled alieness. They took me out of the world, which is never great. But overall this was incredibly captivating. I read it in three chunks over two days, and each time I left the book I was eagerly looking forward to jumping back in.
I guessed a couple of the big reveals pretty early - Winter's identity + her final reveal that hints at the plot of future books. But the world and characters were so fun that I didn't really mind. I was really disappointed to learn that the next book isn't out yet, and there's not even a release date.
Honestly I could list a bunch more gripes, but overall I just loved this book despite all of that!
Favorite quotes:
"At first, they thrilled at their access to forces beyond human comprehension; later, they got fed up at the lack of answers. Then they usually took up word puzzles."
"All of the hardest tasks came with checklists."
Spoiler
"And you have to stay calm, or the Deep will know something is wrong, and it'll whisk the Admiral away forever and there will be an intergalactic incident and then on top of it all it'll fill this place with cats."wetdryvac's review
5.0
A really well done personal investment grimness with some lovely humor and joy mixed in. Pretty sure I'm still dead from reading this - it hurt like hell, and was totally worth it.
tiranamisu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
maeve_spry's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderfully twisty
Great read! Hard not to spoiler, because there are an awful lot of surprises, one or two of which are also awful surprises... but most of which are awesome.
Great read! Hard not to spoiler, because there are an awful lot of surprises, one or two of which are also awful surprises... but most of which are awesome.
hwesta's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There were a lot of interesting ideas and characters in this book, but the plot felt like it was all over the place and I had a hard time figuring out what was going on.
archane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
4.5
The Blackwing War an amazing blend of science and fantasy!
violetshemitz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
sashas_books's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.5
The YA prequel “Stoneskin” has grown up, painfully. It has become “Blackwing War” – a grimmer, very angry tale. There is anguish and tragedy, and characters that make horrible choices for the right (or so they seem to them) reasons. The horrors of genocide and concentration camps are described in such a way that I could almost hear the author screaming in the background “why can’t they see?”
Tembi is more mature. I really liked how she becomes stronger, smarter, angrier, more independent, and makes her own difficult choices.
The Deep is also developing in interesting ways, and things that were hinted at in the prequel are beginning to come together in the end. Exciting…
I find that I have trouble letting this book go. I will now wait, somewhat impatiently, for the next one.
rascalking's review
5.0
A really well done full serving of the world we got a peek into in Stoneskin. I'm amazed the author managed to give us a sense of stakes the whole way through, even with a mostly omniscient best friend watching over the main character.
Ends with a good hook for the next book without cheapening the ending to this story, which is a rarity these days.
I'm looking forward to the rest of this series.
Ends with a good hook for the next book without cheapening the ending to this story, which is a rarity these days.
I'm looking forward to the rest of this series.