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alex1vo's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as the first two. I should give this one 4 stars, because fantasy series rarely get any better then this. Or is this marked as a cycle. Well it did span for decades I think in this latest installment.
Spoiler
this book ends in a cliffhanger... Christ what a fucking moronic ending. Like Brett got bored in last third of the book, some plot holes and then joke of a endingatarbett's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
cristina_02's review against another edition
5.0
So much politics, adventure and scheming!!!!
The highlight of the book for me was probably Arlen’s and Renna’s wedding, which was extremely wholesome to witness. Firstly from the POV that the village had 0 warning and still threw such a good party, and secondly because we see everyone getting along relatively well, and different cultural customs marrying to create a ton of fun.
The stakes are much higher now, with the introduction of mind demons and direct fighting between Arlen, Jardir and a mind demon each. But THAT ENDING THOUGH?!?! The two come to blows and jump off a cliff and for some reason the visual is quite funny.
I loved reading Inevera’s POV of her childhood and perspective on things, and her training as a Dama’ting. It’s kinda hard to reconcile the fact that Inevera and Jardir are actually very well suited, but Leesha is also there and she has great tension with Jardir…. But Leesha’s character arc is kind of questionable. At first, I relished seeing her become more morally grey, but the pregnancy drama is veeeery out of character. Let’s see what happens next.
I actually listened to the latter part of this book, and the audio version does the voices and accents quite a good justice. Overall, very enjoyable sequel, and we’re now gearing up for WAR war.
The highlight of the book for me was probably Arlen’s and Renna’s wedding, which was extremely wholesome to witness. Firstly from the POV that the village had 0 warning and still threw such a good party, and secondly because we see everyone getting along relatively well, and different cultural customs marrying to create a ton of fun.
The stakes are much higher now, with the introduction of mind demons and direct fighting between Arlen, Jardir and a mind demon each. But THAT ENDING THOUGH?!?! The two come to blows and jump off a cliff and for some reason the visual is quite funny.
I loved reading Inevera’s POV of her childhood and perspective on things, and her training as a Dama’ting. It’s kinda hard to reconcile the fact that Inevera and Jardir are actually very well suited, but Leesha is also there and she has great tension with Jardir…. But Leesha’s character arc is kind of questionable. At first, I relished seeing her become more morally grey, but the pregnancy drama is veeeery out of character. Let’s see what happens next.
I actually listened to the latter part of this book, and the audio version does the voices and accents quite a good justice. Overall, very enjoyable sequel, and we’re now gearing up for WAR war.
harmah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
I loved it, the writing , the story, the characters, everything was amazing done. Will start the next one tonight.
cherrick8's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good continuation of the series with a sort of cliffhanger ending. It was a little lengthy, a bit of editing wouldn't have hurt. But certainly good enough to continue on with the series sometimes soon.
whattamess's review against another edition
5.0
WHOA!! Cliff hanger! Literally. Glad the 4th book is out and I don't have to wait 2 years for it.
dwimblim's review against another edition
3.0
At this point in the series I think I kept reading because I'd gotten this far so might as well. Less interested in the characters now, don't like a couple of the main characters, and as many of the Goodreads reviews of this book say, the romance aspects are not great. Maybe 3.5? I like the worldbuilding I guess. But by book 3 the world is pretty built, at least in this series. Took me a long time to read this one.
mastersal's review against another edition
5.0
Brief review follows:
More like 4.75 stars
I really enjoyed this book - and I don't care how little "progress" we made on the "main timeline". That sort of misses the point for me - this was the first book wholly and mostly focused on the female POV's and I loved it. Even though I didn't like Renna personally but it was good to see the POVs expanded - especially for Inevera. This series is really not about the demons but about the people and I loved the fact that in this book's case, this meant women. Their hopes, their roles and their fears. And yes, sex as well. This book does put sex front and centre - in that this is a grown up book. The acceptance of violence as normal but not sex has always struck me as odd. And no, the sex is not titillating or obscene but it is frank. This might not be to everyone's taste, that I get - but for me, it was good to see the women in the book accept, desire and enjoy sex instead of the typical SA we get in fantasy being a short-cut to 'grittiness'. Even in that I think the series has improved IMO.
My only issue was the ending - that came too abruptly and felt more like set-up than part of the narrative of this book. There was a clear pivot near the end to refocus - which I didn't mind - but it needed a little more time. As a result, I can't give this a full 5 stars even though I loved most of it.
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March 18 2024
Putting back on the TBR until I get the audio book back. Stopped at Chapter 11 - was going really well so I don’t want to lose the excitement by switching formats.
More like 4.75 stars
I really enjoyed this book - and I don't care how little "progress" we made on the "main timeline". That sort of misses the point for me - this was the first book wholly and mostly focused on the female POV's and I loved it. Even though I didn't like Renna personally but it was good to see the POVs expanded - especially for Inevera. This series is really not about the demons but about the people and I loved the fact that in this book's case, this meant women. Their hopes, their roles and their fears. And yes, sex as well. This book does put sex front and centre - in that this is a grown up book. The acceptance of violence as normal but not sex has always struck me as odd. And no, the sex is not titillating or obscene but it is frank. This might not be to everyone's taste, that I get - but for me, it was good to see the women in the book accept, desire and enjoy sex instead of the typical SA we get in fantasy being a short-cut to 'grittiness'. Even in that I think the series has improved IMO.
My only issue was the ending - that came too abruptly and felt more like set-up than part of the narrative of this book. There was a clear pivot near the end to refocus - which I didn't mind - but it needed a little more time. As a result, I can't give this a full 5 stars even though I loved most of it.
----
March 18 2024
Putting back on the TBR until I get the audio book back. Stopped at Chapter 11 - was going really well so I don’t want to lose the excitement by switching formats.
featurecreep's review against another edition
4.0
Some annoying inconsistencies with how characters are referenced can't drag this book down more than one star. The story line continues to be fresh and engaging, characters are 3 dimensional, and the world is as crisp as ever, even as it evolves.