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gmamartha's review against another edition
4.0
Worth waiting for! Has the right amount of adventure, loyalty, bravery, friends and family.
mazieb's review against another edition
challenging
informative
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
sallyavena's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the story line. I liked the resolution of the story. I enjoyed all of the new characters and how the old characters grew. The only one that seemed to get shelved and therefore didn't develop was Britta. I would have liked to see her grow more.
Here's the one reason it didn't get 5 stars and I'm struggling with this a little. I like Hale's style of writing. She can use metaphors and similes like no other writer I have read and I like that. It makes her stories more interesting and I like the visualization in my head. However, I like stumbling upon them and having them be a treat in the story that keeps the vision of what is going on in your head, but not taking away from the story. In this book they seemed over done. There were so many on almost every page I got lost in those instead of the story. Not sure if that is a good thing...maybe just too much of a good thing.
Here's the one reason it didn't get 5 stars and I'm struggling with this a little. I like Hale's style of writing. She can use metaphors and similes like no other writer I have read and I like that. It makes her stories more interesting and I like the visualization in my head. However, I like stumbling upon them and having them be a treat in the story that keeps the vision of what is going on in your head, but not taking away from the story. In this book they seemed over done. There were so many on almost every page I got lost in those instead of the story. Not sure if that is a good thing...maybe just too much of a good thing.
avonleagal's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a fun read and it got me out of my reading slump. One thing is I will always be team Peder, Timon sucks.
christiana's review against another edition
3.0
Little more political than I thought I was getting myself into, but I loved revisiting these characters.
val_eris's review against another edition
5.0
Shannon Hale only writes chart topping two weeks at #1 hits. Another triple platinum album.
Okay for real though, another good entry into this series. In the first book Miri reads a book on economics and her new knowledge allows her people to get fair payment for their stone for the first time in generations. In the second book, Miri goes to the capital where a populist uprising is beginning. She develops deep sympathies for the rebels, but doesn’t like the bloody implications of their solution to the problem of overtaxation. A neighboring country recently deposed and executed their royals and nobles, and their rebels hope to do the same— even going so far as to hire the same assassin. While all this is going on Miri is studying to be a scholar, and her friends all get to develop in their own ways (music, an interest in midwifery, and blacksmithing as some examples). There’s the requisite love triangle but it’s less tedious than most. Take. A. Bullet. For. Me. Or you’re wasting my time.
It’s all solved a little too easily in some ways, but it’s a fairytale for young girls I’m not mad about it. The message in general is great and the writing is engaging, I have few complaints.
Okay for real though, another good entry into this series. In the first book Miri reads a book on economics and her new knowledge allows her people to get fair payment for their stone for the first time in generations. In the second book, Miri goes to the capital where a populist uprising is beginning. She develops deep sympathies for the rebels, but doesn’t like the bloody implications of their solution to the problem of overtaxation. A neighboring country recently deposed and executed their royals and nobles, and their rebels hope to do the same— even going so far as to hire the same assassin. While all this is going on Miri is studying to be a scholar, and her friends all get to develop in their own ways (music, an interest in midwifery, and blacksmithing as some examples). There’s the requisite love triangle but it’s less tedious than most. Take. A. Bullet. For. Me. Or you’re wasting my time.
It’s all solved a little too easily in some ways, but it’s a fairytale for young girls I’m not mad about it. The message in general is great and the writing is engaging, I have few complaints.
callmecat's review against another edition
5.0
Aw man I loved this! And it's a sequel! But it could've been it's own story. I love how it ended and how it got their. The love story part of it was frustrating and satisfying. I like what it shows about real love. But the political and ethical side of it was great too.
hnbb's review against another edition
5.0
I have been in a reading slump lately. I have had no desire to read anything. This book changed that. It felt a bit like Hunger Games but more sweet and childlike, and definitely less violent. I am excited for others to read it and voice their opinions, too. Goodness, Shannon Hale has a thing for unusual languages.
audryt's review against another edition
3.0
I wonder what someone struggling to overthrow corruption in Egypt or Iran would think of this over-simplified, comfortably middle-class view of revolution.
thebooklovingpanda's review against another edition
5.0
This is another stunner from Shannon Hale. This story deals with deeper and darker issues than the first book in the series, Princess Academy, and made me look twice at the two sides of revolution in history, and also ponder ethical questions (that may have proved a bit challenging for me to understand while reading till 2am). There is a lot of character development here, primarily with Miri, and new secrets about linder and Danland's history are revealed, adding to the many layers of detail that have already been laid down. New characters are also introduced, with both good and bad sides, as well as revisiting old ones (and they are all fully formed and three-dimensional) and there are plenty of plot twists and surprises to keep the reader's interest. The suspense and tension of the threat of revolution is very tangible in the writing, and this is another magical work of art from Hale.