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colleens_conclusions's review against another edition
4.0
I've decided I will do a series review instead of individual ones since I forgot to review the first one last week.
ashurq's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked the first book in this series (see my review for it here) but in this book I had a really hard time remembering characters from the previous book. I think that may be a sign of having a few too many characters and those characters not being very important. The main characters themselves are fine and pretty well-developed. At the very least, they seem like they probably have depth even if that depth is not explored to the fullest (*ahem* Mr. Kent *ahem*). In the last book I was pretty torn between our main character’s two love interests, but in this book I found myself firmly rooting for one in particular. I won’t name names or spoil whether or not Evelyn ends up with him though. As I said in my previous review, I hate love triangles, but this one was okay. Not GREAT, but okay.
The plot fit together really nicely. I remember from the last book I enjoyed that Evelyn had to stop her investigation every once in a while to participate in society. For some reason that just seemed humorous and realistic to me. In this book, there are still some obligations that Evelyn has to meet, but for the most part the book is focused on the other part of her life. This just means that the book is a little more action-packed and mostly occurs at night. Evelyn as a character was pretty much the same as she was in the first book, but I did feel that she made some really annoying decisions at times. Mostly what I wanted from her was just some transparency. It felt like that was really lacking between characters and that always frustrates me to no end.
The last part of the plot was…interesting. It was unpredicted, I’ll say that. I felt that the first book had this really powerful conclusion that I didn’t necessarily agree with, but appreciated nonetheless. But then this book comes in and basically reverses that really powerful conclusion but then it also has its own huge ending. All of that serves to almost cheapen the ending for me. I feel like the third book is going to come along and be like, “JK we’ve actually found out a way for none of that to have happened.” In the end, I guess we’ll just have to see what the next book has in store.
Overall, I really did like this book. I appreciate that the authors aren’t afraid to make big moves. I like the main cast of characters that we have and as I get to know secondary characters, I start to appreciate them more as well. I would definitely recommend this book for people who are fans of both Jane Austen and X-Men.
Overall Rating: 4
Language: Mild
Violence: Moderate
Smoking/Drinking: Mild
Sexual Content: Mild
Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The plot fit together really nicely. I remember from the last book I enjoyed that Evelyn had to stop her investigation every once in a while to participate in society. For some reason that just seemed humorous and realistic to me. In this book, there are still some obligations that Evelyn has to meet, but for the most part the book is focused on the other part of her life. This just means that the book is a little more action-packed and mostly occurs at night. Evelyn as a character was pretty much the same as she was in the first book, but I did feel that she made some really annoying decisions at times. Mostly what I wanted from her was just some transparency. It felt like that was really lacking between characters and that always frustrates me to no end.
The last part of the plot was…interesting. It was unpredicted, I’ll say that. I felt that the first book had this really powerful conclusion that I didn’t necessarily agree with, but appreciated nonetheless. But then this book comes in and basically reverses that really powerful conclusion but then it also has its own huge ending. All of that serves to almost cheapen the ending for me. I feel like the third book is going to come along and be like, “JK we’ve actually found out a way for none of that to have happened.” In the end, I guess we’ll just have to see what the next book has in store.
Overall, I really did like this book. I appreciate that the authors aren’t afraid to make big moves. I like the main cast of characters that we have and as I get to know secondary characters, I start to appreciate them more as well. I would definitely recommend this book for people who are fans of both Jane Austen and X-Men.
Overall Rating: 4
Language: Mild
Violence: Moderate
Smoking/Drinking: Mild
Sexual Content: Mild
Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
sashapasha's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
What I liked:
- The authors pulled out all the stops at the end. Not something many YA authors are willing to do.
- Mr. Kent! (TEAM KENT ALL THE WAY)
- Lord Atherton is a great character. No really! His very two-dimensionalness makes him three-dimensional. What a great irony!
What I didn't like:
- Evelyn's attachment to Sebastian. Just, why??? He was so broody and had absolutely no personality besides guilt and self-loathing and goody-goody-ness. Meanwhile, Mr. Kent is right there, being hilarious and brilliant and incorrigible and entertaining and steadfast and loyal af....
- How see-through the plot was. The book almost seemed designed to make you guess who was behind the villainy within the first quarter.
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Soundtrack:
- More Red Than Alive - Michael Giacchino (War for the Planet of the Apes)
- End Titles (Dunkirk) - Hans Zimmer and co. (Dunkirk)
- The City of 1000 Planets - Alexandre Desplat (Valerian)
- We Are All To Blame - Rupert Gregson-Williams (Wonder Woman) [fits the ending, both musically and title-wise lol]
Some bonus Kent deliciousness:
Sigh. Isn't he fantabulous?
What I liked:
- The authors pulled out all the stops at the end. Not something many YA authors are willing to do.
- Mr. Kent! (TEAM KENT ALL THE WAY)
- Lord Atherton is a great character. No really! His very two-dimensionalness makes him three-dimensional. What a great irony!
Spoiler
I particularly enjoyed Evelyn's suspicion that no one could possibly be that boring so it must be a front, as well as the reveal of his most shameful and darkest secrets. Dying, lol.What I didn't like:
- Evelyn's attachment to Sebastian. Just, why??? He was so broody and had absolutely no personality besides guilt and self-loathing and goody-goody-ness. Meanwhile, Mr. Kent is right there, being hilarious and brilliant and incorrigible and entertaining and steadfast and loyal af....
- How see-through the plot was. The book almost seemed designed to make you guess who was behind the villainy within the first quarter.
-
Spoiler
Having Evelyn and Co. not consider the possibility that the villain could have been a woman. Considering how large a topic feminism has been over the last several decades, exaggerating how the characters overlooked the possibility of a woman being in charge just felt trite and seemed like a shallow plot device.-
Spoiler
When Evelyn found out Mr. Goode could turn off their powers right after she'd had Mr. Kent question him, she never once considered he could have just turned off Mr. Kent's power during the interview and been lying to them about everything. Literally bothered me for the entire book.-
Spoiler
The ending scene between Evelyn and Sebastian, right after they'd collectively killed everyone. Like, come on, he doesn't once think of blaming her for not just going to him and negating his power in the ballroom? If he's so distraught, shouldn't he be lashing out at anyone and anything to try to alleviate the pain? I was hoping for a little more conflict over her decisions. The ballroom scene was painful to read, considering that Rose is a very weak character (therefore I don't empathize with Evelyn's obsession with her) and I was hoping that Evelyn would make the choice to do the right thing and save the people in the ballroom, rather than selfishly saving only her sister. But I think it would be interesting if it's revealed in the next book that Evelyn was compelled by her sister's power to choose her over the hundred+ people that died. Sidenote, I don't understand why Sebastian just stood there when he realized that everyone was dying. Why didn't he run or jump out the window or stab himself, anything to make it stop? And another sidenote, he is so miserable and hates himself so much and Evelyn just let him kill so many people, wouldn't it be more of a mercy for everyone if she'd just let him die? Not only a mercy, but by allowing him to die--by letting go of the man she loves--she would be simultaneously punishing herself for her part in the atrocity. Sort of makes sense to me, in terms of emotion-logic. Unfortunately, I think Sebastian has too much plot capital in the next book for the authors to be willing to kill him.Soundtrack:
- More Red Than Alive - Michael Giacchino (War for the Planet of the Apes)
- End Titles (Dunkirk) - Hans Zimmer and co. (Dunkirk)
- The City of 1000 Planets - Alexandre Desplat (Valerian)
- We Are All To Blame - Rupert Gregson-Williams (Wonder Woman) [fits the ending, both musically and title-wise lol]
Some bonus Kent deliciousness:
He shrugged innocently. “Let’s just say … that I’ve been … in a sense … blackmailing key members of London society and editors of the scandal sheets into preserving your reputation.”
I gaped at him.
“And by ‘in a sense,’ I mean that’s exactly what happened.” He smiled broadly at the room.
“You—you’re serious?” I found myself half gasping the words but also not finding it terribly hard to believe. Mr. Kent never hid his worse qualities.
Mr. Kent nodded soberly. “I have. Before I met you, I went to brothels, gambling halls, scandalous music halls, all sorts of indecent places.”
“And let me guess, ever since you met me, you’ve changed?”
He shook his head. “No, I just want to do these indecent things with you.
Spoiler
Mr. Kent was throwing them open, calling down each in turn.
“Lady Atherton, have you gone this way?”
“Yes” was the distant reply at the third door.
“Oh, splendid, thank you.
Sigh. Isn't he fantabulous?
hurrikanekathrina's review against another edition
4.0
8 out of 10 stars
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy, Historical
Series: These Viscious Masks
Mild spoilers below!
“You want to help Britain? Then take from Egypt. You want to heal someone? Then you leave someone else in pain, waiting. ”
Woowza, that was so good! I truly regret the long waiting time between reading the first and now the second book, as I couldn't remember everything from These Viscious Masks.
But I'm pretty sure that I like this book even more than the first one! The writing style felt much more improved, the dialogues were witty and the plot more fast-paced and action-packed. And well, X-Men meets 19th century London? Oh boy, call me in!
I'm a sucker for stories featuring people with extraordinary powers, and what I particularly like about this trilogy is that many characters have very uncommon super powers. Whereas in most superhero stories you will get your typical range of superstrenght, inhuman speed, or invulnerability, this series deals with powers like harming everyone around you, or making everyone around you fall in love with you (I find it particularly interesting how that one is actually more a curse than a blessing.)
Also, of course, Mr. Kent's power to force everyone to answer him truthfully to a question. It makes for a lot of funny dialogues, but is also incredibly useful in ways that I wouldn't have thought of.
The characters also grew a lot more on me, especially Mr. Kent. While I do like Sebastian Braddock, I can't understand how anyone could possibly choose him over Mr. Kent (and I say that as a fan of brooding, mysterious characters.) I don't remember a lot of their interactions in the first book, but in the second one I just didn't feel any chemistry between Evelyn or Sebastian during their rare encounters. And though I like Evelyn as a main character, I was mildly annoyed by how she kept stalling Mr. Kent though she knew on the inside that she had no romantic feelings for him. Though she at least came clean with him when he directly confronted her about it. (Side note: Big plus for not making Mr. Kent the never-ending love triangle third wheel, who just doesn't stop being so in love with the main character despite him - and the readers - knowing that he will never be endgame. There is seriously so much of those characters in YA and it always annoyed me how these characters never could move on and find someone else. So I was more than pleasantly surprised when he said that he wouldn't continue to pursue someone who didn't love him back and that he deserved someone who loved him for who he is - you don't find that in many YA books.)
And for the ending. Oh my god, I did not see that coming. I won't spoil too much, but I was shocked by how quickly things turned catastrophic. I can't believe how many important characters died within the matter of half a page. I wish we could have read a bit more about the aftermath, but that's what the third book is for, right? I will definitely continue reading this series and hope that the third book will be just as entertaining and great as the first two.
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy, Historical
Series: These Viscious Masks
Mild spoilers below!
“You want to help Britain? Then take from Egypt. You want to heal someone? Then you leave someone else in pain, waiting. ”
Woowza, that was so good! I truly regret the long waiting time between reading the first and now the second book, as I couldn't remember everything from These Viscious Masks.
But I'm pretty sure that I like this book even more than the first one! The writing style felt much more improved, the dialogues were witty and the plot more fast-paced and action-packed. And well, X-Men meets 19th century London? Oh boy, call me in!
I'm a sucker for stories featuring people with extraordinary powers, and what I particularly like about this trilogy is that many characters have very uncommon super powers. Whereas in most superhero stories you will get your typical range of superstrenght, inhuman speed, or invulnerability, this series deals with powers like harming everyone around you, or making everyone around you fall in love with you (I find it particularly interesting how that one is actually more a curse than a blessing.)
Also, of course, Mr. Kent's power to force everyone to answer him truthfully to a question. It makes for a lot of funny dialogues, but is also incredibly useful in ways that I wouldn't have thought of.
The characters also grew a lot more on me, especially Mr. Kent. While I do like Sebastian Braddock, I can't understand how anyone could possibly choose him over Mr. Kent (and I say that as a fan of brooding, mysterious characters.) I don't remember a lot of their interactions in the first book, but in the second one I just didn't feel any chemistry between Evelyn or Sebastian during their rare encounters. And though I like Evelyn as a main character, I was mildly annoyed by how she kept stalling Mr. Kent though she knew on the inside that she had no romantic feelings for him. Though she at least came clean with him when he directly confronted her about it. (Side note: Big plus for not making Mr. Kent the never-ending love triangle third wheel, who just doesn't stop being so in love with the main character despite him - and the readers - knowing that he will never be endgame. There is seriously so much of those characters in YA and it always annoyed me how these characters never could move on and find someone else. So I was more than pleasantly surprised when he said that he wouldn't continue to pursue someone who didn't love him back and that he deserved someone who loved him for who he is - you don't find that in many YA books.)
And for the ending. Oh my god, I did not see that coming. I won't spoil too much, but I was shocked by how quickly things turned catastrophic. I can't believe how many important characters died within the matter of half a page. I wish we could have read a bit more about the aftermath, but that's what the third book is for, right? I will definitely continue reading this series and hope that the third book will be just as entertaining and great as the first two.
sklus's review against another edition
5.0
The second book was better than the first, but the same commentary still holds. I adore the world, the characters, the time period, the writing, and the twists and turns (though I called this ending). I hope there's another book in the series, but it was also at a good place to end.
literary_chaos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
krrrllllbooklover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.0
Why did it end like that…
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
4.5/5
Oh my gosh! I- this- this was so much better then the first book! I loved the adventure and the action! The plot itself reminded me of X men which I loved so much. I can’t wait to read the next book!
Oh my gosh! I- this- this was so much better then the first book! I loved the adventure and the action! The plot itself reminded me of X men which I loved so much. I can’t wait to read the next book!
marjogal's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
While I enjoyed the underlying premise of this series, I find the main characters to be naive and impulsive when making decisions. I wanted to just grab them and shake them sometimes when they were astounded that their assumptions were wrong or their plans didn't work out.