kevinweitzel44's review against another edition
4.0
This book hurt a lot. I will miss my Prophet bbs. Also can we discuss how queer love is both the conflict and resolution of this story? We love to see it.
debchan's review against another edition
2.0
i'm upset. i read my review for book 2 and i could see my excitement for this book and what was to come. as soon as i opened this book, though, i could only turn page after page in disappointment.
there was plot i will say. not the best since it is very repetitive and you could predict what would happen, but pool's world is one of my favorites in fantasy. the ancient aspect with cults, magic, and secret orders made me fall in love with the idea of this series. there were great characters with such potential but i think my main issue with this series is that it focused way too much on a certain pair of characters (who, admittedly, i loved at first, but soon grow to dislike more and more).
also there were so many POVs which was fun i guess, but i only really connected with 3 characters this way.
ephyra: my favorite character. she is such a great character and i have loved her perspective, her background, her drive, and her personality ever since book 1. as the pale hand, she is a fearsome and vicious assassin, murdering people without a second thought if it will save beru. in this book, she must reconcile with how far she will go to protect her sister and what that will mean when she learns to let go. she also grows closer with ilya. i was unsure of this romance in book 2 but now i adore these two so much. they are essentially two scheming, powerful, and funny individuals who circle each other like sharks and eventually allow themselves to be vulnerable around each other. ephyra may not be a good person, but she will do the right thing in the end and her love could make or break worlds.
beru: another favorite. beru has a god trapped within herself and she struggles every day to keep that god contained. again and again, she shows her constant strength to protect her friends and try to keep the world safe even if it means losing herself. her guilt over what ephyra has done to keep her alive may finally catch up to her, and that also means confronting and confiding in hector. their relationship (was it romance? i think so) was also strange at first, but i have grown to love it. bound together in spirit (esha) hector is the only one (along with ephyra) who can pull her back and ground her. beru's ending was so fitting and i enjoyed how pool
ilya: he probably shouldn't be next but he was in my top 3 favorite characters. this sneaky, tricky, and devious man was not important in my eyes. however, he shone in this book. he tries to get the others to trust him, to help ephyra and beru, and to win back anton. he was really funny actually and i absolutely love him and ephyra.
hector: sir paladin, oathbreaker. hector wasn't incredibly important but he remained a constant form of support for beru and i appreciate that.
jude: this guy. i liked him in book 1. i loved him in book 2. i think i despised him in book 3. i understand his whole deal is to follow the prophet and do his job as a serious paladin who is also desperately in love with the prophet, but to be honest? he was super annoying. i've never wanted to punch a fictional character more in the face than jude. i know he's an incredible fighter which i should love because his literal "title" is swordsman but his personality rubbed me the wrong way. i feel like maybe his entire personality shouldn't be centered around a love interest and his hyperfocused duty to said love interest but oh well. the only scene i enjoyed with jude was when he laughed with hector but that lasted 2 seconds because anton interrupted it. so yeah, i have a lot of thoughts about jude and now he's a character i just cannot stand.
anton: another character i cannot stand. just like jude, i understand them. their actions make sense, but i still cannot bring myself to like them. honestly, abandoning his duty to save the world for a single man seems selfish. i guess that's love for you. he was also extremely protective of jude which could be considered cute i think but it grated on me like an annoying child. also, maybe what illya did was too horrible for anyone to forgive and he was a really bad older brother but also? i'm not sure they acted like siblings at all. in my experience, when my sibling does something really horrible i feel betrayed and furious but that fades in about an hour (even over and over) because that's how siblings work. (forgive me if i have forgotten all the things illya did to anton. i will also add that i liked their reconciliation). but it's fine. i just feel like anton sometimes doesn't act like a person and he kinda has no personality.
anton and jude: i reviewed their relationship in the last book and deemed it as something i didn't like. now? my feelings have increased and i cannot read their names on the page without internally rolling my eyes. my first issue is that there is no reason why they are in love. pool tells us that they are in love but when they're together, they mostly kiss or fight. jude's deep-rooted devotion to the prophet is also strange since he claims that their love is pure but like man was probably so in love with the thought of anton that he just fell in love when he felt anton's esha. likewise, anton seems to love jude because of his personality but unfortunately he really has no personality besides being stubborn and devoted. (it is brought up that besides hector jude will only laugh around anton, but pool never gives us an example of why anton is so funny. it's like she just wants to let us know that anton is the only one who can make jude laugh hmm.) moving on, i said they mostly kiss or fight. the amount of times their "screen time" is just them fighting about lying to each other and who protects who which just dissolves into them kissing to make up is crazy. it's not interesting, it's frustrating. they lie to each other so much to protect each other that it made me a bit angry. there's another spoilery-y reason i did not like them:
suffice to say, i did not enjoy reading anton, jude, or anton/jude. honestly, every time i saw their names on the page, i tried to read faster.
hassan: again, a boring prince but i liked hassan. although i forgot about him usually, i liked his idea of duty for his people way more than jude's idea. hassan fights hard and well for his beliefs and his kindness is what makes him such an interesting character. he really tries and that's more than what anyone else (except beru and illya) can say. plus hassan/khepri? power couple.
khepri: powerful, insane, capable. i was excited when she almost sliced jude in half but stopped herself just in time (sure, maybe i wanted her to finish the job). i liked her friendship with beru and how her chatter could drown out beur's god and keep her focused. khepri is also such a beautiful name. i didn't think much of her in book 2 but the way she stepped up to save the world when needed made me love her. (again, it's more than what jude/anton are capable of).
the wanderer: cannot say much without spoilers, but i love how she was a mother figure to anton. her backstory was refreshing and gave so much to the world in general and it made all the details click into place.
pallas: yeah i added pallas because he was more interesting than anton and jude combined. you also cannot keep mentioning his bright blue eyes and not have me be interested. this man was always a step ahead and planned/manipulated extremely well for someone whom the author needed to set up for failure. am i upset that he was a bad guy? yes. i want a whole mini story about his life and his eyes. oops.
so overall, the plot was interesting enough that i turned the pages, but it lowkey was SUPER repetitive and predictable. it ended ok, everything wrapped up with a nice bow as if the world is semi perfect now. the individual characters kept me going: ephyra, beru, illya, hector, khepri, hassan, even PALLAS. i would've rather read about pallas than anton or jude.
while this series started out strong, it trickled down into the last installment which was boring and made me angry in the end. it could be my fault that i disliked anton/jude since i know so many others gush about them, but really they made me not want to finish the series. i think i may be the only one who feels this way about them and this book, so i actually really recommend this series to most people!
there was plot i will say. not the best since it is very repetitive and you could predict what would happen, but pool's world is one of my favorites in fantasy. the ancient aspect with cults, magic, and secret orders made me fall in love with the idea of this series. there were great characters with such potential but i think my main issue with this series is that it focused way too much on a certain pair of characters (who, admittedly, i loved at first, but soon grow to dislike more and more).
also there were so many POVs which was fun i guess, but i only really connected with 3 characters this way.
ephyra: my favorite character. she is such a great character and i have loved her perspective, her background, her drive, and her personality ever since book 1. as the pale hand, she is a fearsome and vicious assassin, murdering people without a second thought if it will save beru. in this book, she must reconcile with how far she will go to protect her sister and what that will mean when she learns to let go. she also grows closer with ilya. i was unsure of this romance in book 2 but now i adore these two so much. they are essentially two scheming, powerful, and funny individuals who circle each other like sharks and eventually allow themselves to be vulnerable around each other. ephyra may not be a good person, but she will do the right thing in the end and her love could make or break worlds.
beru: another favorite. beru has a god trapped within herself and she struggles every day to keep that god contained. again and again, she shows her constant strength to protect her friends and try to keep the world safe even if it means losing herself. her guilt over what ephyra has done to keep her alive may finally catch up to her, and that also means confronting and confiding in hector. their relationship (was it romance? i think so) was also strange at first, but i have grown to love it. bound together in spirit (esha) hector is the only one (along with ephyra) who can pull her back and ground her. beru's ending was so fitting and i enjoyed how pool
Spoiler
stitched beru and the god together. she took beru's humanity and the god's power and made an uber goddess. i also thought it was interesting how she revealed the god's love for his people even as they betrayed him over and over again. throughout that, he still loved them and no matter how much destruction he caused and how much he lied to himself that he hated them, beru saw through that and joined with him to save humanity.ilya: he probably shouldn't be next but he was in my top 3 favorite characters. this sneaky, tricky, and devious man was not important in my eyes. however, he shone in this book. he tries to get the others to trust him, to help ephyra and beru, and to win back anton. he was really funny actually and i absolutely love him and ephyra.
hector: sir paladin, oathbreaker. hector wasn't incredibly important but he remained a constant form of support for beru and i appreciate that.
Spoiler
he did NOT have to die. if hassan survived, i feel like beru goddess could revive the literal man who saved her life so many times. it seems like pool wanted to pull a crooked kingdom and kill a character to leave readers emotionally wrecked. he did not have to die i repeat he did not have to die(especially when she could've killed off jude and made most readers even more sad)jude: this guy. i liked him in book 1. i loved him in book 2. i think i despised him in book 3. i understand his whole deal is to follow the prophet and do his job as a serious paladin who is also desperately in love with the prophet, but to be honest? he was super annoying. i've never wanted to punch a fictional character more in the face than jude. i know he's an incredible fighter which i should love because his literal "title" is swordsman but his personality rubbed me the wrong way. i feel like maybe his entire personality shouldn't be centered around a love interest and his hyperfocused duty to said love interest but oh well. the only scene i enjoyed with jude was when he laughed with hector but that lasted 2 seconds because anton interrupted it. so yeah, i have a lot of thoughts about jude and now he's a character i just cannot stand.
anton: another character i cannot stand. just like jude, i understand them. their actions make sense, but i still cannot bring myself to like them. honestly, abandoning his duty to save the world for a single man seems selfish. i guess that's love for you. he was also extremely protective of jude which could be considered cute i think but it grated on me like an annoying child. also, maybe what illya did was too horrible for anyone to forgive and he was a really bad older brother but also? i'm not sure they acted like siblings at all. in my experience, when my sibling does something really horrible i feel betrayed and furious but that fades in about an hour (even over and over) because that's how siblings work. (forgive me if i have forgotten all the things illya did to anton. i will also add that i liked their reconciliation). but it's fine. i just feel like anton sometimes doesn't act like a person and he kinda has no personality.
anton and jude: i reviewed their relationship in the last book and deemed it as something i didn't like. now? my feelings have increased and i cannot read their names on the page without internally rolling my eyes. my first issue is that there is no reason why they are in love. pool tells us that they are in love but when they're together, they mostly kiss or fight. jude's deep-rooted devotion to the prophet is also strange since he claims that their love is pure but like man was probably so in love with the thought of anton that he just fell in love when he felt anton's esha. likewise, anton seems to love jude because of his personality but unfortunately he really has no personality besides being stubborn and devoted. (it is brought up that besides hector jude will only laugh around anton, but pool never gives us an example of why anton is so funny. it's like she just wants to let us know that anton is the only one who can make jude laugh hmm.) moving on, i said they mostly kiss or fight. the amount of times their "screen time" is just them fighting about lying to each other and who protects who which just dissolves into them kissing to make up is crazy. it's not interesting, it's frustrating. they lie to each other so much to protect each other that it made me a bit angry. there's another spoilery-y reason i did not like them:
Spoiler
first, when anton revealed the big secret that jude had to die to save the world, i was thrilled. i probably would have liked them much more if anton had to watch as jude sacrificed himself to save the world since the character development potential that could bring to anton AND jude would be fun. jude would have to deal with his duty issues and whether that would be more important that his own happiness. i was not thrilled when he said that he wanted to live and that what the prophets planned for him didn't matter. (i was like but hector said that his duty meant everything to him). on the other hand, anton would have to deal with loss in a way that would tear him apart and force himself to reconcile what saving the world vs. your love means. but we didn't get that because very sadly jude failed to unleash his secret weapon and die. and even more wild, this happens twice. anton is SO close to killing jude but then it stops and he lives. anyways, going off of that, i do not like how anton hid that from jude in the first place. of course i understand, but it is not anton's place to decide whether jude should die or not. when it is revealed, jude is shocked and anton places SUCH a heavy emphasis on the fact that jude should have the option himself. jude must decide and anton's opinion should have no say. (but it defeats the point since anton hid the truth anyway, which just means that jude knows anton doesn't want him to choose to die). also don't like how anton uses jude's desire for kissing to distract him from the truth. that seems quite manipulative actually (when they both know that jude cannot resist anton's kisses). BUT it's not even all of it. later, jude lies to anton about choosing to die because he KNOWS that anton will say "don't do it" and that jude will follow those orders. that goes directly against what anton claims, which is to let JUDE CHOSE, and even jude knows that he will not be able to resist anton no matter what. the situation made me uncomfortable. that may be hard to read, sorry. there's too many thoughts bouncing in my head and it's hard to explain it.suffice to say, i did not enjoy reading anton, jude, or anton/jude. honestly, every time i saw their names on the page, i tried to read faster.
hassan: again, a boring prince but i liked hassan. although i forgot about him usually, i liked his idea of duty for his people way more than jude's idea. hassan fights hard and well for his beliefs and his kindness is what makes him such an interesting character. he really tries and that's more than what anyone else (except beru and illya) can say. plus hassan/khepri? power couple.
khepri: powerful, insane, capable. i was excited when she almost sliced jude in half but stopped herself just in time (sure, maybe i wanted her to finish the job). i liked her friendship with beru and how her chatter could drown out beur's god and keep her focused. khepri is also such a beautiful name. i didn't think much of her in book 2 but the way she stepped up to save the world when needed made me love her. (again, it's more than what jude/anton are capable of).
the wanderer: cannot say much without spoilers, but i love how she was a mother figure to anton. her backstory was refreshing and gave so much to the world in general and it made all the details click into place.
pallas: yeah i added pallas because he was more interesting than anton and jude combined. you also cannot keep mentioning his bright blue eyes and not have me be interested. this man was always a step ahead and planned/manipulated extremely well for someone whom the author needed to set up for failure. am i upset that he was a bad guy? yes. i want a whole mini story about his life and his eyes. oops.
so overall, the plot was interesting enough that i turned the pages, but it lowkey was SUPER repetitive and predictable. it ended ok, everything wrapped up with a nice bow as if the world is semi perfect now. the individual characters kept me going: ephyra, beru, illya, hector, khepri, hassan, even PALLAS. i would've rather read about pallas than anton or jude.
while this series started out strong, it trickled down into the last installment which was boring and made me angry in the end. it could be my fault that i disliked anton/jude since i know so many others gush about them, but really they made me not want to finish the series. i think i may be the only one who feels this way about them and this book, so i actually really recommend this series to most people!
booksbyeddie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
cscaleb_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
mora55's review against another edition
5.0
--8 Oct 2022
there are some really good things i love in this book and it's really well-written (this whole series is) - the others just happen to be even better, and there were a few choices in this one i personally wasn't a fan of moreso than in the prior books. still 10/10 conclusion, would recommend
i don't remember who i thought the stars of each book were the first time i read them all (okay i checked, my first read of book 2 i said jude and ephyra, and i remember in book 1 i thought specifically that hassan was not) but this second read of book 3 the stars were ephyra and beru for sure. i was annoyed with all the jude/anton stuff in this one (even though i loved them in book 2) and felt katy rose pool could have done wayyyy more with the tangles of choice and the way they were tied together and obligation to protect and serve etc and less with the excessive romantic stuff (repetitive, unnecessary, distracting).
--28 Oct 2021
SCREAMING
---
pls i cannot do this i cannot handle this wait it's 3am and i just finished book 2 and i'm aaaah
there are some really good things i love in this book and it's really well-written (this whole series is) - the others just happen to be even better, and there were a few choices in this one i personally wasn't a fan of moreso than in the prior books. still 10/10 conclusion, would recommend
i don't remember who i thought the stars of each book were the first time i read them all (okay i checked, my first read of book 2 i said jude and ephyra, and i remember in book 1 i thought specifically that hassan was not) but this second read of book 3 the stars were ephyra and beru for sure. i was annoyed with all the jude/anton stuff in this one (even though i loved them in book 2) and felt katy rose pool could have done wayyyy more with the tangles of choice and the way they were tied together and obligation to protect and serve etc and less with the excessive romantic stuff (repetitive, unnecessary, distracting).
--28 Oct 2021
SCREAMING
---
pls i cannot do this i cannot handle this wait it's 3am and i just finished book 2 and i'm aaaah
ellasnook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
The ending disappointed me a bit, but that’s just personal opinion. Otherwise this book had me feeling every emotion under the sun omg.
kellysbookverse's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
3.75
jpmeyer739's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
asiia95's review against another edition
5.0
Ця трилогія починалась як звичайне просте пригодницьке фентезі. Хто ж знав, що маскувалось під обкладинкою всіх трьох книг?
Спочатку істоіря мені не дуже сподобалась, не затягнула в свої пути. Я б сказала, що було цікаво. Гарні пригоди, яскраві персонажі, їх доля та вибір, які вони роблять, аби досягнути. Це все було цікаво, але дещо звичайно. Принц, королівство якого захопили. Гравець, який тікає від брата та від долі. Безжальна вбивця, яка зробить все заради своєї мети. Лідер паладинів, який розривається між обов’язком і серцем. Вмираюча дівчинка, яка хоче здатися. Пятеро таких несхожих, таких різних людей цей світ зводить, повязує між собою.
Стало цікавіше, коли всі герої були представлені, всі ігрові фішки на своїх місцях. Перші перемоги та перші поразки. Все почалось. Світ показав, що окрім цих пятьох є ще люди, які тісно повязані з ними. Є люди, які стануть їх ворогами і друзями. Є люди, які переслідують свої цілі та мають мотиви. Не всі з них хочуть врятувати світ, але всі хочуть досягнути своєї мети.
Відносини між героями розвиваються. Будуються альянси та стратегії, зароджується дружба та кохання. Дрібка ненависті та презирства, ревнощів та суперечностей. Це все горнило другої книги, яке переплавляє герої.
Не можу сказати, що в першій чи на початку другої книги мені були одинаково цікаві всі персонажі, але згодом - о, так! Вони відкриваилсь з нових сторін. Показували, на що здатні, які в них емоції, мотивація. Це все прописано ну дуже гарно. Я вірила кожному вчинку, кожній події. Слову. Емоції.
Третя книга, завершальна, і вона показує, наскільки ці різноманітні герої схожі. Що втрата дорогої людини однаково болюча, що для паладина, що для вбивці. Що дружба можлива між такими різними людьми. Що вибори, які ми робимо приводять нас до тих людей, які розумітимуть та підтримуватимуть. Що розмови по душам можливі в будь-якій комбінації і почас важливо почути якісь слова від здавалось би випадкової людини. Найбільше в третій книзі мене вразило якраз те, наскільки герої схожі в своїх прагненнях та проблемах. Якщо порівняти з того, як все починалось до того, як воно прийшло стане зрозуміло, наскільки пригоди та небезпеки змінили деяких людей, а іншим домогли відкрити в собі ті якості, про які вони бажали б забути. Наскільки люди насправді глибинно схожі.
Це класна серія. Залишилась в захваті від неї. Від пригод, від стилю автора, від сюжету, але найбільше від людей, які пройшли шлях, написаний автором. Як вони змінились і як залишились собою.
Спочатку істоіря мені не дуже сподобалась, не затягнула в свої пути. Я б сказала, що було цікаво. Гарні пригоди, яскраві персонажі, їх доля та вибір, які вони роблять, аби досягнути. Це все було цікаво, але дещо звичайно. Принц, королівство якого захопили. Гравець, який тікає від брата та від долі. Безжальна вбивця, яка зробить все заради своєї мети. Лідер паладинів, який розривається між обов’язком і серцем. Вмираюча дівчинка, яка хоче здатися. Пятеро таких несхожих, таких різних людей цей світ зводить, повязує між собою.
Стало цікавіше, коли всі герої були представлені, всі ігрові фішки на своїх місцях. Перші перемоги та перші поразки. Все почалось. Світ показав, що окрім цих пятьох є ще люди, які тісно повязані з ними. Є люди, які стануть їх ворогами і друзями. Є люди, які переслідують свої цілі та мають мотиви. Не всі з них хочуть врятувати світ, але всі хочуть досягнути своєї мети.
Відносини між героями розвиваються. Будуються альянси та стратегії, зароджується дружба та кохання. Дрібка ненависті та презирства, ревнощів та суперечностей. Це все горнило другої книги, яке переплавляє герої.
Не можу сказати, що в першій чи на початку другої книги мені були одинаково цікаві всі персонажі, але згодом - о, так! Вони відкриваилсь з нових сторін. Показували, на що здатні, які в них емоції, мотивація. Це все прописано ну дуже гарно. Я вірила кожному вчинку, кожній події. Слову. Емоції.
Третя книга, завершальна, і вона показує, наскільки ці різноманітні герої схожі. Що втрата дорогої людини однаково болюча, що для паладина, що для вбивці. Що дружба можлива між такими різними людьми. Що вибори, які ми робимо приводять нас до тих людей, які розумітимуть та підтримуватимуть. Що розмови по душам можливі в будь-якій комбінації і почас важливо почути якісь слова від здавалось би випадкової людини. Найбільше в третій книзі мене вразило якраз те, наскільки герої схожі в своїх прагненнях та проблемах. Якщо порівняти з того, як все починалось до того, як воно прийшло стане зрозуміло, наскільки пригоди та небезпеки змінили деяких людей, а іншим домогли відкрити в собі ті якості, про які вони бажали б забути. Наскільки люди насправді глибинно схожі.
Це класна серія. Залишилась в захваті від неї. Від пригод, від стилю автора, від сюжету, але найбільше від людей, які пройшли шлях, написаний автором. Як вони змінились і як залишились собою.
lisamarie2005's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0