bibliophilicwitch's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-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
If you are down for angsty teens constantly fucking up their relationships and fucking up literal empires but TRYING to their best and figuring shit out - then yeah, this trilogy is a fun, wild ride
sarsev's review
2.0
This series is the only Star Wars knock-off where I've ever actively rooted for the Evil Empire.
wardenred's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I don’t want to die. That’s what all heat-of-the-moment choices come down to, isn’t it?
I remember the first book of this trilogy made me kind of angry when I read it, because the concept of it was right up my alley, but the execution of the concept was just... asdfghjkl, how was I supposed to be on those characters' side at all? And how was I supposed to view their romantic relationship, built entirely out of my most favorite tropes in the world, as something remotely shippable? It was so weird, like a meal made of all my favorite ingredients cooked in an entirely unpalatable manner.
This book is both better and worse and ultimately more of the same. We're now in Gal's POV, and hey, he's exactly as bad and manipulative as I saw him in the first book, except now at least the narrative doesn't seem to make excuses for him and instead highlights his mistakes and flaws. That's good. That's something I'm down for. Give me all the flawed, wrong, villainous protagonists that are explicitly framed as such, show me a clear reason they're like that, throw in a couple of sympathetic traits, and I'm along for the ride!
Unfortunately, with Gal, I didn't get that clear reason. It's like he's like that because his genocidal mom told him that's the way to be, and he hardly learns at all from the experiences he's facing. Every time he watches the Archons do their thing / listens to them speak about their more people-centric approach to governing where the ruler is the servant of their people and not the centerpiece the entire machine of the empire revolves around, he's like, "THAT’S NOT HOW GALACTIC EMPIRES WORK!" (This is a direct quote from his thoughts, by the way. Yes, in all caps. That's how it is in the book). He completely refuses to reflect on the crimes his mother and his empire have committed. He justifies genocide. He literally blames Ettian for letting him think he could be a more peaceful ruler than his mother, because "when I was planning my peaceful reign, I hadn't seen actual war, and Ettian had, so he should have known I would also have to be a tyrant" or some shit like that. He shows so little growth or even just reflection throughout the book, and when he does start swaying the Archons' way, it's because of emotional attachments alone.
What's more, I feel like the author chose a really bad approach to writing a manipulative character. It would have been so much better with an unreliable narrator angle, having Gal keep some cards up his sleeve and only vaguely alluding to his actual goals, making the reader doubt if he's playing Wen/Ettian/someone else or being genuine. Instead, he keeps spelling out his intentions and his methods in his head. "This is what I want to achieve, this is what I'm working with, this is what I'm doing." What's the fun of a manipulative protagonist if never manipulates the reader? :D
To top it all, I just felt like for this part of the overarching story's plot, Gal was the worst possible narrator simply because he's a political prisoner who directly interacts with only a few important players. Yes, he was eventually given reason to walk around more freely and observe stuff he really shouldn't be observing, and it required a few supposedly smart, experienced, battle-hardened characters to make some super dumb choices. But even with the author stocking the cards in his favor like that, he's still not really involved with some of the potentially more interesting parts of the story.
Meanwhile, it seems like from what can be seen of Ettian in this book, he might have actually gone through some of that growth I hoped to see in him in book 1. I wish I could have witnessed it. Also, Wen remains my absolute favorite and will be the sole reason I'll finish the trilogy (what's with that twist at the end, I'm dying to know). I wish I could read this entire story from her POV, because she's the one having all the big, protagonist-worthy crises, dilemmas, actions, and reactions. Come to think of it, she was the most proactive and the most affected on a deeply personal level in the first book, too. Maybe she should have been the protagonist of the entire trilogy.
For some other stuff: the writing here remains solid, the space battles are extremely intense and fun to read, and the plot has some interesting bits but suffers greatly from the pacing. In the first half, very few things happen, then there are a few really rushed sections in the second part. Once again, I attribute the structural problems to having Gal as the sole narrator—perhaps a dual or triple POV would have helped mitigate them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, War, and Violence
Moderate: Genocide
Minor: Medical content
nmarieguidroz's review against another edition
2.0
I’ll start off by saying that the middle books in trilogies tend to always be difficult to get through and this one was no exception.
I tried to read this book on several occasions, each time feeling the need to set it back down and never pick it up again. If it wasn’t for the fact that I very much want to know how this series ends, I would’ve marked this one under “did not finish” without a second thought.
I really wish this could’ve been written through Ettian’s perspective instead of Gal’s. I understand why it was written this way, it’s just that Gal was pretty unlikable in this book; I had a hard time remembering why I liked him in the first place.
The first half was very slow and incredibly frustrating with Gal whining and going back and forth between hating Ettian one second and loving him the next. He was in such a constant loop of repeating himself that I just got tired of recycled thoughts.
The second half of the book did pick up a bit, thankfully.
I did enjoy the final battle very much and it was probably the part I was most invested in.
The ending still felt lackluster to me but I’m still very curious to see where it all goes in the grand finale!
Despite this one being tough to get through, I do love these boys and Wen very much. I’m hoping the third book brings back some of that spark!
I tried to read this book on several occasions, each time feeling the need to set it back down and never pick it up again. If it wasn’t for the fact that I very much want to know how this series ends, I would’ve marked this one under “did not finish” without a second thought.
I really wish this could’ve been written through Ettian’s perspective instead of Gal’s. I understand why it was written this way, it’s just that Gal was pretty unlikable in this book; I had a hard time remembering why I liked him in the first place.
The first half was very slow and incredibly frustrating with Gal whining and going back and forth between hating Ettian one second and loving him the next. He was in such a constant loop of repeating himself that I just got tired of recycled thoughts.
The second half of the book did pick up a bit, thankfully.
I did enjoy the final battle very much and it was probably the part I was most invested in.
The ending still felt lackluster to me but I’m still very curious to see where it all goes in the grand finale!
Despite this one being tough to get through, I do love these boys and Wen very much. I’m hoping the third book brings back some of that spark!
aamna_theinkslinger's review against another edition
4.0
Oaths of Legacy is the much awaited sequel of the amazing sci-fi novel, Bonds of Brass. If you don't know, I absolutely loved that story and I read the sequel the day it came out.
(Find my review for the first book on Goodreads and on my blog- https://aamnarehman.wixsite.com/bookwormsexpress)
In this series, we have two main characters, Gal and Ettian, who are best friends in a military academy in a futuristic, Star-Wars kind of world.
The first book was completely from Ettian's POV, who is basically from a planet that was destroyed and conquered, and an amazing pilot. His best friend Gal, is secretly the heir of the planet Umber, the planet that did the conquering.
The first book ended on a huge cliffhanger. But when I picked up the second book, even though seeing Gal's POV intrigued me, I really did not enjoy it as much as I thought it would.
Even though I really appreciated how well the author differentiated between the voice and perspectives of the two characters, I just loved Ettian's character so much.
I love a morally-grey character, but just the way Ettian cared so much about everyone appealed more to me. I also felt like his POV was just a lot more detail oriented and full of internal conflict.
But overall Oaths of Legacy was a very fun book to read. Apart from the classic space action, there was a lot of scheming and sneaking around and politicking and I liked those elements as well.
I also really appreciated how much more the character of Wren is developed. She has a stronger presence and her importance just gets doubled. This story so ends on a crazy cliffhanger and I'm so excited for the conclusion, Vows of Empire.
(Find my review for the first book on Goodreads and on my blog- https://aamnarehman.wixsite.com/bookwormsexpress)
In this series, we have two main characters, Gal and Ettian, who are best friends in a military academy in a futuristic, Star-Wars kind of world.
The first book was completely from Ettian's POV, who is basically from a planet that was destroyed and conquered, and an amazing pilot. His best friend Gal, is secretly the heir of the planet Umber, the planet that did the conquering.
The first book ended on a huge cliffhanger. But when I picked up the second book, even though seeing Gal's POV intrigued me, I really did not enjoy it as much as I thought it would.
Even though I really appreciated how well the author differentiated between the voice and perspectives of the two characters, I just loved Ettian's character so much.
I love a morally-grey character, but just the way Ettian cared so much about everyone appealed more to me. I also felt like his POV was just a lot more detail oriented and full of internal conflict.
But overall Oaths of Legacy was a very fun book to read. Apart from the classic space action, there was a lot of scheming and sneaking around and politicking and I liked those elements as well.
I also really appreciated how much more the character of Wren is developed. She has a stronger presence and her importance just gets doubled. This story so ends on a crazy cliffhanger and I'm so excited for the conclusion, Vows of Empire.
readwithrhys's review against another edition
5.0
it’s been 3 days since finishing this, and I’ve read 2 books after this, yet I’m still thinking of this god forsaken book and the ending
iafifah's review against another edition
4.25
I love it, I hate it, I need the third book right now.
alex_razor_13's review against another edition
Oh my god the mc is so whiny and unbearable
emilyrpf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
slow-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
4.75
esseastri's review against another edition
5.0
How does one distill the emotions felt upon reading this book into one little review with mere words to describe them?
Listen. This book is intense and gut-wrenching, full to the brim with intrigue and manipulation, intuition and mistakes, impossible choices and magnificent victories. Gal's point of view as the rebellion's prisoner has us deep-diving into resentment, resilience, and the refusal to understand, building up webs of knotted artifice that you the reader know will crumble in the face of friendship and love. Gal's struggles with panic are real and heart-wrenchingly relatable, and his desperate grasps at any kind of control are delicious to watch unfold. The last fifty pages had me literally screaming, and the last 6 pages had me flinging the book across the couch. You thought the emotional whiplash of a cliffhanger at the end of Bonds of Brass was wild? Brace yourself.
I love this book for its space battles and sci-fi hijinks, for its deep look at friendship and love, for the love triangle that is partially platonic and absolutely consuming, for the way it gives a unique perspective on a galactic rebellion. I love this book. I love this book--if possible--more than the first one. I cannot wait to see how much I love the third one.
Listen. This book is intense and gut-wrenching, full to the brim with intrigue and manipulation, intuition and mistakes, impossible choices and magnificent victories. Gal's point of view as the rebellion's prisoner has us deep-diving into resentment, resilience, and the refusal to understand, building up webs of knotted artifice that you the reader know will crumble in the face of friendship and love. Gal's struggles with panic are real and heart-wrenchingly relatable, and his desperate grasps at any kind of control are delicious to watch unfold. The last fifty pages had me literally screaming, and the last 6 pages had me flinging the book across the couch. You thought the emotional whiplash of a cliffhanger at the end of Bonds of Brass was wild? Brace yourself.
I love this book for its space battles and sci-fi hijinks, for its deep look at friendship and love, for the love triangle that is partially platonic and absolutely consuming, for the way it gives a unique perspective on a galactic rebellion. I love this book. I love this book--if possible--more than the first one. I cannot wait to see how much I love the third one.