Reviews

This was a great follow-up to The First Sister, expanding the world, deepening our understanding of the characters, and escalating the tensions across the board. The action and emotion are both great, and really well-paced and delivered. There is maybe less intrigue than the first novel, now that the goals and missions of all of our point-of-view characters more or less align, and now that we have lived with them and their secrets for a bit. Yet there are still a few new, interesting characters and ideas introduced, and new things to discover even with those who we have become familiar, so it didn't feel like the novel was missing anything, just maturing into something different than its predecessor (which should generally be expected of the second book in a trilogy, it has a different narrative function than the first novel).

This is an un-apologetically queer and progressive story, which is exciting and damned refreshing. It doesn't shy away from a central idea of freedom for all from all types of oppression and marginalization, making an unambiguous stand regarding class, race, and gender politics, among other types of societal expectations and assumptions. It does, sometimes, wear its heart on its sleeve. The representations of gender, sexuality, and what it means and looks like for members of the oppressor class/group to fight to liberate the oppressed are abundant, and while not preachy they are often in-your-face. Sometimes, however, the characters' own language about them can feel clunky and forced. That said, it was never a distraction, and never a break with the experience of the characters' internal motivations or principles. I would far prefer to a novel normalizing these ideals, even with occasional clunky language, than one that ignores them.

It is clear this is a transitional novel. What I mean by that is it is clearly fulfilling the role of the second in a trilogy, where, although giving us some satisfying conclusions to story lines, it is positioning characters for the greater conflict that will need to be resolved in the final installment in the trilogy. It never feels plodding or perfunctory, though. Every character gets growth or development and draws you in to care about them, and the various plots intersect and overlap in satisfying ways that don't feel contrived. Even when you get the feeling these are chess pieces being put into position to prepare for what will be coming later it is still exciting and compelling, and I can't wait for the final book in the series!

oceanatthesky's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

andreweaver88's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

nikkiblack17's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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