ribsgd's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
ajlawford's review against another edition
4.0
I have an powerful sense of relief at having finally finished this book. It has taken me most of the month and I have started and finished 9 other books in the same timeframe! This is not to say the book is bad, but it sure is dense! It’s only 430 pages, but there are no page breaks for chapters, with small font, big pages and small margins. I’d be interested to compare the word count as there is an awful lot of content. I had given myself a 20 page per day reading task just to force my way though but then I had to switch to the audio version throughout the middle as my attention kept wandering.
As with my main complaint of the first book, the pacing of this one is very slow to start and really doesn’t get going until halfway in. There are two timelines, which eventually merge and I found it really interrupted the flow switching between the two. I was glad when they joined up. Also one timeline was entirely in italics and it was very annoying to read. Things really pick up when she finally gets to the arena with things all leading up to the final battle which felt quite rushed.
There was a female female sex scene in this, that I thought maybe was a bit pornographic and not overly good representation considering the author is male. I happened to be listening to this scene on audiobook when I was walking into the hospital to go to an appointment. I felt super conspicuous in the elevator, nervously checking that my headphones were actually plugged in and I wasn’t on loud speaker haha
I was a little sad to give up the scenery of the assassin school. But I did find the arena to be a cool setting I’ve not read any fiction about before. We are introduced to a whole new set of characters, whom I didn’t relate to as much as book 1, and Ashlynn is still dead to me. Fuck that bitch, forever!
I’d heard that this book ends on a MASSIVE cliffhanger. So I’ve timed my read to be close to the release of the third book. I had an idea of what the cliffhanger would be, so I wasn’t not left shocked and angry as others seem to be. I actually thought the end was great. Resolved some things but left open some threads for the finale. And there was one final jaw dropping reveal that has left me begging to read the next book, even though my opinion of this series is mixed. I’d say that’s a very successful way to end a book!
Overall a challenging and complex read about a unique and interesting story of one kick ass protagonist.
As with my main complaint of the first book, the pacing of this one is very slow to start and really doesn’t get going until halfway in. There are two timelines, which eventually merge and I found it really interrupted the flow switching between the two. I was glad when they joined up. Also one timeline was entirely in italics and it was very annoying to read. Things really pick up when she finally gets to the arena with things all leading up to the final battle which felt quite rushed.
There was a female female sex scene in this, that I thought maybe was a bit pornographic and not overly good representation considering the author is male. I happened to be listening to this scene on audiobook when I was walking into the hospital to go to an appointment. I felt super conspicuous in the elevator, nervously checking that my headphones were actually plugged in and I wasn’t on loud speaker haha
I was a little sad to give up the scenery of the assassin school. But I did find the arena to be a cool setting I’ve not read any fiction about before. We are introduced to a whole new set of characters, whom I didn’t relate to as much as book 1, and Ashlynn is still dead to me. Fuck that bitch, forever!
I’d heard that this book ends on a MASSIVE cliffhanger. So I’ve timed my read to be close to the release of the third book. I had an idea of what the cliffhanger would be, so I wasn’t not left shocked and angry as others seem to be. I actually thought the end was great. Resolved some things but left open some threads for the finale. And there was one final jaw dropping reveal that has left me begging to read the next book, even though my opinion of this series is mixed. I’d say that’s a very successful way to end a book!
Overall a challenging and complex read about a unique and interesting story of one kick ass protagonist.
ajlawford's review against another edition
4.0
Firstly, this review will not spoil Darkdawn but will spoil the first two books, so reader beware..
My history with this series has been turbulent. I found the start of the first two books to be really slow but I really liked the ends and ended up giving four stars. This book is the opposite. I really loved the first part, but the last half was really average, and once again I’m giving four stars. But I’m not as satisfied because I’d much rather a slow start than a shitty end.
I did listen to this on audiobook, and it was just shy of 22 hours. That’s a long time to pay close attention to a fantasy book. Normally I don’t have much problem but parts of this book were so confusing to listen to. The first half of Nevernight had an overly descriptive wring style that I didn’t like with lots of similes, and the last half of this book felt the same. I grew so tired of hearing about how black eyes, hair and shadows were. I became very confused about major plot points and I think the story lost sight of where it was going. Plus there were all the characters to keep track of, some with similar names. All the ones from the first book from the Assassin School, plus all the ones from the second book from the Gladiatii Arena, plus new characters from this book! So confusing! The character recap at the start was helpful, but still hard to keep track of who is who.
There were very large battle scenes that I started to tune out during because they were so long and boring and then they would talk about someone in past tense and I would be like wait, what, when did that happen, and I’d rewind a bit and their death happens in like three sentences and then we move on from it quickly. The actual death scenes just seemed short in comparison to the epic long drawn out battles.
Other really drawn out scenes were the copious amount of sex scenes. One night when I was doing the dishes and cleaning up after dinner, for twenty whole minutes it was one sex scene. When my partner came into the kitchen after bathing our toddler, I said all I’d done since I saw him last was listen to sex and laughed at how absurd that was. The previous books were smutty but this was next level.
This book is full of gore. There is gory sex and gory violence and lots and lots of blood. None of it feels like horror. It actually feels kinda cartoonish. And there is a very large amount of swearing. The swearing I actually quite enjoyed. It felt very Aussie and I giggled at a lot of the insults. It definitely is a very low brow form of humour, but absolutely is my type of humour. One example that comes to mind is calling someone a Fuck Stain. So Aussie.
I liked how Mia’s series arc of revenge targeted three political figures and over the series we see her systematically take them down. But I felt like this book didn’t have that same burning single minded goal. The first book was all about going to assassin training school, then the second one was all about becoming a gladiator but what was this one all about? I can’t answer that. In Godsgrave she went to incredible lengths to became a Gladiatii and win just to have access and an opportunity to kill them and in this book it just doesn’t seem to be that hard to get access anymore and also doesn’t seem to be the main tension that the ending is working towards. I found end ending to be really anticlimactic.
One part I really liked was a very Inception type plot point about a book within a book and Jay Kristoff actually takes the piss out of himself. So funny and very enjoyable. I really enjoyed how this was used as a plot device.
In the first book, Mia is with Tric and Ash murders him and my heart broke. Then in book two, Mia fucking forgives Ash, the murdering bitch and they are in love, what?! And then at the end of Godsgrave, Tric is back from the dead, so that leaves us with a love triangle!! Argh. Much drama.
One overriding theme I was really invested in was Mia’s magic, and in this regards I was also left disappointed. I wanted it to go much further and I felt it ended up being just a lot of describing how black her shadows were.
Overall an equally entertaining and boring series. One with equal doses of potential and problems. I certainly do recommend reading if you’ve already started the series, and I’m keen to talk to someone about all the spoilers!
My history with this series has been turbulent. I found the start of the first two books to be really slow but I really liked the ends and ended up giving four stars. This book is the opposite. I really loved the first part, but the last half was really average, and once again I’m giving four stars. But I’m not as satisfied because I’d much rather a slow start than a shitty end.
I did listen to this on audiobook, and it was just shy of 22 hours. That’s a long time to pay close attention to a fantasy book. Normally I don’t have much problem but parts of this book were so confusing to listen to. The first half of Nevernight had an overly descriptive wring style that I didn’t like with lots of similes, and the last half of this book felt the same. I grew so tired of hearing about how black eyes, hair and shadows were. I became very confused about major plot points and I think the story lost sight of where it was going. Plus there were all the characters to keep track of, some with similar names. All the ones from the first book from the Assassin School, plus all the ones from the second book from the Gladiatii Arena, plus new characters from this book! So confusing! The character recap at the start was helpful, but still hard to keep track of who is who.
There were very large battle scenes that I started to tune out during because they were so long and boring and then they would talk about someone in past tense and I would be like wait, what, when did that happen, and I’d rewind a bit and their death happens in like three sentences and then we move on from it quickly. The actual death scenes just seemed short in comparison to the epic long drawn out battles.
Other really drawn out scenes were the copious amount of sex scenes. One night when I was doing the dishes and cleaning up after dinner, for twenty whole minutes it was one sex scene. When my partner came into the kitchen after bathing our toddler, I said all I’d done since I saw him last was listen to sex and laughed at how absurd that was. The previous books were smutty but this was next level.
This book is full of gore. There is gory sex and gory violence and lots and lots of blood. None of it feels like horror. It actually feels kinda cartoonish. And there is a very large amount of swearing. The swearing I actually quite enjoyed. It felt very Aussie and I giggled at a lot of the insults. It definitely is a very low brow form of humour, but absolutely is my type of humour. One example that comes to mind is calling someone a Fuck Stain. So Aussie.
I liked how Mia’s series arc of revenge targeted three political figures and over the series we see her systematically take them down. But I felt like this book didn’t have that same burning single minded goal. The first book was all about going to assassin training school, then the second one was all about becoming a gladiator but what was this one all about? I can’t answer that. In Godsgrave she went to incredible lengths to became a Gladiatii and win just to have access and an opportunity to kill them and in this book it just doesn’t seem to be that hard to get access anymore and also doesn’t seem to be the main tension that the ending is working towards. I found end ending to be really anticlimactic.
One part I really liked was a very Inception type plot point about a book within a book and Jay Kristoff actually takes the piss out of himself. So funny and very enjoyable. I really enjoyed how this was used as a plot device.
In the first book, Mia is with Tric and Ash murders him and my heart broke. Then in book two, Mia fucking forgives Ash, the murdering bitch and they are in love, what?! And then at the end of Godsgrave, Tric is back from the dead, so that leaves us with a love triangle!! Argh. Much drama.
One overriding theme I was really invested in was Mia’s magic, and in this regards I was also left disappointed. I wanted it to go much further and I felt it ended up being just a lot of describing how black her shadows were.
Overall an equally entertaining and boring series. One with equal doses of potential and problems. I certainly do recommend reading if you’ve already started the series, and I’m keen to talk to someone about all the spoilers!
alexchad's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
varlot's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
anabelldimitrova's review against another edition
4.0
Имах колебание колко звезди да ѝ дам. 5 или 4. Реших да са четири, защото „Божигроб“ се оказа най-добрата книга от цялата поредица и имах наистина високи очаквания за „Мраколуние“, които се оправдаха на половина.
Допадна ми, че най-накрая успях да разбера какво точна са здрачините, каква е мисията на Мия и как ще завърши историята на Бледата щерка. Джей Кристоф вкара нови герои в историята, които заобичах, но в същото време старите герои също имат роля тук. Радвам се, че Соколите също имаха място в „Мраколуние“, защото много ги харесвам.
Обаче имаше няколко излишни сцени, на моменти описанието ми отвличаше вниманието от интересните събития и колкото и да обичам последната глава, смятам, че не трябваше да я има.
Всеки читател желае след края на любимата му поредица да има някаква новела, която да разкаже събитията след края, който той е прочел. В този случай аз искам да има новела за Луций (прочетете, за да разберете кой е той), защото вярвам, че има много добър потенциал за развитие и както каза не-котката - „за него също ще се разказват истории“. Ето, давам идея каква да е следващата поредица на Джей Кристоф.
Допадна ми, че най-накрая успях да разбера какво точна са здрачините, каква е мисията на Мия и как ще завърши историята на Бледата щерка. Джей Кристоф вкара нови герои в историята, които заобичах, но в същото време старите герои също имат роля тук. Радвам се, че Соколите също имаха място в „Мраколуние“, защото много ги харесвам.
Обаче имаше няколко излишни сцени, на моменти описанието ми отвличаше вниманието от интересните събития и колкото и да обичам последната глава, смятам, че не трябваше да я има.
Всеки читател желае след края на любимата му поредица да има някаква новела, която да разкаже събитията след края, който той е прочел. В този случай аз искам да има новела за Луций (прочетете, за да разберете кой е той), защото вярвам, че има много добър потенциал за развитие и както каза не-котката - „за него също ще се разказват истории“. Ето, давам идея каква да е следващата поредица на Джей Кристоф.
findingthefantasticstory's review against another edition
5.0
I loved it. Such a good ending to one of my favourite series. I did feel a bit emotional at the end.
skylar_blue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
audreyrose3's review against another edition
5.0
Wow…
It’s finally done. I had put this book off for about a year now, and I’m glad I finished it. Kristoff’s introduction with a character glossary helped refresh my memory a lot, so that was nice!
I was really happy to see growth in a lot of the characters, especially Mia. I know opinions are divided when it comes to the Nevernight Chronicles, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. It’s a book unique to its own. And I loved when Kristoff used his own characters to bash his writing. That fourth wall ish break (?) was pretty amazing hahah.
It’s finally done. I had put this book off for about a year now, and I’m glad I finished it. Kristoff’s introduction with a character glossary helped refresh my memory a lot, so that was nice!
I was really happy to see growth in a lot of the characters, especially Mia. I know opinions are divided when it comes to the Nevernight Chronicles, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. It’s a book unique to its own. And I loved when Kristoff used his own characters to bash his writing. That fourth wall ish break (?) was pretty amazing hahah.