Reviews

After getting a bit frustrated with the series in the eighth book and the odd entry that was Unlocked, I feel like we're largely back on track with Stellarlune. While there were still some aspects of the book that I didn't like, overall the story is moving along and I felt like we made some progress in a number of ways.

So let's start with the good. Getting more time with Ro after Keefe left in Unlocked was a lot of fun. Ro is funny, witty, and just tells it like it is. She's such a great character and I really enjoyed getting to spend more time with her in this one.

Another good is that Keefe returns in the second half of this book. I just really like Keefe and he's such an enjoyable addition to the cast and while he has his issues, I missed him when he wasn't around. There are also some other developments with him that I really enjoy in this book, but I won't spoil those here.

Another positive is Sophie taking more of an active leadership role. While she doesn't really want to be the leader, she also is more actively stepping up and trying to plan things out. This is enjoyable for character growth but also for the narrative as we're not spending so much time in circular arguments that don't really go anywhere for long periods of time.

With that said there are still some issues that I didn't enjoy from the book. The biggest was the reaction to Sophies actions in Unlocked. Why everyone made it seem like she was the one who escalated things when she's been kidnapped, attacked, and almost killed numerous times is something I couldn't understand. It just felt stupid to me, or like they're not really taking things seriously enough.

Connected to this is the fact that the adults on the good side (the Councilors and Black Swan) continually seem useless and it feels like every major movement comes from Sophie's actions. I get that this is a young adult style book and that this is a fairly common thing in the genre, but it's still a bit frustrating. It is made even more so because the bad guys are still always one step ahead and always more powerful than our heroes for questionable reasons. Why isn't everyone wearing these anti-ability chains that Gisela and Vespera have access to? It just feels like these things are for plot purposes to make these villains not get taken down too quickly and I don't know what to think about that.

So while there were some things I wasn't a fan of in the book, overall I felt like the book was overall an enjoyable read. The only problem I have now is that I'm caught up with the series and the cliffhanger at the end of this one is major. It's rough that the next book isn't even going to be book ten, but rather 9.5 which follows Keefe's adventures in the Forbidden Cities. It'll be a long wait to pick everything back up, but I'm hoping it will be worth it.

bcom's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

filemanager's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5 stars. Similar to Book 7 where there's a log of dialogue and not much actually happening.

coramae's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was so good.
She broke Fitz heart and I so not care that is how much I wanted keefe and sophie.

leyashekanena's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

sunny_summers_101's review against another edition

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5.0

Do I even have words for this book? Read it.

lafaycttc's review against another edition

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3.0

Un tome très inégal, les deux tiers du livre tournant à rond, accumulant les discussions ne menant à rien, pour qu'enfin l'action prenne place dans un dernier tiers, presque de manière précipitée. Parfois, on a même l'impression que l'autrice se met elle-même des bâtons dans les roues pour étirer au possible son histoire, et certaines des explications données étaient bancales.
En soit, c'est toujours plaisant de retrouver la petite bande, même si leur aventure pourrait être mieux équilibrée.
J'attends de voir comment va se passer le dixième et dernier tome, et surtout comment l'autrice va réussir à tout résoudre sans perdre plus de temps.

Mention spéciale au chapitre 42 quand même.

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