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booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
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
4.0
As the penultimate book in the series, this returns to Darren's hometown to answer what happened to his family after he died. He also learns what happened to his friends, since around twenty years have passed by now and they've more than grown up. There's kind of a new storyline related to the people who visit the Cirque and what happens there, but even that ends up being a way of tying up loose ends. Darren has changed a lot since the first book but he's pretty consistent with the most recent ones. It would not make sense to start here as this book is all about addressing answers to old questions and beginning the final confrontation which will determine the identity of the Lord of the Shadows.
The plot focuses on Darren dealing with being back home, and how much he dips into his old life (or not). The way he navigates the temptations of being home shapes what happens next. Darren's body also begins the final transformation from half-vampire to full vampire, which will mark the physical severing of his few remaining ties to humanity. A lot of the story doesn't make sense without earlier context, or it's specifically a "where are they now" conversation scene. All of it makes sense for the penultimate book of such a long series, but means that the only interesting things to discuss are major spoilers (of which there are several). There's a very dramatic kidnapping and a cliffhanger which shakes Darren to his core, so I'm excited to get to the finale and see how it all turns out.
The plot focuses on Darren dealing with being back home, and how much he dips into his old life (or not). The way he navigates the temptations of being home shapes what happens next. Darren's body also begins the final transformation from half-vampire to full vampire, which will mark the physical severing of his few remaining ties to humanity. A lot of the story doesn't make sense without earlier context, or it's specifically a "where are they now" conversation scene. All of it makes sense for the penultimate book of such a long series, but means that the only interesting things to discuss are major spoilers (of which there are several). There's a very dramatic kidnapping and a cliffhanger which shakes Darren to his core, so I'm excited to get to the finale and see how it all turns out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Ableism, Infertility, Mental illness, Vomit, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
jenna_justi2004's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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? No
4.75
Wow . Im really confused about the Annie part. He describes the child differently when he’s spying on him. It’s really confusing. But so good. I wonder if he’ll go out of his way to protect Annie and Darius. Especially Darren’s character arc. That was absolutely thrilling. And sad but. It was good. I don’t like how shancus died, that was very unnecessary. And mr tall, that was so very random. Like he could have just swerved out of the way? Idk. I didn’t think he was the son of Mr tiny, that was a shocker.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and War