simply_sam's review against another edition
4.0
Each book in the trilogy on sale thru 8/31/17 for $0.99! If you haven't tried it yet, you should. The more I think about this series, the more I love it!
Well folks, I did it. I actually finished a series. I know, I know, it's only a trilogy but baby steps people, baby steps.
I think the this series suffered a little because there was SO much back and forth, this group fighting this group, Empyreans vs Heartlanders vs The Blighted vs The Sleeping Dogs vs The Empyrean Rebels vs The Harpies. Whew! I'm sure there are some I'm leaving out. It just lacked a clear focus. It was muddled and messy and....well, maybe that's just life in the Heartland, eh?
With that being said, I loved the setting. I loved the Heartlanders. I loved all the colloquial swears and sayings, with all "The Lord and Lady"'s and "Jeezum Crow"'s. And even when not reading the books, I was still thinking about the Cael and Rigo and Lane and Gwennie (but mostly I thought about the Heartland.) It just got under my skin. And even though I still think most of the main characters were punks, Cael especially, I think they'll always hold a little place in my heart.
Anyhoo. I'm getting behind on reviews so a more thorough one will probably be in the cards for this bad boy. I just wanted to say that I think that while this last book may be lacking a little in clarity, it was a fitting conclusion to this series. I'm glad I read it to the end.
Well folks, I did it. I actually finished a series. I know, I know, it's only a trilogy but baby steps people, baby steps.
I think the this series suffered a little because there was SO much back and forth, this group fighting this group, Empyreans vs Heartlanders vs The Blighted vs The Sleeping Dogs vs The Empyrean Rebels vs The Harpies. Whew! I'm sure there are some I'm leaving out. It just lacked a clear focus. It was muddled and messy and....well, maybe that's just life in the Heartland, eh?
With that being said, I loved the setting. I loved the Heartlanders. I loved all the colloquial swears and sayings, with all "The Lord and Lady"'s and "Jeezum Crow"'s. And even when not reading the books, I was still thinking about the Cael and Rigo and Lane and Gwennie (but mostly I thought about the Heartland.) It just got under my skin. And even though I still think most of the main characters were punks, Cael especially, I think they'll always hold a little place in my heart.
Anyhoo. I'm getting behind on reviews so a more thorough one will probably be in the cards for this bad boy. I just wanted to say that I think that while this last book may be lacking a little in clarity, it was a fitting conclusion to this series. I'm glad I read it to the end.
mmelibertine's review against another edition
5.0
What a remarkable ending to an excellent series. More than once I found myself holding my breath through fast-paced, high-stakes scenes. As with the rest of the series, the pacing is top-notch, and the characters are captivating. I really can't recommend this series enough.
angrywombat's review against another edition
5.0
Holy crap!
This was a roaring roller-coaster of a novel. The final act of the Heartland trilogy is awesome. All the character live up to their promise from the earlier book - and how!
I love how everything here builds from what came before. It's not obvious in that you can see what is coming, but more that "that makes total sense!" after the fact.
And I'm still blown away by the writing.
This was a roaring roller-coaster of a novel. The final act of the Heartland trilogy is awesome. All the character live up to their promise from the earlier book - and how!
I love how everything here builds from what came before. It's not obvious in that you can see what is coming, but more that "that makes total sense!" after the fact.
And I'm still blown away by the writing.
cj_jones's review against another edition
4.0
Well worth the 99 cents! This book brought back the feeling of the first book, with the added danger that since there weren't two more books to go, the threat to lose a character was much more credible. This love triangle is not just a cheap way to steer plot and raise tension, and they don't resolve it by just throwing one character into the thresher. Nothing, it feels like, is simple or dumbed down. There's a lot of nuance, there's a lot of texture despite it being the end of a trilogy when we're supposed to be racing toward the big finish. And we do get a big finish.
gudzilla's review against another edition
2.0
ARC received from netgalley for exchange of an honest review.
I just couldn't finish it and after author another new character, I lost interest. I may come back to this and find it fantastic but currently I am busy reading other stuff.
Sorry Chuck
I just couldn't finish it and after author another new character, I lost interest. I may come back to this and find it fantastic but currently I am busy reading other stuff.
Sorry Chuck
wlreed312's review against another edition
3.0
Not sure what about this series didn't work for me. It wasn't bad, but I didn't really connect to any of the characters. Maybe because I read them via audiobook. Or maybe because I have read some absolutely brilliant fantasy in the last year or two. (Hello, Broken Earth trilogy). The writing is solid, the premise is interesting, but it was missing something for me. Enjoyable, but not really that memorable. I will say the action sequences are incredibly well done. There are some women who are complicated, not sure how I felt about one or two of them. There is a death that truly made me angry. Certainly not a bad series, but not quite what I had hoped for.
maddyd51's review against another edition
4.0
If you are a fan of the Young Adult Dystopian genre, how about a series set on a world overtaken by mutant corn and ruled by an upper class who look down from flotillas floating in the sky? If this sounds like the ticket, then you'll be happy to hear that each book in The Heartland Trilogy by Chuck Wendig is better than the last.
One warning: these skew heavily towards the oldest Young Adult reader and at times I wondered why it was shelved as Young Adult at all.
The series culminates with The Harvest, which is set a year after Blighborn concludes. This jump forward in time created some mystery and allowed for revelations to unfold. However, the pace of those revelations was breathless and full of with twist and turns. I am not a reader who is disappointed with a little ambiguity at the end of a trilogy, but even one of "those readers" would be happy that the story lines are concluded in this installment.
It is an interesting time to read the The Heartland Trilogy: with an anti-GMO labeling law moving through Congress and GMO news all over the internet, books featuring an Earth covered with mutant corn called Hiram's Golden Prolific (sounds very similar to Golden Rice doesn't it?) and with a nefarious character named Agrasanto (sounds very similar to Monsanto, doesn't it?) seemed timely.
Given these references, I was curious about whether Wendig, who writes a popular blog, would be anti-GMO. I went hunting around and found this (nsfw language):
"And the fear doesn’t even have to be real. Fear of science seems to be at an all-time-high. Fear of GMOs and vaccinations. Fear of things we need to actually help us. Sometimes social media helps clear the fog — but it can just as easily spread lies and misinformation, quick as lightning."
I'm not sure Wendig's stance has anything to do with the story, but I always enjoy a little context to understand where the author is coming from. Make sure you have all three books on hand when you start reading the first one because you won't be able to stop yourself once you start it!
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Check out more of my reviews at www.plantohappy.com.
One warning: these skew heavily towards the oldest Young Adult reader and at times I wondered why it was shelved as Young Adult at all.
The series culminates with The Harvest, which is set a year after Blighborn concludes. This jump forward in time created some mystery and allowed for revelations to unfold. However, the pace of those revelations was breathless and full of with twist and turns. I am not a reader who is disappointed with a little ambiguity at the end of a trilogy, but even one of "those readers" would be happy that the story lines are concluded in this installment.
It is an interesting time to read the The Heartland Trilogy: with an anti-GMO labeling law moving through Congress and GMO news all over the internet, books featuring an Earth covered with mutant corn called Hiram's Golden Prolific (sounds very similar to Golden Rice doesn't it?) and with a nefarious character named Agrasanto (sounds very similar to Monsanto, doesn't it?) seemed timely.
Given these references, I was curious about whether Wendig, who writes a popular blog, would be anti-GMO. I went hunting around and found this (nsfw language):
"And the fear doesn’t even have to be real. Fear of science seems to be at an all-time-high. Fear of GMOs and vaccinations. Fear of things we need to actually help us. Sometimes social media helps clear the fog — but it can just as easily spread lies and misinformation, quick as lightning."
I'm not sure Wendig's stance has anything to do with the story, but I always enjoy a little context to understand where the author is coming from. Make sure you have all three books on hand when you start reading the first one because you won't be able to stop yourself once you start it!
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Check out more of my reviews at www.plantohappy.com.