The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! š
tinysierra's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
1.25
TLDR:
- The romance is unbelievable.
- The writing is still bad.
- Read Elatsoe by Dacie Little Badger instead.Ā
I liked this book a little better than the first one.Ā
The Duel POV between Daire and Dace made the story more interesting.
I loved that we got to see more of the side characters. We got to see Daire and Dace hang out with Xotichl, Lita, and Auden. We get introduced to a new character, bringing more drama. Jacy and Crickett arenāt really fleshed out at all, but theyāre not too important, anyway.Ā
I think itās interesting that when we see Dace with Xotichl, he seems to treat her more delicately than her other friends do. He has to stop himself from helping her when she doesnāt ask for it and remind himself that she can take care of herself. Maybe itās to show how heās so full of goodness, he canāt help but want to watch out for her? Or maybe itās just because heās a man, idk.
This is one of the rare YA books where the protagonists parents (mothers) are present and actively trying to look out for them, even if they seem a bit overbearing.Ā
The writing is a twinge better in the fact that there are less huge chucks of dialogue. But, I wanna know who let Alyson describe Xotichl eyes as āblue/grayā every single time. Who let her do that? I find that even more offensive than Daceās āicy-blueā gaze LOL like what the heck. Why is there a slash? Why couldnāt she just say blue? Why couldnāt she alternate or use different descriptive words?
I am not one to critique romances very often. I am usually happy accept any form of insta love as being legit. But I canāt with Daire and Dace. This book picks off like 2 weeks after the end of Fated, so we donāt get to see their relationship progress any before this book starts. What we get to see when this book starts is them having making out and then having sex. There is more to relationships than sexual intimacy so it really annoys me that this is all we see from them before theyāre forced to ābreak upā because of the whole prophecy. We get to see them lusting after each other, talking about how they canāt live without each other, but why? Why do they love each other? Because theyāre fated to be together. Thatās it. Thereās no build up. Itās not believable to me. They love each other because the story says theyāre supposed to and thatās it. The lock and key thing is cute but again, they state in the text that theyāve only been together for six weeks. They hardly know each other enough to know they want to spend forever together.Ā
Also, itās weird to me that Daireās vision quest was to become reborn as a Seeker but Daceās vision quest was to stop Daire from failing her task. Daceās purpose is only to further Daireās growthā¦ not to grow as a person himself, separate from her, or even separate from Cade. I could be wrong (maybe I just donāt have faith in Alyson NoĆ«lās writing), but I have doubts that this was truly to demonstrate that heās the Echo. I believe it was just to show how fated Daire x Daceās relationship is.Ā
I also hate how heteronormative/allonormative this series is. Auden and Xotichl are paired up. Jennika had someone propose to her. Paloma and Chay are a thing. Iām not saying that there canāt be multiple couples in a book but it just gives off the vibe that you canāt be single and happy, especially when we see Lita still so hung up on being broken up with by Cade. Itās not the fact that sheās upset about being broke up with, itās the fact that sheās upset that sheās single. Because single = miserable in most peopleās minds. This is a super damaging mindset that leads to real people staying in toxic relationships because theyāre afraid of being alone.
I know the scene where Cade almost sexually assaults Daire is supposed to show how disgusting he is as a character and how overpowered she is at the moment but it made me sick. Dace also brings up quite a few times how upset he is that his mothers assault lead to his and Cadeās conception.Ā
I understand why the Seeker is connected to the elements but why does Paloma say that an important job of the Seeker is to control the weather? Is she supposed to prevent climate change? Maybe Iām thinking about this too hard lol
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Self harm
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