sandraagee's review against another edition
3.0
I don't particularly like Charlotte, the main character. She is described as being smart and capable, yet she is constantly acting clueless and helpless. The contradiction is infuriating. I also feel that, as with The Inventor's Secret, the world-building is shallow.
Despite these major flaws the story somehow manages to be, much to my chagrin, oddly addicting. It's like a soap opera - it's ridiculous, but you just have to know what happens next. I will read the sequel and hope against hope that the girls ditch the boys and have awesome feminist swashbuckling adventures. (Wishful thinking, I know. but the book is honestly much better when we aren't dealing with Charlotte's boy troubles.)
Despite these major flaws the story somehow manages to be, much to my chagrin, oddly addicting. It's like a soap opera - it's ridiculous, but you just have to know what happens next. I will read the sequel and hope against hope that the girls ditch the boys and have awesome feminist swashbuckling adventures. (Wishful thinking, I know. but the book is honestly much better when we aren't dealing with Charlotte's boy troubles.)
that1creativelady's review against another edition
1.0
Powered through this series on audio and severely skipped parts in 10 minute increments by book 3 because, by midway through book 2, I learned that a lot of the side stories and history info dumps were irrelevant to the plot and could have been left on the editorial floor. It dragged on unnecessarily.
iggyebab's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so much fun. The characters, although young, are not overly angsty or self involved. They love in a war torn environment and they are very aware of danger. This book upped the excitement with the introduction of assassins, mesmers, and pirates. There was dander and adventure and Rebels. I look forward to reading more in this series.
aly36's review against another edition
4.0
This book left me hanging with the pirates! I do love the books by Andrea Cremer. I will read more from this author. This series is very good so far . I also love her Nightshade series. If you love supernatural and fantasy and books that bring out your imagination you need to check out this author.
yapha's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic sequel to The Inventor's Secret. Must read that first. Recommended for grades 5 & up.
chewdigestbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This book in the series seemed to go faster, will have to check page counts. I still got a kick out of it and am so glad to be finding a few new-to-me steampunk titles. They are getting thin on the ground, waaaaaaa!
katlikespie's review
2.0
I loved the first book in this series, but this one just didn't measure up. For one thing, the author doesn't do a great job of recapping the first book, so it's really frustrating trying to remember who the characters are, how they relate to each other, and what the heck is going on. ("My gosh! It's Meg!" Wait, is that surprising? Who's Meg again?) There were also lots of random Greek mythology references sprinkled in that I don't remember from before - yes, they pray to Hephaestus, but that's about it - but then they bring up a weapon called the Charybdis... wait, what? Why? And suddenly a spy-type girl is being wooed by a pirate? And after fighting for the Resistance her whole life, the main character suddenly decides (after overhearing a conversation, but not actually talking to anybody about it) to run away... I'm sorry. No.
It just... I don't know. Maybe I was in a bad mood, but I'm super disappointed in this one.
It just... I don't know. Maybe I was in a bad mood, but I'm super disappointed in this one.
gracectracey's review against another edition
4.0
Huge improvement compared to the first book. Unlike The Inventors Secret, The Conjurer's Riddle had less romance (thankfully) and more action. I enjoyed it much more. However the ending was extremely abrupt.
lucychafia's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
I've reviewed the rest of the books in this series but this one is the worst of the three. It was honestly so hard for me to read the rest of this book. The only thing keeping me reading it was my friend recommended it and i knew she'd be sad if I didn't finish them. When I tell you it was physically draining to finish this book... It took shear will power for me to even pick this book up. So yeah, wouldn't recommend, but other people might like it more than I did. The only reason this is more than 0 stars is because i appreciate writers and what they do, so i really respect this author, i just don't like this series at all.