loloburns's review against another edition
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
4.5
This book is the perfect end to the series, wrapping up almost every single loose end from the previous 4 books.
The only change I'd make is developing Haru and Jamie's relationship more, and spending more time repairing Ellie and Lotties instead of jump cutting to it being perfect.
But these can be excused as the story didn't really need to show these to make them believable.
I also wish that the "eye for an eye" was resolved between Saskia and Julius, and that something came of it. Perhaps invilving Saskias mum too as she felt so important and then was only really used for a single scene.
The only change I'd make is developing Haru and Jamie's relationship more, and spending more time repairing Ellie and Lotties instead of jump cutting to it being perfect.
But these can be excused as the story didn't really need to show these to make them believable.
I also wish that the "eye for an eye" was resolved between Saskia and Julius, and that something came of it. Perhaps invilving Saskias mum too as she felt so important and then was only really used for a single scene.
tanandstout13's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
4.5
So much fun and a fitting conclusion.
sophie_fantasy321's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was sooo good, best book in the series
Spoiler
Ellie and Lottie are the cutest lesbian couple ever❤️heylindseyhere's review
Spoiler
the gay princesses used swords and kissing to abolish the monarchy? love when books are tailor made to my interestszealienhead's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
fast-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
5.0
silkehill's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
vivilikesfr1es's review
3.0
As a last book in this series, it made me so so happy. I've essentially grown up with The Rosewood Chronicles because I first started reading the series when I was in my early tween years, maybe 11,12, or 13? it's a bit hard to remember but I was considerably young and it's been a few years since then. It's been a great series to grow up with, and I love these characters.
This book, like all books, isn't without its faults though. My biggest issue with the book, and honestly it's still a minor issue, is that our major characters (namely Lottie and Ellie) have other people essentially bring out their big realization for them. The one that jumps out most is what happens with Lottie. Spoilers: While in Paris for the Partizan meeting Saskia helped Lottie arrange, she breaks down and starts crying when she sees Saskia and Anastacia being kinda PDA around her. They ask Lottie what's wrong and she confesses she's not entirely sure. Then Anastacia and Saskia help bring Lottie to the realization that she's in love with Ellie, and also that Jamie is in love with her but that doesn't matter as much.
I have a problem with this because I have a small thing against characters helping other characters come to big conclusions like this. Obviously as readers we know that Lottie and Ellie have been in love and pining for one another for ages and we can tell that Lottie has been deliberately denying it, and pushing it down. What I would much rather prefer is to have Lottie come to realization herself, after a lot of thinking. I understand that it's a little suffocating to be in the thoughts of a character for too long, but since the book is in third person it shouldn't be the biggest problem. I think I'd rather be stuck in Lotties head for a while and actually experience her thought process and her growth in coming to that realization about her feelings for Ellie. By having Ani and Saskia bring it out for her, it takes away any growth from Lottie because she's not contemplating any of it. Instead, it's just laid out in front of her and we just stare at the page going "FINALLY". I think you can achieve the same effect, like the realization is just laid bare in front of you, by having Lottie run face first into the realization after some thinking. It just would feel more fulfilling.
Another thing I didn't quite buy was the rat twins suddenly falling to Ellie's side instead of sticking with Leviathan. I always knew that Ingrid and Haru were bound to betray Claude (Ingrid because she's just like that and Haru because he loves Jamie) but Julius, Phi, and the rat twins were harder to believe. I think if the relationship between Ellie and the rat twins was built up more, to the point where they seem to genuinely like Ellie and like being her friend, then I would have believed it. But since we know barely anything about Sam and Stella and their backstory, Ellies treatment of Stella having such an effect on Stella is kinda unbelievable. I love that it happened, I love me a third act betrayal, but I think it's just a little unbelievable that EVERYONE in Leviathan suddenly is loyal to Jamie and not Claude.
My favorite arc in the entire series is probably Ellies. I know she seems a stereotypical goth punk girl and that's just who she is. The way I saw it, Ellies arc is about learning how to be completely true to herself and be confident while doing it, in addition to realizing that she's not an awful, inherently harmful person. In this book we see her try and be as Lottie as she possibly can be, but that is just not who she is. Ellie is perfectly incapable of being anyone but herself. The clothes she wears suffocates her, she repeats over and over that she feels like a doll in a dollhouse, made to be looked at but never heard. Her grandma calls Ellie something akin to a "perfect princess" and it completely weights her down. But her arc takes her through a journey that helps her accept who she is and helps her embrace herself. One really important part of the book I think is the conversation she has with her mother. Queen Matilde speaks to Ellie and their conversation boils down to Matilde telling Ellie that she doesn't have to pretend to be anyone she isn't. Ellie is confused, she thinks her mother wants her to be a good princess, like Lottie. But Matilde tells her that all the Queen stuff, the clothing and the etiquette, comes naturally to her. Queen Matilde is the perfect model queen because it's natural to her, and most importantly, she *enjoys* it. It is obvious to everyone that Ellie does not enjoy being a perfect princess, the hair and the clothing feels wrong on her. Matilde tells Ellie that she doesn't have to care about the expectations of her from anyone and when Ellie brings up her grandma Matilde just says that she's dead. There's no reason to care about the expectations of a woman who's dead. It's an incredibly moving conversation and it's just so great and important. Over the course of the book we see Ellie begin to value herself a little bit more, she learns slowly that she's not a burden to the people around her. That she has Lottie and her friends to support her and that they not just like her company, they WANT her to be around. It's just a great arc and though Ellie develops as a character she never changes who she is. I love it.
My last complaint is that we didn't see more of Jamie and Haru together. You're telling me they kiss ONCE in the book and by the epilogue they're partners?? At least I'm assuming it's romantic, I might be wrong but that's what it seems to be so I'm not sure.
Overall, I love The Rosewood Chronicles and I hold these characters very dear to me. My queer heart loved it, it was a great ending.
This book, like all books, isn't without its faults though. My biggest issue with the book, and honestly it's still a minor issue, is that our major characters (namely Lottie and Ellie) have other people essentially bring out their big realization for them. The one that jumps out most is what happens with Lottie. Spoilers: While in Paris for the Partizan meeting Saskia helped Lottie arrange, she breaks down and starts crying when she sees Saskia and Anastacia being kinda PDA around her. They ask Lottie what's wrong and she confesses she's not entirely sure. Then Anastacia and Saskia help bring Lottie to the realization that she's in love with Ellie, and also that Jamie is in love with her but that doesn't matter as much.
I have a problem with this because I have a small thing against characters helping other characters come to big conclusions like this. Obviously as readers we know that Lottie and Ellie have been in love and pining for one another for ages and we can tell that Lottie has been deliberately denying it, and pushing it down. What I would much rather prefer is to have Lottie come to realization herself, after a lot of thinking. I understand that it's a little suffocating to be in the thoughts of a character for too long, but since the book is in third person it shouldn't be the biggest problem. I think I'd rather be stuck in Lotties head for a while and actually experience her thought process and her growth in coming to that realization about her feelings for Ellie. By having Ani and Saskia bring it out for her, it takes away any growth from Lottie because she's not contemplating any of it. Instead, it's just laid out in front of her and we just stare at the page going "FINALLY". I think you can achieve the same effect, like the realization is just laid bare in front of you, by having Lottie run face first into the realization after some thinking. It just would feel more fulfilling.
Another thing I didn't quite buy was the rat twins suddenly falling to Ellie's side instead of sticking with Leviathan. I always knew that Ingrid and Haru were bound to betray Claude (Ingrid because she's just like that and Haru because he loves Jamie) but Julius, Phi, and the rat twins were harder to believe. I think if the relationship between Ellie and the rat twins was built up more, to the point where they seem to genuinely like Ellie and like being her friend, then I would have believed it. But since we know barely anything about Sam and Stella and their backstory, Ellies treatment of Stella having such an effect on Stella is kinda unbelievable. I love that it happened, I love me a third act betrayal, but I think it's just a little unbelievable that EVERYONE in Leviathan suddenly is loyal to Jamie and not Claude.
My favorite arc in the entire series is probably Ellies. I know she seems a stereotypical goth punk girl and that's just who she is. The way I saw it, Ellies arc is about learning how to be completely true to herself and be confident while doing it, in addition to realizing that she's not an awful, inherently harmful person. In this book we see her try and be as Lottie as she possibly can be, but that is just not who she is. Ellie is perfectly incapable of being anyone but herself. The clothes she wears suffocates her, she repeats over and over that she feels like a doll in a dollhouse, made to be looked at but never heard. Her grandma calls Ellie something akin to a "perfect princess" and it completely weights her down. But her arc takes her through a journey that helps her accept who she is and helps her embrace herself. One really important part of the book I think is the conversation she has with her mother. Queen Matilde speaks to Ellie and their conversation boils down to Matilde telling Ellie that she doesn't have to pretend to be anyone she isn't. Ellie is confused, she thinks her mother wants her to be a good princess, like Lottie. But Matilde tells her that all the Queen stuff, the clothing and the etiquette, comes naturally to her. Queen Matilde is the perfect model queen because it's natural to her, and most importantly, she *enjoys* it. It is obvious to everyone that Ellie does not enjoy being a perfect princess, the hair and the clothing feels wrong on her. Matilde tells Ellie that she doesn't have to care about the expectations of her from anyone and when Ellie brings up her grandma Matilde just says that she's dead. There's no reason to care about the expectations of a woman who's dead. It's an incredibly moving conversation and it's just so great and important. Over the course of the book we see Ellie begin to value herself a little bit more, she learns slowly that she's not a burden to the people around her. That she has Lottie and her friends to support her and that they not just like her company, they WANT her to be around. It's just a great arc and though Ellie develops as a character she never changes who she is. I love it.
My last complaint is that we didn't see more of Jamie and Haru together. You're telling me they kiss ONCE in the book and by the epilogue they're partners?? At least I'm assuming it's romantic, I might be wrong but that's what it seems to be so I'm not sure.
Overall, I love The Rosewood Chronicles and I hold these characters very dear to me. My queer heart loved it, it was a great ending.
cafe_ina's review
5.0
Perfect ending to the perfect saga.
PS: I love the fact that every single character is gay. Like when I started reading this I didn't even know what gay was. Now I'm gay and so are the character. Love it ❤
PS: I love the fact that every single character is gay. Like when I started reading this I didn't even know what gay was. Now I'm gay and so are the character. Love it ❤
summertime_reads's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
siobhanthebookworm's review
5.0
I won’t lie, when I finished reading this I started crying and just sat hugging the book for a few moments, because I’ve been following this series since the first book came out in 2017 (when I was 11!) and it’s breaking my heart that it’s over, but in a good way, because I have grown up with this series and I love it so much! This was such a good finale to the series and I was very happy with the ending. Lottie, Ellie and Jamie all went on their own personal journeys in this book and came out even better for it, and I loved that. Tensions were high towards the end and I couldn’t put the book down, but I was very satisfied when I finished reading. Who doesn’t love a happy ending? This series is so magical and whimsical and I will love it forever.