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mysteriesofmar's review against another edition
5.0
i started this as my comfort read in between jade legacy but who woulda thunk it would hurt me as much as jade legacy
corabookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Such an amazing sequel. Finn and Alfie returned, as brilliant and adorable as ever, and in this book we got to see more of Luca, who's hilarious. Maya Motayne did a perfect job painting the main characters as insecure teenagers. Their panicked thoughts and overthinking and assumptions were all so realistic it had me cackling. The conflicts in Oculta were also fantastic. The way it all twisted together was absolutely perfect and even though I predicted a couple of the plot twists, others took me completely by surprise. And the ENDING! Ahh! I'm so excited to start the third book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
claire518's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.25
I did like what this book did to develop the culture and history if this world - the setting feels a lot more developed and interesting than in Nocturna where it felt a bit irrelevant to the plot. The political discussions and parallels to existing cultures and the history if colonialism was one of the best parts of this book.
That said I also found all the characters way more annoying in this. They made some stupid decisions in Nocturna, but that felt like standard YA contrivance and was only occasionally an issue. In this book everyone is consistently an idiot. They were so obviously being manipulated and backstabbed and literally never noticed or suspected. On too of that, the conflict between Alfie, Finn and Luka just felt very manufactured for the sake of keeping characters apart as needed in the most stupid way. Every character outside of the main 3 was very one dimensional. I did like the new character of James though and would love to see more of him.
On top of that the twist in the final page just came out of nowhere and was there purely to set up a sequel.None of Marsden's plan had anything to do with Sombra, so him just turning up out of nowhere at the climax felt so shallow and barely set up past a couple of hints. I hope Book 3 doesn't drop the Englass plot (which was actually quite interesting and twisty) just to have more Sombra who is just a standard Dark Lord villain. That said wrestling with both plots also sounds like a tangled mess.
I still enjoyed Oculta and the main plot was stronger than in Nocturna, but the characters made this weaker for me overall
That said I also found all the characters way more annoying in this. They made some stupid decisions in Nocturna, but that felt like standard YA contrivance and was only occasionally an issue. In this book everyone is consistently an idiot. They were so obviously being manipulated and backstabbed and literally never noticed or suspected. On too of that, the conflict between Alfie, Finn and Luka just felt very manufactured for the sake of keeping characters apart as needed in the most stupid way. Every character outside of the main 3 was very one dimensional. I did like the new character of James though and would love to see more of him.
On top of that the twist in the final page just came out of nowhere and was there purely to set up a sequel.
I still enjoyed Oculta and the main plot was stronger than in Nocturna, but the characters made this weaker for me overall
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Slavery
ks0113's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
maggiebrown's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
nicolebirnbaum3's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars. I enjoyed this book but not as much as the first. It felt like not a lot happened but conversations and a lot of back and forth. I remember being on page 100 and thinking that I was still waiting for the story to start. I understand that this was probably done on purpose to connect books one and three, but a whole book cannot be filler without the audience getting a bit bored. I was annoyed with Finn and her behavior in this book, and how she had the emotional maturity of a child. I know she was struggling with her thoughts and feelings but she didn’t handle anything well. A lot of her inner conflict could have been solved if she just spoke to Alfie. I am excited to read the conclusion to the trilogy when it releases in two days. I hope the ending is good.
rotkehlchen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
yournextread's review against another edition
3.0
This was pretty boring compared to the first book. I think it could’ve been 200 pages shorter and still given us the story.
The last 50 pages were the best with a lot of twists and turns which I’m all for. The first chapters were also pretty funny and interesting. The middle though, not so much 😬 It felt like nothing really happened and they were trying to figure some stuff out but it would be much more interesting if they actually gained some interesting information or got into more interesting situations during the story. It was mostly boring.
I do really like this universe and characters though 🩷 And I’m exited to see if the third book is better again! After all, I have to know what’s going to happen after those last twists 👀
The last 50 pages were the best with a lot of twists and turns which I’m all for. The first chapters were also pretty funny and interesting. The middle though, not so much 😬 It felt like nothing really happened and they were trying to figure some stuff out but it would be much more interesting if they actually gained some interesting information or got into more interesting situations during the story. It was mostly boring.
I do really like this universe and characters though 🩷 And I’m exited to see if the third book is better again! After all, I have to know what’s going to happen after those last twists 👀