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tstunna1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? No
3.5
mastersal's review against another edition
2.5
2.5 stars
The series has been kind of hit and miss for me and this book was a little bit on the miss side for me. I was hoping for a clear explanation of Tea’s story which we got - though in that fragmented dual story way that hasn’t worked for me in any of the books.
Even after this book, I still don't understand the wider magic or really what was happening with the Tea or the resurrection of the daeva. The plot remained a little jumbled and confusing and I can’t say that the dual timeline did not help here.
For full disclosure, the romance in the series has also been a little too OTT and pining for my tastes. This is just personal preference - a lot of YA readers will likely like this but I was a little annoyed at Tea and Kalen’s romance. There were lines like this which made me roll my eyes:
“He was the only place I could rest my head and dream without nightmares …” (Pg 2)
Now I understand the need for this romance and its impact on the plot but the relationship is something I’ve read before in many a romance novel, and also with more focus and passion. As a result, I wasn’t particularly invested here so some of the emotional impact of this novel was lost on me.
The sidelining of Fox doesn’t help here because that was the strongest relationship in Book 1 and Book 2. The lack of it here kind of makes the book a little odd in focus. That was unfortunate.
The dual storyline continues to be odd in terms of timing. The entire events are actually spread out over a too short timeframe. Spoiler The whole ‘fall to the dark’ for Tea took a year or less. It seems too fast for Tea’s friend to so quickly mistrust her. They have no trouble believing she is capable of horrors which never rung true for me while reading the book.
The author wanted to keep the snarky, funny banter between friends but didn’t want to have too much of a time jump which would age the characters or actually show Tea being ‘bad’. That would have complicated the actual plot I think, but for me, it would have been more interesting.
Spoiler So for example in the Dark Tea timeline - Zoya says ”I lost so many good people these last few months.” My reaction was a bit of confusion. We readers didn’t see that so why should we care? Tea says she has no choice and Zoya says it was a big loss - we, as readers, get no information to decide or to have an opinion.
Despite my plotting grips, the book was easy to read, pleasantly written and the audiobook helped. The above grips are particular to me but from a technical perspective the book is quite well done. The author does a great job with the side characters - especially Likh and her transitioning. Her romance with Khaled was so much more interesting to me. I really liked both of them.
For transparency, some of my grumpiness with the book could have been my fatigue at work and not being able to manage my workload this month. I get the theme of letting go, and its importance in life but I was emotionally unmoved for most of it. It took me pretty much till the end to actually tear up even a little.
In the end I am going with 2.5 stars. Pacing was very off for me and the book had too much to do to set up the stakes for the end. Future Tea’s story didn’t really mesh well with Past Tea’s story. Part Tea was working in a YA novel while Dark Tea needed to be in more adult version of the story.
The concept was good but execution issues in the series kept it from being great for me. This time Past Tea’s storyline was less interesting with too much traveling, leaving too much for Future Tea’s to explain and do. A more standard structure throughout the trilogy would have probably worked better.
Ah well, a good attempt to try something different. Despite my rating, I do think this is worth checking out because if the framing device works for the reader this trilogy is saying some interesting thematic things. I am glad I finished the series.
The series has been kind of hit and miss for me and this book was a little bit on the miss side for me. I was hoping for a clear explanation of Tea’s story which we got - though in that fragmented dual story way that hasn’t worked for me in any of the books.
Even after this book, I still don't understand the wider magic or really what was happening with the Tea or the resurrection of the daeva. The plot remained a little jumbled and confusing and I can’t say that the dual timeline did not help here.
For full disclosure, the romance in the series has also been a little too OTT and pining for my tastes. This is just personal preference - a lot of YA readers will likely like this but I was a little annoyed at Tea and Kalen’s romance. There were lines like this which made me roll my eyes:
“He was the only place I could rest my head and dream without nightmares …” (Pg 2)
Now I understand the need for this romance and its impact on the plot but the relationship is something I’ve read before in many a romance novel, and also with more focus and passion. As a result, I wasn’t particularly invested here so some of the emotional impact of this novel was lost on me.
The sidelining of Fox doesn’t help here because that was the strongest relationship in Book 1 and Book 2. The lack of it here kind of makes the book a little odd in focus. That was unfortunate.
The dual storyline continues to be odd in terms of timing. The entire events are actually spread out over a too short timeframe. Spoiler The whole ‘fall to the dark’ for Tea took a year or less. It seems too fast for Tea’s friend to so quickly mistrust her. They have no trouble believing she is capable of horrors which never rung true for me while reading the book.
The author wanted to keep the snarky, funny banter between friends but didn’t want to have too much of a time jump which would age the characters or actually show Tea being ‘bad’. That would have complicated the actual plot I think, but for me, it would have been more interesting.
Spoiler So for example in the Dark Tea timeline - Zoya says ”I lost so many good people these last few months.” My reaction was a bit of confusion. We readers didn’t see that so why should we care? Tea says she has no choice and Zoya says it was a big loss - we, as readers, get no information to decide or to have an opinion.
Despite my plotting grips, the book was easy to read, pleasantly written and the audiobook helped. The above grips are particular to me but from a technical perspective the book is quite well done. The author does a great job with the side characters - especially Likh and her transitioning. Her romance with Khaled was so much more interesting to me. I really liked both of them.
For transparency, some of my grumpiness with the book could have been my fatigue at work and not being able to manage my workload this month. I get the theme of letting go, and its importance in life but I was emotionally unmoved for most of it. It took me pretty much till the end to actually tear up even a little.
In the end I am going with 2.5 stars. Pacing was very off for me and the book had too much to do to set up the stakes for the end. Future Tea’s story didn’t really mesh well with Past Tea’s story. Part Tea was working in a YA novel while Dark Tea needed to be in more adult version of the story.
The concept was good but execution issues in the series kept it from being great for me. This time Past Tea’s storyline was less interesting with too much traveling, leaving too much for Future Tea’s to explain and do. A more standard structure throughout the trilogy would have probably worked better.
Ah well, a good attempt to try something different. Despite my rating, I do think this is worth checking out because if the framing device works for the reader this trilogy is saying some interesting thematic things. I am glad I finished the series.
cwolf83's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
slow-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? It's complicated
3.25
wen_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-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? Yes
4.5
I really loved this series.
1ashley_reads1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? Yes
4.25
sweetchocolatez's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, and Alcohol
Minor: Self harm and Sexual content
kavmat's review against another edition
4.0
I have never squealed so much at the ending of a story. This was a wonderful, delectable trilogy and with complex and diverse characters, I could not have been happier. Thank you for sharing this with the world.
sincerely,
an incredibly happy reader
sincerely,
an incredibly happy reader
nitarra's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
hviareadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall Review (spoilers)
This is a review for the series, not just the book itself.
Overall, I loved this series. I enjoyed the plot twists, the character development, the romance, and the world itself. Spanning over five years, I like that we get to see Tea go from scared and weak to the most powerful bone witch ever. I think the ending, which wasn’t happy but wasn’t sad, was exactly what each character needed. The only reason I rate it 4 is because of the butchering of Fox’s character in the last book.
Plot Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice Rating:
Overall Review (spoilers)
This is a review for the series, not just the book itself.
Overall, I loved this series. I enjoyed the plot twists, the character development, the romance, and the world itself. Spanning over five years, I like that we get to see Tea go from scared and weak to the most powerful bone witch ever. I think the ending, which wasn’t happy but wasn’t sad, was exactly what each character needed. The only reason I rate it 4 is because of the butchering of Fox’s character in the last book.
Plot Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice Rating: