thebaegel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
docpacey's review
3.0
I liked the world building, I like the characters and the character arc, I just felt like there was too little story for a book of this length. It ends up being a nice beach read, but kinda forgettable.
artsymoronic's review against another edition
2.0
My first thought when I had finally finished reading: "finally".
I picked up the first book of this series completely on a whim. The title caught my eye and I read a lot so I'm always on the look out for new books that I've never heard of. I won't say it was the best book I had read but it was definitely good enough to keep my attention. I liked some of the characters enough that I wanted to see where it went from there. The ending in the first book seemed very abrupt which led me to be more inclined to read this one. And that's where things started to go downhill....
It is not a poorly written book as far as basic standards go. However it seemed to never quite reach a climactic point. I felt like I was constantly waiting on that until I realized I was more than halfway done with the book and that the droning much too long winded descriptions of arithmancy and other sci-fi Concepts was all I had to look forward to. The book seem to drone on but I hope that it would tie everything up in a neat bow so that I could be done with this series. I am a completionist at my base level and didn't want to abandon the story without knowing how it ended. The End of This Book gave me the idea that this will not be a duology but in fact drag on much longer.
Although this book is part of the thorn Chronicles of which Rory is the main character it felt as if she was an afterthought. Whereas we thought we watched her grow in the first book we watched her become flat and basic in this. Thorsdottir was a great character and the only saving grace here. I think the author lost something in trying to hold on to Rory as the prime character when she could have easily utilized her as a supporting character and instead driven the focus on others in this novel. By splitting time between the two there was no clear Direction.
I really wanted to like this book but it was just so hard to get into it. I can read all day everyday and throughout the middle of the night even if I'm tired if I'm interested enough in the material. I would be reading this in the middle of the day when I was wide awake and it would be putting me to sleep. I can read a book in about 2 days but this one took me two weeks. The first one took me 4 days. I'm not sure what that says about this as a series but I definitely can tell you few things: I enjoyed the first book much more than the second book. I never would have read more than a few chapters of the second book had it not been a follow-up to the first. If a third book is released I cannot be sure if I would actually bother to read it.
Overall not a great read. This definitely could not stand independent of the first book. The one upside is now that I am done I can begin something different.
I picked up the first book of this series completely on a whim. The title caught my eye and I read a lot so I'm always on the look out for new books that I've never heard of. I won't say it was the best book I had read but it was definitely good enough to keep my attention. I liked some of the characters enough that I wanted to see where it went from there. The ending in the first book seemed very abrupt which led me to be more inclined to read this one. And that's where things started to go downhill....
It is not a poorly written book as far as basic standards go. However it seemed to never quite reach a climactic point. I felt like I was constantly waiting on that until I realized I was more than halfway done with the book and that the droning much too long winded descriptions of arithmancy and other sci-fi Concepts was all I had to look forward to. The book seem to drone on but I hope that it would tie everything up in a neat bow so that I could be done with this series. I am a completionist at my base level and didn't want to abandon the story without knowing how it ended. The End of This Book gave me the idea that this will not be a duology but in fact drag on much longer.
Although this book is part of the thorn Chronicles of which Rory is the main character it felt as if she was an afterthought. Whereas we thought we watched her grow in the first book we watched her become flat and basic in this. Thorsdottir was a great character and the only saving grace here. I think the author lost something in trying to hold on to Rory as the prime character when she could have easily utilized her as a supporting character and instead driven the focus on others in this novel. By splitting time between the two there was no clear Direction.
I really wanted to like this book but it was just so hard to get into it. I can read all day everyday and throughout the middle of the night even if I'm tired if I'm interested enough in the material. I would be reading this in the middle of the day when I was wide awake and it would be putting me to sleep. I can read a book in about 2 days but this one took me two weeks. The first one took me 4 days. I'm not sure what that says about this as a series but I definitely can tell you few things: I enjoyed the first book much more than the second book. I never would have read more than a few chapters of the second book had it not been a follow-up to the first. If a third book is released I cannot be sure if I would actually bother to read it.
Overall not a great read. This definitely could not stand independent of the first book. The one upside is now that I am done I can begin something different.
dlsmall's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars if this were Letterboxd or Untappd...My main problem with the whole duology thing is that I need a third volume of a trilogy to get more into Zhang...
heathersbike's review against another edition
5.0
This is a VERY complicated universe which normally doesn't work for me because I can't be bothered to follow along. But Eason pulls you in to care about all these complications and makes them make sense. You care about the characters so you care about the various xeno and who can do what with which form of magical math and it all comes together.
ergative's review against another edition
4.0
This had all the wit of narrative and charm of the previous book, but somehow I found myself not quite as engaged by it. Not necessarily its fault--possibly I wasn't quite in the mood, or my schedule didn't give me the same opportunities to listen to an audio book as I had with the previous book so my experience was more fractured. Still a worthy follow-up, and a satisfying sequel to the first.
daloon's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
twinsunplus1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
4.25
the_jelli_bean's review against another edition
1.0
DNF.
This just didn't have the spark of the first book. The narrator's perspective felt kind of forced and dry, and all of the characters and development of the first book just... fell flat.
May give it another try down the road if there's ever another book as I adored the first book, but for now, no thanks.
This just didn't have the spark of the first book. The narrator's perspective felt kind of forced and dry, and all of the characters and development of the first book just... fell flat.
May give it another try down the road if there's ever another book as I adored the first book, but for now, no thanks.