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A review by kortnireads
Grievar's Blood by Alexander Darwin
3.75
Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the eARC of Grievar's Blood!
I was so excited to see the sequel to the Combat Codes coming out fairly soon after the first and even more excited to get an eARC for it!
This was a solid sequel to the first book, expanding the world in a lot of different and unique ways. While we still have POVs of Cego and Murray, we also got some new additions: Sol and The Slayer (I don't want to spoil who it really is). Both of these really helped move the story along and explored new areas of the world. The story takes quite a few dark turns throughout this book and I appreciate when an author can write about young adults without softening the story. Pardon my pun, but no punches were pulled in Grievar's Blood.
As addressed in the author's note, I was worried about "second/middle book syndrome." I don't think this book suffered from that. It set a brisk pace and didn't feel at all like book one, which is more a school type setting. By broadening our POVs, Darwin distanced book two from its predecessor while still moving the pieces around, so to speak, in preparations for the conclusion.
I ended up giving this 3.75, which always feels a tad pedantic to do, but if forced to round, I would round up to a 4 star and not feel like I am giving undue credit. Beyond book one just having a great reveal at the end that bumped up the rating, book two lacked improvement in the one area that really stuck out to me: the dialogue. It still didn't have the flow I was looking, with some cheesy and clunky bits still coming through. Additionally, this might sound crazy...but I wanted this to be longer?? It's already 432 pages, but split between our POV characters, that leaves us with 100 pages with each, give or take. I think I would have enjoyed a few more quiet moments along the way to really build our main characters up for the final book, to bring their arcs full circle. But I understand the idea behind this book having a lot of tight, focused storylines to keep from suffering from middle book syndrome. I felt similarly about another sequel I read recently, The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter. Both books are pretty fast paced the entire way, and left me feeling excited while I was reading but ultimately wanting more slower moments to balance things out once I had finished.
The Combat Codes series has an addicting quality to it that makes them difficult to put down. If you want lots of actions, detailed fights, and unique sci-fi dystopian world, this is a series I would recommend picking up! I can't wait for book three, Blacklight Born (killer name).
I was so excited to see the sequel to the Combat Codes coming out fairly soon after the first and even more excited to get an eARC for it!
This was a solid sequel to the first book, expanding the world in a lot of different and unique ways. While we still have POVs of Cego and Murray, we also got some new additions: Sol and The Slayer (I don't want to spoil who it really is). Both of these really helped move the story along and explored new areas of the world. The story takes quite a few dark turns throughout this book and I appreciate when an author can write about young adults without softening the story. Pardon my pun, but no punches were pulled in Grievar's Blood.
As addressed in the author's note, I was worried about "second/middle book syndrome." I don't think this book suffered from that. It set a brisk pace and didn't feel at all like book one, which is more a school type setting. By broadening our POVs, Darwin distanced book two from its predecessor while still moving the pieces around, so to speak, in preparations for the conclusion.
I ended up giving this 3.75, which always feels a tad pedantic to do, but if forced to round, I would round up to a 4 star and not feel like I am giving undue credit. Beyond book one just having a great reveal at the end that bumped up the rating, book two lacked improvement in the one area that really stuck out to me: the dialogue. It still didn't have the flow I was looking, with some cheesy and clunky bits still coming through. Additionally, this might sound crazy...but I wanted this to be longer?? It's already 432 pages, but split between our POV characters, that leaves us with 100 pages with each, give or take. I think I would have enjoyed a few more quiet moments along the way to really build our main characters up for the final book, to bring their arcs full circle. But I understand the idea behind this book having a lot of tight, focused storylines to keep from suffering from middle book syndrome. I felt similarly about another sequel I read recently, The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter. Both books are pretty fast paced the entire way, and left me feeling excited while I was reading but ultimately wanting more slower moments to balance things out once I had finished.
The Combat Codes series has an addicting quality to it that makes them difficult to put down. If you want lots of actions, detailed fights, and unique sci-fi dystopian world, this is a series I would recommend picking up! I can't wait for book three, Blacklight Born (killer name).