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A review by elisa_menz
A Path of Branches: The Mindbridge Trilogy Book 2 by Joe Luegers
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Lucky me, I'm on a streak of reading AMAZING books!
When reading a new series I'm always wary to start the dreaded second book, because sometimes they don't live up to the first one's hype. Not the case here! A Path of Branches widely surpasses its predecessor in both action and character development.
The stakes rise to a hair of becoming farfetched and end up being just breathtaking. Honestly... "I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I was holding" was my default mode while reading.
Once again we have two teenage girls who are the only hope to save the world (both worlds). Despite the common YA trope, Kaija and Maeryn feel real. They feel REASONABLE. They traverse danger and hard choices as a teen would do: afraid, dubious, and wounded. So many things that could have ended up being cliché, are not. There are no magical-came-out-of-nowhere solutions here. There are some great moments of self-discovery and rage/fear-induced power that accomplish little to nothing. Responsible adults are pretty involved in all of this save-the-world drama and no one is making the children decide whether everyone lives or dies. Love doesn't conquer all. It kind of ruin stuff in a beautiful way.
I loved the humor. I loved the world-building. Jerkbirds are my new favorite fantasy animal.
There's still a book III coming, and after that ending, I need answers.
When reading a new series I'm always wary to start the dreaded second book, because sometimes they don't live up to the first one's hype. Not the case here! A Path of Branches widely surpasses its predecessor in both action and character development.
The stakes rise to a hair of becoming farfetched and end up being just breathtaking. Honestly... "I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I was holding" was my default mode while reading.
Once again we have two teenage girls who are the only hope to save the world (both worlds). Despite the common YA trope, Kaija and Maeryn feel real. They feel REASONABLE. They traverse danger and hard choices as a teen would do: afraid, dubious, and wounded. So many things that could have ended up being cliché, are not. There are no magical-came-out-of-nowhere solutions here. There are some great moments of self-discovery and rage/fear-induced power that accomplish little to nothing. Responsible adults are pretty involved in all of this save-the-world drama and no one is making the children decide whether everyone lives or dies. Love doesn't conquer all. It kind of ruin stuff in a beautiful way.
I loved the humor. I loved the world-building. Jerkbirds are my new favorite fantasy animal.
There's still a book III coming, and after that ending, I need answers.