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A review by tundaria
Win by Vera Nazarian
3.0
Similar to the previous books in its pros and cons. Still readable and interesting with some neat ideas, but also everything turns out exceptionally well for Gwen and most people she knows. The book still really needs more editing, mostly for tone and story/content. Not so much for consistency as just… quality? A lot of stuff comes up and is made out to be important, only to not really matter at all, or just comes entirely out of left field .
Also, Gwen's family and friends essentially vanish after she gets into the Games. The focus is entirely on Aeson. Which, okay, I get that there's the ~romance~ aspect of this book, but it goes way too far in that. Also, princey himself is really controlling and disturbingly dependent and this just. isn't addressed?? at all??? Plus (and this may just be a personal thing) the romance seems a little forced and awkward sometimes, never mind the gooeyness… idk I'm not super into romance to start.
The pacing was off (at some points more than others—why do the first two Stages get 20 chapters each but the last two get that many combined?), but part of that is just the obnoxious start/end points. The "cliffhanger ending" of the last book was more of an "ending at a dramatic place without resolution," so this book then had to deal with the immediate aftermath before accomplishing anything else. I would have ended [b: Compete|26100693|Compete (The Atlantis Grail, #2)|Vera Nazarian|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439583062s/26100693.jpg|46043859] probably after in this book. We can find out she's going into the Games (and therefore gets to, you know… compete, since that's the only book which doesn't really deliver on its titular goal) and then cut away for the next book. Drama preserved, but at a more natural endpoint. It's still not perfect, maybe, but I'm not a professional writer ;)
Miscellaneous things that bothered me:
* The Kassiopei sex thing is really out of place, tonally? Like. That chapter took A Turn. The alien stuff I can get behind, but that was just bizarre.
* Gwen—and everyone else competing, really—is bizarrely chill about the whole Games experience? Like, they're obviously not happy about it, but no one is really traumatized either? All these terrible things are happening and there are no real consequences for it.
*"Pegasei are impossible to train in three days!! the professionals take weeks!!" -> literally everyone who doesn't accidentally free the creature manages it
* Deneb ~conveniently~ just randomly dies with no effort on Gwen's part. At least Thalassa's demise had some kind of connection to previous events.
* Don't leave us hanging with Lolu and Chihar?? Add to the drama by making them do their tiebreaker first.
* There is no possible way for Aeson to have learned all that shit about his father at the very end, not when he's been immersing himself in the Games the whole damn time. How the hell would he even find that out, especially all of a sudden? Take some time to address the Grail revelation, and then have him find out more later. And then end the book. Don't just stop after a dramatic proclamation for no good reason.
Overall, it's about on par with [b: Qualify|21845122|Qualify (The Atlantis Grail, #1)|Vera Nazarian|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1399528788s/21845122.jpg|41115914] for me: solid and enjoyable… just don't think too hard about it.
Spoiler
(Kassiopei sex ritual, Games assassins, the Blue Grail puzzle, pegasus everything)Also, Gwen's family and friends essentially vanish after she gets into the Games. The focus is entirely on Aeson. Which, okay, I get that there's the ~romance~ aspect of this book, but it goes way too far in that. Also, princey himself is really controlling and disturbingly dependent and this just. isn't addressed?? at all??? Plus (and this may just be a personal thing) the romance seems a little forced and awkward sometimes, never mind the gooeyness… idk I'm not super into romance to start.
The pacing was off (at some points more than others—why do the first two Stages get 20 chapters each but the last two get that many combined?), but part of that is just the obnoxious start/end points. The "cliffhanger ending" of the last book was more of an "ending at a dramatic place without resolution," so this book then had to deal with the immediate aftermath before accomplishing anything else. I would have ended [b: Compete|26100693|Compete (The Atlantis Grail, #2)|Vera Nazarian|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439583062s/26100693.jpg|46043859] probably after
Spoiler
the Assembly in Gwen's honorMiscellaneous things that bothered me:
Spoiler
* Practically nothing culturally/lessonwise in the previous book was relevant to this one (as far as I remember, at least)?? Just the actual events, like the relationship stuff with Logan and Aeson, and everything with Brie (who is a sarcastic QUEEN in this book).* The Kassiopei sex thing is really out of place, tonally? Like. That chapter took A Turn. The alien stuff I can get behind, but that was just bizarre.
* Gwen—and everyone else competing, really—is bizarrely chill about the whole Games experience? Like, they're obviously not happy about it, but no one is really traumatized either? All these terrible things are happening and there are no real consequences for it.
*"Pegasei are impossible to train in three days!! the professionals take weeks!!" -> literally everyone who doesn't accidentally free the creature manages it
* Deneb ~conveniently~ just randomly dies with no effort on Gwen's part. At least Thalassa's demise had some kind of connection to previous events.
* Don't leave us hanging with Lolu and Chihar?? Add to the drama by making them do their tiebreaker first.
* There is no possible way for Aeson to have learned all that shit about his father at the very end, not when he's been immersing himself in the Games the whole damn time. How the hell would he even find that out, especially all of a sudden? Take some time to address the Grail revelation, and then have him find out more later. And then end the book. Don't just stop after a dramatic proclamation for no good reason.
Overall, it's about on par with [b: Qualify|21845122|Qualify (The Atlantis Grail, #1)|Vera Nazarian|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1399528788s/21845122.jpg|41115914] for me: solid and enjoyable… just don't think too hard about it.