A review by monicakessler
City of Secrets by Mary Hoffman
4.0
It can be a bit awkward when you pick up the 4th book of a series that was meant to be a trilogy. You've had the satisfying ending; you've seen a big climax. What could possibly come after that which doesn't pale by comparison? Series that do this well really up the ante and introduce a whole crew of new characters to “change things up”, in my experience.
Unfortunately City of Secrets doesn't manage this. Instead it sticks to a similar formula, mixing things from previous books, and barely introduces any new characters – in fact, far fewer than books 2 and 3 did. This seems to be because there are already a great host of characters to keep up with – and we do have excellent reappearances of beloved characters from previous books (cough, cough, Cesare, my love); however, there was a lack of freshness and vitality to the book because of this.
While the plot drama is as dramatic as the events of previous books, it somehow seems less iconic, which makes sense considering this is the only book in the series which I have absolutely no memory of reading (which is unusual for me) even though, as I was reading it, I definitely recalled having read those events before – even if I then still couldn't remember where the book went next. While it was nice seeing it with fresh eyes, it lacked the excitement of the re-read that the previous two (better) books in the series brought me. At least it was more condensed and less wordy than City of Flowers.
Plot-wise, this one is roughly on par with book one, but has a little less charm; side characters don't feel fresh and poor Luciano really needs a break (I know he keeps being brought back into the picture for fanservice reasons, but honestly, let him live a quiet life for once!! He's been through enough!!) Matt is serviceable as the new MC, but the way his dyslexia is handled (as a “character weakness” or reason for self-doubt/dislike) is much clumsier than other comparable books (e.g. Percy Jackson). While Mary Hoffman is usually very good at showing the character growth of the MC throughout their book – Georgia in particular got a good run of it – in this one, Matt's character growth feels harried in a way and reliant on him growing out of doing things that didn't seem likely for him to do in the first place, when introduced in the first chapter.
Nonetheless, while the overall nostalgia wasn't there and it did have some flaws, the continuity at least was good and the plot and characters remain enjoyable. I love it when they act as a team. Stravagante magic is now vague enough that “Stravagante” might as well be replaced with “wizard”, but I think that's just how we're going to have to roll; it's not too heinous a flaw to have a vague, loose soft magic system. Its conveniences are counterbalanced by the obvious inconveniences of it which are used liberally throughout the plot of all of the books.
4* because I love this world; like most fans, I still don't think further entries in this series will beat City of Stars, but I'll continue onwards with the rest of the books – which I definitely haven't read before! Fingers crossed for some great adventure.
Unfortunately City of Secrets doesn't manage this. Instead it sticks to a similar formula, mixing things from previous books, and barely introduces any new characters – in fact, far fewer than books 2 and 3 did. This seems to be because there are already a great host of characters to keep up with – and we do have excellent reappearances of beloved characters from previous books (cough, cough, Cesare, my love); however, there was a lack of freshness and vitality to the book because of this.
While the plot drama is as dramatic as the events of previous books, it somehow seems less iconic, which makes sense considering this is the only book in the series which I have absolutely no memory of reading (which is unusual for me) even though, as I was reading it, I definitely recalled having read those events before – even if I then still couldn't remember where the book went next. While it was nice seeing it with fresh eyes, it lacked the excitement of the re-read that the previous two (better) books in the series brought me. At least it was more condensed and less wordy than City of Flowers.
Plot-wise, this one is roughly on par with book one, but has a little less charm; side characters don't feel fresh and poor Luciano really needs a break (I know he keeps being brought back into the picture for fanservice reasons, but honestly, let him live a quiet life for once!! He's been through enough!!) Matt is serviceable as the new MC, but the way his dyslexia is handled (as a “character weakness” or reason for self-doubt/dislike) is much clumsier than other comparable books (e.g. Percy Jackson). While Mary Hoffman is usually very good at showing the character growth of the MC throughout their book – Georgia in particular got a good run of it – in this one, Matt's character growth feels harried in a way and reliant on him growing out of doing things that didn't seem likely for him to do in the first place, when introduced in the first chapter.
Nonetheless, while the overall nostalgia wasn't there and it did have some flaws, the continuity at least was good and the plot and characters remain enjoyable. I love it when they act as a team. Stravagante magic is now vague enough that “Stravagante” might as well be replaced with “wizard”, but I think that's just how we're going to have to roll; it's not too heinous a flaw to have a vague, loose soft magic system. Its conveniences are counterbalanced by the obvious inconveniences of it which are used liberally throughout the plot of all of the books.
4* because I love this world; like most fans, I still don't think further entries in this series will beat City of Stars, but I'll continue onwards with the rest of the books – which I definitely haven't read before! Fingers crossed for some great adventure.