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A review by roseduni
Between Burning Worlds, Volume 2 by Jessica Brody, Joanne Rendell
5.0
hi i have SO MUCH to say and none of it makes sense.
let’s go!
starting off with all the little issues i had
(actually these aren’t quite deserving of the word “problems” or even “issues” really. maybe more like gripes? anyway. this is going to be too long a list for a rating this high but hear me out.)
1. it needed more enjolras. :/
like really. we all know i love him, so i did not come here to not be able to tell which character he was. i mean really, you can’t get me all excited about the rebellion leader standing on a table giving a rousing speech to then be like, and oh there’s jolras standing silently in the back- it took me wayyy too long to figure out if they just named a random guy jolras or if he actually was the enjolras (i’m still low key unsure lol). i also didn’t come here to see him get 10 lines in the entire book. luckily, it the ending did set it up for him to play a much more pivotal role (which i’m literally praying for) in the next book. :)
2. the entirety of les amis de l’abc was not what i wanted. the red scar, who i believe is supposed to be their counterpart was way too violent and not at all like my boys haha.
3. the character named grantaire was not the grantaire i know and love!! ok yes he was cool but “i have to earn your trust. i respect that. i’ll work on it. i like a challenge” could not possibly be more different than my favorite lazy loser child grantaire.
4. i couldn’t figure out who the new characters were supposed to be. i’m not sure if that’s my fault but i’m like 82% sure that they’re just completely new characters the authors made up (except for gabriel- who might be courfeyrac? idk). not that there’s actually anything wrong with that lol.
5. give me more jean valjean and javert! we got to see lots of them in the first book, which was something i especially loved, but not here. john mcjohn didn’t appear at all and oovoo javer was unconscious the entire time. smh.
6. if i have to read “this person looks familiar. i don’t know why” “why do i feel like i know/ recognize this person” “i know this person i swear i do” “something seemed familiar about this person but i wasn’t sure what” i am going to lose my mind. did you get sick of reading those four sentences right there? i bet you did. SO DID I. normally i’d be wanting the opposite but this happened so often. just give us a completely random or new character and move on with it. please i’m begging you.
7. i wanted more of chatine’s pov. i actually yelled one time because it kept on flipping between the other two and wouldn’t just give me my girl. to be frank, i’d honestly be fine if it had all been from her pov. but whatever.
8. still needing more enjolras :)
oh! here’s my most major thought from this book! (sorry uh... grammar? oops)
also the thing i’m most unsure on lol.
so in [b:Sky Without Stars|34513785|Sky Without Stars (System Divine, #1)|Jessica Brody|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528131703l/34513785._SY75_.jpg|55641917], the authors stuck pretty close to the original plot. yes, they took plenty of liberties, but the similarities were still obvious.
here?
idk where this plot came from. i mean none (well hardly any) of it was from les mis. they went in a wildly different direction, expanding the world and upping the stakes by a vast amount. even the introduction of all these new characters and groups shows that.
and i REALLY don’t know how i feel about all this.
because i won’t deny, they did a wonderful job. i loved seeing new places and meeting new people. they did a good job of upping the stakes and i’m really excited to see how some of the new twists and such play out.
but…
it didn’t feel that much like les mis. yes we still have our three main characters and the caste differences but everything else felt very removed. and i kind of wanted my small scale revolution, not a book of this scale, with planet and even galaxy wide consequences. i also feel like this is setting it all up for a very different ending. (but i’ll admit that i have no right to want this to end the way les mis does.)
when i finished the first book, i was unsure how the authors were going end it all. now, i’m pretty doubtful that they won’t keep the original (miserable) ending. which i should be grateful for, because i can’t imagine losing all these characters again, but a stupid part of me still doesn’t want that to change. i don’t really want this to just be a normal, happy ending. because that’s not what les miserables is. (quite literally lol)
things i loved
1. THE CHARACTERS! really they were so amazing. i never thought i’d say this, but i even loved alouette! really! chatine continues to be my favorite, but i also adored our new characters, especially ettienne and gabriel. and cerise was cool too. marcellus was kind of annoying at points but he was still okay.
2. a possible new ship?? i can’t say more because spoilers but i’m really rooting for this one to work out because these characters deserve it so hard.
3. the defectuer (spelling? who’s she) camp was really interesting. the entire dynamic of that place, while possibly cliché, also ironically felt new and fresh. i hope we get to see more of them.
4. that one twist at the end. yes, i saw it coming from a mile away. yes, it was the most cliché thing ever. no it isn’t what happened in les mis at all. but i still loved it. it also opens up so many new possibilities, which i’m excited for.
5. hardly any romance at all. if anything, i almost wished there was more angst (a first). but they seemed to all just be chill with like, who cares about love we have a planet to save! and i’m here for that. especially considering how worried i was for all the insta-love love triangle drama when i started this series.
...
ok that’s all. there was much more i liked (like the whole book), but this review is rivaling the length of the Brick (actually one last point, to all the people who said this installment was “too long”— you do know what book this is based off? right? i’m sorry but it was never not going to be long) and ok now i’m done.
i’m still a little conflicted because i feel like i had so many problems with it, but i do think it deserves those five stars, if just for pure enjoyment levels.
anyways, goodnight and vive la france!
///
ok well i started writing a review but i’m not even halfway through and it’s 700 words long so i’m gonna give it another shot tomorrow. leaving a five star rating for now :)
///
TOO MANY incoherent thoughts and feelings so i’m not even gonna give a rating yet, but i’ll be back with a review and some stars soon hopefully :)
(i did enjoy tho lol)
///
it’s hUGE wow i did not know
///
this is supposed to arrive on my birthday so i’m very excited lol and it had better be good
let’s go!
starting off with all the little issues i had
(actually these aren’t quite deserving of the word “problems” or even “issues” really. maybe more like gripes? anyway. this is going to be too long a list for a rating this high but hear me out.)
1. it needed more enjolras. :/
like really. we all know i love him, so i did not come here to not be able to tell which character he was. i mean really, you can’t get me all excited about the rebellion leader standing on a table giving a rousing speech to then be like, and oh there’s jolras standing silently in the back- it took me wayyy too long to figure out if they just named a random guy jolras or if he actually was the enjolras (i’m still low key unsure lol). i also didn’t come here to see him get 10 lines in the entire book. luckily, it the ending did set it up for him to play a much more pivotal role (which i’m literally praying for) in the next book. :)
2. the entirety of les amis de l’abc was not what i wanted. the red scar, who i believe is supposed to be their counterpart was way too violent and not at all like my boys haha.
3. the character named grantaire was not the grantaire i know and love!! ok yes he was cool but “i have to earn your trust. i respect that. i’ll work on it. i like a challenge” could not possibly be more different than my favorite lazy loser child grantaire.
4. i couldn’t figure out who the new characters were supposed to be. i’m not sure if that’s my fault but i’m like 82% sure that they’re just completely new characters the authors made up (except for gabriel- who might be courfeyrac? idk). not that there’s actually anything wrong with that lol.
5. give me more jean valjean and javert! we got to see lots of them in the first book, which was something i especially loved, but not here. john mcjohn didn’t appear at all and oovoo javer was unconscious the entire time. smh.
6. if i have to read “this person looks familiar. i don’t know why” “why do i feel like i know/ recognize this person” “i know this person i swear i do” “something seemed familiar about this person but i wasn’t sure what” i am going to lose my mind. did you get sick of reading those four sentences right there? i bet you did. SO DID I. normally i’d be wanting the opposite but this happened so often. just give us a completely random or new character and move on with it. please i’m begging you.
7. i wanted more of chatine’s pov. i actually yelled one time because it kept on flipping between the other two and wouldn’t just give me my girl. to be frank, i’d honestly be fine if it had all been from her pov. but whatever.
8. still needing more enjolras :)
oh! here’s my most major thought from this book! (sorry uh... grammar? oops)
also the thing i’m most unsure on lol.
so in [b:Sky Without Stars|34513785|Sky Without Stars (System Divine, #1)|Jessica Brody|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528131703l/34513785._SY75_.jpg|55641917], the authors stuck pretty close to the original plot. yes, they took plenty of liberties, but the similarities were still obvious.
here?
idk where this plot came from. i mean none (well hardly any) of it was from les mis. they went in a wildly different direction, expanding the world and upping the stakes by a vast amount. even the introduction of all these new characters and groups shows that.
and i REALLY don’t know how i feel about all this.
because i won’t deny, they did a wonderful job. i loved seeing new places and meeting new people. they did a good job of upping the stakes and i’m really excited to see how some of the new twists and such play out.
but…
it didn’t feel that much like les mis. yes we still have our three main characters and the caste differences but everything else felt very removed. and i kind of wanted my small scale revolution, not a book of this scale, with planet and even galaxy wide consequences. i also feel like this is setting it all up for a very different ending. (but i’ll admit that i have no right to want this to end the way les mis does.)
when i finished the first book, i was unsure how the authors were going end it all. now, i’m pretty doubtful that they won’t keep the original (miserable) ending. which i should be grateful for, because i can’t imagine losing all these characters again, but a stupid part of me still doesn’t want that to change. i don’t really want this to just be a normal, happy ending. because that’s not what les miserables is. (quite literally lol)
things i loved
1. THE CHARACTERS! really they were so amazing. i never thought i’d say this, but i even loved alouette! really! chatine continues to be my favorite, but i also adored our new characters, especially ettienne and gabriel. and cerise was cool too. marcellus was kind of annoying at points but he was still okay.
2. a possible new ship?? i can’t say more because spoilers but i’m really rooting for this one to work out because these characters deserve it so hard.
3. the defectuer (spelling? who’s she) camp was really interesting. the entire dynamic of that place, while possibly cliché, also ironically felt new and fresh. i hope we get to see more of them.
4. that one twist at the end. yes, i saw it coming from a mile away. yes, it was the most cliché thing ever. no it isn’t what happened in les mis at all. but i still loved it. it also opens up so many new possibilities, which i’m excited for.
5. hardly any romance at all. if anything, i almost wished there was more angst (a first). but they seemed to all just be chill with like, who cares about love we have a planet to save! and i’m here for that. especially considering how worried i was for all the insta-love love triangle drama when i started this series.
...
ok that’s all. there was much more i liked (like the whole book), but this review is rivaling the length of the Brick (actually one last point, to all the people who said this installment was “too long”— you do know what book this is based off? right? i’m sorry but it was never not going to be long) and ok now i’m done.
i’m still a little conflicted because i feel like i had so many problems with it, but i do think it deserves those five stars, if just for pure enjoyment levels.
anyways, goodnight and vive la france!
///
ok well i started writing a review but i’m not even halfway through and it’s 700 words long so i’m gonna give it another shot tomorrow. leaving a five star rating for now :)
///
TOO MANY incoherent thoughts and feelings so i’m not even gonna give a rating yet, but i’ll be back with a review and some stars soon hopefully :)
(i did enjoy tho lol)
///
it’s hUGE wow i did not know
///
this is supposed to arrive on my birthday so i’m very excited lol and it had better be good