A review by pn_hinton
Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
3.0
This was a hard one to get into and finish. The middle part was fantastic, but sandwiched by a slow start and a rushed finish. I enjoyed the first two in the series but felt underwhelmed by the final book in the trilogy.
The beginning was very difficult to get into. I kept getting mad at Addison, Emma, and Jacob for their increasing poor sense of judgement. Jacob was too indecisive and ‘wishy-washy’. Emma was plain annoying. She always had snap reactions and a fiery temper. Here the traits were both unwelcome and dangerous given the position that Jacob and she were in. Addison also had blinders on when it came to making good decisions. But at least in his defense, he’s a dog. So, that narrow-minded focus was a bit understandable. It was still tedious to get through.
The sluggish pace continued until they got to Devil’s Acre. Once there, things began to pick up a bit, even if still took a bit in my opinion.
The reunions were emotional enough. The reason for the animosity between Alma and Caul explained in full. The one complaint there was that this stemmed from sibling rivalry that wasn’t grown out of, which seemed a bit of a stretch. But I’ve never been in or on the receiving end so I really couldn’t say. The fight between Caul and the last-second ally, as well his demise were both rushed. But it was satisfying and final.
The ending, starting from when Jacob returned to his family to the very end and big "reveal" were lacking. It seemed rushed and put together. The very ending had a very Deus ex Machina feel to it that seemed too far convenient and was only put in to have a happy ending. While I quite enjoyed the first two in the series I felt the third was a bit of a let-down and anti-climactic. There could have been such much more done and it failed to deliver.
The beginning was very difficult to get into. I kept getting mad at Addison, Emma, and Jacob for their increasing poor sense of judgement. Jacob was too indecisive and ‘wishy-washy’. Emma was plain annoying. She always had snap reactions and a fiery temper. Here the traits were both unwelcome and dangerous given the position that Jacob and she were in. Addison also had blinders on when it came to making good decisions. But at least in his defense, he’s a dog. So, that narrow-minded focus was a bit understandable. It was still tedious to get through.
The sluggish pace continued until they got to Devil’s Acre. Once there, things began to pick up a bit, even if still took a bit in my opinion.
The reunions were emotional enough. The reason for the animosity between Alma and Caul explained in full. The one complaint there was that this stemmed from sibling rivalry that wasn’t grown out of, which seemed a bit of a stretch. But I’ve never been in or on the receiving end so I really couldn’t say. The fight between Caul and the last-second ally, as well his demise were both rushed. But it was satisfying and final.
The ending, starting from when Jacob returned to his family to the very end and big "reveal" were lacking. It seemed rushed and put together. The very ending had a very Deus ex Machina feel to it that seemed too far convenient and was only put in to have a happy ending. While I quite enjoyed the first two in the series I felt the third was a bit of a let-down and anti-climactic. There could have been such much more done and it failed to deliver.