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I'm very glad to report that it is the former. I had such a blast reading this book! It was just really funny, but also had a very captivating story. I couldn't read this book quick enough. I just absolutely flew through it. This book did feel a bit like a set up for the rest of the series but I really liked what was being set up. It all was just so interesting, and I can't wait to see how it's all going to unfold later on.
I also really loved our two leads. James is a delight. He is a perfect mix between Warner, Kenji, and Adam while also just being completely his own person. Having grown up in the middle of a revolution also adds an interesting perspective to things. Rosabelle however can be a bit frustrating at times, but it's all understandable. I mean, she was raised to be a Reestablishment assassin. Of course, the way she thinks and behaves is going to be affected by that as well. It was just frustrating at times because we know more about the revolution and the New Republic than her indoctrinated ass does. However, I did like following her.
I only had 2 issues with this book. The first one was that I didn't think this had a propper ending. It was just really abrupt, and it felt like it just cut off in the middle of a scene. The second issue I had was that the romance felt really superficial. The only reason we get for Rosabel liking James is that he basically is the first ever person to be nice to her, and the only reason we get for James like Rosabel is that she's hot. Considering so much of these character's conflict is based around their feelings for each other it all just falls flat on its face when it all just feels so superficial.
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide
Graphic: Cursing, Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
I'm really sad about Kenji and Nazeeraš I feel like they're going to get back together though. I found it funny that brendon thought Winston was too old, im sorry.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Classism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility, Sexual content, Torture, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Outing
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Pregnancy
Minor: Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Vomit
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Abandonment
and speaking of leads, really did end up liking james and rosabelle. their chemistry was well established and remained consistent and organic, and they both have really interesting and complex personalites/personal arcs. i felt especially endeared to rosabelle and fascinated with the way her mind works but also absolutely heartbroken at the things she went through that made her the way she is, whereas james is still my prince and it was great to see how much he's evolved and how different he is than before, but still somehow the same in all the ways that matter. i fucking love the assassin x target or "falling for your mark" trope so my interest was immediately piqued once it made sense that its what james and rosa's dynamic was gonna be.
the tropes were surely troping, but even with all the effort put into the romance, the plot wasnt left behind at all. some sequels as of late are prone to being weakly written and obviously only exist for nostalgia bait and to keep generating hype and money, but i gotta give tahereh her flowers for this one bc it actually seems like she's got something solid going on here. it makes sense for the new republic to still be facing problems even after a decade of coming into power. klaus is an impressibly unique villain that will most definitely cause a lot of problems be very hard to take down, plus the ark island folks do seem like proper pricks that'll be a pain to deal with. i like that. gimme all the action! i am more than ready to be back in this world. so far this is really shaping up to be a pretty damn good second gen series and if tahareh mafi keeps this up then and i will happily lock the fuck in for the next book or two. 4.75 stars ;)
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infertility, Miscarriage, Vomit
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Chronic illness, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy