Scan barcode
cheye13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I'm perhaps inclined to grant this book more leeway than usual, given what I've heard Asian and Asian-American authors are dealing with in the US publishing industry recently. It's possible I read this as the book it could've been rather than the book it actually is, so take my review with a grain of salt.
I loved this book. I loved being back with our trio, and getting more history about them and our side-characters, and more lore from the world in general. My main complaint is that I simply want more. I wanted a whole third book, and instead the second installment is half the length of the first. The whole back third of this second book read as if it were supposed to be the finale to a trilogy. The relationship with Remy's parents is healed ridiculously fast and completely skimmed through, much like the hinting of the colonization plotline. I thought that was so excellently set up in the first book only to become so hamfisted and blunt in this one – without any exploration or resolution.
Of course I'll dive further into Chupeco's backlist, but I adore their adult style, and I hope they have more in the works.
I loved this book. I loved being back with our trio, and getting more history about them and our side-characters, and more lore from the world in general. My main complaint is that I simply want more. I wanted a whole third book, and instead the second installment is half the length of the first. The whole back third of this second book read as if it were supposed to be the finale to a trilogy. The relationship with Remy's parents is healed ridiculously fast and completely skimmed through, much like the hinting of the colonization plotline. I thought that was so excellently set up in the first book only to become so hamfisted and blunt in this one – without any exploration or resolution.
Of course I'll dive further into Chupeco's backlist, but I adore their adult style, and I hope they have more in the works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, and War
Moderate: Grief and Colonisation
Minor: Chronic illness
brief scene involving under-negotiated (though consensual) kink regarding voyeurismthetaoakdown's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content, Alcoholism, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
mar's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I hate to say this, as I honestly loved the first book, but Court of Wanderers did not live up to my expectations :(
The ending of Silver Under Nightfall is a great cliffhanger, leaving you with so many questions, so much tension between Remy, Xiaodan and Malekh - only for most of it to be easily resolved at the very beginning of this book, giving you little incentive to read onwards.
There isn't much of the mystery of book 1, with the focus instead placed more firmly on steamy romance and courtly intrigue - except the intrigue was rarely intriguing, and the romance lost a lot of its appeal to me when I realized the characters have become flat, predictable cutouts, any and all character development seemingly one and done after SuN. (If you're expecting some interesting, messy conflicts and friction between the trio, some further fleshing out of their flaws - not a wild hope to have in a "dark fantasy" book, I think - then bad luck.)
The very uneven pacing also made it a slog to get through, and the fight scenes that could've breathed some much-needed life into the plot felt bland and repetitive, especially in comparison to how incredibly memorable and hair-raising the fights in SuN were.
Overall, I'm afraid Court of Wanderers just lacks the charm of the first book - it felt more like reading mediocre fanfiction than a published sequel.
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!)
The ending of Silver Under Nightfall is a great cliffhanger, leaving you with so many questions, so much tension between Remy, Xiaodan and Malekh - only for most of it to be easily resolved at the very beginning of this book, giving you little incentive to read onwards.
There isn't much of the mystery of book 1, with the focus instead placed more firmly on steamy romance and courtly intrigue - except the intrigue was rarely intriguing, and the romance lost a lot of its appeal to me when I realized the characters have become flat, predictable cutouts, any and all character development seemingly one and done after SuN. (If you're expecting some interesting, messy conflicts and friction between the trio, some further fleshing out of their flaws - not a wild hope to have in a "dark fantasy" book, I think - then bad luck.)
The very uneven pacing also made it a slog to get through, and the fight scenes that could've breathed some much-needed life into the plot felt bland and repetitive, especially in comparison to how incredibly memorable and hair-raising the fights in SuN were.
Overall, I'm afraid Court of Wanderers just lacks the charm of the first book - it felt more like reading mediocre fanfiction than a published sequel.
(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror and Gore
tifftastic87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I received an ARC of Court of Wanderers from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
Court of Wanderers wrapped up the threads of Silver Under Nightfall perfectly for a duology. The story started right where the last ended with Remy traveling to the Third Court with Xiaodan and Malekh. As the story unfolds we learn more about the Night Empress and the politics of the vampire courts. Other mysteries are introduced along the way with a bit of a locked room murder and people not being who they seem. As a whole it was a really enjoyable series to read and I liked the interpretations of vampires in Rin Chupeco's world.
Remy's character arc was nice to read as he increased in confidence in both himself as a person and in his relationship with Xiaodan and Malekh. The character of the Night Empress is also flushed out a bit more and we learn of her backstory and how she came to be. However, I felt Xiaodan and Malekh kind of faded a bit more into the background in this book and wished they had a bit more of their own storyline.
Overall, the pacing was sometimes difficult with many pages of worldbuilding after an intense action seen. The pace was never slow or fast but more of a stop and start, where I would have preferred a steady increase. I think that is the aspects of the romance plot coming through that while I enjoyed, seemed to somewhat slow the plot.
That being said I like how the romance unfolded and Remy, Xiaodan and Malekh all had things that they gained through their relationship in terms of character growth.
Lastly, I really enjoyed the horror elements of this duology. The creatures created were ghastly and their deaths gruesome and that kept me coming back for more.
Court of Wanderers wrapped up the threads of Silver Under Nightfall perfectly for a duology. The story started right where the last ended with Remy traveling to the Third Court with Xiaodan and Malekh. As the story unfolds we learn more about the Night Empress and the politics of the vampire courts. Other mysteries are introduced along the way with a bit of a locked room murder and people not being who they seem. As a whole it was a really enjoyable series to read and I liked the interpretations of vampires in Rin Chupeco's world.
Remy's character arc was nice to read as he increased in confidence in both himself as a person and in his relationship with Xiaodan and Malekh. The character of the Night Empress is also flushed out a bit more and we learn of her backstory and how she came to be. However, I felt Xiaodan and Malekh kind of faded a bit more into the background in this book and wished they had a bit more of their own storyline.
Overall, the pacing was sometimes difficult with many pages of worldbuilding after an intense action seen. The pace was never slow or fast but more of a stop and start, where I would have preferred a steady increase. I think that is the aspects of the romance plot coming through that while I enjoyed, seemed to somewhat slow the plot.
That being said I like how the romance unfolded and Remy, Xiaodan and Malekh all had things that they gained through their relationship in terms of character growth.
Lastly, I really enjoyed the horror elements of this duology. The creatures created were ghastly and their deaths gruesome and that kept me coming back for more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, Death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual content, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Terminal illness
More...