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nonesensed's review against another edition
4.5
Thana is the daughter of a legendary assassin. Naturally, as a young woman in the same field of work, of calling, she's eager to follow in her mother's footsteps, to live up to her legacy. Thus, she's more than eager to take on a seeming impossible contract: kill a foreign ambassador who has literal magic to call on for defense. She might have bitten off more than she can chew.
Well, this series escalated quickly.
I usually try to avoid spoilers in reviews, but it's hard to explain what I thought about this book without heading into spoiler territory. So, here we are.
This isn't the first trilogy that's switched main characters on me for the second book. This isn't the only trilogy that's got a huge time-skip between book 1 and 2. Neither of those two things are in themselves negative. What threw me a bit was the lack of foreshadowing for this huge change at the end of book one (at least that I noticed). Amastan and his many relationships drew me into the first book and made me invested in Ghadid as a city and a society. I wanted more of his missions, him learning to become an assassin, the return of his star-crossed love interest, of Ghadid's internal politics.
And I didn't get that.
Don't get me wrong, I like Thana. I like her romance, I like her personality, I like the challenge she's facing. But her flavor of story is very different from the first book. In the first story, we had a murder mystery of sorts and local political intrigue. In this book, we get world ending levels of destruction on the line. Ghadid gets destroyed off-screen! So many characters I'd come to love or at least find interesting just, dead, after barely being in the book at all.
I don't think this was a badly written book or anything. It was just a jarring switch in tone, scope and cast. Will be interesting to see how book three feels, now that I'm prepared for a drastic change.
Well, this series escalated quickly.
I usually try to avoid spoilers in reviews, but it's hard to explain what I thought about this book without heading into spoiler territory. So, here we are.
This isn't the first trilogy that's switched main characters on me for the second book. This isn't the only trilogy that's got a huge time-skip between book 1 and 2. Neither of those two things are in themselves negative. What threw me a bit was the lack of foreshadowing for this huge change at the end of book one (at least that I noticed). Amastan and his many relationships drew me into the first book and made me invested in Ghadid as a city and a society. I wanted more of his missions, him learning to become an assassin, the return of his star-crossed love interest, of Ghadid's internal politics.
And I didn't get that.
Don't get me wrong, I like Thana. I like her romance, I like her personality, I like the challenge she's facing. But her flavor of story is very different from the first book. In the first story, we had a murder mystery of sorts and local political intrigue. In this book, we get world ending levels of destruction on the line. Ghadid gets destroyed off-screen! So many characters I'd come to love or at least find interesting just, dead, after barely being in the book at all.
I don't think this was a badly written book or anything. It was just a jarring switch in tone, scope and cast. Will be interesting to see how book three feels, now that I'm prepared for a drastic change.
wildfaeriecaps's review against another edition
5.0
This series gets better with every book. Excited to read the next book but also sad that it's the final one in the series!
siavahda's review
5.0
The Impossible Contract is the second book in Doore’s Chronicles of Ghadid trilogy, a series following a family of assassins in a desert world where water is not only currency, but magic. Contract reads perfectly well as a standalone, but you’re missing out if you skip over book one, The Perfect Assassin, with its homoromantic-asexual, certified cinnamon roll of a lead, Amastan.
Amastan features as a brief side-character in this book, but Contract is squarely centred on Thana, and as much as I loved Amastan, I’m so glad Thana got to star in her own novel! Although at first glance she seems to be a reasonably typical character – daughter of the (in)famous Serpent, an assassin who prevented a war, with a chip on her shoulder about proving herself and a weakness for pretty girls – I actually ended up reading the book twice so I could devote an entire reading just to analysing her, highlighting and making notes on all the skilfully subtle ways Doore reveals that she’s actually far more complicated than she looks at first glance.
And to be honest, the entire book is like that: on one level, it reads a bit like an action film, in that it’s a ton of fun, the plot moves along at an excellent pace, and it’s pure entertainment – you’re not required to think too hard about anything, you can just sit back and enjoy. And that’s not meant as any kind of insult; I devoured Impossible both times. It’s addictive and blissfully readable, with just the right balance of description and action in the writing. On a superficial level, the plot is simple enough to not require much of the reader – which is such a relief when you’re tired and just want something fun to read! – while still having enough twisty bits to be genuinely interesting.
Read the rest over at my blog, Every Book a Doorway!
Amastan features as a brief side-character in this book, but Contract is squarely centred on Thana, and as much as I loved Amastan, I’m so glad Thana got to star in her own novel! Although at first glance she seems to be a reasonably typical character – daughter of the (in)famous Serpent, an assassin who prevented a war, with a chip on her shoulder about proving herself and a weakness for pretty girls – I actually ended up reading the book twice so I could devote an entire reading just to analysing her, highlighting and making notes on all the skilfully subtle ways Doore reveals that she’s actually far more complicated than she looks at first glance.
And to be honest, the entire book is like that: on one level, it reads a bit like an action film, in that it’s a ton of fun, the plot moves along at an excellent pace, and it’s pure entertainment – you’re not required to think too hard about anything, you can just sit back and enjoy. And that’s not meant as any kind of insult; I devoured Impossible both times. It’s addictive and blissfully readable, with just the right balance of description and action in the writing. On a superficial level, the plot is simple enough to not require much of the reader – which is such a relief when you’re tired and just want something fun to read! – while still having enough twisty bits to be genuinely interesting.
Read the rest over at my blog, Every Book a Doorway!
abbyct's review
5.0
I love when a sequel takes what felt like a big deal in the first book and makes that look like a small speck.
The Perfect Assassin was awesome, but the scale of this (I won't spoil anything) makes the mysterious murders in TPA seem like small potatoes.
It also deepens the fantastic worldbuilding, but it doesn't slow down at all. You find yourself pulled along with a fascinating cast of characters.
And oh yeah, you know you need zombie camels and the most wholesome f/f romance ever in your life.
The Perfect Assassin was awesome, but the scale of this (I won't spoil anything) makes the mysterious murders in TPA seem like small potatoes.
It also deepens the fantastic worldbuilding, but it doesn't slow down at all. You find yourself pulled along with a fascinating cast of characters.
And oh yeah, you know you need zombie camels and the most wholesome f/f romance ever in your life.
booksandlemonsquash's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
I somehow missed that this wasn’t a direct follow on from the first book, and I did spend some time missing Amastan
I somehow missed that this wasn’t a direct follow on from the first book, and I did spend some time missing Amastan
justiceofkalr's review against another edition
5.0
I love these characters so much. They're such disasters, but they're lovable disasters.
Now to go back and read the first book while I wait for the third.
Now to go back and read the first book while I wait for the third.
akemichan's review against another edition
3.0
Decisamente molto meglio del precedente. Ci sono sempre due o tre cose qui e lì che mi hanno convinto poco, ma ho trovato i personaggi e la trama decisamente più interessanti da seguire e hanno, a mio parere, reso molto meglio anche l'ambientazione che già era un punto di forza del primo libro.
gealach's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
lautir's review
3.0
This one was an improvement over the first!
It still feels a little 'meh' for all the hype around it but I felt it was easier to stay with the characters motivations and the plot was much faster which helped. The big emotional reveals failed to have the hit that I think that author was hoping for but it at least kept the dramatics going.
It still feels a little 'meh' for all the hype around it but I felt it was easier to stay with the characters motivations and the plot was much faster which helped. The big emotional reveals failed to have the hit that I think that author was hoping for but it at least kept the dramatics going.