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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I read the first book of the trilogy a couple years ago I think, so it was a bit confusing at first. I managed to catch up, though. For the most part, I actually quite enjoyed reading this book, despite my 3 star rating of it. Many parts literally had me on the edge of seat (mostly towards the end, especially when . However, not much happened in the book, and the plot just didn't have much going on. I still think it was a pretty good read, nothing amazing, though. I am interested as to how the series (and the prophecy, of course) will be resolved.
Spoiler
Lia was racing toward the church and away from the Guard guy, and I was all, "Gogogogo ahhhh run!" Yeah.
I liked it, but I liked Prophecy of the Sisters better. This felt a little too much like an "in between" for me, but hopefully the last book will be better:)
Original Review Here
Having enjoyed the first book more than I thought I would, I was looking forward to reading the second in the trilogy. To my delight, it did not disappoint. Zink knows how to write young adult without turning her characters into love-sick fools who go from one extreme of emotion to another in the turn of a page. It’s refreshing and restores my faith in the genre.
The plot in the second book is more intense, naturally. The twists and turns along the way keep the reader gripped, especially as there is no telling who might be affected by the Souls. The false lead into who is the betrayer is cleverly done and the pacing of the entire book kept me eagerly turning the pages.
The character development is interesting. There is no denying that Lia changes, even if it is just due to her way of looking at the world. Although the typical love triangle has been established, she does not spend too much time anguishing over it, nor does forget about her past like it never happened. It’s one of the most tactful handlings I’ve read and I hope this continues through to the third book.
Some characters felt underused – Louisa in particular. She was a strong character in the first book, but feels as if she is left on the side-lines in this one. To some extent, the same could be said of Sonia while Edmund has a suddenly large role compared to the first book. It will be interesting to see how these characters resolve their places in the final book.
A lot is left open in the second book, with no real answers about where things will lead. There are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up in the final book and I only hope it is done effectively as otherwise it will feel like the whole trilogy is a big disappointment.
This book was enjoyable and kept me gripped the whole way through. While not very challenging to read, the content was mature enough to hold my interest. I look forward to the final book.
Having enjoyed the first book more than I thought I would, I was looking forward to reading the second in the trilogy. To my delight, it did not disappoint. Zink knows how to write young adult without turning her characters into love-sick fools who go from one extreme of emotion to another in the turn of a page. It’s refreshing and restores my faith in the genre.
The plot in the second book is more intense, naturally. The twists and turns along the way keep the reader gripped, especially as there is no telling who might be affected by the Souls. The false lead into who is the betrayer is cleverly done and the pacing of the entire book kept me eagerly turning the pages.
The character development is interesting. There is no denying that Lia changes, even if it is just due to her way of looking at the world. Although the typical love triangle has been established, she does not spend too much time anguishing over it, nor does forget about her past like it never happened. It’s one of the most tactful handlings I’ve read and I hope this continues through to the third book.
Some characters felt underused – Louisa in particular. She was a strong character in the first book, but feels as if she is left on the side-lines in this one. To some extent, the same could be said of Sonia while Edmund has a suddenly large role compared to the first book. It will be interesting to see how these characters resolve their places in the final book.
A lot is left open in the second book, with no real answers about where things will lead. There are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up in the final book and I only hope it is done effectively as otherwise it will feel like the whole trilogy is a big disappointment.
This book was enjoyable and kept me gripped the whole way through. While not very challenging to read, the content was mature enough to hold my interest. I look forward to the final book.
Michelle Zink is pretty much the sweetest thing ever and I can't wait for the third one - any day now!
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Though it took me a bit to get into it, it was well worth it. Anyone know when the third one comes out??
This series is so good! I love where it is going. I think I loved this book more than the first one.
Can't wait to see how it ends!
Can't wait to see how it ends!
I wasn't that impressed by the first book, but this one was more exciting.
Review also appeared on my blog Pages Full of Stars.
My rating: 3/6
I’m sad to say this but I enjoyed Guardian of the Gate much less than Prophecy of the Sisters. It was still a good read but didn’t really engage me that much.
Firstly, the dynamics here are quite different because of the settings change, but I also thought that the whole atmosphere was different. It wasn’t so mysterious anymore and I didn’t feel that thrill you feel when you don’t know what will happen next. I was pretty surprised that the book picked up several months after the first one finished. It was often stressed that Lia has very little time to solve things out, so you would think that as soon as she arrives in England she’ll start working on it but it seems that not much really happened. I didn’t feel that much suspense and some of the plot twists were quite predictable.
I did like the idea of Altus, which reminded me of Avalon from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon and it was interesting to see more world building in this book. We find out a lot more about the Prophecy and the whole thing now looks a lot bigger than in Prophecy of the Sisters. Writing was also as good as in the first book and it was a quick read.
But what disappointed me the most was Lia’s new love interest. What I appreciated in the previous book was her relationship with James, how it was developed beforehand and didn’t overshadow the main story but here it seemed that all of it evaporated. Instead of that we got and unfortunate insta-love which took up quite a bit of the book, while Lia seemed to almost completely forget about James. In Prophecy of the Sisters I got the impression that she asked him to wait for her and wanted to be with him once everything settles down, so imagine my surprise when she jumped into this new relationship so rapidly.
Apart from that, one thing that I would change and that in my opinion could add to the book would be more of Alice. Obviously, everything happened far from her but I was constantly wondering what she’s doing and I think that alternate points of view would have been a really good choice here.
All in all, even though Guardian of the Gate didn’t engage my as much as the first installment I will definitely still pick up the third and final book in the series, because I’m curious about how everything will turn out.
My rating: 3/6
I’m sad to say this but I enjoyed Guardian of the Gate much less than Prophecy of the Sisters. It was still a good read but didn’t really engage me that much.
Firstly, the dynamics here are quite different because of the settings change, but I also thought that the whole atmosphere was different. It wasn’t so mysterious anymore and I didn’t feel that thrill you feel when you don’t know what will happen next. I was pretty surprised that the book picked up several months after the first one finished. It was often stressed that Lia has very little time to solve things out, so you would think that as soon as she arrives in England she’ll start working on it but it seems that not much really happened. I didn’t feel that much suspense and some of the plot twists were quite predictable.
I did like the idea of Altus, which reminded me of Avalon from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon and it was interesting to see more world building in this book. We find out a lot more about the Prophecy and the whole thing now looks a lot bigger than in Prophecy of the Sisters. Writing was also as good as in the first book and it was a quick read.
But what disappointed me the most was Lia’s new love interest. What I appreciated in the previous book was her relationship with James, how it was developed beforehand and didn’t overshadow the main story but here it seemed that all of it evaporated. Instead of that we got and unfortunate insta-love which took up quite a bit of the book, while Lia seemed to almost completely forget about James. In Prophecy of the Sisters I got the impression that she asked him to wait for her and wanted to be with him once everything settles down, so imagine my surprise when she jumped into this new relationship so rapidly.
Apart from that, one thing that I would change and that in my opinion could add to the book would be more of Alice. Obviously, everything happened far from her but I was constantly wondering what she’s doing and I think that alternate points of view would have been a really good choice here.
All in all, even though Guardian of the Gate didn’t engage my as much as the first installment I will definitely still pick up the third and final book in the series, because I’m curious about how everything will turn out.