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ruth_rb's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Every positive thing I've said about the last books applies here too.
The character work was great as always, but this book excelled in setting especially, even more than the last two. London felt fully explored, vibrant and intriguing. It really became a character in itself. On top of this, we got to see so many more Borrible Boroughs and their different ways of life, which added to the setting more and created a great sense of Borrible camaraderie.
The pacing, as usual, was also very quick and snappy. The plot never took a break or let you get bored.
I found this book fell short in similar ways as the second one: the villains. Hanks and Sussworth felt far too clownish to be proper threats, especially when compared to how much dark this story got at times. The DAC was barely present enough to count as a villain. The antagonist Ninch was a bit more intimidating, but still never felt fully fleshed out or like a proper threat. The Methos were also pretty forgettable and uninteresting, and felt like a weak attempt to capture the creepiness of Dewdrop—the best villain in this trilogy in my opinion. There's definitely more of a quantity of villains than quality in this book.
!!!SPOILERS!!!
A trickle on effect of the villains being weak, is it dampened the emotion of the major character deaths in the story. In previous books, we only lost one supporting character—Adolf in the first and Spiff in the second—but we lost two in this book and were suggested to have lost another too. The two confirmed deaths happened due to sudden recklessness within the character and them acting rashly because they were overcome with emotion, instead of their deaths feeling like they were properly at the hands of the antagonists. It made the antagonists feel lamer and like the characters were mostly at fault for their own deaths. No one was overpowered or out manoeuvred, they just made mistakes. It brought the mood really low. I was too busy feeling frustrated at the characters that I didn't really mourn them. The final suggested death was a sacrifice that results in an ear-clipping—so a 'death' to their Borrible nature—so, once again, it was a character's death being majority due to their own actions instead of the antagonists' cunning or power. Because of this, the ending to an otherwise really fun and exciting book felt 'meh'.
The character work was great as always, but this book excelled in setting especially, even more than the last two. London felt fully explored, vibrant and intriguing. It really became a character in itself. On top of this, we got to see so many more Borrible Boroughs and their different ways of life, which added to the setting more and created a great sense of Borrible camaraderie.
The pacing, as usual, was also very quick and snappy. The plot never took a break or let you get bored.
I found this book fell short in similar ways as the second one: the villains. Hanks and Sussworth felt far too clownish to be proper threats, especially when compared to how much dark this story got at times. The DAC was barely present enough to count as a villain. The antagonist Ninch was a bit more intimidating, but still never felt fully fleshed out or like a proper threat. The Methos were also pretty forgettable and uninteresting, and felt like a weak attempt to capture the creepiness of Dewdrop—the best villain in this trilogy in my opinion. There's definitely more of a quantity of villains than quality in this book.
!!!SPOILERS!!!
A trickle on effect of the villains being weak, is it dampened the emotion of the major character deaths in the story. In previous books, we only lost one supporting character—Adolf in the first and Spiff in the second—but we lost two in this book and were suggested to have lost another too. The two confirmed deaths happened due to sudden recklessness within the character and them acting rashly because they were overcome with emotion, instead of their deaths feeling like they were properly at the hands of the antagonists. It made the antagonists feel lamer and like the characters were mostly at fault for their own deaths. No one was overpowered or out manoeuvred, they just made mistakes. It brought the mood really low. I was too busy feeling frustrated at the characters that I didn't really mourn them. The final suggested death was a sacrifice that results in an ear-clipping—so a 'death' to their Borrible nature—so, once again, it was a character's death being majority due to their own actions instead of the antagonists' cunning or power. Because of this, the ending to an otherwise really fun and exciting book felt 'meh'.
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