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steven_v's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
This was a great ending to the Mistborn trilogy. I very much enjoyed the last few hundred pages in particular. However, in between the very strong opening and strong closing, I felt like the middle 1/3 or so of the book was a little bit slow. I've watched Sanderson's entire lecture on writing, and I think the issue here is that throughout the middle section, it felt like no progress was being made, but the characters were spinning their wheels. They would try stuff, and it wouldn't work, and they went back to baseline (such as the siege that lasted hundreds and hundreds of pages). There were hints, in which the three main characters (Sazed, Vin, and Elend) kept feeling like they were "missing" something, but there was no way to "measure" the progress or to detect that any was being made. Sanderson should have caught this, given that he has whole lessons about it -- and he knew about it while writing this book, because he does a progress countdown literally the way he says to do it in his lectures when one of the main characters fights multiple foes. Each time one is defeated, Sanderson counts them off -- one, two, etc... so that you can see the progress. Thus, he knew he needed to make it look like progress was being made, but then failed to do so through the main part of the plot in the middle of the book.
Of the 3 Mistborn books, this is the only one I was able to put down for a couple of days and not have to make time to pick up again. For this reason, although I enjoyed the book, it felt much slower than the first 2, and it's therefore my least favorite of the three. It's good, but a little slow in the middle section. It didn't drag... but it did feel like the characters were spinning their wheels a lot.
Now, this isn't a major issue. Overall, the worldbuilding is great, and Sanderson brings a lot of things together that he hinted at so that you have some aha! moments that are very satisfying. I just feel like he needed to do some work on that middle section.
Of the 3 Mistborn books, this is the only one I was able to put down for a couple of days and not have to make time to pick up again. For this reason, although I enjoyed the book, it felt much slower than the first 2, and it's therefore my least favorite of the three. It's good, but a little slow in the middle section. It didn't drag... but it did feel like the characters were spinning their wheels a lot.
Now, this isn't a major issue. Overall, the worldbuilding is great, and Sanderson brings a lot of things together that he hinted at so that you have some aha! moments that are very satisfying. I just feel like he needed to do some work on that middle section.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
teyn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, War, and Death
Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism and Classism
ryanandrew23's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Body horror
Moderate: Violence, War, and Torture
shlymiller's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Death, Gore, War, Violence, Blood, and Racism
sn03's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol
pasame's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Torture
clairevn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
blythemind's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because the ending made me so sad and I’m a baby
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Violence, and War
futureofmydays's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Violence
esaunders98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I thought this was the perfect end to the first Mistborn trilogy. I very rarely read 'fun' books, and this trilogy was such an escape for me. I don't know if I'll continue in the series, just because I adored these characters so much. From book one, the world-building and the character development were just so well done. I wanted to live in this world forever.
I wasn't a huge fan of the wordy explanation on the nature of Ruin and Preservation. They took me out of the 'action' and I felt like the reader could already understand the roles of Ruin and Preservation from the text and I didn't need to be spelt out the way it was.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Death, and Violence