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4.41 AVERAGE
4.41 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
Such an excellent and necessary read before I dive into Holy Terrors. Vanja and Emeric have a lot of learning and growing and self- reflection to do in their time apart, and it's a painful joy to see them do it. The YEARNING is top tier, but also, they have their issues to work through and maybe this time is needed for them to become more rooted and solid in themselves. Also, there are new characters introduced and some fun hijinks that they get up to, I'm interested to see how that carries over to Holy Terrors. Margaret Owen is an expert at stomping on my heart and I'm happy to let her.
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
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emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved Little Thieves, enjoyed Painted Devils but was a bit less fond because of the horrific ending, and now I've read The Fallow Year I have so many conflicted feelings about this series and am really nervous (not in a good way) to read Holy Terrors.
Please note, I suspect this is going to end up as more of a rant than a review, but I'll try to start off with a discussion of what I DID like about this one, and then I'll probably have to spoiler tag the rest of the review 😅.
Despite my issues with this, I actually think the individual and overarching plots of these stories was really strong and engaging, from both Emeric and Vanja's perspectives. I really enjoyed Emeric's investigations and unravelling the mysteries alongside him, and I thought Vanja's journey with self-acceptance was quite beautiful (even if I do still firmly believe that all her character development from book 2 has been back-tracked on). I think if these plots and personal journeys were the only things in this series of short stories, I would have enjoyed it a lot more, but, alas, there was the frustrating romance plots.
Spoilers from here on for Painted Devils and The Fallow Year!
I'm disappointed with how much of a frustrating read this was, and do firmly believe that if all the new romance elements had been taken out, this would've been a really strong instalment and would've bridged nicely between books 2 and 3, but now... well, I suppose I'll have to read Holy Terrors to find out if this trainwreck gets any better. Up until now, I've really enjoyed this series, so I'm choosing to hope for the best!
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The way this made me cry?? I am so excited to start Holy Terrors, wow.