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secre's review
4.0
Each book individually merits a four star rating and therefore as a collection this has to merit an equal rating. The tone of the books does alter as you progress through with Romy reading as a fairly light young adult dystopian novel with an interesting world that has been quite well developed and a gutsy female lead protagonist. It's fairly slow and easy going with a steady pace throughout and although there are some darker themes, this is certainly age appropriate for thirteen plus, whilst being engaging enough to keep adults interested.
For the five star rating, Romy would need to offer a little more in the way of character use and development and more depth to the world building. Whilst what is here is undoubtedly good, it felt rather thin at points and that could have been corrected by a more descriptive and in-depth world. It does have to be said however that the world within a world is exceptionally well depicted and you can easily see how the different sectors have come into being. It is easy reading undoubtedly, but it’s quite engaging at the same time.
Romy's Legacy was far faster paced and more thought provoking than its predecessor, raising some interesting ethical dilemma's and playing with them. Romy could have been better utilised as a flawed narrator and this isn't taken advantage of, but it's still well written and the faster pace picks you up and carries you along. There are also some fantastic ideas held within it and it generally felt really well implemented and well knitted together. Character development falls apart a little here but is actually picked up and rectified well in the third novel, which relies on a far wider cast of characters and expands them far more.
This novel also raised more thought provoking questions and morality issues than the first, although the author could have made things more grey rather than black and white. The potential is there, but the author has a tendency to make her characters certain of what’s right and wrong for example rather than playing with the flawed narrator idea. The set up is all there for that to be executed fantastically... but somehow it never quite materialises. So again, this sits squarely in the four star rating; it is well written and developed but it could be better than it is. The insipid romance also served the sole purpose of annoying me; seriously, when someone is bleeding out, it is not the right time to kiss them.
Romy's Last Stand is a really clever finale to the series and I did not see many of the twists and turns coming at all, so the author successfully blind sighted me. The character development is far more in depth and the cast of characters around Romy really become three dimensional characters worth following in their own right, rather than as two dimensional cut-outs standing around the main show. This is a far darker novel in tone right from the very beginning, and covers some very uncomfortable topics although not in great detail.
The only reason this isn’t a five star instalment in the series is that whilst the ideas within the novel are excellent, the pacing of the novel suffers some serious flaws. The beginning and the ending in particular are rushed, meaning that you don’t build essential an connection with a character to begin with and then it finishes with an explosive yet strangely unsatisfactory climax. The ending in particular is slammed in your face in this eruption of events, leading to really important aspects being skimmed over as though they don’t matter.
Part of me wonders whether this should have been two books, with the first few chapters spaced out to build tension and empathy and then the final chapters being spread in order to really play with the character development and morality issues that are covered. Whilst those two areas are the most obvious, there are other moments that seem poorly paced; some where the author seems to be savouring every detail of the surrounding area to the point of boredom... or Romy’s internal monologues which get very repetitive and tedious as there is little that changes there throughout the three books... and yet at other moments you are raced through an action packed sequence so quickly your teeth rattle and it feels stilted, as though the author is so desperate to get through the exciting bit that she forgets how powerful and poetic words can be.
That said, I really enjoyed reading these and flew through the three books in nearly as many days. I have also reviewed each novel individually, but as I read it as a collection felt it worth including a joined review, particularly as somehow these don't seem to have hit the mainstream young adult market when they really deserve to have.
For the five star rating, Romy would need to offer a little more in the way of character use and development and more depth to the world building. Whilst what is here is undoubtedly good, it felt rather thin at points and that could have been corrected by a more descriptive and in-depth world. It does have to be said however that the world within a world is exceptionally well depicted and you can easily see how the different sectors have come into being. It is easy reading undoubtedly, but it’s quite engaging at the same time.
Romy's Legacy was far faster paced and more thought provoking than its predecessor, raising some interesting ethical dilemma's and playing with them. Romy could have been better utilised as a flawed narrator and this isn't taken advantage of, but it's still well written and the faster pace picks you up and carries you along. There are also some fantastic ideas held within it and it generally felt really well implemented and well knitted together. Character development falls apart a little here but is actually picked up and rectified well in the third novel, which relies on a far wider cast of characters and expands them far more.
This novel also raised more thought provoking questions and morality issues than the first, although the author could have made things more grey rather than black and white. The potential is there, but the author has a tendency to make her characters certain of what’s right and wrong for example rather than playing with the flawed narrator idea. The set up is all there for that to be executed fantastically... but somehow it never quite materialises. So again, this sits squarely in the four star rating; it is well written and developed but it could be better than it is. The insipid romance also served the sole purpose of annoying me; seriously, when someone is bleeding out, it is not the right time to kiss them.
Romy's Last Stand is a really clever finale to the series and I did not see many of the twists and turns coming at all, so the author successfully blind sighted me. The character development is far more in depth and the cast of characters around Romy really become three dimensional characters worth following in their own right, rather than as two dimensional cut-outs standing around the main show. This is a far darker novel in tone right from the very beginning, and covers some very uncomfortable topics although not in great detail.
The only reason this isn’t a five star instalment in the series is that whilst the ideas within the novel are excellent, the pacing of the novel suffers some serious flaws. The beginning and the ending in particular are rushed, meaning that you don’t build essential an connection with a character to begin with and then it finishes with an explosive yet strangely unsatisfactory climax. The ending in particular is slammed in your face in this eruption of events, leading to really important aspects being skimmed over as though they don’t matter.
Part of me wonders whether this should have been two books, with the first few chapters spaced out to build tension and empathy and then the final chapters being spread in order to really play with the character development and morality issues that are covered. Whilst those two areas are the most obvious, there are other moments that seem poorly paced; some where the author seems to be savouring every detail of the surrounding area to the point of boredom... or Romy’s internal monologues which get very repetitive and tedious as there is little that changes there throughout the three books... and yet at other moments you are raced through an action packed sequence so quickly your teeth rattle and it feels stilted, as though the author is so desperate to get through the exciting bit that she forgets how powerful and poetic words can be.
That said, I really enjoyed reading these and flew through the three books in nearly as many days. I have also reviewed each novel individually, but as I read it as a collection felt it worth including a joined review, particularly as somehow these don't seem to have hit the mainstream young adult market when they really deserve to have.
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