Reviews - The Wise and the Wicked

148 reviews for:

The Wise and the Wicked

Rebecca Podos

3.63 AVERAGE

eggcellent_reads's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

DNF at 43%

Nothing necessarily terrible about this but I was bored and couldn’t connect to the plot.

grayandsomebooks's review against another edition

5.0

*4.5* i’m really hoping there is a sequel because that ending was not fulfilling enough

omqchristi's review

3.0

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

» QUICK OVERVIEW «
Stars: ★★★☆☆
Plot: ★★★★☆
Readability: ★★★☆☆
Characters: ★★☆☆☆
Writing: ★★★☆☆
Recommend: ✗

» PLOT «
The Chernyavsky women have had the ability to see into the future into the moment of their deaths. As a result, they have been hunted and sought after by powerful entities. After escaping Russia, Ruby and her family arrive in America. All is well until the death of her great-aunt Polina. As the family gathers to read the vision Polina had years ago, fo the first time in centuries, her death does not match that of her vision. Shaken, her great-aunt's escape of her fate gives hope to Ruby. For the first time in her life, she has hope, but as she looks into the death of her great-aunt, not everything is what it seems to be.

There was a pretty big info dump at the end that wasn't my favorite.

The ending was so abrupt and unexpected, and I can't tell if I like that or not... I like how ambiguous and bittersweet it was.

There was a minor romance in this book, but low key it was the main thing pulling me through this book. What can I say? I'm a romance reader.

» READABILITY «
The book ramps up as time progresses, the beginning was pretty slow though

» CHARACTERS «
All of the characters (aside from Ruby's love interest, Dov) were kinda meh. Honestly a lot of them just blended together.

» WRITING «
Not bad writing, but the start was a little bit hard to sit through.

» OVERALL «
This book really edges the line between 3 stars and 4 stars, but after really thinking it though, it is 3 stars.

penguininabluebox's review against another edition

2.0

2.5*

eleanoreyers's review against another edition

3.0

hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ladybug's review against another edition

2.0

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

the_midnight_librarian's review against another edition

2.0

I really enjoyed the concept of this: magic realism based on Russian lore set in a contemporary setting. Yes! All for it.

Had high hopes in the beginning that slowly dwindled by the end.

For most of the book it didn't feel like anything really happened. I was connected with Ruby and slowly found myself questioning her morals and distancing myself waiting for the point where she did something really bad. And yes she almost does, but not it a way that made me feel bad for her. Mostly I was worried she'd royally fuck up Dov. Which I guess yeah, but nothing was an immediate threat. The last 100 pages were pretty predictable (including the ending), and I was a bit disappointed by the "villain" it felt a bit cheesy to me. "You slydog! You got my monologuing!" Syndrome - Incredibles.

Settling for a two out of five stars. maybe a 2.5 as I enjoyed the stories told in this book.