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ritasreadingcorner's review against another edition
3.0
Why, oh why? This was heartbreaking. I can't believe this.
This book was all secrets and fights and deaths. This is too much to handle. The only good thing was that they managed to achieve their goal and Saba and Jack ended up together. And also that thing with Molly. But the rest...
Well, it's time to say goodbye to this triology.
This book was all secrets and fights and deaths. This is too much to handle. The only good thing was that they managed to achieve their goal and Saba and Jack ended up together. And also that thing with Molly. But the rest...
Well, it's time to say goodbye to this triology.
maddie_orart's review against another edition
4.0
Full review posted on Of Reading and Random Things
Going into Raging Star, I have to say I was a little worried considering its prequel wasn’t my favorite. But it turns out I had nothing to worry about because I feel that Raging Star has gotten back the vibe of the first book, Blood Red Road.
I loved seeing the complexity of the characters, even the minor characters. Good guys aren’t always good and the bad guys aren’t always bad. We get to see a lot of that in this book. I think that the characters in Raging Star have grown into better (in most cases) versions of themselves, especially Saba, who struggled a lot with being herself and separate from her twin brother. That being said, I still think she could’ve played a bigger role in this book. Yes, she’s the main character, the leader, et cetera, but like I said about Blood Red Road, I think that it’s the people around her who executed a lot of the action.
One of the things that slightly disappointed me about this book is the resolution. I think that DeMalo as a villain is great and I really wanted to see him fail, but after all the plans and the set up to bring him down, his actual downfall was an actual let down. It wasn’t boring or bad, but after all the build-up I was definitely expecting something more than a fizzle. Of course, no victory comes without a cost so there are deaths in this book that made me sadder than I expected. I’ve grown attached to these characters throughout the series.
In the end, I think that the Dustlands series is an entertaining story, action-packed and full of great characters, set in a bleak world that somehow still gives you hope for a better future. It’s definitely going on my ‘favorites’ list.
Going into Raging Star, I have to say I was a little worried considering its prequel wasn’t my favorite. But it turns out I had nothing to worry about because I feel that Raging Star has gotten back the vibe of the first book, Blood Red Road.
I loved seeing the complexity of the characters, even the minor characters. Good guys aren’t always good and the bad guys aren’t always bad. We get to see a lot of that in this book. I think that the characters in Raging Star have grown into better (in most cases) versions of themselves, especially Saba, who struggled a lot with being herself and separate from her twin brother. That being said, I still think she could’ve played a bigger role in this book. Yes, she’s the main character, the leader, et cetera, but like I said about Blood Red Road, I think that it’s the people around her who executed a lot of the action.
One of the things that slightly disappointed me about this book is the resolution. I think that DeMalo as a villain is great and I really wanted to see him fail, but after all the plans and the set up to bring him down, his actual downfall was an actual let down. It wasn’t boring or bad, but after all the build-up I was definitely expecting something more than a fizzle. Of course, no victory comes without a cost so there are deaths in this book that made me sadder than I expected. I’ve grown attached to these characters throughout the series.
In the end, I think that the Dustlands series is an entertaining story, action-packed and full of great characters, set in a bleak world that somehow still gives you hope for a better future. It’s definitely going on my ‘favorites’ list.
stuckinafictionaluniverse's review against another edition
2.0
A four-sentence review: I think [b:Blood Red Road|9917938|Blood Red Road (Dust Lands, #1)|Moira Young|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1293651959s/9917938.jpg|14692536] could've worked better as a standalone, as the last two books didn't add anything besides predictable character development.
The plot thickens, but it is nowhere near as intense and fast-paced as before - in fact, Raging Star moves slow as a snail and the story loses steam. The very end is acceptable, but so similar to others in the genre. I highly recommend the first book, but you could skip the next two unless you want to be underwhelmed.
The plot thickens, but it is nowhere near as intense and fast-paced as before - in fact, Raging Star moves slow as a snail and the story loses steam. The very end is acceptable, but so similar to others in the genre. I highly recommend the first book, but you could skip the next two unless you want to be underwhelmed.
roglows's review against another edition
5.0
loved this trilogy so, so much. heartichokes now that it's over.
bradleyj's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Okay, the twist was great. The deaths, I’m mad about but overall a great ending to the story.
seshoptaw's review against another edition
2.0
2*
This book was o-kay. <b>Partly,</b> this was because I ruined some to the major surprises. I read a review with spoilers, so I knew things were going to happen that I shouldn’t have known. And because I knew them, I didn’t want to read this book – they weren’t good surprises.
I have loved the gritty-ness of all of the novels of this series. They’re raw and they can be dark. Beloved characters don’t always live happily ever after, as we’ve seen since book 1. The constant grammatical errors and misspellings are done on purpose and with purpose. I found this all so intriguing and such a different concept.
So, was book 3 everything I hoped it would be? No, not really. This book seemed to take me forever to finish and there were times when I started reading the book, but I had to put it down for awhile to read another book (to give me a break) before eventually coming back to this one. Nothing was happening in this book the way I wanted it too.
Lugh and Saba’s relationship never seems to get any better or heal from everything that’s happened in book 2. Lugh is bitter and he’s kind of a hypocrite throughout. I didn’t like him at all. Additionally, we barely see much of Jack and even when we do, throughout half of the book, he’s not the warmest you’ve ever seen toward Saba (not that she always deserves it, but still). Neither Lugh nor Jack are the same people we saw in either books 1 or 2.
To make matters worse, things continue to implode.
Emmi DIES after trying to be like Saba
Lugh betrays Saba to DeMalo (hoping to get rid of Jack so that Saba, Emmi, and him can live happily ever after) then he too, DIES.
Saba’s baby also DIES via a miscarriage (we never know who’s baby it is).
DeMalo is not only found to be Tommo’s father (I think putting him in his thirties when Saba is only 18 – so not sure how I feel about that anyway) but he too, DIES.
And Jack runs from Saba yet again and Saba yet again, tracks him down.
And literally ALL of this happens within the last couple chapters of the book.
Throughout the novel, Tommo is also set up to be the red herring and you’re supposed to suspect him for the actions of Lugh. On one hand, I understand why the author did this (aka to keep the mystery alive) but on the other, this character, that I’ve loved since book 1 was made out to look suspicious when there was no reason for it! Not once does he do anything but love Saba, stay loyal, and help them try to win. Not once.
This book was just so unsatisfying. The siblings that fought so hard to stay together aren’t together anymore and we never even see Saba grieve too much over the loss of her siblings or her child (except for a minor non-speaking moment). Additionally, NOTHING and I repeat NOTHING is really solved about the world. The world is still wasting away, how will they stop it? How will the fertile land be divided – because at the end of the day, “chosen” people will still get it and the others won’t. Who are getting the seeds that were found? Who becomes the new leader? Etc. etc. There are <b>way</b> to many unanswered questions!!
This book just fell short for me, and because of this, it’s kind of ruining the whole series. I was so disappointed by how everything turned out.
This book was o-kay. <b>Partly,</b> this was because I ruined some to the major surprises. I read a review with spoilers, so I knew things were going to happen that I shouldn’t have known. And because I knew them, I didn’t want to read this book – they weren’t good surprises.
I have loved the gritty-ness of all of the novels of this series. They’re raw and they can be dark. Beloved characters don’t always live happily ever after, as we’ve seen since book 1. The constant grammatical errors and misspellings are done on purpose and with purpose. I found this all so intriguing and such a different concept.
So, was book 3 everything I hoped it would be? No, not really. This book seemed to take me forever to finish and there were times when I started reading the book, but I had to put it down for awhile to read another book (to give me a break) before eventually coming back to this one. Nothing was happening in this book the way I wanted it too.
Lugh and Saba’s relationship never seems to get any better or heal from everything that’s happened in book 2. Lugh is bitter and he’s kind of a hypocrite throughout. I didn’t like him at all. Additionally, we barely see much of Jack and even when we do, throughout half of the book, he’s not the warmest you’ve ever seen toward Saba (not that she always deserves it, but still). Neither Lugh nor Jack are the same people we saw in either books 1 or 2.
To make matters worse, things continue to implode.
Lugh betrays Saba to DeMalo (hoping to get rid of Jack so that Saba, Emmi, and him can live happily ever after) then he too, DIES.
Saba’s baby also DIES via a miscarriage (we never know who’s baby it is).
DeMalo is not only found to be Tommo’s father (I think putting him in his thirties when Saba is only 18 – so not sure how I feel about that anyway) but he too, DIES.
And Jack runs from Saba yet again and Saba yet again, tracks him down.
And literally ALL of this happens within the last couple chapters of the book.
This book was just so unsatisfying. The siblings that fought so hard to stay together
This book just fell short for me, and because of this, it’s kind of ruining the whole series. I was so disappointed by how everything turned out.
melonep08's review against another edition
5.0
Oh……My……. The Dustlands trilogy is definitely one of my favourites, i had been waiting what seemed like years for it to come into the library but it was worth the wait. The only thing i wasn't happy with was the ending however no good books ever have a decent ending, do they?
books4susie's review against another edition
5.0
I was blindsided by the last one hundred pages. Incredible ending! A must read.
littleyarngoblin's review against another edition
1.0
When I started Raging Star, I'd hoped it would be better than Rebel Heart, which had fallen prey to Middle Book Syndrome. However, this wasn't the case.
WHERE is anyone's motivation? I know Saba's going through a hard time, but there's literally nothing to report except "take down DeMalo." There's no conflict, really. It's just Saba throwing herself and the group against DeMalo's forces repeatedly with little-to-no actual events happening to keep the plot ball rolling. Much of the "plot" is really a soap opera/drama between Saba and Everyone Else. Some things were also clumsily handled in the book; one moment, there are hints of things that could be exciting or add to the plot in some way but then they're shoved under the rug, as if the author were saying, "oops, I didn't mean for you to see that." Those same things are brought back later, trying to a shock factor, but ultimately failing.
The italic sections tried so hard to blame Tommo for kidnapping Nero and undermining Saba but was ultimately very predictable. Tommo himself had little development, almost treated as a simple toy to try and add to Saba's growing mountain of things to handle.
Speaking of Saba, she became an even FLATTER character during this time. Much like Mockingjay, it was the same feelings repeated over and over again. Saba underreacted to a majority of the things happening around her and made stupid, out-of-character decisions. Character growth for her was nonexistent. I almost prefer the negative character development in Rebel Heart.
Furthermore, Emmi, Jack, and Auriel were the only characters who retained some semblance of themselves AND the kind of character development/interest we saw in Blood Red Road. Their interactions with Saba were realistic on their end but we STILL don't see much of either.
The romance aspect between the characters was abysmal at best.
I wanted this book to be better than Rebel Heart, hoping for something like the action of Blood Red Road, but that wasn't the case. I think Blood Red Road would have been best as a standalone.
WHERE is anyone's motivation? I know Saba's going through a hard time, but there's literally nothing to report except "take down DeMalo." There's no conflict, really. It's just Saba throwing herself and the group against DeMalo's forces repeatedly with little-to-no actual events happening to keep the plot ball rolling. Much of the "plot" is really a soap opera/drama between Saba and Everyone Else. Some things were also clumsily handled in the book; one moment, there are hints of things that could be exciting or add to the plot in some way but then they're shoved under the rug, as if the author were saying, "oops, I didn't mean for you to see that." Those same things are brought back later, trying to a shock factor, but ultimately failing.
Spoiler
Saba being pregnant because of DeMalo was totally mishandled. This should've been a bigger issue if it was to be a subplot of the book, but it was shoved under the carpet and executed poorly. Saba showed little emotion about it at all and even then had no reaction when she miscarried.The italic sections tried so hard to blame Tommo for kidnapping Nero and undermining Saba but was ultimately very predictable. Tommo himself had little development, almost treated as a simple toy to try and add to Saba's growing mountain of things to handle.
Speaking of Saba, she became an even FLATTER character during this time. Much like Mockingjay, it was the same feelings repeated over and over again. Saba underreacted to a majority of the things happening around her and made stupid, out-of-character decisions. Character growth for her was nonexistent. I almost prefer the negative character development in Rebel Heart.
Furthermore, Emmi, Jack, and Auriel were the only characters who retained some semblance of themselves AND the kind of character development/interest we saw in Blood Red Road. Their interactions with Saba were realistic on their end but we STILL don't see much of either.
The romance aspect between the characters was abysmal at best.
Spoiler
Molly and Lugh was NOT a good match. No foundation, a HUGE age gap, and isn't Lugh supposed to be mourning Maev? And Molly mourning Ike? DeMalo failed to live up as an antagonist AND as the other side of a love triangle.I wanted this book to be better than Rebel Heart, hoping for something like the action of Blood Red Road, but that wasn't the case. I think Blood Red Road would have been best as a standalone.