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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
2.5 ⭐️ there were lots of interesting storylines within this book, and i actually really liked the setting, but i just don’t think it pulled through. i found it confusing and was unsatisfied with the ending unfortunately :-( but i’d still like to give the authors other book a try!
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-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
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A stunningly written but ultimately disappointing story, which didn't live up to the wonder of The Binding.
I found I was able to enjoy this more when I stopped trying to understand what the hell the grand jeu was, and instead focused on the characters. I liked how this book seems to be set out of time; there are a lot of technical advances, but seemingly no electricity and everyone wears robes. It's an interesting alternate world.
I did event ally get immersed in the human story. But it felt so dressed up in this incredibly elaborate (and, yes, pretentious) game that it seemed to heavily favour style over substance. A lot about the wider world went unanswered, and although the writing was beautiful (I'd expect no less after The Binding), I just didn't care about the grand jeu.
Carfax and Claire are what I cared about; Léo and his total lack of self-awareness actually annoyed me a bit. The way the plot progressed definitely kept me interested (and I came so close to working out what was going on). But I just felt like this grand setting and lofty idea of the grand jeu seemed almost purposely difficult to understand, which actually distracted me rather than pulling me in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first part of the book is mostly confusing, after that it gets better. Overall the story is saved by the mega twist, otherwise I would not have given it more than 3.5 *
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a tough one because…it was really dense and made little sense at times (the grand jeu is basically never explained and I can’t tell if this is historical or alternative history) but it was beautiful. And I’m not sure I’d ever want to read it again or even really recommend it to anyone but there was something about it that was impactful. I’m not even sure if that makes any sense HAHA!
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced