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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This sequel is a thorough story how the characters' development from book or find their new path. All of the POVs made it possible to understand their train of thought. And some characters (name qisami) is turning much better than what I've expected!!! Enjoying the varied elderly master pupil dynamics with just enough jokes and laughs throughout the book.
Loving the expanded world building also. However, for me I would love for this book to be more compact. It felt dragging at parts. I feel like I can like it better if it's more fast-paced.
Loving the duel/ action description. The writing is quite atmospheric like usual~
Thank you for the e-arc in exchange for honest review~ might continue reading book 3!!!
Loving the expanded world building also. However, for me I would love for this book to be more compact. It felt dragging at parts. I feel like I can like it better if it's more fast-paced.
Loving the duel/ action description. The writing is quite atmospheric like usual~
Thank you for the e-arc in exchange for honest review~ might continue reading book 3!!!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3.5/5 stars
The first 400 or so pages of this did not make for the most engaging read, and maybe this book is for anyone who’s ever wanted a training montage to be it’s own feature film. I’ve never said this of an author before (probably largely due to the type of books I enjoy picking up) but I think Chu truly excels when the story is moving at a faster pace and a lot of action is happening. Majority of this novel felt stagnant. While we were following four different perspectives, it felt like each narrative was stuck in their own respective places, and just waiting for something to happen. The first novel was strong enough that I still loved these characters and following where they’re at, but it was definitely challenging getting though the first chunk of the story. And while this is no fault of the author, reading from Sali’s perspective while she is ill and often struggling with nausea while I myself was going through a very nauseating period in my life made her perspective one I never really looked forward to (that and I found hers to be the slowest). My favourite perspective to follow by far was Qisami’s. While I can’t say I like her character, I do love following her, she’s so interesting and it was fascinating seeing different aspects of her personality, and what her limits were.
The last 250 or so pages though? Loved them. They don’t make up for the pacing issues of the previous section (which really could have been condensed), but they make me hopeful that we’ve set up for a really explosive concluding novel. There were so many twists and turns that I did not see coming, and I’m somehow even more invested in these characters than I was before. I also wasn’t expecting one of the dukes to get as much of a focus as they did, but I really enjoyed that aspect and really hope that things play out in a certain character’s favour.
Lastly, this book has also made me realize that I am much more forgiving of teenagers making stupid decisions when there are adult perspectives making “smarter” choices to balance things out. I like that the characters acknowledge when they’re not being level-heading and when they’ve made poor choices.
The first 400 or so pages of this did not make for the most engaging read, and maybe this book is for anyone who’s ever wanted a training montage to be it’s own feature film. I’ve never said this of an author before (probably largely due to the type of books I enjoy picking up) but I think Chu truly excels when the story is moving at a faster pace and a lot of action is happening. Majority of this novel felt stagnant. While we were following four different perspectives, it felt like each narrative was stuck in their own respective places, and just waiting for something to happen. The first novel was strong enough that I still loved these characters and following where they’re at, but it was definitely challenging getting though the first chunk of the story. And while this is no fault of the author, reading from Sali’s perspective while she is ill and often struggling with nausea while I myself was going through a very nauseating period in my life made her perspective one I never really looked forward to (that and I found hers to be the slowest). My favourite perspective to follow by far was Qisami’s. While I can’t say I like her character, I do love following her, she’s so interesting and it was fascinating seeing different aspects of her personality, and what her limits were.
The last 250 or so pages though? Loved them. They don’t make up for the pacing issues of the previous section (which really could have been condensed), but they make me hopeful that we’ve set up for a really explosive concluding novel. There were so many twists and turns that I did not see coming, and I’m somehow even more invested in these characters than I was before. I also wasn’t expecting one of the dukes to get as much of a focus as they did, but I really enjoyed that aspect and really hope that things play out in a certain character’s favour.
Lastly, this book has also made me realize that I am much more forgiving of teenagers making stupid decisions when there are adult perspectives making “smarter” choices to balance things out. I like that the characters acknowledge when they’re not being level-heading and when they’ve made poor choices.
adventurous
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
on one hand, some parts felt like they could cut way, way down. on the other hand, this series is so fucking funny i'm constantly trying to keep a straight face while i read the audio at work, so idgaf about the kind of uneven pacing
leaned too far into memes at the beginning but made me laugh lots of times throughout and never want to stop reading. how dare he end on another cliffy like that when the next book isn't out. rude, I love these characters.