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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
**Originally posted on The Fandom**
Anna Arden is making her last stand in Winter War Awakening, but her story is returning to some familiar pitfalls.
Hungary is on the verge of war: With the Austrian Empire and its allies, and with the creatures known as the praetheria that they don’t even see coming. Since being outcast and imprisoned by the humans, the praetheria has been biding their time to attack. Anna and Mátyás know this, but they’re one of few who do, and their efforts to caught up in trying to save praetherian captive Noémi. They play a careful game of chess between the angry creatures and the warring armies, but winning doesn’t feel like a genuine possibility as the fighting grows more intense than ever.
Throughout the series, Eves has done a great job riding the fine line required for historical fantasy– meshing important real-life events in with the impossible magical elements to create something fresh. At the end of the novel, she uses this unique genre to create a show-stopping conclusion but while getting there, Eves struggles to provide fresh, engaging storyline for her characters.
Anna and Matyas go through a revolving door of training and being kidnapped– occasionally training with the people that kidnapped them. A couple of important secondary characters change their alliances in the blink of an eye without much internal conflict recognized. It feels like something we should be past in the third part of a trilogy. There are confrontations, moments of drama, and a bright reveal that help elevate the novel in its latter half, but the first half just doesn’t offer much for readers to sink their teeth into.
While this series doesn’t and in my opinion shouldn’t focus on romance, the way it conveys the small amount of romance it does have is a source of frustration. Yet again, this novel keeps Anna and Gabor for most of the time. Thankfully, it employs a charming device meant to remind you of their connection throughout, and that eases things up a bit. Still, I want to really see how these two work as a team in stressful situations and there’s very little of that. Meanwhile Noemi, who was a great character in her own right in the first book, is essentially chalked up to a romantic straw man. I did appreciate the moment in which Matyas seemed to recognize the error of his ways in his past relationships, though it’s only a brief flash in the overall story arc.
I was happy with the novel’s conclusion, but I needed more from the story and the characters alike. I liked this novel– and this trilogy– and thought it was interesting, but in a sea of YA releases, it’s a bit forgettable.
Anna Arden is making her last stand in Winter War Awakening, but her story is returning to some familiar pitfalls.
Hungary is on the verge of war: With the Austrian Empire and its allies, and with the creatures known as the praetheria that they don’t even see coming. Since being outcast and imprisoned by the humans, the praetheria has been biding their time to attack. Anna and Mátyás know this, but they’re one of few who do, and their efforts to caught up in trying to save praetherian captive Noémi. They play a careful game of chess between the angry creatures and the warring armies, but winning doesn’t feel like a genuine possibility as the fighting grows more intense than ever.
Throughout the series, Eves has done a great job riding the fine line required for historical fantasy– meshing important real-life events in with the impossible magical elements to create something fresh. At the end of the novel, she uses this unique genre to create a show-stopping conclusion but while getting there, Eves struggles to provide fresh, engaging storyline for her characters.
Anna and Matyas go through a revolving door of training and being kidnapped– occasionally training with the people that kidnapped them. A couple of important secondary characters change their alliances in the blink of an eye without much internal conflict recognized. It feels like something we should be past in the third part of a trilogy. There are confrontations, moments of drama, and a bright reveal that help elevate the novel in its latter half, but the first half just doesn’t offer much for readers to sink their teeth into.
While this series doesn’t and in my opinion shouldn’t focus on romance, the way it conveys the small amount of romance it does have is a source of frustration. Yet again, this novel keeps Anna and Gabor for most of the time. Thankfully, it employs a charming device meant to remind you of their connection throughout, and that eases things up a bit. Still, I want to really see how these two work as a team in stressful situations and there’s very little of that. Meanwhile Noemi, who was a great character in her own right in the first book, is essentially chalked up to a romantic straw man. I did appreciate the moment in which Matyas seemed to recognize the error of his ways in his past relationships, though it’s only a brief flash in the overall story arc.
I was happy with the novel’s conclusion, but I needed more from the story and the characters alike. I liked this novel– and this trilogy– and thought it was interesting, but in a sea of YA releases, it’s a bit forgettable.
I thought this was a pretty satisfying ending. It was definitely a little bittersweet but to be honest, that's my prefered type of ending. I would absolutely love to read more about this world and era sometime! Really the only complaint I have with this book is that Matyas can be a little frustratingly dumb at times.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
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
A lackluster finale that failed to capture my interest pretty much from beginning to end. To be fair, this may have been due to my memory being relatively limited of the prior novels because I didn't reread. However, Eves does do a nice job of recapping key plot points, so I wasn't totally lost either.
Mostly, I felt like the characters didn't evolve enough in this final installment, so the book felt static even though the whole thing consisted of battles pretty much. Mátyás and Anna really feel like the same people in this book as they did in the second, only they conveniently get control of their powers right at the exact instant they need them. The ending felt very convenient, with each of them fighting a battle with a boss, and boring because they failed to grow emotionally at all.
I end this series with a shrug. There were cool elements to this series, but the conclusion lacked the emotional impact and consequences of the prior two novels.
Mostly, I felt like the characters didn't evolve enough in this final installment, so the book felt static even though the whole thing consisted of battles pretty much. Mátyás and Anna really feel like the same people in this book as they did in the second, only they conveniently get control of their powers right at the exact instant they need them. The ending felt very convenient, with each of them fighting a battle with a boss, and boring because they failed to grow emotionally at all.
I end this series with a shrug. There were cool elements to this series, but the conclusion lacked the emotional impact and consequences of the prior two novels.
Im going to miss this book very much..
Although I loved the way the story went there are some things I wish the writer had elaborated on : Pal's gifts( i feel like there was so much more to him, i mean he literally said he was 'everything', Anna's gifts!!! i feel like she didn't really reach her true potential as chimera and most of the trilogy was her struggling with her identity..
Although I loved the way the story went there are some things I wish the writer had elaborated on : Pal's gifts( i feel like there was so much more to him, i mean he literally said he was 'everything', Anna's gifts!!! i feel like she didn't really reach her true potential as chimera and most of the trilogy was her struggling with her identity..