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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This was kind of a disappointing sequel. It was predictable and took itself a little too seriously for my taste. El drama fue...drama and not really a well-developed plot. While the first novel was rich with commentary and diversity, this one didn't really add anything to that established world.
What a sharp drop from the first book.
I feel like this series would have been better as one longer standalone than a duology. All the tension from the first book, which mostly stemmed from Dani and Carmen's relationship, was GONE because they didn't reunite until the 50% mark! And even after that, it just somehow felt like there were absolutely no stakes. I don't know exactly how, since by all accounts it should have been a nail-biter, but I didn't feel anything. It was like I was watching the story unfold from the very top balcony of a theater. With a pole in the way.
I think the writing itself was just as lovely as ever. Tehlor Kay Mejia certainly has a way with words and can make everything flow nicely. But when you look at the story, and particularly the pacing, underneath those words, you may end up disappointed.
I feel like this series would have been better as one longer standalone than a duology. All the tension from the first book, which mostly stemmed from Dani and Carmen's relationship, was GONE because they didn't reunite until the 50% mark! And even after that, it just somehow felt like there were absolutely no stakes. I don't know exactly how, since by all accounts it should have been a nail-biter, but I didn't feel anything. It was like I was watching the story unfold from the very top balcony of a theater. With a pole in the way.
I think the writing itself was just as lovely as ever. Tehlor Kay Mejia certainly has a way with words and can make everything flow nicely. But when you look at the story, and particularly the pacing, underneath those words, you may end up disappointed.
My rating: 4.5 stars. I feel like it's really rare for the second book in a duology to ever top the first, but this book definitely did. This book was the BEST way to end this duology. It was action packed, full of plot twists, and full of moments that literally had me so stressed. This was one of the best written WLW fantasy books I've ever read. I feel like this book was exploding with character development for everyone, but especially Carmen. Carmen and Dani are literally the cutest and it was so sweet to watch their relationship grow as they took this really big leap of faith together. The found family vibes in this book were missing from the first book and they really just made the story for me. There was queer rep, Latinx rep, and mental illness rep in this book. This book was so much fun and one of my new favorite duologies.
While I really enjoyed the continuation of the story presented in this book, I found that I didn’t like Carmen’s POV quite as much as I liked Dani’s. Still, it was great to see a happy ending to this couple’s revolution story.
Second book was much better than the first for me, because it had a lot of violence (lol) and political drama and betrayal. Plus it was sooo ooey gooey, just such cute lesbian young adult love. I wish this duology was a movie.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
This started off a little slow and didn’t grip me as much as the first book did, but when it got going I really enjoyed it and I loved the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
I loved getting this sequel from Carmen's perspective. The way Mejia used the two protagonists' personalities to shape the tone for each of the books is very cool. The tension in the middle of the plot was phenomenal, but I felt like the ending was a bit rushed.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
I'm with a lot of the crew on this book, it was okay. The switch in POV to Carmen was great and I really liked it but so much was set up for Dani in the first that I wish we'd had her POV in it too though I can see why we didn't get it. There were so many frustrating moments for me in this book with other characters and with so much wallowing in self-pity when I would have preferred action and by the time we got to the final conflict I kind of zoned out while listening to it. I don't know what it was because I really liked the first book but something about this just fell short for the second half of this duology. I can't put my finger on it.
It might have been that one of the main villains was introduced to late for me and I would have liked more from that side to have appeared earlier on even in book 1. Same with Alex's arc, it just seemed insignificant, like we weren't given time to really believe in her as much as we were made to believe in Dani and Carmen. Even Yazmine, like, I did not really grasp her character in total. I guess in general I needed more development from the minor cast before I could really fall headfirst in love with this duology.
It might have been that one of the main villains was introduced to late for me and I would have liked more from that side to have appeared earlier on even in book 1. Same with Alex's arc, it just seemed insignificant, like we weren't given time to really believe in her as much as we were made to believe in Dani and Carmen. Even Yazmine, like, I did not really grasp her character in total. I guess in general I needed more development from the minor cast before I could really fall headfirst in love with this duology.