Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This was a conflicting read for me. The first two books already played with some heavy topics with varying levels of directness, but this book got dark and stayed heavy throughout. The joy and triumph that I was holding out for was short lived.
I have enjoyed how women have shown great power throughout the series and been respected as leaders in their communities, but the descriptive torture and loss that we have to witness them go through doesn’t always seem to have a purpose. Like, how many times is someone going to carve into Zelie’s skin?
The author is obviously talented and painted parallels between history and fantasy. I suppose I was just hoping for more escapism than reminders of heavy reality.
I have enjoyed how women have shown great power throughout the series and been respected as leaders in their communities, but the descriptive torture and loss that we have to witness them go through doesn’t always seem to have a purpose. Like, how many times is someone going to carve into Zelie’s skin?
The author is obviously talented and painted parallels between history and fantasy. I suppose I was just hoping for more escapism than reminders of heavy reality.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am trying to gather my thoughts but, much like this book, nothing is coalescing in an interesting or even coherent way.
I have a personal dislike for YA and the story beats and tropes that come with it. So I knew going in that this series was never going to wow me. However, what the first two books did well was the immersion and the emotional depth. We felt everything alongside Zélie, all her turbulent emotions and grief and history and memories down to her very core. So the lack of depth in this book was astounding. There is nothing to feel. It’s action, action, action. Zélie does this. Tzain does this. Amari does this. Zélie losing access to her magic in the first book was a matter of life and death. It was horrific, painful, a trauma that never stops haunting her. In this book it’s kind of sad. End of sentence. We don’t even get to ruminate on the fact of a white man violating and stealing a Black girl’s sacred magic for himself. The writing overall is incredibly shallow, distant, and disconnected from its own events. I had a hard time even constructing the imagery in my head as to what was happening most of the time.
Another thing fumbled was the worldbuilding. Did you get invested in the politics and culture of a society that has discriminated against the maji for so long? Do you want to see what happens when the maji finally liberate themselves from the shackles of the old monarchy? Wonder how the maji, the kosidán, and the tîtáns could possibly coexist after everything? Too bad. All of that will be resolved in a single scene. The main characters have to fight berserker vikings now.
Amari getting a new love interest in Mae’e had me rolling my eyes. Not that I think she and Tzain should’ve ended up together, but they had two books of buildup. And then she gets two scenes with Mae’e and suddenly they’re in love. Give me a break. Even Zélie and Inan were more compelling to me than that. And I never liked those two together.
And, I mean, come on. The plot. Berserker vikings that weren’t even mentioned in the first two books. Come ONNNNNN. It’s the way hardly any of this takes place in Orïsha. I mean New Gaīa is cool and all, but, like, why? Why are we here? Why is this the finale? Why am I supposed to care about any of this when I thought this series was supposed to be about the liberation of the maji and building a better Orïsha? Cop out of an ending.
Oh. AND WHAT HAPPENED TO ROËN????
I have a personal dislike for YA and the story beats and tropes that come with it. So I knew going in that this series was never going to wow me. However, what the first two books did well was the immersion and the emotional depth. We felt everything alongside Zélie, all her turbulent emotions and grief and history and memories down to her very core. So the lack of depth in this book was astounding. There is nothing to feel. It’s action, action, action. Zélie does this. Tzain does this. Amari does this. Zélie losing access to her magic in the first book was a matter of life and death. It was horrific, painful, a trauma that never stops haunting her. In this book it’s kind of sad. End of sentence. We don’t even get to ruminate on the fact of a white man violating and stealing a Black girl’s sacred magic for himself. The writing overall is incredibly shallow, distant, and disconnected from its own events. I had a hard time even constructing the imagery in my head as to what was happening most of the time.
Another thing fumbled was the worldbuilding. Did you get invested in the politics and culture of a society that has discriminated against the maji for so long? Do you want to see what happens when the maji finally liberate themselves from the shackles of the old monarchy? Wonder how the maji, the kosidán, and the tîtáns could possibly coexist after everything? Too bad. All of that will be resolved in a single scene. The main characters have to fight berserker vikings now.
Amari getting a new love interest in Mae’e had me rolling my eyes. Not that I think she and Tzain should’ve ended up together, but they had two books of buildup. And then she gets two scenes with Mae’e and suddenly they’re in love. Give me a break. Even Zélie and Inan were more compelling to me than that. And I never liked those two together.
And, I mean, come on. The plot. Berserker vikings that weren’t even mentioned in the first two books. Come ONNNNNN. It’s the way hardly any of this takes place in Orïsha. I mean New Gaīa is cool and all, but, like, why? Why are we here? Why is this the finale? Why am I supposed to care about any of this when I thought this series was supposed to be about the liberation of the maji and building a better Orïsha? Cop out of an ending.
Oh. AND WHAT HAPPENED TO ROËN????
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I’m so mad I can’t even begin to speak about what’s actually wrong with the book. It’d be easier to say why it got half a star instead of flat zero.
Some of the ideas introduced in this book were really cool, and I think for that alone it deserves half a star. As for every other aspect of this book… well I’m surprised I finished it.
Some of the ideas introduced in this book were really cool, and I think for that alone it deserves half a star. As for every other aspect of this book… well I’m surprised I finished it.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
medium-paced
I almost didn't read this last book due to reviews, but this is an instance where my need to finish what I started won out! Yes, this book does depart from the land of Orisha, and explores completely new characters and civilizations. There are so many missteps that made me remind myself that these are very young adults burdened with the survival of their people! I actually enjoyed the underlying lesson of King Saran being woven in: if the kingdom is at war with itself, it opens the door for new predators to strike and takeover. The battle of older wisdom and younger faith throughout the book was a nice touch by the author. I get why folks complained about the departure of the storyline from books 1 & 2. Especially with an unresolved plot with a prominent character that was left out of the book. IYKYK! However, the book was a good ending to a great series. Well done!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
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:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I can see why this book has mixed reviews.
This did feel like a different direction than the first two books.
The characters made sense
It was kind of like to me! Like Z was an after thought in this book and then at the end it was like, oh, here she is the hero.
But regardless I still loved this book. I can’t wait till the movies come out.
This did feel like a different direction than the first two books.
The characters made sense
It was kind of like to me! Like Z was an after thought in this book and then at the end it was like, oh, here she is the hero.
But regardless I still loved this book. I can’t wait till the movies come out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War
I stand with so many of other fans of this series regarding being kind of disappointed with this last book. As you can see, it took me six months to get through this book, mainly because it felt kind of slow to me, and there was just a lot going on. It hurts me to even say this as this was definitely one of my favorite series of all time, but after waiting four years for this novel, I’m truly upset at the ending for multiple reasons and at the novel in general. There were some good moments, but a lot of things unfortunately fell flat for me. I will be making a YouTube review on this in the next couple days for my full thoughts.