Scan barcode
maryellen's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Blood, Classism, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
iviarelle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
None of the complaints I have should be held against the book necessarily. Which is an odd way to preface a review, but I do have a couple of things to nitpick and they're probably very Me Problems.
I tend to binge these books, so the amount of "let's explain things that happened before" here is starting to get pretty intense. And by intense, I mean lengthy. It's understandable, not everyone rereads the whole series before starting the new one each year, and not everyone starts at book 1. But as someone who will tend to reread at least the last few before starting a new release, it gets a little repetitive for me after a while.
I am, however, more than a little frustrated the more I think about a certain character in this book.I hope that as the series goes on, maybe we'll learn more about Janet and why she decided Toby was the enemy and not a potential ally. I can understand it of the fae, but as much as Janet wanted to be near her daughter (for reasons unspecified), she didn't want to even bother to get to know or help her own granddaughter? That stinks to me. I hope there's more to this. I'd love it if she just ends up being purposefully complicated, or deliberately inconsistent, or something explains this at all... but right now, to me, she just seems the lazy shorthand kind of inconsistent because we hardly know anything about her yet.
And yet... and I always seem to have an and yet, but here it is. There's so much this book does beautifully.Toby helping Tybalt take the first steps out of his PTSD, the way he did for her, is so huge and beautiful as an in-book arc. Hinting just obtusely enough for me to not be able to figure out Dugan was coming back until he did was a great balance, imo. The maintained focus on found, chosen family always mattering more than blood relations, even when those overlap. Even the ending and denouement didn't feel so rushed in this one, which was a real joy for me specifically. And as much as the plot's conceit feels a little repetitive, it plays out differently enough that I'm not mad.
There's much, much more I loved about this than I didn't. That's the takeaway here.
I tend to binge these books, so the amount of "let's explain things that happened before" here is starting to get pretty intense. And by intense, I mean lengthy. It's understandable, not everyone rereads the whole series before starting the new one each year, and not everyone starts at book 1. But as someone who will tend to reread at least the last few before starting a new release, it gets a little repetitive for me after a while.
I am, however, more than a little frustrated the more I think about a certain character in this book.
And yet... and I always seem to have an and yet, but here it is. There's so much this book does beautifully.
There's much, much more I loved about this than I didn't. That's the takeaway here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Self harm and Kidnapping
More...