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jesssicaweil's review against another edition
4.0
4/5 stars - read via audiobook
If I were a writer, I’d want to write like Maggie Stiefvater! I love her voice.
(Spoilers ahead)
4/5 stars for all 4 books in the series. All 4 were consistently good (great characters, interesting premise, engaging setting), but each book had its own gimmicky villains which all kind of bled together by the end of the series. I also felt we could’ve gotten to the point faster, especially in this last book.
And perhaps it’s because I wasn’t paying close enough attention while I was listening, but the endings of all the books in this series were rather hard to follow. Especially the end of this one. It ends happily (which is great!) but I wouldn’t be able to explain to you what happened and am left with lots of questions.
But oh well! It's about the journey, not the destination. Fun read and lovely writing style, but mostly, the characters are the reason that these books are 4/5 for me.
If I were a writer, I’d want to write like Maggie Stiefvater! I love her voice.
(Spoilers ahead)
4/5 stars for all 4 books in the series. All 4 were consistently good (great characters, interesting premise, engaging setting), but each book had its own gimmicky villains which all kind of bled together by the end of the series. I also felt we could’ve gotten to the point faster, especially in this last book.
And perhaps it’s because I wasn’t paying close enough attention while I was listening, but the endings of all the books in this series were rather hard to follow. Especially the end of this one. It ends happily (which is great!) but I wouldn’t be able to explain to you what happened and am left with lots of questions.
Spoiler
Did Gansey just…spring back to life? Did Cabeswater sacrifice itself for him? Does Blue’s curse still exist? Where is Neeve? What happens to Artemus and Gwenllian (and what was the point of them lol)? Is Matthew okay? What will Gansey do without Glendower to search for? Who were the 3 sleepers if Glendower isn't one of them? Where is Noah? I literally have no idea.But oh well! It's about the journey, not the destination. Fun read and lovely writing style, but mostly, the characters are the reason that these books are 4/5 for me.
periapis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
ancientgod's review against another edition
5.0
i love gansey and his magicians. i love intense, devotional friendship groups that teeter on the edge of co-dependency. i love love.
this is an achievement in story-telling and character portrayal. i often think about how flawed this imagination of people as this independent, atomized, strictly Individual Being is—who are we, who would we be without the ones we love, the ones whose love has kept us here?
bawled my eyes out
this is an achievement in story-telling and character portrayal. i often think about how flawed this imagination of people as this independent, atomized, strictly Individual Being is—who are we, who would we be without the ones we love, the ones whose love has kept us here?
bawled my eyes out
faithtrustpixiedust's review against another edition
3.0
I really couldn’t figure out how to rate this after I finished. I mean, I enjoyed it. I liked it enough. But I think, on the whole, it was more of a disappointment than anything else.
It was repetitive? Overly dramatic? A little flowery at times? The plot felt like a nonentity and most of the characters did too. Jimmy had a lot of random mentions even though I didn’t remember who she even was and also didn’t know she was a girl for the first half of the book. I’d been expecting some kind of resolution with the Grey man and the mom but they were just kind of how they’ve always been and it felt like Stiefvater forgot to expand their characters. I’m still incredibly uncomfortable with the idea that he’s a literal hitman and no one seems to care.
Henry was a nice addition and I mostly liked him and his sense of humor, but he also didn’t feel like a human being. He was a little convenient and I would have preferred him less important, especially because he came into the picture so late in the game.
The Adam and Ronan thing was fine, but the most repetitive of the bunch. Almost every single scene they’re in has them being like “Cabeswater changed me, I’m different now. You wouldn’t understand” and then Ronan takes a nap and a monster shows up. I got bored of them real quick. Noah was basically the same. He was all ~spooky~ but he didn’t feel like he was even in the book, if you get me. He could have been cut and nothing would have changed besides one thing that could have been told literally any other way.
Gansey and Blue’s thing was fine. I didn’t have too many thoughts on that.
Now, as for the plot… it was a little too random for me? This series doesn’t have a super linear, straight forward plot. Each book has a different villain, each book moves the characters forward in some way without being incredibly defined what change actually occurred. It’s subtle in the way it progresses, and I didn’t mind up until now. Because this didn’t feel like a conclusion. Like at all. This felt like a continuation of the third book and not a finale. Maybe it’s just because of how intense everything was made out to be with the writing style, but I really expected more. A lot happened, but in retrospect, nothing happened? Like, the characters did like 4 things throughout the entire book. It definitely subverted my expectations but didn’t give me something good enough to fill the hole it left. I feel a little lied to, honestly. I’d really liked this series, despite all its obvious narrative faults, because of the atmosphere it invoked. But it fizzled out by the end and all I wanted was something concrete. A story told through implication isn’t much of a story at all.
It was repetitive? Overly dramatic? A little flowery at times? The plot felt like a nonentity and most of the characters did too. Jimmy had a lot of random mentions even though I didn’t remember who she even was and also didn’t know she was a girl for the first half of the book. I’d been expecting some kind of resolution with the Grey man and the mom but they were just kind of how they’ve always been and it felt like Stiefvater forgot to expand their characters. I’m still incredibly uncomfortable with the idea that he’s a literal hitman and no one seems to care.
Henry was a nice addition and I mostly liked him and his sense of humor, but he also didn’t feel like a human being. He was a little convenient and I would have preferred him less important, especially because he came into the picture so late in the game.
The Adam and Ronan thing was fine, but the most repetitive of the bunch. Almost every single scene they’re in has them being like “Cabeswater changed me, I’m different now. You wouldn’t understand” and then Ronan takes a nap and a monster shows up. I got bored of them real quick. Noah was basically the same. He was all ~spooky~ but he didn’t feel like he was even in the book, if you get me. He could have been cut and nothing would have changed besides one thing that could have been told literally any other way.
Gansey and Blue’s thing was fine. I didn’t have too many thoughts on that.
Now, as for the plot… it was a little too random for me? This series doesn’t have a super linear, straight forward plot. Each book has a different villain, each book moves the characters forward in some way without being incredibly defined what change actually occurred. It’s subtle in the way it progresses, and I didn’t mind up until now. Because this didn’t feel like a conclusion. Like at all. This felt like a continuation of the third book and not a finale. Maybe it’s just because of how intense everything was made out to be with the writing style, but I really expected more. A lot happened, but in retrospect, nothing happened? Like, the characters did like 4 things throughout the entire book. It definitely subverted my expectations but didn’t give me something good enough to fill the hole it left. I feel a little lied to, honestly. I’d really liked this series, despite all its obvious narrative faults, because of the atmosphere it invoked. But it fizzled out by the end and all I wanted was something concrete. A story told through implication isn’t much of a story at all.
exorcismemily's review against another edition
4.0
The best of the series. I was captivated for 400 pages. I'm sad that it's over. Unfortunately, I feel like so much was left open-ended, and that's why it's 4 stars instead of 5. Longer (actual) review later.
tiffinir's review against another edition
5.0
there are so many spoilers bc my brain is dumping oh my god. i laughed, cried and just buckled up to enjoy the ride. from BOOK ONE we know BIG G is gonna die and might i just say how wonderful it must be to kiss your true love as a way to kick the bucket. the remaking was beautiful. ronan ohhh ronan how i love your asshole self with my whole heart. adam finally came around and BLUE OH MY BLUE LILLY HOW I HOPE UR TRAVELING THE WORLD RN U DID SO GOOD SWEETIE U ARE SOMETHING MORE. and henry? sir how did u come in and steal my heart so quickly and near the end where i was trusting NO ONE outside the found family. ok gonna go think ab this book for a while OH AND THE FUCKING KING WAS DEAD ALL ALONG AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH
princesses's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Still not over the fact that Ronan named his dreamt-up baby raven Chainsaw.<