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adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Car accident
Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Outing
adventurous
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Violence
Minor: Addiction, Gun violence, Homophobia
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a roller coaster. I thoroughly enjoyed the magical aspect of the plot (ronan's dreams, finding out why they happen, etc.) and truly it was much more engaging than the first book, which makes sense given that much of the world building was done in the first book, so there's less time spent explaining that part. However, the reason why I'm giving the 2nd book a lower rating than the 1st one despite the fact that I enjoyed the overall plot more is because of the romance.
Coming from someone who loves romance, I did not vibe with the romance occurring between any of the characters in this book at ALL. So much of it felt entirely unnecessary and forced. To start, what's with Blue and Noah kissing?? It put me off SO MUCH and felt so random and weird. And they don't ever mention it again. What made it even worse was how Blue stated she would've said yes if Noah asked her out as if she hadn't just confessed to herself that she has a crush on Gansey and was imagining him when Noah kissed her. And on the topic of Gansey, his romance with Blue also feels very rushed and forced. There's hardly any build up or slow realization that they have feelings for each other. They just abruptly mention that they do with hardly any reasoning. What I mean by this is that there's no feeling awkward/shy because they're close to each other, or sensing something in the air when they hang out alone, etc. There's simply no chemistry! And it feels as though the main reason why Blue likes Gansey is because she knows he's her true love, and it feels this way because it's never explained HOW she catches feelings for him, just stated on a random page that she has a crush. This all played a part in making the car scene where she stated multiple times how deeply she feels for him so random because you can't see where she's coming from/why she feels that way. I think the car scene was supposed to make me ship them but honestly it was written so poorly and awkwardly that it just solidified my stance against their romance. Additionally, I'm not at all a fan of how literally all the boys in their friend group (except Ronan) were involved, borderline romantically, with Blue. It goes against her whole point of how she wants to be seen as a friend and not be treated differently just because shes a girl. And it just makes the whole friend group dynamic awkward. Honestly, if Ronan wasn't gay I wonder if the author would've written a scene with him and Blue as well.
And it's not just Blue, when it comes to Mr. Gray and Maura, there's no build up or chemistry with them either, and truthfully, I simply don't approve of their romance. Because what do you mean Blue's potential stepfather is a hitman who murdered one of her best friend's beloved father and killed two people before his date with her mom, in which he lied about having killed none. And Maura just ignores this fact?? The Gray Man killing his brother was also very anti-climactic, especially considering the amount of times his brother was brought up.
The only reason I'm not giving this book a lower rating despite all my gripes about the romance is because the romance is only a small part of the book, and I just do my best to ignore it. If we ignore the romance aspect, the rest of the book is extremely engaging and interesting, and I greatly enjoyed reading about Ronan and his dreams. I especially enjoyed the dynamic between Ronan and Kavinsky and found them thoroughly entertaining.
And it's not just Blue, when it comes to Mr. Gray and Maura, there's no build up or chemistry with them either, and truthfully, I simply don't approve of their romance. Because what do you mean Blue's potential stepfather is a hitman who murdered one of her best friend's beloved father and killed two people before his date with her mom, in which he lied about having killed none. And Maura just ignores this fact?? The Gray Man killing his brother was also very anti-climactic, especially considering the amount of times his brother was brought up.
The only reason I'm not giving this book a lower rating despite all my gripes about the romance is because the romance is only a small part of the book, and I just do my best to ignore it. If we ignore the romance aspect, the rest of the book is extremely engaging and interesting, and I greatly enjoyed reading about Ronan and his dreams. I especially enjoyed the dynamic between Ronan and Kavinsky and found them thoroughly entertaining.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Drug use
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Violence
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping
Minor: Addiction, Grief
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
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:
Yes
this book is so special to me. i love the way YA novels/series do found family it makes me feel so warm and complete every time. this book series also has such full and rich characters that feel so Real (idk if this differs from the realness of any other characters in books i have read, y'all will just have to trust me on this one).
even though these characters are trying to solve this Looming Mystery with the Leyline (idk either) they have their own personal qualms they are going through that doesn't fill like filler. it feels like how when you're a teenager and there is big things happening but your own interpersonal drama with your friends still feels like it is equally as big. (does that make sense???)
i also love how Complex these characters are but how they're still so deeply loveable to me. i have always loved these types of characters more than any other, and would go to bat for them in every debate on who they are. and my dearly beloved ronan lynch has just been added to the list. he is so troubled and sad but also angry i love him so so so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use
Moderate: Death
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Car accident, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Classism
It is a heavier-themed book than the last. I would recommend it for mid to late HS.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Car accident, Death of parent
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Gun violence
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
A good sequel to the first one. Full of development, tension, mystery and some fun times.
I love how Blue and Richard are having a completely different time than Ronan and Adam. Like blue and Richard are having a slice of life teenage movie over here while Ronan and Adam are fighting for their sanity with monsters and the occult magical Forrest like it’s hilarious.
Character wise so much development from Adam and Ronan compared to the first one and I’m so glad cause they are so interesting. I will say Adam did get on my nerves for the first like 40% of this book but he was going through IT so it’s fine I’ll allow it. So much growth on his part coming out of this book he a changed boy fr.
Ronan was such an amazing POV to follow and I want more from him and that magic system they discovered.
There were some really nice parallels with Ronan and another character- where they live with the same problems and see how Ronan could very well have turned out just like them if he didn’t have his friends. I thought it was really great how they bounced off of each other and created tension we knew was going to pop one way or another.
While the first one had objectives and was striving to find the lost king this one was stagnant in that it was more character focused and I think it was the right choice to slow things down and develop the characters that are going to play a big role going forward.
Overall great sequel and can’t wait to see what happens next.
I love how Blue and Richard are having a completely different time than Ronan and Adam. Like blue and Richard are having a slice of life teenage movie over here while Ronan and Adam are fighting for their sanity with monsters and the occult magical Forrest like it’s hilarious.
Character wise so much development from Adam and Ronan compared to the first one and I’m so glad cause they are so interesting. I will say Adam did get on my nerves for the first like 40% of this book but he was going through IT so it’s fine I’ll allow it. So much growth on his part coming out of this book he a changed boy fr.
Ronan was such an amazing POV to follow and I want more from him and that magic system they discovered.
There were some really nice parallels with Ronan and another character- where they live with the same problems and see how Ronan could very well have turned out just like them if he didn’t have his friends. I thought it was really great how they bounced off of each other and created tension we knew was going to pop one way or another.
While the first one had objectives and was striving to find the lost king this one was stagnant in that it was more character focused and I think it was the right choice to slow things down and develop the characters that are going to play a big role going forward.
Overall great sequel and can’t wait to see what happens next.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Violence
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Violence, Death of parent