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kamikazefooby's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail
kalamshavedknuckle's review against another edition
Could not get past how women are treated/written. The first 3rd follows a POV character with troubling mindset. But when repeated scenes of incest I had to stop.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Gore, and Xenophobia
liz_ross's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.75
"Love is what makes us humans. There is value in it, even when it is not requited."
I will be honest.A weird way to start since I always am, but let's ignore that. This was not the kind of sequel for The Warded Man that I was expecting. It did continue to develop the story from the point where it was left in the last book, but more than that Brett focused on going back to the past and tell us Jardir's life story since he was a little boy, just like he did with Leesha, Rojer and Arlen in the first book.
The difference is that in the first book there was one single timeline. They started as children, became teenagers and ended as young adults. This time, there's no such thing as a clear timeline. Jardir starts as an adult, preparing for the war he promised at the end of The Warded Man, but then starts reminiscing on events from his past and the readers suddenly find themselves reading about a much younger Jardir. Just for a few pages, though, because then we come back for the present.
Of course, I know some readers do not like when writers do this. It can get messy, confusing. Personally, I think that will only happen if the writer does not bother to clarify where we are in a certain chapter, whether it be by stating the time or by always starting in the present and show the past as flashbacks. The problem is, Brett doesn't do any of those things; there's no way to know if the chapter is about present or past. Especially in the beginning, when Brett was still developing Jardir's younger self, I would start his chapters not knowing where the hell I was - in the present, witnessing the beginning of a war, or in the past, witnessing the growth and development of a future leader. As chapters passed by, things became easier (mostly because the chapters about the past would get less and less frequent), but there were a few chapters then that still managed to make me wonder were I was for a few paragraphs before I get some piece of information that would actually allow me to know the time.
I am not saying I didn't enjoy Jardir's chapters. I did. Truth is, even if I didn't like Jardir, I would have enjoyed the chapters as I had the opportunity to meet Inevera, who I know I shouldn't like, but can't help loving. But disliking Jardir isn't even an issue as although I hate him, I can't help loving and admiring him as well. He is such a strong character, brave and smart. And yet his moral compass is clearly broken and he does so many things I can't agree with. But truth is, I can't blame him for those things either, as he is not the one at fault for his questionable beliefs (that's all he was told to be right as he grew up) and everything he did, he did because he actually believed it was the right thing to do. He actually believed the path he took and the decisions he made were the right ones and the final goal he intends to achieve is the right one. I already thought like that in the first book and to learn about his past and to have entire chaoters about him only allowed me to confirm it.
I am still unsure if Brett intended to make him a villain or not (I mean, it seemed like it for a while in the first book, but if you think about it, the real villain are the corelings and I don't think I have ever seen any writer spend an entire book revealing the backstory and developing with such depth a villain - even if I do believe it would be great if writers started doing that; villains are often such underrated characters!), but whether it is his objective or not, I think that right now Jardir is closer to become an antihero than an actual villain.
However, even if I loved Jardir story, I felt like something was missing in this book. Something that existed in the first one and that was the reason it enchanted me and managed to get 5 stars. I have been thinking about it and yet I can't actually point out what I feel that is missing. Maybe it's the world, that although still beautiful and enticing, is no longer new - we got some new information (quite unsettling and yet brilliant if you want my opinion), but nothing compared to the first book and I kind of missed that feeling of entering such a refreshing, original, new world.
But it could also have been because of the story. I mean, it did develop the present, but it focused much more in Jardir's past. And while I had no idea how things would end in the present, I was fairly certain how the past would end, because well... I knew the present, so it was a bit obvious. I am not saying some things didn't surprise me and that I didn't like it (as I already said, I did), but enjoying a story when you know how most of it will end is not the same thing as enjoying one where you have no idea how things will turn out.
And then there's the fact that although still undoubtely brilliant and good and enjoyable, the plot in the present itself lacked something the first one had. Yes, the introduction of new characters was great and so was the new points of view that allowed the readers to get a break from Arlen, Leesha and Rojer more often. But new characters brought new problems. For starters, if the fact that every single female character seemed to fall in love with Arlen while every single male one seemed to fall in love with Leesha was tolerable in the first book, it quickly got old in the second one. I mean, Leesha is strong and smart and beautiful, but even a girl with all those atributes does <b>not</b> have the entire world at her feet, especially when she also has flaws, which I am sure some people wouldn't be able to stand. And no matter how much I love Arlen as a character, I can assure you if he ever showed up at my door and I had no idea who he was, I would run as fast as I can.
It's not just that it lacked something, though. It's also the existence of other small details that bothered me. Not enough to make me not enjoy the book as I don't think they were handled that bad (most of them, at least), but they obviously contributed to that feeling of something missing as I couldn't find small details like these to bother me in the first book. Brett trying to find a way of having Leesha and her mother make peace with each other isn't fine - I am not saying Leesha doesn't think too high of herself (again, she is not flawless, which is good), but what her mother did to her, how she treated her, is not something forgivable, especially when it was done for <i>years</i>.
Brett giving both Arlen and Leesha a second love interest would be fine if he wasn't so desperate to find them, he ended up creating and rushing up relationships that definitely didn't make much sense - especially in Arlen's case since no one holds on to a childhood love that badly, especially when the said love has not been around for more years than they have been together, and definitely does not claim to still love him without even trying to meet the grown up Arlen better; at least Leesha's love interest had several chapters and time to get to actually know Leesha.
And damn it, something about Rojer accepting the two women whose names I can't remember doesn't sit right with me - he did accept them to protect them, but something in the way Brett wrote it made it sound like it wasn't really the only reason and <i>that</i> is not understandable at all considering Rojer's personality.
All these would be easily ignored if they had shown up alone. But all together... they are not easy to ignore, or to let go.
However, there's another bright side! And a darkest side to it. Rape is still part of the story. And not exclusive to women, which awful as it is, is also an efficient way to remind people that rape victims aren't all women in real life either. Men are raped too. And they have to deal with the phsycological consequeces of it as well. And once again, I don't think the new rape cases were handled well enough - I mean, in the male case, the victim got "revenge", but revenge is not enough, doesn't cure a thing. Once again, Brett made it sound like the effects don't last.
So, where the hell is the bright side I mentioned? Leesha was raped in the first book and I feared exactly the same thing - it seemed like Brett used rape just as a way of adding drama to the story and wouldn't approach it again. But he did rememeber it, he did approach it again, he did show it had consequences on Leesha. I still think it wasn't dealt with long enough, but he treated it in a serious way and that makes me hope that he will also handle the new victims right, remembering it and approaching it in the next books.
Overall, brilliant, stunning book with a really good plot that takes place in an incredible and as vicious as original world. A quite good sequel to <i>The Warded Man</i>, even if it certainly wasn't what I was expecting, that offers the opportunity to learn more about a character that although interesting had very little time to shine in the first book and to know new ones that will certainly make the next book quite interesting.
And hopefully the spark that made me absolutely LOVE the first one will come back and I will be able to give the third book 5 stars as well.
I will be honest.
The difference is that in the first book there was one single timeline. They started as children, became teenagers and ended as young adults. This time, there's no such thing as a clear timeline. Jardir starts as an adult, preparing for the war he promised at the end of The Warded Man, but then starts reminiscing on events from his past and the readers suddenly find themselves reading about a much younger Jardir. Just for a few pages, though, because then we come back for the present.
Of course, I know some readers do not like when writers do this. It can get messy, confusing. Personally, I think that will only happen if the writer does not bother to clarify where we are in a certain chapter, whether it be by stating the time or by always starting in the present and show the past as flashbacks. The problem is, Brett doesn't do any of those things; there's no way to know if the chapter is about present or past. Especially in the beginning, when Brett was still developing Jardir's younger self, I would start his chapters not knowing where the hell I was - in the present, witnessing the beginning of a war, or in the past, witnessing the growth and development of a future leader. As chapters passed by, things became easier (mostly because the chapters about the past would get less and less frequent), but there were a few chapters then that still managed to make me wonder were I was for a few paragraphs before I get some piece of information that would actually allow me to know the time.
I am not saying I didn't enjoy Jardir's chapters. I did. Truth is, even if I didn't like Jardir, I would have enjoyed the chapters as I had the opportunity to meet Inevera, who I know I shouldn't like, but can't help loving. But disliking Jardir isn't even an issue as although I hate him, I can't help loving and admiring him as well. He is such a strong character, brave and smart. And yet his moral compass is clearly broken and he does so many things I can't agree with. But truth is, I can't blame him for those things either, as he is not the one at fault for his questionable beliefs (that's all he was told to be right as he grew up) and everything he did, he did because he actually believed it was the right thing to do. He actually believed the path he took and the decisions he made were the right ones and the final goal he intends to achieve is the right one. I already thought like that in the first book and to learn about his past and to have entire chaoters about him only allowed me to confirm it.
I am still unsure if Brett intended to make him a villain or not (I mean, it seemed like it for a while in the first book, but if you think about it, the real villain are the corelings and I don't think I have ever seen any writer spend an entire book revealing the backstory and developing with such depth a villain - even if I do believe it would be great if writers started doing that; villains are often such underrated characters!), but whether it is his objective or not, I think that right now Jardir is closer to become an antihero than an actual villain.
However, even if I loved Jardir story, I felt like something was missing in this book. Something that existed in the first one and that was the reason it enchanted me and managed to get 5 stars. I have been thinking about it and yet I can't actually point out what I feel that is missing. Maybe it's the world, that although still beautiful and enticing, is no longer new - we got some new information (quite unsettling and yet brilliant if you want my opinion), but nothing compared to the first book and I kind of missed that feeling of entering such a refreshing, original, new world.
But it could also have been because of the story. I mean, it did develop the present, but it focused much more in Jardir's past. And while I had no idea how things would end in the present, I was fairly certain how the past would end, because well... I knew the present, so it was a bit obvious. I am not saying some things didn't surprise me and that I didn't like it (as I already said, I did), but enjoying a story when you know how most of it will end is not the same thing as enjoying one where you have no idea how things will turn out.
And then there's the fact that although still undoubtely brilliant and good and enjoyable, the plot in the present itself lacked something the first one had. Yes, the introduction of new characters was great and so was the new points of view that allowed the readers to get a break from Arlen, Leesha and Rojer more often. But new characters brought new problems. For starters, if the fact that every single female character seemed to fall in love with Arlen while every single male one seemed to fall in love with Leesha was tolerable in the first book, it quickly got old in the second one. I mean, Leesha is strong and smart and beautiful, but even a girl with all those atributes does <b>not</b> have the entire world at her feet, especially when she also has flaws, which I am sure some people wouldn't be able to stand. And no matter how much I love Arlen as a character, I can assure you if he ever showed up at my door and I had no idea who he was, I would run as fast as I can.
It's not just that it lacked something, though. It's also the existence of other small details that bothered me. Not enough to make me not enjoy the book as I don't think they were handled that bad (most of them, at least), but they obviously contributed to that feeling of something missing as I couldn't find small details like these to bother me in the first book. Brett trying to find a way of having Leesha and her mother make peace with each other isn't fine - I am not saying Leesha doesn't think too high of herself (again, she is not flawless, which is good), but what her mother did to her, how she treated her, is not something forgivable, especially when it was done for <i>years</i>.
Brett giving both Arlen and Leesha a second love interest would be fine if he wasn't so desperate to find them, he ended up creating and rushing up relationships that definitely didn't make much sense - especially in Arlen's case since no one holds on to a childhood love that badly, especially when the said love has not been around for more years than they have been together, and definitely does not claim to still love him without even trying to meet the grown up Arlen better; at least Leesha's love interest had several chapters and time to get to actually know Leesha.
And damn it, something about Rojer accepting the two women whose names I can't remember doesn't sit right with me - he did accept them to protect them, but something in the way Brett wrote it made it sound like it wasn't really the only reason and <i>that</i> is not understandable at all considering Rojer's personality.
All these would be easily ignored if they had shown up alone. But all together... they are not easy to ignore, or to let go.
However, there's another bright side! And a darkest side to it. Rape is still part of the story. And not exclusive to women, which awful as it is, is also an efficient way to remind people that rape victims aren't all women in real life either. Men are raped too. And they have to deal with the phsycological consequeces of it as well. And once again, I don't think the new rape cases were handled well enough - I mean, in the male case, the victim got "revenge", but revenge is not enough, doesn't cure a thing. Once again, Brett made it sound like the effects don't last.
So, where the hell is the bright side I mentioned? Leesha was raped in the first book and I feared exactly the same thing - it seemed like Brett used rape just as a way of adding drama to the story and wouldn't approach it again. But he did rememeber it, he did approach it again, he did show it had consequences on Leesha. I still think it wasn't dealt with long enough, but he treated it in a serious way and that makes me hope that he will also handle the new victims right, remembering it and approaching it in the next books.
Overall, brilliant, stunning book with a really good plot that takes place in an incredible and as vicious as original world. A quite good sequel to <i>The Warded Man</i>, even if it certainly wasn't what I was expecting, that offers the opportunity to learn more about a character that although interesting had very little time to shine in the first book and to know new ones that will certainly make the next book quite interesting.
And hopefully the spark that made me absolutely LOVE the first one will come back and I will be able to give the third book 5 stars as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Ableism, Blood, Gore, Violence, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infertility, and Toxic relationship
syllareads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
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