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notapanda's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
rashaadtyrone's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
katy_heath's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
anaidelawless's review against another edition
4.0
It was a long journey - for over a year I had to convince my step-brother to read on, but we finally finished it and I have to say I quite enjoyed it and he did too even though he will never admit it.
zestylobster's review against another edition
5.0
i think this is one of very few series that has a perfect ending. literally everything wraps up w a satisfying conc, all qs are answered, and there's at least 4 big twists in the last couple of chapters. that are all fun fun fun Just such a good final book. In my memory the dain stuff at the end lasted way longer but that's probably just me conflating it with the anime where the battle is way more drawn out lol
one thing i've always wondered even as a kid is like, is the shadowlord a man or just a big cloud or like what? ik it is answered better in companion books and subsequent series, but i feel like that would have made his presence much more menacing to know a little more about him
overall like doom and jasmine remain supreme best characters, love that i agree with my child self on that.
interesting tho to see the reactionary politics of children's fantasy books, or just fantasy more broadly. Doom thinks action of the resistance in the form of rebellion will be what can overthrow the shadowlord's regime which I super agree with!!! but then through the power of Magic it is shown that restoring the monarchy is actually the best way to defeat him -> even tho all previous monarchs were incompetent, lief is Different. and it's not really specified HOw the belt defeated the shadowlord, just that it shone and suddenly all evil disappeared, just through the strength of lief's royal blood, like,,, i really don't like that, almost would have liked it more if jasmine defeated dain or the shadowlord or something while they thought she was the heir, then it was revealed to be lief and everyone was like wow u dont need royal blood to save the day, u just need to want change to happen! anyway hmm i have more thoughts on that but will think them another day
deltora tier ranking i think is:
1. valley of the lost
2. the shifting sands
3. city of the rats
4. return to del
5. forests of silence
6. maze of the beast
7. lake of tears
8. dread mountain
not definitive, but wow valley of the lost is defs the best tho lol
Spoiler
gem order, heir identity, doom identity, dain identityone thing i've always wondered even as a kid is like, is the shadowlord a man or just a big cloud or like what? ik it is answered better in companion books and subsequent series, but i feel like that would have made his presence much more menacing to know a little more about him
overall like doom and jasmine remain supreme best characters, love that i agree with my child self on that.
interesting tho to see the reactionary politics of children's fantasy books, or just fantasy more broadly. Doom thinks action of the resistance in the form of rebellion will be what can overthrow the shadowlord's regime which I super agree with!!! but then through the power of Magic it is shown that restoring the monarchy is actually the best way to defeat him -> even tho all previous monarchs were incompetent, lief is Different. and it's not really specified HOw the belt defeated the shadowlord, just that it shone and suddenly all evil disappeared, just through the strength of lief's royal blood, like,,, i really don't like that, almost would have liked it more if jasmine defeated dain or the shadowlord or something while they thought she was the heir, then it was revealed to be lief and everyone was like wow u dont need royal blood to save the day, u just need to want change to happen! anyway hmm i have more thoughts on that but will think them another day
deltora tier ranking i think is:
1. valley of the lost
2. the shifting sands
3. city of the rats
4. return to del
5. forests of silence
6. maze of the beast
7. lake of tears
8. dread mountain
not definitive, but wow valley of the lost is defs the best tho lol
skyzinnia's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Wow! I really liked the riddles here. They were much more sneakily placed and harder to figure out.
Those plot twists were INSANE. I gasped so many times!
She still used "plainly" three times per page, which was slightly irritating.
It seems a little silly that one of Jasmine's treasures was so important. Especially since it was the one thing that was special to her. If she had pulled it out any sooner at any time their quest would have been much shorter. Having a "guess what? I've had this one thing this WHOLE time that we desperately needed that I'm just now showing everyone" isn't something I like.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ending! This was a wonderful series, and I'm happy I decided to finally pick it up!
Those plot twists were INSANE. I gasped so many times!
She still used "plainly" three times per page, which was slightly irritating.
It seems a little silly that one of Jasmine's treasures was so important. Especially since it was the one thing that was special to her. If she had pulled it out any sooner at any time their quest would have been much shorter. Having a "guess what? I've had this one thing this WHOLE time that we desperately needed that I'm just now showing everyone" isn't something I like.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ending! This was a wonderful series, and I'm happy I decided to finally pick it up!