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koistyfishy's review
adventurous
emotional
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
4.5
This series is crawling itself into my heart, and it is just leaving me with such a feeling of happiness thinking about these characters, and their found family. I JUST WANNA HUG THEM ALL!!!!
This book was definitely better than the first one (which was already pretty high up there).
I laughed. I cried. I screamed. I smiled. I squealed. I felt my heart racing and I felt my heart breaking. There were so many emotions this book made me feel and it’s beautiful that it can accomplish this while still maintaining a successful balance of character development, and world-building, while still weaving in the plot. When I see this done in books, I know that these characters and this story is going to stay with me for a while after I finish it and if this trend continues...this series is on its way to making itself a spot on the list of favourite series.
This book starts off almost exactly where book one ended so we are thrown right back into the action with our characters. Diana has just found out that she’s bonded and she needs to work through this whilst our band of guardians continues on their trek with a reluctant new member Lucenna.
The first half of this book is a little bit slow and overall this book is more about character development and further solidifying the world-building than the actual plot. But this is one of the reasons why I pushed it down because whilst some action happens a little bit in the middle, most of it is squeezed into the last 100 pages and I wanted a little bit more throughout the book.
I can happily say that Dyna I did not irritate me as much as she did in the first book and my suspicion that she was kept as "naive as she was" in the first book to show her progression did actually come to pass. She grew up and matured quite a lot in this book as she becomes braver and more self-confident in her own abilities, and starts to also embrace her feelings for Cassiel.
Cassiel is still a broody little angel but that man can do no wrong. He is just perfect and as much as he has to work through his own self-worth problems and guilt for forcing the bond on Dyna the progression he makes to finally believe that he is worthy of Dyna was beautiful! There are still numerous moments where that lack of communication between the two of them does add unnecessary tension. But all the cute moments between the two of them, when he was just so protective, and possessive and would do ABSOLUTELY anything for her. Just melts my heart so much!!!!!!!!
Zev, that man is "in the depths of despair" but this little cinnamon roll just needs to be protected, and whilst his story is so heartbreaking and so dismal and I just want to give him a hug and tell him it’s okay. We love him, we need him, so he doesn’t have to feel like no one wants him
Rawn, he’s kind of like the "dad of the group". I mean he’s sometimes (most times) the voice of reason and he’s very gentlemanly and proper. But I don’t really have any HUGE feelings about him mainly because he is not a POV character. As a result, you don’t actually get to see his thoughts and feelings, you only see him and his actions as the others do.
Lucenna. MY GOD! She’s my role model bitch Queen, who doesn’t need a man to tell her what to do! She knows she's got power and strength and she is who I want to be when I grow up. I adored the sisterly protective bond that she forms with Dyna, it was just the sweetest.
Von? I don’t like you because you’re hurting Yavi.
One of the other aspects that brought this down a little bit for me is that it feels like the plot isn't actually moving forward and we're almost going around in a slow spiral. The plot repeats a couple of elements that happened in the first book, so they weren't as surprising this time around.
Overall!!!! I really recommend this series and while it is YA, it is an excellent fantasy. So if you like a "Journey Narrative" with a found family that has epic world-building and an accidental marriage with a one-bed trope, then this book is for you! Just obviously read the first one first because you can’t just read this one and then GO fall in love with this series as much as I have.
This book was definitely better than the first one (which was already pretty high up there).
I laughed. I cried. I screamed. I smiled. I squealed. I felt my heart racing and I felt my heart breaking. There were so many emotions this book made me feel and it’s beautiful that it can accomplish this while still maintaining a successful balance of character development, and world-building, while still weaving in the plot. When I see this done in books, I know that these characters and this story is going to stay with me for a while after I finish it and if this trend continues...this series is on its way to making itself a spot on the list of favourite series.
This book starts off almost exactly where book one ended so we are thrown right back into the action with our characters. Diana has just found out that she’s bonded and she needs to work through this whilst our band of guardians continues on their trek with a reluctant new member Lucenna.
The first half of this book is a little bit slow and overall this book is more about character development and further solidifying the world-building than the actual plot. But this is one of the reasons why I pushed it down because whilst some action happens a little bit in the middle, most of it is squeezed into the last 100 pages and I wanted a little bit more throughout the book.
I can happily say that Dyna I did not irritate me as much as she did in the first book and my suspicion that she was kept as "naive as she was" in the first book to show her progression did actually come to pass. She grew up and matured quite a lot in this book as she becomes braver and more self-confident in her own abilities, and starts to also embrace her feelings for Cassiel.
Cassiel is still a broody little angel but that man can do no wrong. He is just perfect and as much as he has to work through his own self-worth problems and guilt for forcing the bond on Dyna the progression he makes to finally believe that he is worthy of Dyna was beautiful! There are still numerous moments where that lack of communication between the two of them does add unnecessary tension. But all the cute moments between the two of them, when he was just so protective, and possessive and would do ABSOLUTELY anything for her. Just melts my heart so much!!!!!!!!
Zev, that man is "in the depths of despair" but this little cinnamon roll just needs to be protected, and whilst his story is so heartbreaking and so dismal and I just want to give him a hug and tell him it’s okay. We love him, we need him, so he doesn’t have to feel like no one wants him
Rawn, he’s kind of like the "dad of the group". I mean he’s sometimes (most times) the voice of reason and he’s very gentlemanly and proper. But I don’t really have any HUGE feelings about him mainly because he is not a POV character. As a result, you don’t actually get to see his thoughts and feelings, you only see him and his actions as the others do.
Lucenna. MY GOD! She’s my role model bitch Queen, who doesn’t need a man to tell her what to do! She knows she's got power and strength and she is who I want to be when I grow up. I adored the sisterly protective bond that she forms with Dyna, it was just the sweetest.
Von? I don’t like you because you’re hurting Yavi.
One of the other aspects that brought this down a little bit for me is that it feels like the plot isn't actually moving forward and we're almost going around in a slow spiral. The plot repeats a couple of elements that happened in the first book, so they weren't as surprising this time around.
Overall!!!! I really recommend this series and while it is YA, it is an excellent fantasy. So if you like a "Journey Narrative" with a found family that has epic world-building and an accidental marriage with a one-bed trope, then this book is for you! Just obviously read the first one first because you can’t just read this one and then GO fall in love with this series as much as I have.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Grief, Violence, and Physical abuse
after_i_finish_this_chapter's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Grief, Violence, and Physical abuse
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