Reviews

The Secret City by C.J. Daugherty, Carina Rozenfeld

zenterious's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

aurora69006's review

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adventurous mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

sometimeswonderland's review against another edition

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4.0

Meine Meinung

Allgemein

Das sich meine Meinung oft mit anderen spaltet, erkennt man mal wieder an dieser Dilogie. Während viele von Band 1 begeistert waren, fand ich es zu klischeehaft. Während viele von Band 2 enttäuscht waren, war ich begeistert.
Trotz meiner nicht so positiv ausfallenden Kritik zum ersten Teil, gab ich dem Finale der Reihe eine Chance und erneut merke ich: So etwas lohnt sich!
Spannend beginnt das Buch bereits und genau diese zieht sich durch das komplette Buch bis zum Ende. Die Situationen waren abwechslungsreich und großteils nachvollziehbar. Und obwohl ich teilweise noch immer Parallelen zu anderen, bekannten Bücher entdeckt habe, so machten mir diese nichts mehr aus, da die Geschichte so viel mehr bot.
Fasziniert hat mich, wie die Autorin es immer wieder schaffte, dass ich mich um den Charakter Sacha sorgte. Obwohl ich als Leser sein Schicksal kannte und wusste, was ihm zustoßen kann und was nicht, so saß ich dennoch immer fiebernd vor dem Buch.
Die Sahne auf dem Tortenbuch war definitiv die Sprache. Wenn ich Bücher lese, vergesse ich oft, dass diese nicht in Deutschland spielen, doch hier wurde man durch immer wiederkehrende und bekannte französische Ausdrücke in der Welt Frankreichs gehalten.
Nur ein Aspekt ging mir etwas verloren: Die Einzigartigkeit von Taylor. Es wird immer wieder betont, dass nur sie alles verändern kann und das ihre Kräfte außergewöhnlich sind. Das waren sie auch, doch stach diese Bedeutung nicht hervor und blieb oberflächlich.

Charaktere

Die Autorin schafft einzigartige Charaktere, die mir ans Herz gewachsen sind. Im Vorgänger hatte ich noch keine große Beziehung. Sacha war mir zu sehr der BadBoy, dem alles egal ist und Taylor nichts besonderes. Doch beide mausern sich zu einer Persönlichkeit, die ich nicht vergessen möchte.
Am meisten gefiel mir jedoch Louisa, der man den typischen "harte Schale, weicher Kern"-Aussage anhängen kann. Ihre persönliche Wandlung war nicht zu aufgesetzt, realistisch und nahm mich ein.

Schreibstil & Sichtweise

In diesem Band herrscht permanente Spannung. Von Anfang bis Ende zieht sich diese permanent durchs Buch, sodass ich sogar um Charakter Sacha bangte, dessen Schicksal man als Leser ja schon kennt.
Durch immer wiederkehrende französische Bezeichnungen und Hinweise auf Taylors Akzent, bleibt das Gefühl eines anderen Landes aufrecht und erinnert einen immer wieder daran, wo die Handlung spielt.
Geschrieben ist das Buch in der dritten Person, aus Taylors Sachas und Louisas Sicht.

Cover & Titel

Das Cover gleicht dem ersten stark. Erneut ist der Kopf in der Mitte, vermutlich von Taylor, umrahmt von Symbolen und dem Tier oben links in der Ecke. Die Farbe ist nun ein schönes grün, nicht wie im Internet vermutbar blau. Das Cover ist nicht individuell auf das Buch zugeschnitten. Im groben, ganzen passt es aber zum Buch.
Auch der Titel passt, da jeder in diesem Buch Kräfte hat, die er entfesselt. Magisch oder einfach mental.

Zitat

"Was hat das Leben für einen Sinn, wenn du den Tag kennst, an dem du sterben wirst?"
- Seite 222

Fazit

Durch den zweiten Band wurde die Dilogie lesenswert für mich. Die Handlung bleibt konstant spannend und die Charaktere wuchsen mir ans Herz.

silkcaramel's review

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2.0

"Demons lie."

Well, what a way to start 2020 with a disappointment. The first book in this duology was an entertaining read, although a very cliché one and without any surprises and I was set on finishing it. But this final novel was just...I don't know, poorly done? It started out ok, with our protagonists trying to figure out how to break the curse, Taylor having the much-needed training she required, Sasha trying to be useful (and failing, because really, all he's good for is dying), and finally, FINALLY, our bad guy revealing himself and his motivations (which were weak and doesn't tie up with what we're shown in book one regarding the Winters' Curse) - there was a lot more action here, but, especially towards the end, they were all 'warning shots' and ways to stall our MCs and create more pages to a very unnecessarily long book.

Taylor has a good development here, but without much training (I mean, two weeks, and very recently she couldn't even lift a stone) she's suddenly able to do this very powerful stuff. Sasha, as I said, is good for dying, period. He doesn't add much for the story or the plans to defeat Mortimer except being his impulsive, angry-self, and his driving abilities. Taylor and Sasha's romance is so poorly done and built that it is cringy. Their lines and moments are just...ugh, no. Louisa, along with a very good addition in the form of Alaister, though a very interesting character, gets very few moments to shine - but the ones she gets are the best out of the book, including the couple scenes (WAY more chemistry and emotion in a single scene than Taylor and Sasha in two books).

I also have to point all the very cliché and kind of childish dialogues, especially towards the end. Which, by the way, is awful. It's poorly done, it's messy, it's simplistic and lacks courage. There's no life-changing or surprising plot twist and the one the authors try to spring on us is literally that - it's tossed on the reader without ANY development and we're left to wonder when, where, why it happened at all. There's a lot left unexplained and will remain this way since there are no plans for a third novel. I was really upset, because at times this seemed promising, even if for entertainment value alone, but now not even for that. I really wanted to start my reading year with a high note, but alas.

mightyraven's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

slc333's review against another edition

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3.0

Nice wrap up to the story that stared in Secret Fire but it wasn’t quite as good as the first book. I was looking forward to having Sasha and Taylor in the same place and working together, building on the connection they developed in the first book. And while we get Taylor & Sasha working together unfortunately I just didn’t get that same sense of connections between them that I felt reading the first book. I think it was because they are so busy running and fighting dark powers – which is good in terms of action but sadly not in terms of building their connection. I have never been a fan of the rude abrasive Louisa. I understand why she is like that but I just find her over the top and unnecessarily bitchy (to Taylor in bk1 and Ssha in this one). I was also frustrated by how long it took Taylor & Sash to finally kiss. All those interruptions!

artdeco's review against another edition

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1.75

DNF 👎👎

labyrith_of_a_thousand_mirrors's review against another edition

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4.0

Liked it when I was 15, wouldn't like it if I re-read it.
Like the first book, this is fun if you aren't looking for original, meaningful character arcs.
I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone who reads analytically or is over 16 years old.

eisstern's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

magicalglimpses_'s review against another edition

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2.0

2.5/5
I just don’t know how to review this one...
The first book is not very good tbh, but it does have sentimental value to me for a few different reasons.
So I just decided I’ll read the second. And... I’m not happy.
Here the thing, I really love the story idea. I really do. But it’s done so poorly and in this annoying way. And it doesn’t get to the story’s potential.
I think Taylor is just an annoying “cliche” kind of a character.
While reading it I realized how basic the writing is.
Tbh I think the ending was done pretty good, wasn’t disappointed about that, it was a cool ending.
I read it with my best friend so here are some things she told me she thought about the book:
-the whole book felt like a draft, and not the finished edited product (we’re both writers lol)
-it doesn’t feel like we’re really getting into Sacha’s head. All we get from his chapters is that he’s scared something will happen to Taylor