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morgob's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this book a lot more than the first one, which is surprising because parts of this book were infinitely more obnoxious than the first. Maybe it's because I'm used to the world and used to the tone, maybe it's because I'm invested in the story, or maybe it's because I read this book in basically two sittings, one about a month ago and one this weekend. Either way, this book was more enjoyable. I'm convinced this book was less dark than the last one. The beginning of the book was nice, for the most part. Kyler, Elene, and Uly had this little family dynamic going on. It was quite enjoyable, but it was all a farce. And Kyler spent a lot of the book--but also so did Logan--complaining that he was still a virgin and how much he didn't want to be a virgin. It's atrocious because it's true; I hear all the time how awful men are at writing women in books, but this is the opposite. He's writing how men actually are! Which is infuriating!
Back to the story, the middle/end was very easy to get through. Vi's character developed a whole lot, which was very nice. I absolutely love Sister Ariel. She is a boss-ass bitch. Elene is still pretty much a background character in this one, except for the beginning and the end. That's pretty annoying, since she is such a big part of other characters' lives. I hope she gets more page time in the last book. I'm already about a hundred pages in and she has had a bit so far.
Okay, now for the spoilers.
So, all in all, this was a good book and the series is growing on me. I have had to get used to the way the author portrays and writes the female characters. The thing I have to keep telling myself is that the author wrote this to resemble a specific time period, something like the Middle Ages. In that time period, women were thought of a certain way, and the author is trying to emulate that with these characters, thus evoking that dichotomy of "virgin or whore". At least, that's what I think in my mind. If that's not the case, then Brent Weeks is horrible at writing females and does his female characters a major disservice. But I'm inclined to think the former. On to the last one!
Back to the story, the middle/end was very easy to get through. Vi's character developed a whole lot, which was very nice. I absolutely love Sister Ariel. She is a boss-ass bitch. Elene is still pretty much a background character in this one, except for the beginning and the end. That's pretty annoying, since she is such a big part of other characters' lives. I hope she gets more page time in the last book. I'm already about a hundred pages in and she has had a bit so far.
Okay, now for the spoilers.
Spoiler
The ending was fantastic and horrible. They killed the Godking, yeah, and that was awesome, but Vi did the unthinkable and I hate it so much!!!! She ringed Kyler when he was unconscious, which is totally not okay!!! And now they are bonded!!! When Elene finds out, I hope she is pissed. I got horribly upset and I am not even a part of that relationship! But also Durzo is back!! I have a hunch as to who he is now, but I'm so excited about that! I hope he comes back and plays a big role, too, because I loved his character so so so much.So, all in all, this was a good book and the series is growing on me. I have had to get used to the way the author portrays and writes the female characters. The thing I have to keep telling myself is that the author wrote this to resemble a specific time period, something like the Middle Ages. In that time period, women were thought of a certain way, and the author is trying to emulate that with these characters, thus evoking that dichotomy of "virgin or whore". At least, that's what I think in my mind. If that's not the case, then Brent Weeks is horrible at writing females and does his female characters a major disservice. But I'm inclined to think the former. On to the last one!
owenevans15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
ciaranbearla's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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? Yes
4.5
subparcupcake's review against another edition
5.0
Holy mother, this book was good. I thought [b:The Way of Shadows|3227063|The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1)|Brent Weeks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327881551s/3227063.jpg|3261241] was good, but it was nothing compared to this one! Weeks really hit his stride in this volume of the story, and I absolutely loved every minute of it.
It's been a long time since I got really emotionally drawn into a good old fashioned fantasy trilogy. I don't know when exactly it happened, but this series definitely broke that dry spell. I don't remember feeling quite so emotionally attached to the characters while reading [b:The Way of Shadows|3227063|The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1)|Brent Weeks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327881551s/3227063.jpg|3261241].. And I'm not quite sure when exactly I became attached to them. I didn't even realize I was attached to them until... Well I can't say what it was, because that would spoil it, and I'd determined to make this a spoiler free review. But the thingy thing I'm talking about? I did not see it coming at all, and my heart was instantly broken. That's when I realized this characters had become real to me, and there was no turning back.
And damn. The twist in the epilogue? Did not see that coming either. There was just so much good in this book.. I want to gush and gush about all of the things I loved about it, but I don't want my review to be full of spoilers, so I'm forcing myself to hold back.
Bottom line - if you liked the first book, you won't be disappointed by this one. In fact, I think you'll be pretty damn impressed by it. It's not often that I end up rating the second in a series higher than the first in the series, but it's happening with Night Angel. Five stars.... And now I have to wrap this up, so I can get to reading book three!
It's been a long time since I got really emotionally drawn into a good old fashioned fantasy trilogy. I don't know when exactly it happened, but this series definitely broke that dry spell. I don't remember feeling quite so emotionally attached to the characters while reading [b:The Way of Shadows|3227063|The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1)|Brent Weeks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327881551s/3227063.jpg|3261241].. And I'm not quite sure when exactly I became attached to them. I didn't even realize I was attached to them until... Well I can't say what it was, because that would spoil it, and I'd determined to make this a spoiler free review. But the thingy thing I'm talking about? I did not see it coming at all, and my heart was instantly broken. That's when I realized this characters had become real to me, and there was no turning back.
And damn. The twist in the epilogue? Did not see that coming either. There was just so much good in this book.. I want to gush and gush about all of the things I loved about it, but I don't want my review to be full of spoilers, so I'm forcing myself to hold back.
Bottom line - if you liked the first book, you won't be disappointed by this one. In fact, I think you'll be pretty damn impressed by it. It's not often that I end up rating the second in a series higher than the first in the series, but it's happening with Night Angel. Five stars.... And now I have to wrap this up, so I can get to reading book three!
ohio_enthusiast's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
smcrain's review against another edition
2.0
DNF, for me right now. I CANNOT with Elene. I thought the first book presenting her as innocent and pure was a little ridiculous and made me want to gag, but I wrote it off as some typical male fantasy shite. Tried to start this book, and she actually gets WORSE. She's over here keeping Kylar from being a f*cking badass by making him promise not to kill anyone. He's got an extraordinary talent, and they live in a world where murder is as common as throwing out garbage to people, not to mention they just had a coup from a sadistic tyrant. She should be asking him to right their world with his gifts, not keep them in the closet. The 2nd chapter he mentions that they could have killed the god-king dude had he just stepped in and helped an assassination attempt done by some fellow wetboys, but he DIDN'T because of his promise to her. I just RAGE QUIT, haha. Reading the other reviews about how this book will just be a struggle between the two of them and their virginal selves made me all the more sure I'm probably not gonna be finishing this one. I did really like Kylar, Jarl and Logan in the first book, oh and Durzo, but he's out of the picture now. I have a hard time giving anything a 1-star because obviously an author took the time to write. So giving this one an extra star because at least he completed his works so good for him. It's just not for me.
book_mad_mess's review against another edition
4.0
Not a review as much as what I think:
I thought it was better than the first book. Still confused at times by all the magic systems and who's who of characters. The series could use a glossary or a list of characters. My thoughts and YMMV.
I thought it was better than the first book. Still confused at times by all the magic systems and who's who of characters. The series could use a glossary or a list of characters. My thoughts and YMMV.
dauntlessodin13's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
witchfynder_finder's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This one is definitely weaker than the first in some key and extremely irritating ways and feels more like what I had feared the entire series would be based on what I half-remembered from high school. Most of the main plot was still as good as it was in the first book, but the rest of it feels so of-the-time in a really bad way.
Brent Weeks at this point did not know how to write women, there's really no other way to put it. Elene and Mamma K in the first book felt solid and realized, if perhaps a bit cliche, but giving more time to explicit POV chapters of women really revealed the weakness in the writing. It all seemed to eventually devolve into gross boring bioessentialist "battle of the sexes" bullshit. I don't think it was done on purpose, I don't think Weeks is a raging misogynist, now or in 2008, I think he was trying his best and just didn't have the ability to do justice to his characters or his ideas.
The way he writes and writes about sex workers is even worse, though. Again, I think I see what he was trying to do, he wanted to humanize them in a genre that so often pushes them to the fringes if it mentions them at all, but it did so in a really clumsy and unhelpful way. And holy shit did he love the word "whore." It's weird. Be more normal about sex workers.
But otherwise we're still dealing with solid fantasy, though still not as solid as the Lightbringer turned out to be. A lot of this really feels like him practicing for that series in weird ways. Things he did well there are here but less artfully done, a bit clumsier.
Also, he has a weird thing with prisons, especially solitary or semi-solitary confinement, and the ways they can change people. I don't know what he's doing there but it's in this and it's in Lightbringer and it's a weird running theme to have.
I'm really glad he didn't use sexual assault as a casual plot device in his later writing because I'm getting bored of reading about it here.
Brent Weeks at this point did not know how to write women, there's really no other way to put it. Elene and Mamma K in the first book felt solid and realized, if perhaps a bit cliche, but giving more time to explicit POV chapters of women really revealed the weakness in the writing. It all seemed to eventually devolve into gross boring bioessentialist "battle of the sexes" bullshit. I don't think it was done on purpose, I don't think Weeks is a raging misogynist, now or in 2008, I think he was trying his best and just didn't have the ability to do justice to his characters or his ideas.
The way he writes and writes about sex workers is even worse, though. Again, I think I see what he was trying to do, he wanted to humanize them in a genre that so often pushes them to the fringes if it mentions them at all, but it did so in a really clumsy and unhelpful way. And holy shit did he love the word "whore." It's weird. Be more normal about sex workers.
But otherwise we're still dealing with solid fantasy, though still not as solid as the Lightbringer turned out to be. A lot of this really feels like him practicing for that series in weird ways. Things he did well there are here but less artfully done, a bit clumsier.
Also, he has a weird thing with prisons, especially solitary or semi-solitary confinement, and the ways they can change people. I don't know what he's doing there but it's in this and it's in Lightbringer and it's a weird running theme to have.
I'm really glad he didn't use sexual assault as a casual plot device in his later writing because I'm getting bored of reading about it here.