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cheye13'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Ultimately this reads as a book heavily impacted by the specific time in which it was written. I couldn't say what the initial trajectory of the story was, but taking in the series as a whole, book three seems to swerve a little.
The first three quarters of this book truck along fine - not the explosive narrative of the previous book, but the same interesting plot and worldbuilding one expects. But then the story hits the denouement and quickly loses steam. There's a confusion of purpose or message, a muddling of an ending. This third installment left me with a distinct lack of hope compared to the previous books, which leads me to believe the state of the real world (2020 and fallout) poked a stick into the writing process and twirled a bit.
I enjoyed the process of reading. Meeting new characters and trying to stitch magic back together was fun as always, and I still appreciate the robustness of the setting. But I found it an unsatisfying conclusion to an otherwise fascinating trilogy.
The first three quarters of this book truck along fine - not the explosive narrative of the previous book, but the same interesting plot and worldbuilding one expects. But then the story hits the denouement and quickly loses steam. There's a confusion of purpose or message, a muddling of an ending. This third installment left me with a distinct lack of hope compared to the previous books, which leads me to believe the state of the real world (2020 and fallout) poked a stick into the writing process and twirled a bit.
I enjoyed the process of reading. Meeting new characters and trying to stitch magic back together was fun as always, and I still appreciate the robustness of the setting. But I found it an unsatisfying conclusion to an otherwise fascinating trilogy.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Torture
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Animal cruelty
srm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
This series continues to be an absolute winner. I hope Arnold has plans to just write these suckers for years and years. Miserable detective might be an over used trope to you, but it's catnip for me.
Graphic: Death and Gun violence
Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Car accident, Medical trauma, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Terminal illness, Torture, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, and Violence
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