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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars rounded up because I think most of my issues with this book came from the fact that it really seems to be a part 2 to the last Alcatraz book...which I read 7 gears ago and barely remembered. It's very action-packed and moves quickly.
But I am confused as to why the epiolgue from book 5 was put at the end of this book? And why the last sentence of the book wasn't "And then we were all vaporized. The end." Why else would Bastille tell you to go read the last sentence. Come on.
Edited: Editing my review because the audiobook got it wrong. The physical book DID have the vaporization at the end and not the epilogue from book 5. Like. What the heck? So because of that. I am willing to let it be solidly 4 stars.
But I am confused as to why the epiolgue from book 5 was put at the end of this book? And why the last sentence of the book wasn't "And then we were all vaporized. The end." Why else would Bastille tell you to go read the last sentence. Come on.
Edited: Editing my review because the audiobook got it wrong. The physical book DID have the vaporization at the end and not the epilogue from book 5. Like. What the heck? So because of that. I am willing to let it be solidly 4 stars.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
medium-paced
I wanted to love this book.
Did I love this book? No.
Did I hate this book? Also no.
Did I like this book? It’s complicated.
THE PROS:
- People talked about their feelings and tears were shed. I can nominate this book for the Let Men Cry Awards 2023 with a clear conscience.
- Honestly, Bastille could have been a jerk here, but she wasn’t—without sacrificing any of the Bastille Rage™️ or snark. Instead, she convinced Al that he wasn’t a coward, which is wonderful and a refreshing acknowledgment of everything poor Alcatraz had to go through in the course of this series but also was a bit rushed??
- The kiss. That is all.
- The kitten army. It took up just enough space to be funny and then was over. Excellent restraint, excellent humor.
- The callback to Alcatraz attempting to break gravity back in book 2. Love that for him that he succeeded.
- The illustrations. Have I actually /seen/ the illustrations since I elected to listen to the audiobook instead of reading it? Technically no, but Haley Lazo is an actual genius and that is a hill I /will/ die on, thank you very much.
THE CONS:
- Not a fault of the actual writing, but a part of my reading experience nevertheless: the audiobook narrator was too peppy during the opening of the book and that really irked me. Overall she gave a nice performance, but there wasn’t the necessary gravitas to…you know. Discovering Alcatraz and Attica post-sacrifice. All the grief stuff. Some of the dramatic moments.
- The timeline, specifically concerning when Alcatraz wrote the previous volumes of his autobiography. I don’t know if I just missed something, but the previous books seemed to imply that Bastille and Al were already married while he was in the process of writing them, but the epilogue to this one sets their wedding as taking place /after/ Al has already finished book 5. Though I love a good romantic ending (did I do a little fist-pump at work when they kissed? Absolutely), it left me feeling puzzled and a bit disappointed.
- The Deus Ex Gak-ina. The Gak was fun to a point—who am I to critique a good pun woven inextricably into the narrative?— but then, much as the introduction to book 5, it reached a point where it stopped being funny.
- Shasta, or, rather, the lack thereof. Personally, I would have loved a little less Gak and a little more Shasta. She felt like she kind of disappeared? And with all the attention given to her (and Attica’s) view of the world + Alcatraz, I expected a little more than a brief conversation at the end. Where was her grief? The emotionally charged conversations between her and Al? The showdown with Biblioden that could have wrapped up the series instead of the aforementioned Deus ex Gak-ina? Idk, for one of the OG side characters, she just felt like an afterthought in this installment.
- Biblioden. He was so threatening, so ominous, so powerful. And then he was eaten. RIP Diff.
- The lack of literary jokes. Maybe it’s the English major in me, but one of the highlights of the series for me were all the literary allusions and side notes. In this volume, all we got was one (admittedly hilarious) tangent about James Joyce’s Ulysses (which, as someone who has also yet to read Ulysses but has heard So Much about it, tickled my fancy quite considerably. Though I wish it hadn’t taken place at such a series moment).
- The lack of Alcatraz. Okay, I get that Mr. Sanderson sort of wrote himself into a corner here, what with establishing so strongly that Alcatraz did not want to continue the series post-sacrifice. (Who can blame the kid? I still maintain that Al needs extensive therapy.) As much as did indeed enjoy Bastille’s tone, there was just something…missing without Al. I would have loved to have seen (and, to be totally honest, expected) a split narrative between Bastille and Alcatraz, with Bastille describing the actual events and Alcatraz peppering the narrative with his iconic asides. But who am I to critique the ending of a series that first released in 2007? Would /I/ have done any better? *glances nervously at the manuscript that has been “in progress” since circa 2013*
All in all, as much as it hurts me to say it, this was a disappointing mid-tier installment of one of my favorite series. If this had been Book 3 instead of Book 6, I would definitely have enjoyed it more. If The Dark Talent hadn’t been so solidly on my list of Best Reads of 2023, I would have enjoyed it more. Honestly, if I had /read/ the book instead of listening to it, I probably would have enjoyed it more. As it stands, I find myself wanting more, while at the same time wanting less.
*goes to re-read The Rithmatist to soothe my disappointment*
Did I love this book? No.
Did I hate this book? Also no.
Did I like this book? It’s complicated.
THE PROS:
- People talked about their feelings and tears were shed. I can nominate this book for the Let Men Cry Awards 2023 with a clear conscience.
- Honestly, Bastille could have been a jerk here, but she wasn’t—without sacrificing any of the Bastille Rage™️ or snark. Instead, she convinced Al that he wasn’t a coward, which is wonderful and a refreshing acknowledgment of everything poor Alcatraz had to go through in the course of this series but also was a bit rushed??
- The kiss. That is all.
- The kitten army. It took up just enough space to be funny and then was over. Excellent restraint, excellent humor.
- The callback to Alcatraz attempting to break gravity back in book 2. Love that for him that he succeeded.
- The illustrations. Have I actually /seen/ the illustrations since I elected to listen to the audiobook instead of reading it? Technically no, but Haley Lazo is an actual genius and that is a hill I /will/ die on, thank you very much.
THE CONS:
- Not a fault of the actual writing, but a part of my reading experience nevertheless: the audiobook narrator was too peppy during the opening of the book and that really irked me. Overall she gave a nice performance, but there wasn’t the necessary gravitas to…you know. Discovering Alcatraz and Attica post-sacrifice. All the grief stuff. Some of the dramatic moments.
- The timeline, specifically concerning when Alcatraz wrote the previous volumes of his autobiography. I don’t know if I just missed something, but the previous books seemed to imply that Bastille and Al were already married while he was in the process of writing them, but the epilogue to this one sets their wedding as taking place /after/ Al has already finished book 5. Though I love a good romantic ending (did I do a little fist-pump at work when they kissed? Absolutely), it left me feeling puzzled and a bit disappointed.
- The Deus Ex Gak-ina. The Gak was fun to a point—who am I to critique a good pun woven inextricably into the narrative?— but then, much as the introduction to book 5, it reached a point where it stopped being funny.
- Shasta, or, rather, the lack thereof. Personally, I would have loved a little less Gak and a little more Shasta. She felt like she kind of disappeared? And with all the attention given to her (and Attica’s) view of the world + Alcatraz, I expected a little more than a brief conversation at the end. Where was her grief? The emotionally charged conversations between her and Al? The showdown with Biblioden that could have wrapped up the series instead of the aforementioned Deus ex Gak-ina? Idk, for one of the OG side characters, she just felt like an afterthought in this installment.
- Biblioden. He was so threatening, so ominous, so powerful. And then he was eaten. RIP Diff.
- The lack of literary jokes. Maybe it’s the English major in me, but one of the highlights of the series for me were all the literary allusions and side notes. In this volume, all we got was one (admittedly hilarious) tangent about James Joyce’s Ulysses (which, as someone who has also yet to read Ulysses but has heard So Much about it, tickled my fancy quite considerably. Though I wish it hadn’t taken place at such a series moment).
- The lack of Alcatraz. Okay, I get that Mr. Sanderson sort of wrote himself into a corner here, what with establishing so strongly that Alcatraz did not want to continue the series post-sacrifice. (Who can blame the kid? I still maintain that Al needs extensive therapy.) As much as did indeed enjoy Bastille’s tone, there was just something…missing without Al. I would have loved to have seen (and, to be totally honest, expected) a split narrative between Bastille and Alcatraz, with Bastille describing the actual events and Alcatraz peppering the narrative with his iconic asides. But who am I to critique the ending of a series that first released in 2007? Would /I/ have done any better? *glances nervously at the manuscript that has been “in progress” since circa 2013*
All in all, as much as it hurts me to say it, this was a disappointing mid-tier installment of one of my favorite series. If this had been Book 3 instead of Book 6, I would definitely have enjoyed it more. If The Dark Talent hadn’t been so solidly on my list of Best Reads of 2023, I would have enjoyed it more. Honestly, if I had /read/ the book instead of listening to it, I probably would have enjoyed it more. As it stands, I find myself wanting more, while at the same time wanting less.
*goes to re-read The Rithmatist to soothe my disappointment*
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Great way to end up a great series - to bring in another perspective of a different character.
adventurous
funny