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hedihenderika's review
5.0
This was just as good or even better than the first one! What an interesting story, amazing characters and worlds. I love the way sexuality is portrayed and the view the people of both worlds have on it. No hate, no prejudice, just understanding. Also the way the characters are portrayed, the female characters are strong without the need to tell you they are badass or can do this and that. They are just strong in their own power, their willpower, their emotions and spirit. It was so refreshing to read about characters that show you instead of telling you without showing you how strong they are. Also the “villains”, they had so much more to them than just being bad. They had their own journey and history. Very refreshing! A beautiful story about greed, love, friendship, forgiveness, hope and the discovery of one’s self. Surely this book isn’t perfect and some things that i would have seen more fleshed out or different... but i would definitely recommend reading this duology!
As for the negative reviews of the first book, i feel that a-lot of points people weren’t a fan of were explained in this conclusion. The cerulean do have more than only lesbianism, there are more people like Sera that are heterosexual, but there are people who are asexual or pansexual ect. Because the planet hasn’t moved in more than 900 years and they were forbidden to travel to the planet, the cerulean don’t know how things used to be. I can see why the ltbq+ community is disappointed in this story because the main character turned out to be straight when she came from a lesbian community. As for the racism I didn’t see any in the way of “the pure with people” aka the ceruleans and that the people of Kaolin and Pelago as the bad poc humans. The cerulean are an alien species coming to this world to learn from it and it’s inhabitants. The cerulean were just as flawed as the people of the planet. I feel like everyone should judge for them selfs and read the book if they want. I someone doesn’t like it that is fine, but please if you feel like you would be interested in reading this duology go in with an open mind and ignore the negative reviews.
As for the negative reviews of the first book, i feel that a-lot of points people weren’t a fan of were explained in this conclusion. The cerulean do have more than only lesbianism, there are more people like Sera that are heterosexual, but there are people who are asexual or pansexual ect. Because the planet hasn’t moved in more than 900 years and they were forbidden to travel to the planet, the cerulean don’t know how things used to be. I can see why the ltbq+ community is disappointed in this story because the main character turned out to be straight when she came from a lesbian community. As for the racism I didn’t see any in the way of “the pure with people” aka the ceruleans and that the people of Kaolin and Pelago as the bad poc humans. The cerulean are an alien species coming to this world to learn from it and it’s inhabitants. The cerulean were just as flawed as the people of the planet. I feel like everyone should judge for them selfs and read the book if they want. I someone doesn’t like it that is fine, but please if you feel like you would be interested in reading this duology go in with an open mind and ignore the negative reviews.
diana_dea's review
4.0
I loved this conclusion to the duology! The Alcazar did a good job at elaborating on what The Cerulean set up. I really liked the characters and the development they showed as the ventured farther out of the lives they're accustomed to. I sometimes got a bit bored by Leela's chapter, not because I didn't care about her character or what was happening in the city in the sky, but just because I was used to the switching of perspectives in the parts with the other characters' chapters. So I would have preferred if Leela's chapter had just been mixed in with the others as well.
My favourite part about this duology is that it shows different kinds of societies in its world building and they don't all work the same concerning norms or power structures. There's Kaolin, which is most like our society, with a patriarchal structure and one single ruler. Then there's Pelago, which embraces its diversity more (without necessarily being a perfect country, the power struggles show that there's definitely other issues) and leans more on matriarchal structures, with three queens ruling over it that make decisions among them by majority vote. And then we have Sera's city in the sky, that consists only of women, that usually enter marriages of three and are ruled by a high priestess chosen by the deified sun. And it's really interesting to see these different variations on society - that challenge the assumptions we are used to and are not just copies of our own world - and how they interact when faced with each other. Could the world building have been elaborated on in some points? Yes, definitely! But we got enough so that I could fall in love with this concept.
Slight spoilers: There are a lot of negative reviews for the first book complaining that Sera is straight when we're promised a society of lesbians. But I don't really get the problem? We're explicitly told in this book that she is not the only straight one, that there are other straight Cerulean, as well as asexual and aromantic and pansexual and bisexual ones etc. They just don't really use labels for this and it hasn't really been known in the recent generations because they didn't visit the planet and therefore didn't even meet any men, and the high priestess has been suppressing the Cerulean's unique identities. So how is this different from our world, where the statistical majority is straight, but there are other identities that are just as valid but, as we all know, often suppressed and not talked about? It's only that the norm here isn't heterosexuality. (And there's still plenty of queer characters, so it's not like we were robbed of the representation.)
My favourite part about this duology is that it shows different kinds of societies in its world building and they don't all work the same concerning norms or power structures. There's Kaolin, which is most like our society, with a patriarchal structure and one single ruler. Then there's Pelago, which embraces its diversity more (without necessarily being a perfect country, the power struggles show that there's definitely other issues) and leans more on matriarchal structures, with three queens ruling over it that make decisions among them by majority vote. And then we have Sera's city in the sky, that consists only of women, that usually enter marriages of three and are ruled by a high priestess chosen by the deified sun. And it's really interesting to see these different variations on society - that challenge the assumptions we are used to and are not just copies of our own world - and how they interact when faced with each other. Could the world building have been elaborated on in some points? Yes, definitely! But we got enough so that I could fall in love with this concept.
Slight spoilers: There are a lot of negative reviews for the first book complaining that Sera is straight when we're promised a society of lesbians. But I don't really get the problem? We're explicitly told in this book that she is not the only straight one, that there are other straight Cerulean, as well as asexual and aromantic and pansexual and bisexual ones etc. They just don't really use labels for this and it hasn't really been known in the recent generations because they didn't visit the planet and therefore didn't even meet any men, and the high priestess has been suppressing the Cerulean's unique identities. So how is this different from our world, where the statistical majority is straight, but there are other identities that are just as valid but, as we all know, often suppressed and not talked about? It's only that the norm here isn't heterosexuality. (And there's still plenty of queer characters, so it's not like we were robbed of the representation.)
shadesofpaper's review against another edition
4.0
Lange habe ich überlegt, ob ich den zweiten Teil der „Kristallblau“-Dilogie wirklich lesen möchte. Da ich so meine Probleme mit dem Auftakt hatte, war ich zwar ein wenig hin und hergerissen, bin aber letzten Endes sehr froh, den zweiten Band doch zur Hand genommen zu haben!
Die Ereignisse setzen genau da an, wo der erste Band schon geendet hatte. Amy Ewing lässt nicht viel Zeit verstreichen, um neu in die Welt und die Charaktere einzuführen, sondern es geht direkt spannend weiter. Der ein oder andere mag es gut finden, wenn es nochmal eine kleine Zusammenfassung des vorigen Bands gibt. Bei mir hat die Erinnerung jedoch noch ausgereicht, um mich in der Story zurecht zu finden.
Viele Ereignisse führen dieses mal in eine ganz andere Richtung, als ich es aufgrund des ersten Bandes erwartet hätte, was mir sehr gefallen hat. Es wurde kein ganz so großer Fokus mehr auf die Machenschaften von Agnes und Leos Vater gelegt und stattdessen mehr das „große Ganze“ betrachtet. Gefallen haben mir auch die Entwicklungen der Charaktere. Agnes und Leo sind zwar noch immer nicht wirklich meine liebsten Protagonisten aller Zeiten (waren mir einfach zu blass), dafür fand ich besonders spannend, wie sich Leela gemacht hat. Generell die Ereignisse und Enthüllungen in der Stadt über dem Himmel fand ich super interessant und spannend. Wieder einmal haben mich diese Abschnitte mehr begeistern können als jene auf dem Planeten.
Mit dem Ende bin ich persönlich nicht ganz zufrieden. Nicht, weil es nicht zur Geschichte passen würde, sondern einfach, weil ich an Seras Stelle anders entschieden hätte. Hier kann ich jetzt allerdings nicht weiter ins Detail gehen, da dies zu sehr spoilern würde.
Mitgefiebert habe ich auf jeden Fall und da durch den zweiten Band die Geschichte der Cerulean nocheinmal so richtig rund geworden ist, bin ich wirklich froh, mich doch zum Lesen entschieden zu haben. Ich werde die Augen nach weiteren Büchern von Amy Ewing offen halten.
Die Ereignisse setzen genau da an, wo der erste Band schon geendet hatte. Amy Ewing lässt nicht viel Zeit verstreichen, um neu in die Welt und die Charaktere einzuführen, sondern es geht direkt spannend weiter. Der ein oder andere mag es gut finden, wenn es nochmal eine kleine Zusammenfassung des vorigen Bands gibt. Bei mir hat die Erinnerung jedoch noch ausgereicht, um mich in der Story zurecht zu finden.
Viele Ereignisse führen dieses mal in eine ganz andere Richtung, als ich es aufgrund des ersten Bandes erwartet hätte, was mir sehr gefallen hat. Es wurde kein ganz so großer Fokus mehr auf die Machenschaften von Agnes und Leos Vater gelegt und stattdessen mehr das „große Ganze“ betrachtet. Gefallen haben mir auch die Entwicklungen der Charaktere. Agnes und Leo sind zwar noch immer nicht wirklich meine liebsten Protagonisten aller Zeiten (waren mir einfach zu blass), dafür fand ich besonders spannend, wie sich Leela gemacht hat. Generell die Ereignisse und Enthüllungen in der Stadt über dem Himmel fand ich super interessant und spannend. Wieder einmal haben mich diese Abschnitte mehr begeistern können als jene auf dem Planeten.
Mit dem Ende bin ich persönlich nicht ganz zufrieden. Nicht, weil es nicht zur Geschichte passen würde, sondern einfach, weil ich an Seras Stelle anders entschieden hätte. Hier kann ich jetzt allerdings nicht weiter ins Detail gehen, da dies zu sehr spoilern würde.
Mitgefiebert habe ich auf jeden Fall und da durch den zweiten Band die Geschichte der Cerulean nocheinmal so richtig rund geworden ist, bin ich wirklich froh, mich doch zum Lesen entschieden zu haben. Ich werde die Augen nach weiteren Büchern von Amy Ewing offen halten.
sp_hensley's review against another edition
4.0
I read the first book before it was officially released, so I had to wait two years before The Alcazar was published, but it was definitely worth the wait. I love how they expanded on Leela's characters, and I'm glad that Elorin wouldn't betray Leela like I thought she would. I'm sort of sad that Sera won't be able to see her mothers again, but overall the book wrapped up nicely.
I rated this 4/5, because the plot felt a little rushed, but I loved the rest of the story.
I rated this 4/5, because the plot felt a little rushed, but I loved the rest of the story.
laurenhollkamp's review
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
bani's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
namo's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
callielabelle's review
4.0
Overall: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plotline: 3.5/5
Enjoyment Factor: 4.5/5
Review: This story is so unique and I really enjoy the character dynamics and the way the villains are written is very fun and created a lot of interesting questions throughout the books.
Characters: 4/5
Plotline: 3.5/5
Enjoyment Factor: 4.5/5
Review: This story is so unique and I really enjoy the character dynamics and the way the villains are written is very fun and created a lot of interesting questions throughout the books.
khisle's review
2.0
I gave this duology a chance but I had major issues with the writing that kept me from ever getting into it. For one, these books are so long and have a lot of issues with pacing that means for way too many page nothing happens. I think this fantasy world also suffered from having too many ideas and then to fit everything in the characters and focus were diminished. In the beginning there wasn't enough plot to really be plot driven so it wandered around for half the book before introducing the main events. But the characters are so one dimensional that it isn't a character driven book either. They fall into stereotypes of fantasy characters and to me are unremarkable other than that/ you have the loyal best friend, underestimated smart girl, privileged boy finally experiencing the world, and clueless chosen one. They're rotating POVs were confusing and too often too me out of the story going so quickly form one to the other. The main plot lines ended up being too scattered and again too much like troupes I've read before. Neither world stood out to me and the end was highly predictable. I also felt the queer representation was poorly done. Another very specific pet peeve was the main character's Moana tendency way overdone, saying "I am Cerulean. My blood is magic and you won't take it from me" over and over and OVER again. Definitely not the fantasy duology for me. This mix of fantasy/sci-fi about finding your home just fell flat for me.
meglynw's review
4.0
A fantastic conclusion to The Cerulean. It was a nice winding story, that brings the reader to new places in the imaginative world. Truly, the world building in this duology is wonderful and creative. I am very happy with the ending, too.