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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-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:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It just wasn't great and felt a bit too unrealistic. I can accept a twist like Lazmet's survival. But like, every other twist is plot armour and thrown in there weirdly. Overpowered oracles who control this whole thing and are giving me random twists, I'm looking at you. Eijeh was kind of creepy but had a great character arc-I loved that but would have preferred less creepiness. But like, The Ogran oracles revelation. Urgh. Yes, I know it was built up to. I still don't like it because it involves literal overpowered oracles. So Cyra's currentgift can't kill Lazmet ecause we pulled her out prematurely but it can stop a literal nuclear bomb. That's an unrealistic twist. Cisi surviving was plot armour-Ast didn't have to stab her somewhere it would take her a literal hour to die and decide not to spend a second stabbing her in the heart. Vakrez switching sides was kind of realistic, but more plot armour on top of the whole switched-as-babies thing. And like, Akos just kills Lazmet in 5 seconds while half starved. And the whole bit where Isae was being blackmailed into war is never resolved. And in terms of human mistakes-One, you gave away the exile colony, come on. Two, Isae, I kind of get why you killed Rysek even if I hate everythig else you do, but lie better unless you want to get blackmailed again into a war-or don't go around killing people to the point where people have to drug you because they're scared of you killing them. Also, the conflict isn't over-a literal war is on the horizon. Nice scene at the end where they forgive each other for everything though. I liked these books, it was just a poor ending.
Enjoyable story, starts of a little slow but from page 150 I was at the end very fast.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.5 stars
98% of the reason I read this book is because I was intrigued by Eijeh's character--the villain, Ryzek, has a currentgift (superpower) that allows him to switch memories with people, and Eijeh is an oracle so he can see the future. In the first book Ryzek switched so many memories that they're basically the same person in two bodies, and Eijeh/Ryzek got a "we" POV in this book. Sadly, this character, definitely the most interesting, only got like 4 chapters, and Ryzek (at least his body) dies in the second chapter, so that takes away from what the author could have explored.
Other than that, the book was okay. Too much kissing and spotlights on characters I didn't care about much, but it did pull me in a little more than the first book did. I didn't care much for Cisi but when she used her power on Ast to make him tell the truth I wanted to stand up and cheer. Also--she's definitely the most dangerous character and the one to watch if there are any future installments. Her crazy powerful currentgift that seems so innocuous at first but is actually incredibly dangerous? The fact that she's the power behind the chancellor? Did NOT see that coming.
A lot of this book explored the themes of fate and personal choice and how much they interact, which was interesting to read about and I liked how the author handled it; there were also some twists that I didn't predict, so points for that. The ending was happy, but also a little vague--Eijeh goes home and has a bunch of visions of the future that seemed like they could just be wrapping up the story, but also could bode ill for the future. I do love that she started and ended the book with a prologue and epilogue from Eijeh's POV (see, I'm only here for him). If the author writes a book that actually focuses on Eijeh/Ryzek and that dynamic, I'll read it, but otherwise I'll pass.
This was supposed to be a short, quick review but somehow I got onto a rant.
98% of the reason I read this book is because I was intrigued by Eijeh's character--the villain, Ryzek, has a currentgift (superpower) that allows him to switch memories with people, and Eijeh is an oracle so he can see the future. In the first book Ryzek switched so many memories that they're basically the same person in two bodies, and Eijeh/Ryzek got a "we" POV in this book. Sadly, this character, definitely the most interesting, only got like 4 chapters, and Ryzek (at least his body) dies in the second chapter, so that takes away from what the author could have explored.
Other than that, the book was okay. Too much kissing and spotlights on characters I didn't care about much, but it did pull me in a little more than the first book did. I didn't care much for Cisi but when she used her power on Ast to make him tell the truth I wanted to stand up and cheer. Also--she's definitely the most dangerous character and the one to watch if there are any future installments. Her crazy powerful currentgift that seems so innocuous at first but is actually incredibly dangerous? The fact that she's the power behind the chancellor? Did NOT see that coming.
A lot of this book explored the themes of fate and personal choice and how much they interact, which was interesting to read about and I liked how the author handled it; there were also some twists that I didn't predict, so points for that. The ending was happy, but also a little vague--Eijeh goes home and has a bunch of visions of the future that seemed like they could just be wrapping up the story, but also could bode ill for the future. I do love that she started and ended the book with a prologue and epilogue from Eijeh's POV (see, I'm only here for him). If the author writes a book that actually focuses on Eijeh/Ryzek and that dynamic, I'll read it, but otherwise I'll pass.
This was supposed to be a short, quick review but somehow I got onto a rant.
Great conclusion to the Carve the Mark duology . I wish I could give both books in the series 4.5 stars.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved this book! It was better than the first one - mostly because I could picture everything the first time reading it and the characters seemed deeper. I also found the plot exciting as I never knew what was going happen next.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Despite my last review being rounded up, this one definitely earned its 5 stars.
Again, one of my favorite things about this book was its’ seamless integration of characters. I LOVED the Cisi and Eijeh chapters - especially Eijeh - and they were written in such a way that it was easy for me to distinguish those characters’ voices from our main protagonists. Even with the first new character chapter, I was immersed totally in their way of thinking.
The HUGE plot twist in the middle of the book had me audibly saying, “what is the point?” and had me returning to a state of frustration that I usually feel in YA books - the plot twist that makes our main characters act uncharacteristically. However, as I kept reading, I realized that my assumption was incorrect; in fact, many of the themes that were found in this book first took light in the first novel (thank goodness I read them back to back).
I absolutely 100% finished this book in 24 hours— I was that hooked. Thank you, Roth, for triggering this hunger to read once more.
Again, one of my favorite things about this book was its’ seamless integration of characters. I LOVED the Cisi and Eijeh chapters - especially Eijeh - and they were written in such a way that it was easy for me to distinguish those characters’ voices from our main protagonists. Even with the first new character chapter, I was immersed totally in their way of thinking.
The HUGE plot twist in the middle of the book had me audibly saying, “what is the point?” and had me returning to a state of frustration that I usually feel in YA books - the plot twist that makes our main characters act uncharacteristically. However, as I kept reading, I realized that my assumption was incorrect; in fact, many of the themes that were found in this book first took light in the first novel (thank goodness I read them back to back).
I absolutely 100% finished this book in 24 hours— I was that hooked. Thank you, Roth, for triggering this hunger to read once more.