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reddyx's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
batkat31's review against another edition
5.0
I was so excited for this sequel and I was not disappointed. Amani continues to be a wonderful main character and while I was concerned I'd grow bored with this story she continued to be badass and smart. I think some of the elements of this story were predictable but not everything was and it definitely felt like the story was moving forward . The romance took a backseat to Amani's personal story and her own deeper understanding of her country, the Sultan, and the rebellion she's fighting for. Certain minor characters both old and new got some great development. Particularly . I'm really bummed that I'll have to wait for the next one as I'm excited to see where the story goes from here.
Spoiler
once she got kidnapped and her powers got mutedSpoiler
even with Amani separated from the rest of the rebellion for most of itSpoiler
her cousin who I was bored and annoyed with in the first book, but who turned into a really interesting characterjullkz's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
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
4.75
coffeepensandpaper's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
everything I enjoyed about the first book is missing here.
The only consistency is Amani's flakey character. Her motivations are so unclear. Since book one I had the feeling she i only joined the rebellion because she is so starved for a family rather than her believes, so I wasn't too surprised that she seem be swayed by every nice thing someone did.
I was also disappointed that the book seem to tease that there isn't clean good and evil and that the rebellion isn't as righteous as it seems to be (apparently that was also how the book was advertised, but I didn't read the blurb), only to be let down by a generic plot twist at the end.
The only consistency is Amani's flakey character. Her motivations are so unclear. Since book one I had the feeling she i only joined the rebellion because she is so starved for a family rather than her believes, so I wasn't too surprised that she seem be swayed by every nice thing someone did.
I was also disappointed that the book seem to tease that there isn't clean good and evil and that the rebellion isn't as righteous as it seems to be (apparently that was also how the book was advertised, but I didn't read the blurb), only to be let down by a generic plot twist at the end.
biancas_library's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I was so excited for the sequel because I really liked the premise of the first book and was excited to see where the story went next. The blurb promised me a compelling second book where our main character finds out that the rebellion is not what it seems like and the sultan isn't as bad as he's made out to be. However, this plot twist never came and I was left waiting for it to come and for the story to get interesting. So maybe blame my disappointment on false advertising.
Aside from that, though, the story was just plain up boring. First of all, I was thoroughly confused by the time jump and thought I accidentally picked up the third book at first. But no, the time jump was on purpose. To me, this was not the smartest decision. I was left wanting for more - I did not like that we were told about everything that had happened instead of it being shown to us. I also didn't like that suddenly, Jin and Amani weren't the happy couple we last saw them as but instead everything was messed up. Again, I would've preferred to see that happen on page instead of just being told that they had issues and hadn't seen each other for quite some time.
But instead of staying with the rebellion and focusing on that, Amani is captured by the Sultan and we follow her life in the palace. For some reason, all her acquaintances from her home town (which by the way, is always described as being as far away as possible so it makes even less sense that they all turn up) magically turn up in the palace and help our main character. If it had happened once, I would've let it slide, but it happened too many times to be believable. Spending most of the book in the palace meant, that we barely got to see the rebellion and its workings and we barely got to see Jin.
Also, Amani felt like a completely different character to me and a washed-down version of her badass persona from the first book. Maybe, if we had followed her time in the rebellion in the five-month-time-jump, her change in behavior would've been understandable.
While I really liked the idea of stories within stories that the author tried to weave, this sequel couldn't hold up to the first book and I won't be continuing with the last.
Aside from that, though, the story was just plain up boring. First of all, I was thoroughly confused by the time jump and thought I accidentally picked up the third book at first. But no, the time jump was on purpose. To me, this was not the smartest decision. I was left wanting for more - I did not like that we were told about everything that had happened instead of it being shown to us. I also didn't like that suddenly, Jin and Amani weren't the happy couple we last saw them as but instead everything was messed up. Again, I would've preferred to see that happen on page instead of just being told that they had issues and hadn't seen each other for quite some time.
But instead of staying with the rebellion and focusing on that, Amani is captured by the Sultan and we follow her life in the palace. For some reason, all her acquaintances from her home town (which by the way, is always described as being as far away as possible so it makes even less sense that they all turn up) magically turn up in the palace and help our main character. If it had happened once, I would've let it slide, but it happened too many times to be believable. Spending most of the book in the palace meant, that we barely got to see the rebellion and its workings and we barely got to see Jin.
Also, Amani felt like a completely different character to me and a washed-down version of her badass persona from the first book. Maybe, if we had followed her time in the rebellion in the five-month-time-jump, her change in behavior would've been understandable.
While I really liked the idea of stories within stories that the author tried to weave, this sequel couldn't hold up to the first book and I won't be continuing with the last.
sunny_r's review against another edition
5.0
AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, I have no words to explain my love for this series
owlishly_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
5.0