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bobbeym's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
princessleopard's review
3.0
Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
This novel was a grievous disappointment. I was genuinely so stoked to see it appear in my ARC service, as I really enjoyed the first installment. I even re-read the first one in preparation for this one. Unfortunately, this one has all of the first book's faults with none of its charm.
This book unfortunately makes it very clear that the author does not have a clear vision for the progression of the series. This book carries over very little of importance from the first book, and sets up very little to move forward, aside from an awkwardly placed reveal at the very end. The plot is basically the same set-up as the first - evil fae doin' bad things in the town - and has exactly the same problem. Rachel is too underpowered to do anything of consequence. She has to rely on stronger beings to swoop in and save her every time she gets into trouble - and she gets into trouble a /lot/ because she has no common sense. It's not clear where the story could go from here, aside from more gimmicky Fae-of-the-week shenanigans. There's very vague set-up in the background, but it's poorly done. We're told Orion is waging war with his brother, Nova, but we don't really know why, what he plans to do if he wins, who is fighting on his side (or why they would choose him over his brother), etc.
The thing is, this would be so much easier to do properly. There's already set-up for various magical items that were stolen in the past and being used by evil fae. Rachel /almost/ gets an alliance with one of these items in the Night Weaver. If she had succeeded, she would be that much stronger for the second book. The second book could continue the trend, with her reclaiming and potentially taming another item to strengthen herself in some way - rinse and repeat as we progress towards whoever the actual villain is. It's easy escalation, and it lets Rachel actually keep up instead of just having to be saved all the time.
The pacing is horrendously choppy, just like the first book. The first book sort of had an excuse, in that every chunk was setting up a new side character, but this one does not. There is an unfathomably long stretch in this relatively short novel where Rachel is just wandering around in the Fae realms. Nothing of importance happens. She doesn't meet anyone, she doesn't see anything interesting, she doesn't make any discoveries, she just walks and gets thirsty. Then, when she finally reaches her destination, we don't get a heartwarming moment with the most prominent love interest in the story - he just leaves, and there's a grisly war scene that kills hundreds of faceless people we know nothing about. It wasn't worth the slog of her journey at /all./
The best characters from the first book are either missing from most of the story, or behaving weirdly. Dougal is barely in it because he's taking care of his sick grandma (who was one of the best characters in the first book, but I'm not sure she even has any coherent lines in this one). One of the love interests from the first book, who was a sweet, intelligent guy, is warped into a creepy stalker via Fae magic in this one. Orion, the most prominent of our love interests, is a jerk in their reunion, and then tries to go right back into their old banter. There just wasn't the same chemistry between them in this one, and I'm not really sure why.
Add in the last-minute reveal at the end and Rachel's over-the-top reaction to it, and this book was just overall very lackluster and disappointing. There's just not a lot that fans of the first installment will enjoy, and the new material isn't interesting enough to compel me into reading. I might pick up the ARC of the next book, whenever it comes out, but I probably will not spend money to continue reading the series.
This novel was a grievous disappointment. I was genuinely so stoked to see it appear in my ARC service, as I really enjoyed the first installment. I even re-read the first one in preparation for this one. Unfortunately, this one has all of the first book's faults with none of its charm.
This book unfortunately makes it very clear that the author does not have a clear vision for the progression of the series. This book carries over very little of importance from the first book, and sets up very little to move forward, aside from an awkwardly placed reveal at the very end. The plot is basically the same set-up as the first - evil fae doin' bad things in the town - and has exactly the same problem. Rachel is too underpowered to do anything of consequence. She has to rely on stronger beings to swoop in and save her every time she gets into trouble - and she gets into trouble a /lot/ because she has no common sense. It's not clear where the story could go from here, aside from more gimmicky Fae-of-the-week shenanigans. There's very vague set-up in the background, but it's poorly done. We're told Orion is waging war with his brother, Nova, but we don't really know why, what he plans to do if he wins, who is fighting on his side (or why they would choose him over his brother), etc.
The thing is, this would be so much easier to do properly. There's already set-up for various magical items that were stolen in the past and being used by evil fae. Rachel /almost/ gets an alliance with one of these items in the Night Weaver. If she had succeeded, she would be that much stronger for the second book. The second book could continue the trend, with her reclaiming and potentially taming another item to strengthen herself in some way - rinse and repeat as we progress towards whoever the actual villain is. It's easy escalation, and it lets Rachel actually keep up instead of just having to be saved all the time.
The pacing is horrendously choppy, just like the first book. The first book sort of had an excuse, in that every chunk was setting up a new side character, but this one does not. There is an unfathomably long stretch in this relatively short novel where Rachel is just wandering around in the Fae realms. Nothing of importance happens. She doesn't meet anyone, she doesn't see anything interesting, she doesn't make any discoveries, she just walks and gets thirsty. Then, when she finally reaches her destination, we don't get a heartwarming moment with the most prominent love interest in the story - he just leaves, and there's a grisly war scene that kills hundreds of faceless people we know nothing about. It wasn't worth the slog of her journey at /all./
The best characters from the first book are either missing from most of the story, or behaving weirdly. Dougal is barely in it because he's taking care of his sick grandma (who was one of the best characters in the first book, but I'm not sure she even has any coherent lines in this one). One of the love interests from the first book, who was a sweet, intelligent guy, is warped into a creepy stalker via Fae magic in this one. Orion, the most prominent of our love interests, is a jerk in their reunion, and then tries to go right back into their old banter. There just wasn't the same chemistry between them in this one, and I'm not really sure why.
Add in the last-minute reveal at the end and Rachel's over-the-top reaction to it, and this book was just overall very lackluster and disappointing. There's just not a lot that fans of the first installment will enjoy, and the new material isn't interesting enough to compel me into reading. I might pick up the ARC of the next book, whenever it comes out, but I probably will not spend money to continue reading the series.
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