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ineslts's review against another edition
5.0
Once again, the pages run out before you get a chance to realise there isn't more book to read. Which is one of the greatest magic tricks in storytelling!
Fortunately, I have the next book at the ready. Cliffhangers are no way to end books, they give book lovers heart attacks!! Or they should come with a warning "before you embark on this part of the journey, purchase the next book" or something!
With that said... Well... Here I go.
Fortunately, I have the next book at the ready. Cliffhangers are no way to end books, they give book lovers heart attacks!! Or they should come with a warning "before you embark on this part of the journey, purchase the next book" or something!
With that said... Well... Here I go.
yeliahkim's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
ah_bee's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
bookfrog508's review against another edition
3.5
I love every minute I get to spend with the peculiars!
This book sort of almost felt like a filler book between the ongoing action and plot twists of the previous books. I think the next book is going to be awesome
UMMMMMM WHAT THE HECK…Jacob and Emma are over?????
This book sort of almost felt like a filler book between the ongoing action and plot twists of the previous books. I think the next book is going to be awesome
maddy707's review against another edition
1.0
Pros
- This books takes a turn into more mystical elements with a prophecy as opposed to what I thought this trilogy was going to be about, which was Jacob continuing Abe's legacy. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it. It's probably one of the more thought out elements of this series. That being said, it's still incredibly goofy. I would've preferred an adventure story about finding V. (Even though the twist at the end with V was cheap)
- Jacob as a character is SIGNIFICANTLY LESS insufferable than he was in the previous book. Thank bird.
Cons
- My biggest issue with this book is how Jacob completely disregards his previous feelings for Emma. Although I was not a fan of their romance, Jacob basically ignored his relationship to Emma in this book. Going as far to say "in my experience holding hands with a girl has never been special." as if he wasn't head over heels in love with Emma just a few days ago. I don't mind that Jacob is with Noor now, that relationship, although fast developing, felt more natural/real then Jacob and Emma did. However, I don't appreciate that Riggs has completely thrown away a fairly major part of Jacob. It's like he got to this book, realised he made a mistake putting Emma and Jacob, and instead of fixing it in a logical way, he basically tried to erase it. As if to say "just forget I ever wrote this." It annoyed me to no end. Especially considering this could've given Jacob, and Emma room to grow as characters. But no, it's just written off. It's jarring.
- As whole, this series feels unrefined. Although interesting in concept, Riggs has too much within the story. Too many characters and potential plot lines that leave a lot of this book, and the series overall feeling unrefined. The plot tries to go in a million directions, instead of focusing on one coherent point, which leaves the story telling and writing feeling like a mess. I often found myself going, "wait what?" at multiple points throughout the last 2 books as more useless characters were introduced and plot lines led nowhere. In the end, it leaves the book feeling as if nothing has happened at all. Riggs needs to seriously cut down on the characters he introduces. This book alone had at least 10+ new characters. All of which only stuck around for a chapter or so. By introducing a bunch of characters all the time it leads to none of the main characters getting any development. The time Riggs spends introducing characters could've been used to give dimension to already existing ones. At this point, entire characters have been forgotten. Like Bentham's assistant Kim, Bentham's Grim bear, the conjoined blind twins etc. LILY. WHY DIDN'T NOOR CHECK ON HER? WHY DIDN'T MILLARD ASK ABOUT HER? Ugh.
- An example of a potential plot point that was resolved basically instantly was the Panloopticon going down. It was resolved in like 10 pages. What was the point of it even happening? It added no tension and had no effect on the plot. It was a waste of words.
- "He let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding" omfg what in the 2012 fan fic is that line.
I was originally going to give this book 2 stars, but the more I thought about it, the more I disliked it. 1 star.
- This books takes a turn into more mystical elements with a prophecy as opposed to what I thought this trilogy was going to be about, which was Jacob continuing Abe's legacy. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it. It's probably one of the more thought out elements of this series. That being said, it's still incredibly goofy. I would've preferred an adventure story about finding V. (Even though the twist at the end with V was cheap)
- Jacob as a character is SIGNIFICANTLY LESS insufferable than he was in the previous book. Thank bird.
Cons
- My biggest issue with this book is how Jacob completely disregards his previous feelings for Emma. Although I was not a fan of their romance, Jacob basically ignored his relationship to Emma in this book. Going as far to say "in my experience holding hands with a girl has never been special." as if he wasn't head over heels in love with Emma just a few days ago. I don't mind that Jacob is with Noor now, that relationship, although fast developing, felt more natural/real then Jacob and Emma did. However, I don't appreciate that Riggs has completely thrown away a fairly major part of Jacob. It's like he got to this book, realised he made a mistake putting Emma and Jacob, and instead of fixing it in a logical way, he basically tried to erase it. As if to say "just forget I ever wrote this." It annoyed me to no end. Especially considering this could've given Jacob, and Emma room to grow as characters. But no, it's just written off. It's jarring.
- As whole, this series feels unrefined. Although interesting in concept, Riggs has too much within the story. Too many characters and potential plot lines that leave a lot of this book, and the series overall feeling unrefined. The plot tries to go in a million directions, instead of focusing on one coherent point, which leaves the story telling and writing feeling like a mess. I often found myself going, "wait what?" at multiple points throughout the last 2 books as more useless characters were introduced and plot lines led nowhere. In the end, it leaves the book feeling as if nothing has happened at all. Riggs needs to seriously cut down on the characters he introduces. This book alone had at least 10+ new characters. All of which only stuck around for a chapter or so. By introducing a bunch of characters all the time it leads to none of the main characters getting any development. The time Riggs spends introducing characters could've been used to give dimension to already existing ones. At this point, entire characters have been forgotten. Like Bentham's assistant Kim, Bentham's Grim bear, the conjoined blind twins etc. LILY. WHY DIDN'T NOOR CHECK ON HER? WHY DIDN'T MILLARD ASK ABOUT HER? Ugh.
- An example of a potential plot point that was resolved basically instantly was the Panloopticon going down. It was resolved in like 10 pages. What was the point of it even happening? It added no tension and had no effect on the plot. It was a waste of words.
- "He let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding" omfg what in the 2012 fan fic is that line.
I was originally going to give this book 2 stars, but the more I thought about it, the more I disliked it. 1 star.
tenshiwing07's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- 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
Of the books, this one might be my lesser well loved. It was a bit predictable and the villain was especially predictable here.
Still love these books though.
Still love these books though.
theglossreview's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars! For me, the fifth volume is the highest rated in the series so far and the only one I genuinely like. Thank heavens it’s short. A main problem with the fourth volume was that it was 480 PAGES long—which is not the problem, but the fact that most of those plages were filled with filler. In contrast, nothing in “The Conference of the Birds” feels like filler. It was super fast-pasted and had me turning the pages so fast that I finished it in less than 24 hours. I definitely want to read volume 6 now—I just hope it’s at least as good as this one. The only issues with The Conference of the Birds are:
1. The gore
2. They didn’t do Emma justice. She has a few lines of text dedicated to her. Pardon me? She was the second-biggest character in The Library of Souls. It is incongruent to write a book series in which the same character is relegated from “The Female Lead” to a barely visible side character in the space of less than two volumes. It makes it feel like “The Jacob Show” and everyone else, even the titular Peculiar Children, only get as much attention as Jacob deigns to give them. It feels like his whims are in charge of the story, instead of the actual narrator: The author. It’s like Jacob said: “ehhh we broke up and I’m uncomfortable thinking about it” so Emma is just out of the story now?! Worse than that, Jacob SHOWCASES his New Romantic Interest right in front of her nose. Literally, she is described as sitting in the back seat behind the two of them.
Indeed, it’s so much “The Jacob Show” that I was afraid the whole volume might be just about Noor and him running off together (like it looked at the end of A Map of Days). He is so very disloyal.
My predictions for the sixth volume:
- A big battle against the bad guy
- Finding the other 6 powerful peculiars from the Prophecy of Seven (copied from Rick Riordan? They even have the same task to do)
- I’d bet Jacob (or another peculiar we already know) is also one of the 7, but my money is on Jacob
- I have my doubts where the interpretation that the 7 will save the world from hell is correct. There should be a twist in which it is revealed that the 7 will free peculiars by destroying / intimidating the normal world. That’s how I saw it immediately when the first sentence was revealed in A Map of Days
- Sharon will have HIS MOMENT (he seemed to the planning something with his political movement since A Map of Days, so I expect BIG TIME DRAMA to make good on all the little hints)
- Emma should come back as a main character, not a side character (but I doubt the conventions of story-telling can beat Jacob’s teenage brain)
- I hope the little peculiars will have time to shine (unfortunately Claire and Olive just had a few, very “typical” lines in this story)
- wishing for some more interesting, mysterious vintage photos than in this book. They were few and far between. Also, they looked quite normal. There was nothing very peculiar about most of the photos. I hope the sixth volume will have images that make you go like: WOW HOW DID THEY TAKE THIS ONE?
- Last prediction: I hope all of the peculiar abilities and ymbryne abilities will be used in the finale. Give us a big show!
1. The gore
2. They didn’t do Emma justice. She has a few lines of text dedicated to her. Pardon me? She was the second-biggest character in The Library of Souls. It is incongruent to write a book series in which the same character is relegated from “The Female Lead” to a barely visible side character in the space of less than two volumes. It makes it feel like “The Jacob Show” and everyone else, even the titular Peculiar Children, only get as much attention as Jacob deigns to give them. It feels like his whims are in charge of the story, instead of the actual narrator: The author. It’s like Jacob said: “ehhh we broke up and I’m uncomfortable thinking about it” so Emma is just out of the story now?! Worse than that, Jacob SHOWCASES his New Romantic Interest right in front of her nose. Literally, she is described as sitting in the back seat behind the two of them.
Indeed, it’s so much “The Jacob Show” that I was afraid the whole volume might be just about Noor and him running off together (like it looked at the end of A Map of Days). He is so very disloyal.
My predictions for the sixth volume:
- A big battle against the bad guy
- Finding the other 6 powerful peculiars from the Prophecy of Seven (copied from Rick Riordan? They even have the same task to do)
- I’d bet Jacob (or another peculiar we already know) is also one of the 7, but my money is on Jacob
- I have my doubts where the interpretation that the 7 will save the world from hell is correct. There should be a twist in which it is revealed that the 7 will free peculiars by destroying / intimidating the normal world. That’s how I saw it immediately when the first sentence was revealed in A Map of Days
- Sharon will have HIS MOMENT (he seemed to the planning something with his political movement since A Map of Days, so I expect BIG TIME DRAMA to make good on all the little hints)
- Emma should come back as a main character, not a side character (but I doubt the conventions of story-telling can beat Jacob’s teenage brain)
- I hope the little peculiars will have time to shine (unfortunately Claire and Olive just had a few, very “typical” lines in this story)
- wishing for some more interesting, mysterious vintage photos than in this book. They were few and far between. Also, they looked quite normal. There was nothing very peculiar about most of the photos. I hope the sixth volume will have images that make you go like: WOW HOW DID THEY TAKE THIS ONE?
- Last prediction: I hope all of the peculiar abilities and ymbryne abilities will be used in the finale. Give us a big show!
windupcat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
tense
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? No
3.5
the_pink_pharmacist's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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? No
3.5