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nclcaitlin's review
2.5
No one is more gutted than me… :((
Zélie believed she had won. She seized the royal palace. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Yet now, Zélie and her fellow comrades are locked in cages and trapped on a foreign ship. The Skull King wants her and her magic.
This felt like an entirely new book rather than a finale to a series. It discounted all the conflict of the first two books to concentrate on uniting against a foreign power.
Whilst this felt almost like a cheat out of the building plot from the first two books, I did like seeing more incredibly vivid worldbuilding as our characters ventured further from their kingdom.
I do appreciate that the romance never overtook the main plot as tends to happen in YA series. There was actually a nice twist which I thought enjoyed and think other readers will too!
“I teach you to be warriors in the garden so you will never be gardeners in the war.”
This was extremely fast paced and oddly short for what I was expecting. Yet it meant I flew through it, and I think this will appeal to transitioning readers.
However, the sudden change of purpose of the series and shortness did mean that certain arcs felt incomplete and certain characters were just never brought up which was a shame. Cough cough, Roën.
Moreover, the ending was extremely abrupt and left me feeling extremely dissatisfied.
All in all, I am crushingly disappointed. Book one was one of my favourite releases, but the series struggled to continue this momentum.
If you enjoyed this series, I would recommend The Gilded Ones!
Thank you to MacMillan for providing an archive of in exchange for a review!
Zélie believed she had won. She seized the royal palace. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Yet now, Zélie and her fellow comrades are locked in cages and trapped on a foreign ship. The Skull King wants her and her magic.
This felt like an entirely new book rather than a finale to a series. It discounted all the conflict of the first two books to concentrate on uniting against a foreign power.
Whilst this felt almost like a cheat out of the building plot from the first two books, I did like seeing more incredibly vivid worldbuilding as our characters ventured further from their kingdom.
I do appreciate that the romance never overtook the main plot as tends to happen in YA series. There was actually a nice twist which I thought enjoyed and think other readers will too!
“I teach you to be warriors in the garden so you will never be gardeners in the war.”
This was extremely fast paced and oddly short for what I was expecting. Yet it meant I flew through it, and I think this will appeal to transitioning readers.
However, the sudden change of purpose of the series and shortness did mean that certain arcs felt incomplete and certain characters were just never brought up which was a shame. Cough cough, Roën.
Moreover, the ending was extremely abrupt and left me feeling extremely dissatisfied.
All in all, I am crushingly disappointed. Book one was one of my favourite releases, but the series struggled to continue this momentum.
If you enjoyed this series, I would recommend The Gilded Ones!
Thank you to MacMillan for providing an archive of in exchange for a review!
writeronherway's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
hann_smc's review against another edition
Netgalley Sampler eARC only supplied the first 5 chapters. Will finish upon full ARC being attained / book being released.
booksandbreadcrumbs's review
1.0
Oh boy. This book was bad, but Amari's gay thoughts were finally recognized and acted on so I guess that's a small win.
This trilogy is quite possibly one of the most frustrating ones I've ever read. Every book feels so disjointed from the others, and it's so weird and sad because I think the first one is pretty universally acknowledged as the best one, with the rest going downhill from there. There were just way too many new things, plots, worldbuilding, and characters introduced in this finale to the trilogy. Pretty much nothing felt like it logically connected to what was set up in previous books, and as I write this, I'm realizing that certain characters just completely vanished from the story here? Very very bizarre. If you liked the first book in this trilogy, I'd recommend skipping the rest and saving the souring of that first book, unfortunately.
This trilogy is quite possibly one of the most frustrating ones I've ever read. Every book feels so disjointed from the others, and it's so weird and sad because I think the first one is pretty universally acknowledged as the best one, with the rest going downhill from there. There were just way too many new things, plots, worldbuilding, and characters introduced in this finale to the trilogy. Pretty much nothing felt like it logically connected to what was set up in previous books, and as I write this, I'm realizing that certain characters just completely vanished from the story here? Very very bizarre. If you liked the first book in this trilogy, I'd recommend skipping the rest and saving the souring of that first book, unfortunately.
miriam2's review
adventurous
informative
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
4.0
maddielloyd's review
adventurous
dark
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
3.0
I’m so sad. I was so so stoked for this finale. Easily one of my most anticipated.
But it did not deliver.
Zelie’s magic completely changed. There was a brand new enemy all of a sudden. And we needed brand new allies to defeat these new enemies. All these new elements felt ill introduced.
The maji were no longer the centre of this story. They did not get the true redemption that was owed to them at all. Which could be on purpose in the light of the story Tomi is really telling. But it left so much unresolved.
The end battle was extremely underwhelming. And very rushed. Two short chapters from the end we didn’t have a wrap up of anything. Epilogue wasn’t even a real ending.
There are characters I never got closure for. Not once did I figure out what happened to Roen. Amari got a new romance after everything we were building prior to this. It felt like so much got left behind in the years we’ve waited for this story.
This story was still incredible. But not the story we’ve been building to at all.
But it did not deliver.
Zelie’s magic completely changed. There was a brand new enemy all of a sudden. And we needed brand new allies to defeat these new enemies. All these new elements felt ill introduced.
The maji were no longer the centre of this story. They did not get the true redemption that was owed to them at all. Which could be on purpose in the light of the story Tomi is really telling. But it left so much unresolved.
The end battle was extremely underwhelming. And very rushed. Two short chapters from the end we didn’t have a wrap up of anything. Epilogue wasn’t even a real ending.
There are characters I never got closure for. Not once did I figure out what happened to Roen. Amari got a new romance after everything we were building prior to this. It felt like so much got left behind in the years we’ve waited for this story.
This story was still incredible. But not the story we’ve been building to at all.
sophiamckinleyy's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
mkdjoum's review
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
4.0
“But we do not weep for those we have lost, we do not weep for the horrors we have faced. We weep because we are warriors. We weep because, against all odds, we have prevailed.”
What an amazing conclusion to the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy. Compare to the second book, I found this one a lot less chaotic (in terms of story flow). While a lot happened, it all was connected well; I never felt confused by all that was going on.
I marked this review as having spoilers because of the quote, but I won’t go into too much detail since this doesn’t come out until June. All I’ll say is that I cried a lot and was very tense through the entire reading.
What an amazing conclusion to the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy. Compare to the second book, I found this one a lot less chaotic (in terms of story flow). While a lot happened, it all was connected well; I never felt confused by all that was going on.
I marked this review as having spoilers because of the quote, but I won’t go into too much detail since this doesn’t come out until June. All I’ll say is that I cried a lot and was very tense through the entire reading.
bookishbexx's review
5.0
i think that i will die if this book is not released soon
edit: we finally have a title ive been waiting almost three years
edit: we finally have a title ive been waiting almost three years