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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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:
Yes
WTF
Spoiler
Almost chose one of my five-stars to review but there were too many to choose from so I’m stuck with this. It isn’t going to be the best hating on a book I’ve done because I can’t remember a lot of the important plot details but I remember the main things that made me angry so I still have things to say. Here we go.(Shoutout to my cookie: this one’s for you)
Ok first off I loved the first book. It featured an interesting world with that classic Sanderson world building (metal powers were cool and explained very skillfully) and it also had good characters and class dynamics. It was basically a heist movie dressed up in fantasy sci-fi with an evil overlord- I mean, they gather a team, have to learn their location inside and out, and are trying to take an important object. Nice! Like to see it! Also, Kelsier was extremely interesting and his death (oops) was a perfect twist and made perfect sense, and made sense as a leader of a rebellion. Vin was a great character who was not annoying (Hm!) with a backstory that believably caused trust issues and had good character traits and felt like a teenager at the same time. The other characters were nice too. Elend was likeable and the romance between him and Vin was a nice subplot (Hm!) that sweetened an otherwise suspenseful book.
Ok. That was probably too much exposition. But it’s needed to describe what an utter failure this one was. Why is Vin so annoying and filled with woe is me 24/7? Why is Sazed so frustrating- like yes, honey, I’m sorry but no you cannot believe in every single religion at one time? Why, oh why, did Elend have to have one of the most brutal, self-aware character assassinations I’ve ever seen? Why does Zane exist and can I please punch his face? Could Vin please not blow someone’s head up-punch it and squish it like a grape- and then be all betrayed and like “oh he thinks I’m a monster!” When Elend has a reasonably horrified reaction?
Having the city be besieged by everybody at once is interesting I guess. Nice. Didn’t like the blue monster things though because the whole skin thing creeped me out. Guess I’m not hardcore or something.
Anyways why is Vin so annoying in this? Her only concern is that she has super powerful powers and that no one ‘gets’ her. She thinks for the longest time that Elend and her don’t work anymore because they can’t understand each other, when what brought them together in the first book was the fact that they both cared about kindness and goodness and bonded over that despite their backgrounds. And then she meets Zane and they fight because he’s a villain, and he’s clearly evil, but she’s like oh maybe I should choose him over Elend cause he understandddds me and he has powers. Yes, a relationship with an (literally, there is an entity thing talking to him in his head) insane violent man is so much more preferable. This drama takes up so many pages and then it is suddenly resolved with a snap of the fingers…and Vin and Elend just randomly get married before they leave town? Huh? Their relationship is just magically fixed the rest of the book…
Elend. Poor Elend. Yes, I know it was trying to make the point that people who say “oh, I don’t want to be king” make good kings cause they are more righteous, blah blah, but sacrificing Elend’s personality is a steep price. Yea, Elend was a coward and needed a backbone, but he’s still allowed to be a charming quirky little introvert idealist who just wants to read all day. The lady who tutored him was interesting as a character but I hated their lessons so, so much. And then at the end, in a plot twist I HATE, Elend gets powers at some random place they find. This decision took away the last interesting dynamic in Elend and Vin’s relationship. They were forbidden lovers with a class difference, and complimented each other because one was mistborn and one was not. The whole POINT is that Vin encourages Elend to be more courageous, and Elend keeps Vin from losing her humanity. So… if they both have powers… how is that gonna work? RIP Elend, because at this point you are not the same character.
Sazed’s relationship with the lady whose name started with the T was good, and then she died. And then Sazed’s reaction was to finally realize that he can’t believe in every religion at once. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t take that seriously. This is made out to be a huge revelation and I just think no crap, buddy. Those religions CONTRADICT EACH OTHER. Otherwise her death was sad.
There are many smaller details about this book I did not like, but I can’t remember them, thankfully for my cookie who has to read this. As a final note, the best part was her relationship with the Kandra (think that’s what they’re called?). Really great stuff, good bonding, only non-frustrating relationship Vin had the whole book. The kandra became more than an unthinking bone jelly thing, and it was nice.
Alright. Goodnight. I made this way too long.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lost points for what happened to the dog.
First book is better, but still good (slower especially in the middle)
But there are some really good twist/reveals in there.
Spoilers / rant:
-I WAS SO MAD WHEN SHE KILLED THE DOG
-I really didn't like the implications that Vin and Kelsir had anything romantic in the first book, they literally had a father daughter relationship. Ig its purpose was just to make Elend deal with insecurities but still ew.
- Also not a fan that when Vin killed all the generals in Stafs army and just conveniently left behind the one decent general by chance
- wtf Marsh
- Sazed should have just read the carvings on the spot 😭 ik he doesn't have a photographic memory but should have stayed longer
- Tensoon is a good boy
- idk how I feel about Elend being a mistborn now but I'm glad he's not dead
First book is better, but still good (slower especially in the middle)
But there are some really good twist/reveals in there.
Spoilers / rant:
-I WAS SO MAD WHEN SHE KILLED THE DOG
-I really didn't like the implications that Vin and Kelsir had anything romantic in the first book, they literally had a father daughter relationship. Ig its purpose was just to make Elend deal with insecurities but still ew.
- Also not a fan that when Vin killed all the generals in Stafs army and just conveniently left behind the one decent general by chance
- wtf Marsh
- Sazed should have just read the carvings on the spot 😭 ik he doesn't have a photographic memory but should have stayed longer
- Tensoon is a good boy
- idk how I feel about Elend being a mistborn now but I'm glad he's not dead