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pauline_pr's review
4.0
I enjoyed Maker's Curse but not as much as the first two books in the series. In my opinion the series would have worked as a trilogy as well since the last two books failed to fill me with the same kind of enjoyment as the first two. I also felt like the plot could have definitely been shortened as well.
In Maker's Curse Rielle continues to restore world's while Tyen attempts to deal with the growing number of war machines that destroy whole worlds. This threat unites many of the characters we've already met in the books before.
The main adversary, Kettin, was severely lacking for me, since her true motivations weren't known to our main characters during the course of the book. And when Rielle found out about them, it seemed like she was just evil? That just lacked depth for me.
I also felt like the whole reveal of the Maker's Curse fell short for me. It was mentioned so many times over the series that the actual thing kind of felt underwhelming for me also in the quickness in which all the issues were resolved. For me too much of the focus of the book was on building the plot and in the end, too less on the resolution.
All of that being said, I always enjoy Trudi Canavan's style of writing and since I liked it better than the third book, it's a four-star-read for me.
In Maker's Curse Rielle continues to restore world's while Tyen attempts to deal with the growing number of war machines that destroy whole worlds. This threat unites many of the characters we've already met in the books before.
The main adversary, Kettin, was severely lacking for me, since her true motivations weren't known to our main characters during the course of the book. And when Rielle found out about them, it seemed like she was just evil? That just lacked depth for me.
I also felt like the whole reveal of the Maker's Curse fell short for me. It was mentioned so many times over the series that the actual thing kind of felt underwhelming for me also in the quickness in which all the issues were resolved. For me too much of the focus of the book was on building the plot and in the end, too less on the resolution.
All of that being said, I always enjoy Trudi Canavan's style of writing and since I liked it better than the third book, it's a four-star-read for me.
miss_escapist's review against another edition
3.0
I'm kinda sorry to say this but I've been expecting a little bit more from Maker's Curse. While I really enjoyed reading the series, this last book felt a bit "meh" in comparison. It’s not exactly bad or anything and I didn’t have any trouble finishing it (thanks to Trudi Canavan’s writing style) but most of the plot felt rather flat and rushed to me.
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I’m warning you, spoilers ahead!
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So far, I’ve always liked this universe for its characters and for the fact that there always were multiple sides to a person. So why Valhan for example posed a threat, he wasn’t just “flat evil”. With this book, that drastically changed. Valhan gone, Dahli tamed…let’s create a new villain. This villain, Kettin, however, just felt ridiculous and unauthentic to me. We barely get to know the her motives and background apart from just appearing out of nowhere, being incredibly powerful and evil and killing off millions of people, threatening to destroy the worlds. Her disappearance is just as abrupt and somehow very underwhelming. I also felt kinda disappointed, when Vella didn’t receive a proper ending…while she never was the main character, I felt like she deserved more than “disappearing” into a library at the end of the book – not even getting a last chat with Tyen or anything. We’ve been working towards a bit more during the last three books, haven’t we? On a more positive note: all in all, I still enjoyed most of the character development going on, especially those of the side characters and Tyen returning to his own world and changing it plus the Academy for “the better” definitely felt rather rewarding.
.
.
.
I’m warning you, spoilers ahead!
.
.
.
So far, I’ve always liked this universe for its characters and for the fact that there always were multiple sides to a person. So why Valhan for example posed a threat, he wasn’t just “flat evil”. With this book, that drastically changed. Valhan gone, Dahli tamed…let’s create a new villain. This villain, Kettin, however, just felt ridiculous and unauthentic to me. We barely get to know the her motives and background apart from just appearing out of nowhere, being incredibly powerful and evil and killing off millions of people, threatening to destroy the worlds. Her disappearance is just as abrupt and somehow very underwhelming. I also felt kinda disappointed, when Vella didn’t receive a proper ending…while she never was the main character, I felt like she deserved more than “disappearing” into a library at the end of the book – not even getting a last chat with Tyen or anything. We’ve been working towards a bit more during the last three books, haven’t we? On a more positive note: all in all, I still enjoyed most of the character development going on, especially those of the side characters and Tyen returning to his own world and changing it plus the Academy for “the better” definitely felt rather rewarding.
jukaschar's review
4.0
Very good conclusion of the series. The tension drops towards the end, this could have been more satisfactory. Nevertheless, in my opinion this is the best series Trudi Canavan has written so far.
johnboscoreads's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.5
julesrules_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
slow-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? No
3.75
mikaela89's review
adventurous
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? Yes
4.5
t_jenkins's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.5
izzyschnizzy's review
adventurous
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? No
3.0
nightshade_novels's review against another edition
5.0
Trudi Canavan is one of my favourite authors so I had high hopes for the conclusion of this series and it didn't disappoint.
This book did a good job of tying up loose ends and answering all the questions the series had set up. Although the actual ending almost felt too small or easy or something, it was still a satisfying conclusion.
It was nice to see things that were introduced in the first book coming back to be important at the end of the story too.
I really enjoyed this book and the series as a whole. I look forward to seeing what else Canavan produces in the future.
This book did a good job of tying up loose ends and answering all the questions the series had set up. Although the actual ending almost felt too small or easy or something, it was still a satisfying conclusion.
Spoiler
I feel like we didn't really get to know Kittern very well, or what her actual goal was, other than to get rid of magic. I think the reason the conclusion felt a bit fast was that it all went to plan, there were no last minute twists or anything.It was nice to see things that were introduced in the first book coming back to be important at the end of the story too.
Spoiler
It was nice to return to both Rielle and Tyen's worlds. I loved that what helped defeat the machines in the end was a version of Tyen's beetle which he made in the first book.I really enjoyed this book and the series as a whole. I look forward to seeing what else Canavan produces in the future.
bl0ndekitten's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a good book at tying up the loose ends but the storytelling was a bit more disjointed than in the previous books of this series. On reflection, it also left a lot of unanswered questions regarding this books antagonist.