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claudiamacpherson's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
3.0
Rielle is separated from Audric and Ludivine, and embraces her status as Blood Queen. A thousand years in the future, Eliana has been captured by Corien and brought to his city, where she is trapped and tortured. Scattered across the world, her friends must come together in a final attempt to save the world.
Honestly, this book was a bit tough to get through. I still enjoyed it and the story kept me engaged enough, but it was pretty depressing and had more violence than I really wanted to read.The ending was...unexpected for me, which may be silly because it was essentially what they had been planning the whole time, with the whole traveling-back-in-time-to-change-Rielle's-mind plan. Somehow I still thought they were going to find a way to save everyone's lives in the "present" (Eliana's time period). I know that Corien and the Empire were really bad for a thousand years, but erasing all of those lives (including half of the characters we, as readers, have come to love!) felt wrong too. Though it was sad, I thought Rielle's ending was also fitting—a normal happy ending would feel forced and unrealistic after the extreme upheavals of her life. It reminded me both of Enna Burning, and how the elements almost overwhelm and kill Enna and Isi, and also how in The Lord of the Rings Frodo is too scarred after carrying the ring to have a happy ending. I did appreciate how the threads of the two stories came together, with both Ludivine and Zahra showing up in both times, as well as the scene with Simon at the end.
Happy ending meter (no spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):I guess it's happy? Sort of? But not really? This is a tough one.
Honestly, this book was a bit tough to get through. I still enjoyed it and the story kept me engaged enough, but it was pretty depressing and had more violence than I really wanted to read.
Happy ending meter (no spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Vomit
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