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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Let’s drop all premise of an organized, coherent review and start rambling in bullet points, shall we? Okay, great. Here goes:
- First off, the romance. Now, usually in a book, I know how I feel about the main couple: I love them, don’t care, too angsty, adorable, etc. This is the first book where I’ve been completely at a loss where my feelings regarding the couple are concerned.
-The twists! Eugenides’ life takes a pretty dramatic turn at the beginning of the story, which heavily influences the rest of the book, which makes this review pretty difficult to write without spilling anything. I suppose I should be more *cough* handy with words. At least you can’t say I’m being heavy-handed.
- The plot. It felt a little laggy at times, but as with the first book, the rewards are worth it if you just stick with it.
- My most favorite quote contains a spoiler, so alas, I cannot share it. Don’t worry, though, it’s not anything super profound, just something that made me laugh.
- I did like Eugenides a lot more in here than in the first book. It felt like there was more depth to him.
- Basically, the main thing I didn’t like in here was, once again, the language. *sighs* More in here than in The Thief, I’m afraid.
- After some... unsavory actions in the beginning, Attolia is given a backstory, so she becomes more human, which later becomes vitally important to the story and our enjoyment of it. Still, not entirely sure how to feel about her.
- I got about a third of the way through when I finally realized (yes, I know, it’s shameful) wait a second... Attolia is the queen of Attolia, Eddis is the queen of Eddis, and Sounis is the king of Sounis. Whaaat? So yeah, that was a neat bit of world building that I really liked.
All in all, a solid three star read.
- First off, the romance. Now, usually in a book, I know how I feel about the main couple: I love them, don’t care, too angsty, adorable, etc. This is the first book where I’ve been completely at a loss where my feelings regarding the couple are concerned.
-The twists! Eugenides’ life takes a pretty dramatic turn at the beginning of the story, which heavily influences the rest of the book, which makes this review pretty difficult to write without spilling anything. I suppose I should be more *cough* handy with words. At least you can’t say I’m being heavy-handed.
- The plot. It felt a little laggy at times, but as with the first book, the rewards are worth it if you just stick with it.
- My most favorite quote contains a spoiler, so alas, I cannot share it. Don’t worry, though, it’s not anything super profound, just something that made me laugh.
- I did like Eugenides a lot more in here than in the first book. It felt like there was more depth to him.
- Basically, the main thing I didn’t like in here was, once again, the language. *sighs* More in here than in The Thief, I’m afraid.
- After some... unsavory actions in the beginning, Attolia is given a backstory, so she becomes more human, which later becomes vitally important to the story and our enjoyment of it. Still, not entirely sure how to feel about her.
- I got about a third of the way through when I finally realized (yes, I know, it’s shameful) wait a second... Attolia is the queen of Attolia, Eddis is the queen of Eddis, and Sounis is the king of Sounis. Whaaat? So yeah, that was a neat bit of world building that I really liked.
All in all, a solid three star read.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A great pace for a book and loved the unreliable narrator aspect of this book. SO different from the first one!
The sign of a good second in a series novel— the fact that I want to read the next one! Even when I know there are going to be plot twists— somehow they still surprise me! Great book— on the shelves in my room now.
From scanning the other reviews, I seem to be one of very few people who preferred [b:The Thief|448873|The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1)|Megan Whalen Turner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1427740839s/448873.jpg|1069505] to this book. I went into this with high expectations, because I'd heard really good things about this book, particularly how much better it was than the first. Maybe the reviewers who compared this book to [b:Finnikin of the Rock|4932435|Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles, #1)|Melina Marchetta|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346007613s/4932435.jpg|4998084] should have clued me in, as I loathed Froi and could barely finish the book it made me so mad. This book didn't make me angry like that, and I didn't mind the political/military maneuvers as much as I know others did. (The plot did drag in places, I'll admit.) I read this book in one day, not because I couldn't put it down, but rather I knew if I did put it down, I wouldn't pick it back up. (Because I'd start thinking about and it would just make me mad.)