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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
Two days ago I thought "Why don't I come back to this series for the first time?" (I haven't read past #3) and then an hour ago I exclaimed "NO!" out loud when I realised my library has a waiting list on the third book..... happy for you MWT but I'm furious!
I've tried to read so many books about politicking since I read this ten years ago and nothing has really ever done it as cleanly or held my interest so well. The expanse of the story and war, built on little pockets of family and love and duty. Just intensely good. I feel like I've been seeking for something similar ever since!
Also I remember loving Attolia and Eddis (total tangent, but I think these are the best fake kingdom names I've ever encountered) but this time Gen was... the love of my life. I love him, mom. And the romance is SO good. The little tells we get as to the scope and depth of feeling made me so giddy, especially because they're both also SO damn stubborn and clear-headed and blunt.
Anyway!! Maybe it's time to buy physical copies!!!!
I've tried to read so many books about politicking since I read this ten years ago and nothing has really ever done it as cleanly or held my interest so well. The expanse of the story and war, built on little pockets of family and love and duty. Just intensely good. I feel like I've been seeking for something similar ever since!
Also I remember loving Attolia and Eddis (total tangent, but I think these are the best fake kingdom names I've ever encountered) but this time Gen was... the love of my life. I love him, mom. And the romance is SO good. The little tells we get as to the scope and depth of feeling made me so giddy, especially because they're both also SO damn stubborn and clear-headed and blunt.
Anyway!! Maybe it's time to buy physical copies!!!!
4.5 stars! I love how the author keeps things from the reader to perform some twists!
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
honestly i think the middle part of this book is a little flawed, the narration glosses over months at a time describing acts of war in a fairly remote and detached way which isn’t always the most consistently engaging thing. however i do love the political machinations (shades of baru cormorant!) and eugenides was particularly spicy in this one, so, 4 stars
adventurous
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
wow! This book was so much better than the first one and I really enjoyed the first one! I love how clever Gen is. He's always thinking 5 steps ahead of everyone else! I cannot wait to pick up book 3! Definitely a must read series!
Definitely quicker paced than the first book, and I loved learning more about the characters. I'm torn between 4 and 5 stars but I went with 4 because I'm a little bugged by how quickly the two characters just *fell in love*. I've been told that gets explained more later, though.
I honestly don't know how Turner did it. I was seconds away from putting this book down and not finishing it because the beginning was so overloaded with political details and moping main characters that I wasn't interested. And then... something changed. About halfway through I suddenly began to care, to wonder what came next for our youthful protagonist. Similar to the Theif, the ending of this book delivered the happenings of this story on a golden platter, allowing me to see the story in a more positive context, giving me the impression that I was reading something much more valuable than I first thought. And while I have a bit of trouble buying into the romance of some of these characters, I MIGHT read the rest of the series one day.
Hmmm.... what just happened? Ha ha... The ending of this book feels like the movie "Ocean's 11", where you are following along the whole time and you feel like you know what's happening. Then it ends and there is this montage flashback explaining all of the hidden elements you didn't see happening. I felt like this book was similar and I am still sitting scratching my head trying to put the pieces together.
I appreciate all of the layers this story has; political backdrop of countries and conflict, personal positions in leadership and nobility, background of religion and gods. And the author intertwines them all together. The "big reveals" are sometimes subtle and contained concisely with just the right amount of words and no more. So if you don't read carefully you might miss parts.
Anyways, I am eager to find someone else who's read this book so I can sit down and ask them all of my unresolved questions. But in the end I enjoyed this book and the cleverness of the author in weaving her story. Going to pick up book 3 and see what happens next.
I appreciate all of the layers this story has; political backdrop of countries and conflict, personal positions in leadership and nobility, background of religion and gods. And the author intertwines them all together. The "big reveals" are sometimes subtle and contained concisely with just the right amount of words and no more. So if you don't read carefully you might miss parts.
Anyways, I am eager to find someone else who's read this book so I can sit down and ask them all of my unresolved questions. But in the end I enjoyed this book and the cleverness of the author in weaving her story. Going to pick up book 3 and see what happens next.