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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Ugh, I just cannot get into this. DNF-ing it. Maybe I'll pick it up another time. I have no idea.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
Um, I liked the ending. And the hollows were explored further more; that was interesting.
“Strange, I thought, how you can be living your dreams and your nightmares at the very same time.”
A wonderful sequel. This book was so action-packed and kept me on my toes the entire time. The ending was a real plot-twist that I didn't see coming (it makes me wonder why I waited so long to read the rest of this series). I liked getting to meet more Peculiars (Peculiar animals!) and I can't wait to see where the rest of the series goes.
A wonderful sequel. This book was so action-packed and kept me on my toes the entire time. The ending was a real plot-twist that I didn't see coming (it makes me wonder why I waited so long to read the rest of this series). I liked getting to meet more Peculiars (Peculiar animals!) and I can't wait to see where the rest of the series goes.
Really enjoyed this book. I had to read a summary for the first book because I didn't quite know what happend at the end but after reading it and starting this book, it got really easy to get back into the story.
It was a good sequal .. can't wait to read the thrid
It was a good sequal .. can't wait to read the thrid
This was much better than the first book, it is full of twists and turns and "What?!".
2.5 stars maybe?? Oooh boy I still don't know why I didn't DNF this.
I read and loved the first book maybe 4 or 5 years ago? I remember feeling like it was so original and amazig, and I still feel like the first book is good and different from a lot of other YA fantasy. The thing is, the second book in the series did not benefit from the wow factor of discovering a new world, and beyond that I don't feel like there was a lot I loved there?
Certainly, it is action-packed and something is always happening, but during most of the book, it's a variation of the same plot point again and again. The children are on the run/searching for someone and then they meet either a bad guy or a new peculiar and repeat until infinity.
It wouldn't have been a problem at all with me if I cared about the characters. Plot is super secondary to characters to me, and unfortunately they all felt bland and one-dimensional. Enoch is mean, Bronwyn is motherly, Olive is sweet/naïve/childish, Emma is brave and a leader, Horace is an elegant coward, Millard is an invisible nerd. Jacob isn't much more interesting? Especially by the end where he contradicts himself a lot and his decisions didn't make sense at all anymore.
I was also super annoyed that whenever they met new people the new characters were either left behind a few scenes later or barely developped enough/only mentionned when they could help further the plot.
Jacob & Emma's relationship felt weird and superficial, and if you want to make me root for two heterosexual white abled teens (where one of them dated the grandpa of the other!!!), you're going to have to work for it and it just... wasn't there. So all the dramatic moments and decision that were supposed to be poignant or impactful fell super flat for me.
It also had more issues than just flat characters and an abundance of uninteresting heterosexuality. Toward the beginning of the book, there's an encounter with Romani people and even though I'm white and am not an expert I'm pretty sure it was super racist. Like, the Romani people depicted as violent, threatening children with knives, putting them in a dirty cage?? They get redeemed pretty quickly but that's still absolutely not okay.
Also there is ableism pretty regularly, either as a joke or the use of "crazy" or equivalent thrown around in a super uncomfortable way.
Another issue I had was that there were several instances of adult men either flirting with Emma who looks 15/16 or straight up touching her everywhere/trying to kiss her, and most of these felt extremely unnecessary and weird, even coming from villain. Like you don't need graphic sexual harassment/assault (don't know what the technical term is in English I can only be precise on this in French but whatever) to make your point that your villains are bad, we got it before when they killed and kidnapped and stabbed.
It wasn't a terrible read, but I just didn't care that much about it at all and mostly I was bored and everything felt flat and not super interesting. There were plot twists but I wasn't even that interested in them. It's okay, the series lost my interest over the years, it makes sense, my taste changed. But, yeah, won't be continuing the series, might even unhaul the books (though they are beautiful objects, not gonna lie, which is one of the best thing about them in general!)
I read and loved the first book maybe 4 or 5 years ago? I remember feeling like it was so original and amazig, and I still feel like the first book is good and different from a lot of other YA fantasy. The thing is, the second book in the series did not benefit from the wow factor of discovering a new world, and beyond that I don't feel like there was a lot I loved there?
Certainly, it is action-packed and something is always happening, but during most of the book, it's a variation of the same plot point again and again. The children are on the run/searching for someone and then they meet either a bad guy or a new peculiar and repeat until infinity.
It wouldn't have been a problem at all with me if I cared about the characters. Plot is super secondary to characters to me, and unfortunately they all felt bland and one-dimensional. Enoch is mean, Bronwyn is motherly, Olive is sweet/naïve/childish, Emma is brave and a leader, Horace is an elegant coward, Millard is an invisible nerd. Jacob isn't much more interesting? Especially by the end where he contradicts himself a lot and his decisions didn't make sense at all anymore.
I was also super annoyed that whenever they met new people the new characters were either left behind a few scenes later or barely developped enough/only mentionned when they could help further the plot.
Jacob & Emma's relationship felt weird and superficial, and if you want to make me root for two heterosexual white abled teens (where one of them dated the grandpa of the other!!!), you're going to have to work for it and it just... wasn't there. So all the dramatic moments and decision that were supposed to be poignant or impactful fell super flat for me.
It also had more issues than just flat characters and an abundance of uninteresting heterosexuality. Toward the beginning of the book, there's an encounter with Romani people and even though I'm white and am not an expert I'm pretty sure it was super racist. Like, the Romani people depicted as violent, threatening children with knives, putting them in a dirty cage?? They get redeemed pretty quickly but that's still absolutely not okay.
Also there is ableism pretty regularly, either as a joke or the use of "crazy" or equivalent thrown around in a super uncomfortable way.
Another issue I had was that there were several instances of adult men either flirting with Emma who looks 15/16 or straight up touching her everywhere/trying to kiss her, and most of these felt extremely unnecessary and weird, even coming from villain. Like you don't need graphic sexual harassment/assault (don't know what the technical term is in English I can only be precise on this in French but whatever) to make your point that your villains are bad, we got it before when they killed and kidnapped and stabbed.
It wasn't a terrible read, but I just didn't care that much about it at all and mostly I was bored and everything felt flat and not super interesting. There were plot twists but I wasn't even that interested in them. It's okay, the series lost my interest over the years, it makes sense, my taste changed. But, yeah, won't be continuing the series, might even unhaul the books (though they are beautiful objects, not gonna lie, which is one of the best thing about them in general!)
thought this was another mid read until i realized this book covered their journey out of cairnholm and everything they’ve gone through along the way. i was wrong, the 1st book *was* meant to set the tone for the rest of the series. without the peculiarities to be introduced, this book focused on the adventure and the thrills that came with it. something about kids navigating through war-torn london… can’t even blame their stupid choices on them bc they’re too young for everything they’re going through. i wish the whole thing was adapted into a better series. this would’ve been gold. anyway, i was ‘what the fuck’-ing my way through the last 100 pages. brilliant shit!
Another amazing instalment in the series! I swear, this story just does something to me like none other. Every time I'm not reading it, I want to be reading it, and when it's over I just want to get onto the next book! The characters, as in the first one, were fantastic, as were the plot twists which I did not see coming at all, and I really loved the character development in the peculiar children's backstories. I also liked the fact that this book highlighted some characters who were mostly in the background in the first book. All in all, I don't really think that I have any faults with this book, so I'll give it the full 5/5 stars and I cannot wait until I can buy the final book in the trilogy, which will hopefully be very soon!