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mj_86's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and War
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual content
kotashomelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Murder, Blood, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Miscarriage
rosesofthespring's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book kind of broke my heart. I, stupidly, let myself get my hopes up. The majority of this novel is good. I mean - actually good. Way better than I ever thought it would be. I let myself pretend that Lightlark 1 was all a dream, and I was having myself a good, self-indulgent time.
Isla's back and she's all grown up. Or, at least, she's aware of the severity of her arrested development and she's grappling with some real unchecked PTSD. She's unraveling the ways she's been used and abused by the people who were supposed to be protecting her, but she doesn't have much time to hide away and heal her own trauma. Her people are starving, an entire second realm is suddenly depending on her, and war is coming to Lightlark.
For most of the book, the writing is compelling, the pacing is immaculate, and the characters are given time to develop and shine. There are many new and returning women who get the opportunity to be complex and interesting. Even Cleo gets a chance to be sympathetic, something that was staunchly denied her in the first novel.
Everything was going so well that for a single, shining moment, I even let myself believe that maybe the guy who is a walking red flag would turn out to be less than amazing. Maybe, I thought in my foolish mind, maybe Alex Aster will be bold enough to say that the man who is nice to Isla but cruel to everyone else is not nice. Maybe the man whose first resort is always violence, who brags about the thousands of people he's killed, who is willing to kill thousands more without bothering to attempt diplomacy... will end up being slightly less than desirable.
Like I said. I was stupid.
90% of this book threatens to be incredible. The last 10% returns the story to perfect, complacent YA predictability. Then there's the cliffhanger. Remember that pacing I complimented? Yeah, that's destroyed as well.
I don't know if I'll read the third one. Reading a bad book is one thing. Reading a book that gets my hopes up and then feeds them into a trash compactor while I'm forced to watch is quite another.
Isla's back and she's all grown up. Or, at least, she's aware of the severity of her arrested development and she's grappling with some real unchecked PTSD. She's unraveling the ways she's been used and abused by the people who were supposed to be protecting her, but she doesn't have much time to hide away and heal her own trauma. Her people are starving, an entire second realm is suddenly depending on her, and war is coming to Lightlark.
For most of the book, the writing is compelling, the pacing is immaculate, and the characters are given time to develop and shine. There are many new and returning women who get the opportunity to be complex and interesting. Even Cleo gets a chance to be sympathetic, something that was staunchly denied her in the first novel.
Everything was going so well that for a single, shining moment, I even let myself believe that maybe the guy who is a walking red flag would turn out to be less than amazing. Maybe, I thought in my foolish mind, maybe Alex Aster will be bold enough to say that the man who is nice to Isla but cruel to everyone else is not nice. Maybe the man whose first resort is always violence, who brags about the thousands of people he's killed, who is willing to kill thousands more without bothering to attempt diplomacy... will end up being slightly less than desirable.
Like I said. I was stupid.
90% of this book threatens to be incredible. The last 10% returns the story to perfect, complacent YA predictability. Then there's the cliffhanger. Remember that pacing I complimented? Yeah, that's destroyed as well.
I don't know if I'll read the third one. Reading a bad book is one thing. Reading a book that gets my hopes up and then feeds them into a trash compactor while I'm forced to watch is quite another.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Child abuse
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Slavery, Drug abuse, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts
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