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itsme_hi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rlou's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
skampa's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
foraging_pages's review against another edition
4.0
All of my life people had chosen for me. My father or the king of Sounis, his magus, or the king's other advi-sors. All my life they had made choices for me, and I had resented it. Now the choice was mine, and once it was made, I would have no right to blame anyone else for the consequences. Loss of that privilege, to blame others, unexpectedly stung.
This time we get to know Sophos better! We first meet him in The Thief and come to know him as the kindhearted, shy heir to Sounis. Now he’s trying to embody Eugenides as he makes his way to safety after being kidnapped!
When Sophos and Gen meet again after having not seen each other since book one, they ask questions and catch up from that point. The author doesn’t gloss over the time gone by like others might do. I appreciate that.
While the story was perfectly entertaining, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous books. It seemed to be a repeat of The King of Atollia but with Sophos as the protagonist rather than Eugenides. He’s thrust in a new position, it’s difficult, he falls down, he falls in fall, he gets back up, he triumphs. I have the same issues with this “romance” as I did with the previous one - it doesn’t exist. I’m being too harsh but the author puts it on the back burner then just assumes the readers will accept it as true love because that’s what she and the characters say it is.
This time we get to know Sophos better! We first meet him in The Thief and come to know him as the kindhearted, shy heir to Sounis. Now he’s trying to embody Eugenides as he makes his way to safety after being kidnapped!
When Sophos and Gen meet again after having not seen each other since book one, they ask questions and catch up from that point. The author doesn’t gloss over the time gone by like others might do. I appreciate that.
While the story was perfectly entertaining, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous books. It seemed to be a repeat of The King of Atollia but with Sophos as the protagonist rather than Eugenides. He’s thrust in a new position, it’s difficult, he falls down, he falls in fall, he gets back up, he triumphs. I have the same issues with this “romance” as I did with the previous one - it doesn’t exist. I’m being too harsh but the author puts it on the back burner then just assumes the readers will accept it as true love because that’s what she and the characters say it is.
angel_koyfish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
vendea's review against another edition
5.0
Things Megan Whalen Turner is really good at:
- writing a mixed-perspective book. Both first and third person narratives were written well and the transitions between them were flawless - easy to tell what was going on and not as disorienting as you would expect.
- writing a romance. Period. But even better once you consider that the love interests aren't together for most of the book. She writes compelling romances with virtually no physical interaction between the characters and not only is that amazing, it's refreshing compared to books that Must Show the Characters Being Sappy otherwise they're not in love....
- making the awful things mean something. This goes for previous events in the series too, but people getting thrown in jail has an impact on those characters and on the characters around them. It's not just suffering for the sake of suffering.
- writing a mixed-perspective book. Both first and third person narratives were written well and the transitions between them were flawless - easy to tell what was going on and not as disorienting as you would expect.
- writing a romance. Period. But even better once you consider that the love interests aren't together for most of the book. She writes compelling romances with virtually no physical interaction between the characters and not only is that amazing, it's refreshing compared to books that Must Show the Characters Being Sappy otherwise they're not in love....
- making the awful things mean something. This goes for previous events in the series too, but people getting thrown in jail has an impact on those characters and on the characters around them. It's not just suffering for the sake of suffering.
sallyavena's review against another edition
4.0
Again, I felt this book was kind of lacking in plot for the first 3/4 and then everything happens at once in the last 1/4. And again, you are left wondering what you missed and how it all happened because it all happened so fast. I really like the books and the political intrigue, just wish the author would spend more time on the things that drive the plot at the end.