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justinekorson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
1. Did... did we just say "fuck it" about all those other characters in the first two stories?? Luc was barely in the novel to begin with AND HE WAS SOMEHOW SUPPOSED TO BE THE PERSON EVANGELINE LOVED FIRST??? I THOUGHT HE'D BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN HE WAS. Instead he was like background information??? He was only really used as a plot device. First he's cursed, then he's stone, then he's disappeared?? And Evangeline misses him?? then he's just A VAMPIRE and then he looses all importance.
1a. Tiberius who???? Also another plot device. He was really only there to make life hard for Evangeline in the first novel and then POOF. GONE. Clearly he wasn't important so why even put him in the novel?? He just disappears and no one hears of him EVER AGAIN.
1b. I thought her stepsister would come back WHERE DID HSE EVEN GO?!?! DID SHE REALLY JUST RUN AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK IN THE SECOND BOOK??? That felt like some very lazy fucking writing. What was the point of having a powerful witch stepsister IF SHE WASN'T GOING TO BE UTILIZED PROPERLY.
1c. I did not need all this Valor crap. They bored me honestly. I saw their careful usurping of Prince Apollo's throne from a mile away. Aurora's whole ARC wasn't news either. I knew she loved Jacks and that her thing with Lyric was probably all a lie. Hell, for a minute there I even though Lyric would POP UP and turn out to NOT actually be dead. That seemed on brand with how Stephanie writes so I wholeheartedly expected it.
1d. I still don't like LaLa and I HATE how Stephanie would bring the one POC character (Luc seemed POC too?? unclear honestly) in only to move the plot along. Lala only appeared to help Evangeline or to throw a wrench in the plans (like when Eva overheard Lala talking to Jacks about how she put the Archer curse on her). Still never forgave her for that in book two.
1f. Kristof Knightlinger (if that's even how you say his name. I can't remember. But the journalist of the north!) what was the point of showing him TWICE in this novel. I thought Eva was going to go meet him, talk to him. NOPE. Why even have him give her his card if SHE WAS GOING TO LOOSE IT (or Apollo took it. I'm unsure). Seemed like a pointless addition to the story.
1g. Why did she suddenly make me hate Prince Apollo? In the first two books I felt so BAD for the Prince. He was cursed MULTIPLE TIMES. He seemed to really love Eva and I was actually rooting for them to be together a little bit (mostly when Jacks was being a prick). So why was he made the bad guy in this novel??? If she wanted him to be a villain, she should have just shown how Aurora was manipulating him the whole time AND NOT ACTUALLY HAVE HIM BE A BAD GUY. He never seemed like a bad guy in the other two novels. He seemed pretty decent. This was how I felt about Jacks in Finale too. Whats the point of suddenly making these boys into bad guys.
2. Still can't wrap my head around how Eva is in love with Jacks??? It makes no sense. Just because a guy is hot doesn't mean you should love him. I'm still of the mind that the best version of Jacks is his introduction in Legendary (still hated how he was in Finale though). He was... okay here in this series for the most part though I guess.
2a. That scene where they're covered in sleep dust and trying to take each others clothes off was so hard to read. Eva still didn't have her memories and they seemed like they were drugged almost it just felt SO WRONG. I didn't like it.
3. hearts... in glass jars.... Again... why is Stephanie adding lore RIGHT AT THE END.
4. THE COP OUT OF NOT TELLING US WHAT THE APPLES MEAN??!?!?!!!? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ADDING THAT IN THE EPILOGUE. SHE SHOULD HAE JUST LET THE STORY CURSE "BURN" THE STORY. THAT WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER HONESTLY.
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
chelbelle122's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
booksandstardust's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, and Violence
Moderate: Dementia, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
tourmaline1703's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In this book, we get to see more of the Magnificent North and get to delve deeper into its history. It felt like we really built off what we learnt in the other books and added to its magic. I'm still a bit confused on how the curses work and why some were lifted and some weren't but, I loved the way the magic system was added to in this novel.
As always, Stephanie Garber's writing is wonderful. It's so easy to get into and the descriptions are beautiful. I love the way she brings the characters' emotions to life, especially their anger, and I think the multi-POV really showed this contrast off.
I did find the plot a bit awkwardly paced and hard to follow at times. I don't know if I was just being a bit vague at times but it felt like I had no clue what was going on at all for the first half of the book. However, as the novel progressed, things started clearing up and the twists towards the end were brilliant. Despite not quite understanding what was going on, I still enjoyed it.
It's very safe to say I misjudged one of our protagonists massively and it led to a lot of confusion at the start. I was very confused by their actions but turns out, I just overestimated them. I loved the multi-POV and I think it really added to the characters, and helped understand their motives much better. This book has made me actually like Jacks now, I still don't fully trust him but I do really like him as a character now.
Therefore, despite all my confusion, I really enjoyed this book and it was a great end to the series!
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Blood
esterslibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Torture
kirstenf's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, and Grief
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
taylorjayne's review against another edition
0.25
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Child death, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Confinement
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Stalking, Body horror, Child death, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Confinement, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
katvou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Violence, and Gaslighting
Minor: Kidnapping, Child death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Pregnancy, War, Death of parent, Torture, Terminal illness, Vomit, Suicide, and Infidelity