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earlgreyjedi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
4.5
thelibraryoflauren's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
tired_cicada's review against another edition
Maybe I'm just missing something but is this depressed 20 something going to end up in a romantic relationship with a..... How old was she? 15? His sister was like 17 and she was younger than her. Someone please tell me I missed something cause WHAT???!
drearyletters's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
wendy327's review against another edition
4.0
I received a free copy from Delacorte Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Picking up shortly after Shielded, Ren returns to Hálendi only to find himself facing a myriad of threats, including nobles and guards who wish to overthrow him in order to conquer the continent. But Ren senses that a bigger danger may be rising, so he heads to Turia to visit Jenna, the one person he trusts. Meanwhile in Turia, Chiara is tired of constantly being overlooked. Unlike her siblings she doesn’t have a position or magic to assist her. When the king of Turia goes missing, Chiara suspects the mages may be involved, and she pieces together clues about the Black Library, hoping to trade this information for her father’s life.
Unlike Shielded, Untethered utilizes dual points of view with both Ren and Chiara. KayLynn Flanders does a decent job making Ren and Chiara sound different. It was rare that I had to stop and look back to see whose point of view spearheaded the chapter. Also, when you have two characters narrating a young adult novel, it’s a good assumption that they are love interests. And while that proved to be true here, I appreciated that their romance was secondary to the personal journey of each character. Sure, there were some longing looks and poetic internal monologues, but Flanders spaces these out so that they’re not overbearing.
Shielded was singularly focused on Jenna, but with a shifting narrator, the reader is granted the ability to see secondary characters who weren’t as well fleshed out play a larger role. Chiara and Ren are obvious given the dual points of view, but Enzo, Yesilia, and Mari are provided the ability to participate in the adventure. And this was definitely much more of a quest narrative, which also offered Flanders the ability to continue expanding and fleshing out the world, particularly in Riiga. The addition of the Riigan setting provides the reader with a chance to see how power is balanced among the three kingdoms on the continent.
There were two other aspects that I appreciated. First, women are given the ability to be strong and empowered once again. Sure, Jenna is obvious, but Chiara, Mari, Yesila, and even Cora are given the ability to sway important events and chart their own paths in ways that show the ability to rule fairly. Finally, there was also redemption offered to a few of the characters who featured in both novels and conducted some acts that had negative consequences. As a reader, I appreciated this aspect, whether the characters chose to be redeemed or not.
Overall, I enjoyed the adventure Untethered offered and I would recommend it to other readers.
Picking up shortly after Shielded, Ren returns to Hálendi only to find himself facing a myriad of threats, including nobles and guards who wish to overthrow him in order to conquer the continent. But Ren senses that a bigger danger may be rising, so he heads to Turia to visit Jenna, the one person he trusts. Meanwhile in Turia, Chiara is tired of constantly being overlooked. Unlike her siblings she doesn’t have a position or magic to assist her. When the king of Turia goes missing, Chiara suspects the mages may be involved, and she pieces together clues about the Black Library, hoping to trade this information for her father’s life.
Unlike Shielded, Untethered utilizes dual points of view with both Ren and Chiara. KayLynn Flanders does a decent job making Ren and Chiara sound different. It was rare that I had to stop and look back to see whose point of view spearheaded the chapter. Also, when you have two characters narrating a young adult novel, it’s a good assumption that they are love interests. And while that proved to be true here, I appreciated that their romance was secondary to the personal journey of each character. Sure, there were some longing looks and poetic internal monologues, but Flanders spaces these out so that they’re not overbearing.
Shielded was singularly focused on Jenna, but with a shifting narrator, the reader is granted the ability to see secondary characters who weren’t as well fleshed out play a larger role. Chiara and Ren are obvious given the dual points of view, but Enzo, Yesilia, and Mari are provided the ability to participate in the adventure. And this was definitely much more of a quest narrative, which also offered Flanders the ability to continue expanding and fleshing out the world, particularly in Riiga. The addition of the Riigan setting provides the reader with a chance to see how power is balanced among the three kingdoms on the continent.
There were two other aspects that I appreciated. First, women are given the ability to be strong and empowered once again. Sure, Jenna is obvious, but Chiara, Mari, Yesila, and even Cora are given the ability to sway important events and chart their own paths in ways that show the ability to rule fairly. Finally, there was also redemption offered to a few of the characters who featured in both novels and conducted some acts that had negative consequences. As a reader, I appreciated this aspect, whether the characters chose to be redeemed or not.
Overall, I enjoyed the adventure Untethered offered and I would recommend it to other readers.
lotagi's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kam819's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
daniella84's review against another edition
2.0
I really enjoyed Shielded as a fast-paced, extremely readable adventure story, but I feel like Untethered lacked the fun of book 1.
This was a book that took itself a lot more seriously, and while there was still adventure, there was also a lot of Ren and Chiara just complaining ON AND ON about how useless/worthless/forgotten they are and how they just ruin everything. I was fine with this at the beginning but they only really changed their tune right at the end, so it just felt like 400 pages of whining which got grating. Ren's chapters were particularly bad since he also had his martyr complex, even though Chiara called him out on taking away her agency.
I just didn't find Chiara or Ren super compelling since they were just down in the dumps the whole time, and I didn't really buy their relationship. And because they were always rushing headfirst into danger since they 'didn't matter', a lot of this book was them not thinking things through, escaping from a bad situation, and then rushing headfirst back into bad situation. And then we had basically every other character doing the same thing which I guess was a way to bring the whole crew together, but just felt like people never learning from their decisions or thinking things through. I also didn't really care for the plot around the younger sister, and felt like some of the interludes ruined bits of the mystery (e.g. where did the King go?).
I think this could have done with being shorter, especially as Ren and Chiara's inner monologues got quite repetitive. I like the message the author was trying to convey with their plots, but I feel like I needed to see more development throughout the story, rather than the big 'girlpower' moment at the end. Sad cause I really enjoyed Shielded a lot more than I expected, and the covers are absolutely gorgeous, but Untethered just didn't do it for me. Would perhaps appeal to younger YA readers though, or fans of [b:The Ivory Key|55959475|The Ivory Key (The Ivory Key Duology, #1)|Akshaya Raman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633053798l/55959475._SY75_.jpg|76948298].
This was a book that took itself a lot more seriously, and while there was still adventure, there was also a lot of Ren and Chiara just complaining ON AND ON about how useless/worthless/forgotten they are and how they just ruin everything. I was fine with this at the beginning but they only really changed their tune right at the end, so it just felt like 400 pages of whining which got grating. Ren's chapters were particularly bad since he also had his martyr complex, even though Chiara called him out on taking away her agency.
I just didn't find Chiara or Ren super compelling since they were just down in the dumps the whole time, and I didn't really buy their relationship. And because they were always rushing headfirst into danger since they 'didn't matter', a lot of this book was them not thinking things through, escaping from a bad situation, and then rushing headfirst back into bad situation. And then we had basically every other character doing the same thing which I guess was a way to bring the whole crew together, but just felt like people never learning from their decisions or thinking things through. I also didn't really care for the plot around the younger sister, and felt like some of the interludes ruined bits of the mystery (e.g. where did the King go?).
I think this could have done with being shorter, especially as Ren and Chiara's inner monologues got quite repetitive. I like the message the author was trying to convey with their plots, but I feel like I needed to see more development throughout the story, rather than the big 'girlpower' moment at the end. Sad cause I really enjoyed Shielded a lot more than I expected, and the covers are absolutely gorgeous, but Untethered just didn't do it for me. Would perhaps appeal to younger YA readers though, or fans of [b:The Ivory Key|55959475|The Ivory Key (The Ivory Key Duology, #1)|Akshaya Raman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633053798l/55959475._SY75_.jpg|76948298].