Reviews

Holly Black always manages to ramp up the tension in the final moments. These parts are always enjoyable and typically when my interest peaks.

It was exciting to see characters we know from the first volumes, like Cardan or Jude. However, watching Oak grow was quite remarkable. I found myself laughing at some of his witty remarks and fool's charade. I also appreciated how, even in a fantasy world, the author attempted to address childhood trauma, unusual family dynamics, and the struggle of going against expectations to make your own life choices.

To top it all off, I am really intrigued to see

Jude and Cardan journey to the Undersea.

Especially now that they are in their late twenties, I think that reading about high-stakes situations will resonate differently. Here's to hoping 🤞

However, like the previous book, this felt like what it was: about secondary characters. Up until 50%, nothing happened besides pining and miscommunication, which I'm not much of a fan of, to be honest...

And, like I thought, I still feel that the main characters’ romance was very forced. They had everything to bond and become quite the friends, but I don’t see how they can still be either of those things (friends or lovers) after all their egotistical and questionable reasoning. To me, the book felt a little sloppy, especially with

The Ghost’s “death” (or whatever we want to call it, maybe Cardan and Jude can undo it in the next volumes, I don’t know).

I feel like the first trilogy had its charm, but now it’s a little too much of the same with less interesting characters. Don’t get me wrong, Oak was funny, I think, and had a little potential that was overshadowed by his worries. And Wren, well, she was strong in theory but she didn’t have a strong character, in my point of view. And as the main characters, those things kind of mirror in the book quality, in my perspective.

All of this to say that it was an okay-ish read, I suppose.