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neith's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
arthurbr's review against another edition
3.0
I thought I would love this, and do not get me wrong it's not bad, but it definitely did not live up to my expectations. I will outline some of my cruxes with this book.
1. The pacing felt very off in this book, and it almost seemed that I was stuck at around 50-75% for at least half of my readthrough of this book. The two previous books were page turners, but this book suffered from uneven pacing. Certain sections felt rushed, while others dragged on, which affected the overall cohesion of the story.
2. Many predictable plot points and quite similar story lines being reused over and over again. This is the recurring structure in my eyes: situations start off fine, then turn sour, followed by an inspiring speech, leading to a battle charge, resulting in many deaths, and ultimately, everything becomes dreadful. This cycle repeats itself n times throughout the book.
3. Unreliable narration, which makes sense as a reader but also does not make sense. I get that it is important to keep some/many of the most important plot points under cover to make the twists and turns even more suprising and interesting, but the way it is done makes negative sense. Why must the narration literally lie to the readers in order to cover the turns that will eventually come? Why can we not simply omit certain details rather than have the characters think about how something went wrong when it in fact did not go wrong. This felt so dishonest and made me feel very sour about the ending which I see many other readers having enjoyed a lot.
I do think it is a quite good book, but it is not as good as the two previous books in my eyes, and I feel like the main thing it suffers from is just being too similar and not innovative enough, and the unreliable narrator destroyed my overall view of the book as well.
Edit: I went back to my notes from reading it and I found this one quote that spoke out to me: "Justice isn’t about fixing the past, it’s about fixing the future. We’re not fighting for the dead. We’re fighting for the living. And for those who aren’t yet born."
1. The pacing felt very off in this book, and it almost seemed that I was stuck at around 50-75% for at least half of my readthrough of this book. The two previous books were page turners, but this book suffered from uneven pacing. Certain sections felt rushed, while others dragged on, which affected the overall cohesion of the story.
2. Many predictable plot points and quite similar story lines being reused over and over again. This is the recurring structure in my eyes: situations start off fine, then turn sour, followed by an inspiring speech, leading to a battle charge, resulting in many deaths, and ultimately, everything becomes dreadful. This cycle repeats itself n times throughout the book.
3. Unreliable narration, which makes sense as a reader but also does not make sense. I get that it is important to keep some/many of the most important plot points under cover to make the twists and turns even more suprising and interesting, but the way it is done makes negative sense. Why must the narration literally lie to the readers in order to cover the turns that will eventually come? Why can we not simply omit certain details rather than have the characters think about how something went wrong when it in fact did not go wrong. This felt so dishonest and made me feel very sour about the ending which I see many other readers having enjoyed a lot.
I do think it is a quite good book, but it is not as good as the two previous books in my eyes, and I feel like the main thing it suffers from is just being too similar and not innovative enough, and the unreliable narrator destroyed my overall view of the book as well.
Edit: I went back to my notes from reading it and I found this one quote that spoke out to me: "Justice isn’t about fixing the past, it’s about fixing the future. We’re not fighting for the dead. We’re fighting for the living. And for those who aren’t yet born."
takey's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
allymango's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
hotdogair'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? Yes
5.0
stephanieluxton's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I know there's more books in this series but this book feels like the grand finale.
Without spoilers, here's my general thoughts. Pierce Brown absolutely nailed writing complex characters. This series may have some of the best and most interesting/flawed/real characters I've ever experienced - which is wild because there's a lot of characters!
This book continues to have an amazing balance of action and politics. Things don't always go according to plan. I love having heroes and villains who are all incredibly intelligent and resourceful. There's never a point where I feel like our characters are being particiularly stupid or making dumb decisions just to move the plot along.
There are parts of this book that are slower but the grand finale blew my goddamn mind, and made me want to scream and cry and then still left me feeling better when it was all over.
Books rarely surprise me but this series did again and again.
I want to read the subsequent books but I am almost afraid to because, while this book definitely is open ended, I loved how it wrapped up.
Without spoilers, here's my general thoughts. Pierce Brown absolutely nailed writing complex characters. This series may have some of the best and most interesting/flawed/real characters I've ever experienced - which is wild because there's a lot of characters!
This book continues to have an amazing balance of action and politics. Things don't always go according to plan. I love having heroes and villains who are all incredibly intelligent and resourceful. There's never a point where I feel like our characters are being particiularly stupid or making dumb decisions just to move the plot along.
There are parts of this book that are slower but the grand finale blew my goddamn mind, and made me want to scream and cry and then still left me feeling better when it was all over.
Books rarely surprise me but this series did again and again.
I want to read the subsequent books but I am almost afraid to because, while this book definitely is open ended, I loved how it wrapped up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, War, Classism, and Violence
anna_bibliophile_sue's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Pierce Brown is a genius. That's all I have to say. No, actually I have a lot to say, but I'll save that for the few who care to listen to my ramblings.
foxepoxy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
katieb_93's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
tense
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? N/A
5.0