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4.37 AVERAGE
4.37 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
Will and Jem have my whole heart and are quite frankly the only ones I care about. Magnus not included
I don't like Tessa. I don't like Will. The plot is okay, but not outstanding. The characters are pretty one-dimensional.
And yet ... I keep reading these books. I seem to be a little bit hooked and I'm not entirely sure why.
And yet ... I keep reading these books. I seem to be a little bit hooked and I'm not entirely sure why.
If it had been anyone else, anyone else in the world—but she did not love anyone else in the world. These were the boys she loved. For better. And for worse.
I will never be the same after herongraystairs.
“Is this curse supposed to be some business about taking away your ability to love? Because that’s nonsense if I’ve ever heard it. Jem’s your parabatai. I’ve seen you with him. You love him, don’t you?”
“Jem is my great sin,” said Will.
“No one can live with nothing,” he whispered. “Jem is all I have.”
“I know,” he said, looking down at himself self-consciously. “I am not—I mean, I look—”
“Beautiful,” she said, and she meant it. “You are beautiful, James Carstairs.”
“Everyone makes mistakes, Jem.”
“Yes,” said Jem. “You just make more of them than most people.”
“I—”
“You hurt everyone,” said Jem. “Everyone whose life you touch.”
“Not you,” Will whispered. “I hurt everyone but you. I never meant to hurt you.”
“You swore to stay with me,” he said. “When we made our oath, as parabatai. Our souls are knit. We are one person, James.”
“We are two people,” said Jem. “Two people with a covenant between us.”
Will knew he sounded like a child, but he could not help it. “A covenant that says you must not go where I cannot come with you.”
“You don’t even like poetry,” Tessa said, her voice catching on a half laugh of relief.
“No. But you make me want to write it. Does that not count for anything?”
“And you think we are?” Tessa asked, shock making her voice small. “At one, that is?”
Jem knelt down at her feet, so that he was gazing up into her face. She saw him as he had been on Blackfriars Bridge, a lovely silver shadow against the darkness. “I cannot explain love,” he said. “I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you. That you were the center of everything I did and felt and thought.”
“You speak of sacrifice, but it is not my sacrifice I offer. It is yours I ask of you,” he went on. “I can offer you my life, but it is a short life; I can offer you my heart, though I have no idea how many more beats it shall sustain. But I love you enough to hope that you will not care that I am being selfish in trying to make the rest of my life—whatever its length—happy, by spending it with you. I want to be married to you, Tessa. I want it more than I have ever wanted anything else in my life.” He looked up at her through the veil of silvery hair that fell over his eyes. “That is,” he said shyly, “if you love me, too.”
“I pulled them out of the fire myself. I read them all. Every word you wrote. You and I, Tess, we’re alike. We live and breathe words. It was books that kept me from taking my own life after I thought I could never love anyone, never be loved by anyone again. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them. Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt—I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamed. I felt I was dreaming and thinking and feeling with you. I dreamed what you dreamed, wanted what you wanted—and then I realized that truly I just wanted you. The girl behind the scrawled letters. I loved you from the moment I read them. I love you still.”
I will never be the same after herongraystairs.
“Is this curse supposed to be some business about taking away your ability to love? Because that’s nonsense if I’ve ever heard it. Jem’s your parabatai. I’ve seen you with him. You love him, don’t you?”
“Jem is my great sin,” said Will.
“No one can live with nothing,” he whispered. “Jem is all I have.”
“I know,” he said, looking down at himself self-consciously. “I am not—I mean, I look—”
“Beautiful,” she said, and she meant it. “You are beautiful, James Carstairs.”
“Everyone makes mistakes, Jem.”
“Yes,” said Jem. “You just make more of them than most people.”
“I—”
“You hurt everyone,” said Jem. “Everyone whose life you touch.”
“Not you,” Will whispered. “I hurt everyone but you. I never meant to hurt you.”
“You swore to stay with me,” he said. “When we made our oath, as parabatai. Our souls are knit. We are one person, James.”
“We are two people,” said Jem. “Two people with a covenant between us.”
Will knew he sounded like a child, but he could not help it. “A covenant that says you must not go where I cannot come with you.”
“You don’t even like poetry,” Tessa said, her voice catching on a half laugh of relief.
“No. But you make me want to write it. Does that not count for anything?”
“And you think we are?” Tessa asked, shock making her voice small. “At one, that is?”
Jem knelt down at her feet, so that he was gazing up into her face. She saw him as he had been on Blackfriars Bridge, a lovely silver shadow against the darkness. “I cannot explain love,” he said. “I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you. That you were the center of everything I did and felt and thought.”
“You speak of sacrifice, but it is not my sacrifice I offer. It is yours I ask of you,” he went on. “I can offer you my life, but it is a short life; I can offer you my heart, though I have no idea how many more beats it shall sustain. But I love you enough to hope that you will not care that I am being selfish in trying to make the rest of my life—whatever its length—happy, by spending it with you. I want to be married to you, Tessa. I want it more than I have ever wanted anything else in my life.” He looked up at her through the veil of silvery hair that fell over his eyes. “That is,” he said shyly, “if you love me, too.”
“I pulled them out of the fire myself. I read them all. Every word you wrote. You and I, Tess, we’re alike. We live and breathe words. It was books that kept me from taking my own life after I thought I could never love anyone, never be loved by anyone again. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them. Reading your words, what you wrote, how you were lonely sometimes and afraid, but always brave; the way you saw the world, its colors and textures and sounds, I felt—I felt the way you thought, hoped, felt, dreamed. I felt I was dreaming and thinking and feeling with you. I dreamed what you dreamed, wanted what you wanted—and then I realized that truly I just wanted you. The girl behind the scrawled letters. I loved you from the moment I read them. I love you still.”
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
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:
Yes
Review has slight subtle spoilers.
Oh boy, have I got some thoughts.
The plot was definitely there for me. I love that it was a continuation right from the first book to the second. I'm starting to like Tessa more and more along with all the other characters. Like sophie, Gideon, WILL AND JEM, and lottie and henry who are absolutely goals by the end of the book.
On their quest to gain back the role as leaders of the London Institute and catching mortiman, as well as finding more about wills past, I could not put the book down.
Characters keep developing, especially Will who, im so happy for after this book but also very sad.
I did not like that tessa and will are basically lying to jem at this point, and how tessa is lying to herself about her feelings. (She should never have said yes WHY TESSA). And that she was leading both guys on. Anyways that's my only complaint. I didnt know I hate love triangles. :/
Everything else about this book I just loved
Quick shoutout to Magnus too hahah.
Oh boy, have I got some thoughts.
The plot was definitely there for me. I love that it was a continuation right from the first book to the second. I'm starting to like Tessa more and more along with all the other characters. Like sophie, Gideon, WILL AND JEM, and lottie and henry who are absolutely goals by the end of the book.
On their quest to gain back the role as leaders of the London Institute and catching mortiman, as well as finding more about wills past, I could not put the book down.
Characters keep developing, especially Will who, im so happy for after this book but also very sad.
I did not like that tessa and will are basically lying to jem at this point, and how tessa is lying to herself about her feelings. (She should never have said yes WHY TESSA). And that she was leading both guys on. Anyways that's my only complaint. I didnt know I hate love triangles. :/
Everything else about this book I just loved
Quick shoutout to Magnus too hahah.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
Amazingly written, fantastic plot tist and so many good things go on in this book.