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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"'Because I think that is too often the trouble with parents. They see only what they want from us, and not what we are in front of them.'"
-------------------------------------
I would've rated this book sm higher if there was less battle scenes and more scenes between Ambessa and Mel. And that pretty much sums up my entire problem with this book.
I love arcane and I love Ambessa and I love Mel, so I was pretty excited to read this, but I think I just had way too high of expectations for how good this would be and had a false idea of what the book would be about. So this kind of ended up disappointing me a decent bit.
I liked reading from ambessa and Mel's povs throughout this book, enjoyed learning more about their backstories, especially with all of the loose ends it tied in terms of explaining how they ended up where they did at the beginning of their appearances in arcane, as well as learning more about the other members of their family, since they're so rarely mentioned in the show. And I LOVED all the scenes between Ambessa and Mel, I feel like c.l. clark did a really good job of capturing just how complicated their relationship is.
At the end of the day, though, the parts I enjoyed in this probably made up about 20% of the book and the remaining 80% were just a bunch of battle scenes and fight scenes and scenes of ambessa killing people. And, honestly, those scenes were just really not that interesting, like it got VERY repetitive and was just overall pretty boring to read about. That's why I can't warrant rating this book too much higher: there just wasn't enough parts that I was fully interested in.
So, yeah, unfortunately kind of a disappointment. I hate rating this so low, but, like I just said, I just can't warrant rating it too much higher. I might raise it up a bit, but we'll see. 3.25⭐ is probably the most accurate rating, though.
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Bonus quotes 🐺
"Mel came in and closed the door behind her, looking around the room as she did so, making her own assessments, just like Ambessa. Too late for Ambessa to notice all the ways her daughter was like her---she'd spent so long focused on the ways she was not."
-------------------------------------
I would've rated this book sm higher if there was less battle scenes and more scenes between Ambessa and Mel. And that pretty much sums up my entire problem with this book.
I love arcane and I love Ambessa and I love Mel, so I was pretty excited to read this, but I think I just had way too high of expectations for how good this would be and had a false idea of what the book would be about. So this kind of ended up disappointing me a decent bit.
I liked reading from ambessa and Mel's povs throughout this book, enjoyed learning more about their backstories, especially with all of the loose ends it tied in terms of explaining how they ended up where they did at the beginning of their appearances in arcane, as well as learning more about the other members of their family, since they're so rarely mentioned in the show. And I LOVED all the scenes between Ambessa and Mel, I feel like c.l. clark did a really good job of capturing just how complicated their relationship is.
At the end of the day, though, the parts I enjoyed in this probably made up about 20% of the book and the remaining 80% were just a bunch of battle scenes and fight scenes and scenes of ambessa killing people. And, honestly, those scenes were just really not that interesting, like it got VERY repetitive and was just overall pretty boring to read about. That's why I can't warrant rating this book too much higher: there just wasn't enough parts that I was fully interested in.
So, yeah, unfortunately kind of a disappointment. I hate rating this so low, but, like I just said, I just can't warrant rating it too much higher. I might raise it up a bit, but we'll see. 3.25⭐ is probably the most accurate rating, though.
-------------------------------------
Bonus quotes 🐺
"Mel came in and closed the door behind her, looking around the room as she did so, making her own assessments, just like Ambessa. Too late for Ambessa to notice all the ways her daughter was like her---she'd spent so long focused on the ways she was not."
adventurous
challenging
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow, as someone who adores Arcane, understanding the history of Ambessa and the tough decisions she made to get where she was during the show was incredibly. The dynamic between her and Mel was so heart-wrenching. Ambessa is not the protagonist of this story—she is unapologetically ruthless…but under all of that she is human, too. Absolutely loved this story and love the authors ability to weave together morally grey characters with a dynamic and engaging story. Fantastic work.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Infidelity, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed this! Ambessa and Mel's storyline was one of my least favorite in season 2 of Arcane (it felt so shoehorned in), but I'm a sucker for stories about buff women--we need more representation!--and I wanted to see if the story was any better in book form. And I do think it was, since we got a lot more background on Noxus, Ambessa of course, and Mel.
It was pretty hard in the beginning to get oriented though. There are soooo many secondary characters, with so many names and titles thrown at you from the start (and it doesn't help that one character has a name that sounds very similar to Ambessa lol). I kept getting characters confused, and forgetting how Ambessa knew them. It started to become a bit easier about a third of the way in, especially since the plot takes Ambessa away from all these people for a bit.
The first half of the book was a LOT of politics though, and I was a little disappointed that we weren't seeing a battle-hardened warrior like Ambessa actually fight in battles. She was either talking to people or the book focused on other people during the battles. But the second half really picked up the pace, and we really got to see Ambessa thrive on the battlefield. It's funny because normally I find battle scenes boring, but they were thrilling in this book, probably because I know what Ambessa can do and have seen it visually!
Ambessa is a very interesting character, and is even more interesting in this book than she was in the show. She felt very one-note bad in the show, but this book gives her a more well-rounded background, with her own motivations that make a lot of sense but still hurt the people around her. It was a weird feeling to sort of root for her, but at the same time want to shake her lol. I also didn't expect Mel to have so much page time in this book, and her relationship with her mother is so heartbreaking, especially knowing what will happen in the show.
And it's pretty impressive that this book actually got me curious about the Black Rose, because when Arcane ended, I really felt like it was such a pointless addition that took away from the Piltover characters and seemed like a cash grab for future shows. But they were very sinister and mysterious in this book in a way that really captured my attention! The epiloguewith Rell imprisoned by the Black Rose and forced to train for them had me like 👀!!
And of course I can't end this review without mentioning the stellar audiobook narration. This was narrated by Ambessa's voice actor herself, which really enhanced the cinematic feeling of the writing, and made it come to life in my head! I really recommend the audiobook, especially for those who have seen Arcane. I'm not sure how well this would work for people who haven't seen Arcane, but it could be a good intro since it is a prequel. This book also made me interested in the rest of C.L. Clark's writing, and I started The Unbroken soon after finishing!
It was pretty hard in the beginning to get oriented though. There are soooo many secondary characters, with so many names and titles thrown at you from the start (and it doesn't help that one character has a name that sounds very similar to Ambessa lol). I kept getting characters confused, and forgetting how Ambessa knew them. It started to become a bit easier about a third of the way in, especially since the plot takes Ambessa away from all these people for a bit.
The first half of the book was a LOT of politics though, and I was a little disappointed that we weren't seeing a battle-hardened warrior like Ambessa actually fight in battles. She was either talking to people or the book focused on other people during the battles. But the second half really picked up the pace, and we really got to see Ambessa thrive on the battlefield. It's funny because normally I find battle scenes boring, but they were thrilling in this book, probably because I know what Ambessa can do and have seen it visually!
Ambessa is a very interesting character, and is even more interesting in this book than she was in the show. She felt very one-note bad in the show, but this book gives her a more well-rounded background, with her own motivations that make a lot of sense but still hurt the people around her. It was a weird feeling to sort of root for her, but at the same time want to shake her lol. I also didn't expect Mel to have so much page time in this book, and her relationship with her mother is so heartbreaking, especially knowing what will happen in the show.
And it's pretty impressive that this book actually got me curious about the Black Rose, because when Arcane ended, I really felt like it was such a pointless addition that took away from the Piltover characters and seemed like a cash grab for future shows. But they were very sinister and mysterious in this book in a way that really captured my attention! The epilogue
And of course I can't end this review without mentioning the stellar audiobook narration. This was narrated by Ambessa's voice actor herself, which really enhanced the cinematic feeling of the writing, and made it come to life in my head! I really recommend the audiobook, especially for those who have seen Arcane. I'm not sure how well this would work for people who haven't seen Arcane, but it could be a good intro since it is a prequel. This book also made me interested in the rest of C.L. Clark's writing, and I started The Unbroken soon after finishing!