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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
I’m as upset as everyone else who gave less then 4 star ratings. Tric got the short end of the stick... poor Tric.. his character had so much potential and yet his part in the story ended in such a disappointingly lack lustre fashion. Ashlinn was annoying. Not a fan of the romance. The last 75 pages were very word-vomity and added nothing to the atmosphere of the supposedly otherworldly situation. I was very underwhelmed and the excess use of back and forth comparisons of good and bad really took the intensity out of the final battle. Word vomit. The ending was a mild attempt at a romantic conclusion.. it didn't seem like there was much thought put into it, and I'm honestly just disappointed. Reminds me of my old high school English papers. Throw in a lot of intense words in the conclusion and hope it confuses the reader enough to realize it didn’t actually mean anything significant. At the end of it all I was just dissatisfied and I think Kristoff missed a great opportunity to blow us all away with the most devastating conclusion in the clusterfuck that was Mia Corvere's life. We were practically promised that in the introduction of the first novel.. I would have much preferred something utterly depressing over what we got. Granted I WAS devastated over the use of Tric's character to 'develop' Ashlinn's character - if you can even call that character development... Ashlinn was a devastatingly disappointing character and Tric's character was devastatingly left on the sidelines...
Spoilers ahead.
Ashlinn was the worst character with no moral decency. “I know you can smell her on me” like really? You killed the guy, just lay off will ya. Yeah no love for her from me. I would’ve loved if the ending was more melancholic then it was. If Mia never came back, Ashlinn would have been left walking the earth with no purpose, undead, and alone. I think this is a much more fitting ending as both she and Tric would have returned from the Abyss seeking Mia’s love only to find that it was gone. I thought Mia coming back was a pretty cheap ending to be honest... a sad ending would have much more suited the overall depressing tones of the series and it would deserve praise to not bend to the expectations of “happy endings”. Poor Tric...
Spoilers ahead.
Ashlinn was the worst character with no moral decency. “I know you can smell her on me” like really? You killed the guy, just lay off will ya. Yeah no love for her from me. I would’ve loved if the ending was more melancholic then it was. If Mia never came back, Ashlinn would have been left walking the earth with no purpose, undead, and alone. I think this is a much more fitting ending as both she and Tric would have returned from the Abyss seeking Mia’s love only to find that it was gone. I thought Mia coming back was a pretty cheap ending to be honest... a sad ending would have much more suited the overall depressing tones of the series and it would deserve praise to not bend to the expectations of “happy endings”. Poor Tric...
Third time kills the charm it seems (atleast for me).
The writing & some parts of the story were still enjoyable
The writing & some parts of the story were still enjoyable
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Gosh, what do I say about this book.
Book 1 I loved,
book 2 I enjoyed,
Then this book, I dunno, even 2 stars feels generous after that ending !!
Ok, I love Mia she's a really great character and her depth and journey is the best part of the series. I did appreciate her decision making, desires and overall view point. Which is great writing
The fight scenes are excellently done and they always landed pretty well. Another plus.
However let me get into the issues.
Book 1 and 2 had such a distinct write prose and structure. Book 3, was just chaos. I feel like the author loves his own writing. He tries to hit you with so many styles and approachs in this book it just ends up being a complete clusterfuck.
Parts were repeated continuously with different adjectives thrown in, which infuriated me at times and completely ruined the pacing.
The best part of the book was the "pirate" section but even when we got a great climax to the events it was then ruined by a ridiculous voyage which despite being a "long" journey was done over a few pages. To bookend this section we get two full chapter length "smut chapters". I would of preferred more "pirate" and less smut.
So smut, I like a bit of that in my books. But this was too much. Kristoff writes these scenes quite well but why do they always go on for so long and repeated multiple times during the book. When a sex scene sits in the story and the emotional connections and reasons for it boost the story , I enjoy it. Then you have Kristoff who basically just writes his fantasies by the end. Completely pointless scenes which add no value whatsoever
As for the love triangle.... That derailed all the suspense and tension of the book. It completely obliterated any grit and darkness being built up and just fell completely flat for me.
Finally, the ending. What a car crash. I have since seen its a pretty split opinion on how it ends. For me, I'm in the "That was terrible" camp
I think, maybe, I should of stopped at book 2 because the ending of this book, has left me quite disappointed
Book 1 I loved,
book 2 I enjoyed,
Then this book, I dunno, even 2 stars feels generous after that ending !!
Ok, I love Mia she's a really great character and her depth and journey is the best part of the series. I did appreciate her decision making, desires and overall view point. Which is great writing
The fight scenes are excellently done and they always landed pretty well. Another plus.
However let me get into the issues.
Book 1 and 2 had such a distinct write prose and structure. Book 3, was just chaos. I feel like the author loves his own writing. He tries to hit you with so many styles and approachs in this book it just ends up being a complete clusterfuck.
Parts were repeated continuously with different adjectives thrown in, which infuriated me at times and completely ruined the pacing.
The best part of the book was the "pirate" section but even when we got a great climax to the events it was then ruined by a ridiculous voyage which despite being a "long" journey was done over a few pages. To bookend this section we get two full chapter length "smut chapters". I would of preferred more "pirate" and less smut.
So smut, I like a bit of that in my books. But this was too much. Kristoff writes these scenes quite well but why do they always go on for so long and repeated multiple times during the book. When a sex scene sits in the story and the emotional connections and reasons for it boost the story , I enjoy it. Then you have Kristoff who basically just writes his fantasies by the end. Completely pointless scenes which add no value whatsoever
As for the love triangle.... That derailed all the suspense and tension of the book. It completely obliterated any grit and darkness being built up and just fell completely flat for me.
Finally, the ending. What a car crash. I have since seen its a pretty split opinion on how it ends. For me, I'm in the "That was terrible" camp
I think, maybe, I should of stopped at book 2 because the ending of this book, has left me quite disappointed
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Let me just say, I'm definitely not a superfan of this series. Neither of the previous books got 5 stars from me, but I still very much enjoyed them. That being said...
I am extremely upset over the outcome of events. This book just didn't really flow as well as the previous 2. There was a certain charm, be it the flow of the plot or the banter between characters, that just didn't reach its full potential. The smut felt excessive to me in this one, and I say that as someone who has no problem at all with a lot of smut. I was definitely along for the ride, at around a steady 4 stars as the other books. This went on until approx. book 5 of Darkdawn, wherein everything just crashed down on me. It was a quite disappointing section, and the ending left me extremely unsatisfied. I'm not one to let a small portion of the book dictate my feelings as a whole, but this section definitely made me see the book in a different like. It was just a very unsatisfying conclusion. Not a fan.
I am extremely upset over the outcome of events. This book just didn't really flow as well as the previous 2. There was a certain charm, be it the flow of the plot or the banter between characters, that just didn't reach its full potential. The smut felt excessive to me in this one, and I say that as someone who has no problem at all with a lot of smut. I was definitely along for the ride, at around a steady 4 stars as the other books. This went on until approx. book 5 of Darkdawn, wherein everything just crashed down on me. It was a quite disappointing section, and the ending left me extremely unsatisfied. I'm not one to let a small portion of the book dictate my feelings as a whole, but this section definitely made me see the book in a different like. It was just a very unsatisfying conclusion. Not a fan.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Unfortunately, while the first two of the trilogy seemed to be written back to back, this book does not follow the trend. In fact, the author almost committed the worst sin an author can make; writing himself into the story. Kristoff walked the line and while he didn't write himself in the story, he did reference and mock his own writing style when he put his books into the story, have his characters read the same books we are, and used them as plot tools . The romance was wonderful and well placed in the first book, but the romances started in Godsgrave seemed forced to start and continued only to feel like mashed (not grinding, that would imply too much cohesion) gears. Nothing like having a awkward living-then-dead love triangle where the boy kills himself a second time to let the other two girls come back to life to let them forever in a "cabin by a lake" while he's moping alone in the underworld!
The trilogy will end with this book, there's definitely nothing else, and that's arguably for the better.
The trilogy will end with this book, there's definitely nothing else, and that's arguably for the better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt
Minor: Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury