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morgy_g's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-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
jacobhart25's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
leafblade's review
4.0
I found the beginning of this to be pretty slow, as it happened with the first one, but I was less interested in The runaway king's story so it felt like it dragged on for more time, idk.
I say it every time I read a book like this: I HATE THE SEA. IT'S BORING, PLAIN AND I DON'T CARE ABOUT IT. So I was really glad these pirates stayed in land. I really liked (not as in liked liked but rather appreciated) Devlin's character. And Erick, Fink and Harlowe were great adittions to Jaron's friend list.
It never happens but I agreed with Jaron in every decision he took, which is stupid because he is really clever but he takes the worst decisions ever so like idk what that says about me, but again it rarely happens. It's good to have a clever male protagonist for once, and not have the nerdy intelligent sidekick (Tobias doesn't count).
I'll be definitely be reading the third one soon!!!!
I say it every time I read a book like this: I HATE THE SEA. IT'S BORING, PLAIN AND I DON'T CARE ABOUT IT. So I was really glad these pirates stayed in land. I really liked (not as in liked liked but rather appreciated) Devlin's character. And Erick, Fink and Harlowe were great adittions to Jaron's friend list.
It never happens but I agreed with Jaron in every decision he took, which is stupid because he is really clever but he takes the worst decisions ever so like idk what that says about me, but again it rarely happens. It's good to have a clever male protagonist for once, and not have the nerdy intelligent sidekick (Tobias doesn't count).
I'll be definitely be reading the third one soon!!!!
dilchh's review
4.0
We are back with Jaron’s adventure (and I use this word lightly) towards being the King that Carthya needs, while making sure Carthya is safe from its hostile neighbours. Knowing how lies and treasons are being weaved by the people around the throne from the the first book, surely one is to expect that the same thing were to happened in the second book; what I didn’t expect is that it happened between the first few pages of the first chapter. This book really does not like wasting time (and pages), it just goes straight into business (and I like it that way). To be honest, I kind of got bored already with the whole treason and betrayal plot, but what do you expect from a story set in the medieval era? Of course that should be the basic premise, right? Thankfully we are given Sage (at this point, I’m just going to refer Jaron as Sage, simply because I hate the name Jaron) as the main character; his wit and sassiness just saved me from all the boring betrayal plots in a medieval story.
What’s amazing from this book is how the author channels Sage’s frustration at trying to run the kingdom, knowing that he doesn’t have that many people he can trust and not to mention he might not have the people’s favour on his side (and let’s not forget the fact that he is just a fourteen year old boy, this will come handy on the later part of my review). I can almost scream and pull on my hair out of frustration at how hard it must be to be Sage at that moment; he just suddenly got crowned as a king of a kingdom that he thought he would not return to, he lost his entire family, he doesn’t know who to trust, most of the regents he knew are vying for his position, and yadda yadda. I couldn’t even think what I would have done if I were him.
Remember when I complained about how the author didn’t give that much explanation as to what Carthya and its neighbouring countries are like? Yeah, well, thankfully the author gave us a better look into what Carthya and its neighbouring countries this time, albeit only so far as to Tarblade Bay near Avenia. But, so far it’s good enough for me. Now, a little bit of complaint in regards of the characters that Sage encounter in the second book. Erick and Devlin are the characters that I find troubling the most, simply because they were suppose to be a bad guy, right? Like, really bad and evil and what have you. But, turns out it was like a simple magic wand was waved in front of Erick for him to turn all nice and gooey and supportive of Sage. Yeah, it seems to be too good to be true. Then there’s Devlin who supposedly is the King of Pirates (ooohh, scary.. except that, it’s NOT). Sure, he’s mean and had no soul (according to Sage’s observation) apart from wanting wealth and death, but to actually got beaten by Roden that easily? True, he was already wounded when he was fighting Sage the first time, but…. really? Yeah, I don’t buy it. I know that the author really doesn’t like wasting time for unnecessary things, but I think the sudden change of Erick and the defeat of Devlin is a bit too quick and convenient for Sage, right?
Well, enough about complaining for now. As I’ve mentioned before, the story was a little bit predictable this time around, but even so there are still some things that you don’t guess at all so you’ll get nervous a bit when it did happened. The ending was very climatic but a bit predictable, in the sense that I can already imagine what the main premise would be for the third book, and I don’t know if I am happy with my guess or not. Okay, now back to a bit of complaining again. I liked to think that the stakes are higher in this book than the first one, but the thing is, the turn of events that were happening in the book felt illogical to me, mostly those affecting some of the characters that were deemed evil and had the upper hand in the beginning of the book (again, I will mention Erick and Devlin, and Gregor also).
What’s amazing from this book is how the author channels Sage’s frustration at trying to run the kingdom, knowing that he doesn’t have that many people he can trust and not to mention he might not have the people’s favour on his side (and let’s not forget the fact that he is just a fourteen year old boy, this will come handy on the later part of my review). I can almost scream and pull on my hair out of frustration at how hard it must be to be Sage at that moment; he just suddenly got crowned as a king of a kingdom that he thought he would not return to, he lost his entire family, he doesn’t know who to trust, most of the regents he knew are vying for his position, and yadda yadda. I couldn’t even think what I would have done if I were him.
Remember when I complained about how the author didn’t give that much explanation as to what Carthya and its neighbouring countries are like? Yeah, well, thankfully the author gave us a better look into what Carthya and its neighbouring countries this time, albeit only so far as to Tarblade Bay near Avenia. But, so far it’s good enough for me. Now, a little bit of complaint in regards of the characters that Sage encounter in the second book. Erick and Devlin are the characters that I find troubling the most, simply because they were suppose to be a bad guy, right? Like, really bad and evil and what have you. But, turns out it was like a simple magic wand was waved in front of Erick for him to turn all nice and gooey and supportive of Sage. Yeah, it seems to be too good to be true. Then there’s Devlin who supposedly is the King of Pirates (ooohh, scary.. except that, it’s NOT). Sure, he’s mean and had no soul (according to Sage’s observation) apart from wanting wealth and death, but to actually got beaten by Roden that easily? True, he was already wounded when he was fighting Sage the first time, but…. really? Yeah, I don’t buy it. I know that the author really doesn’t like wasting time for unnecessary things, but I think the sudden change of Erick and the defeat of Devlin is a bit too quick and convenient for Sage, right?
Well, enough about complaining for now. As I’ve mentioned before, the story was a little bit predictable this time around, but even so there are still some things that you don’t guess at all so you’ll get nervous a bit when it did happened. The ending was very climatic but a bit predictable, in the sense that I can already imagine what the main premise would be for the third book, and I don’t know if I am happy with my guess or not. Okay, now back to a bit of complaining again. I liked to think that the stakes are higher in this book than the first one, but the thing is, the turn of events that were happening in the book felt illogical to me, mostly those affecting some of the characters that were deemed evil and had the upper hand in the beginning of the book (again, I will mention Erick and Devlin, and Gregor also).
lfsalden's review against another edition
5.0
Yes, she did it!
Book 2 is fresh, logical, beautifully written -
yes, yes, yes!
A Book 2 that is even better than Book 1, with characters who are internally consistent and yet change with maturation. So, so delicious!
Book 2 is fresh, logical, beautifully written -
yes, yes, yes!
A Book 2 that is even better than Book 1, with characters who are internally consistent and yet change with maturation. So, so delicious!
chrystalo's review against another edition
4.0
I don't understand why these books take me so long to read. Because I really, really like them. I mean, maybe it's because I'm not really smart enough to understand all the very intimate political intrigue that is a part of them. Probably. Anyway, back to the book. Wow wow wow what a reckless and super lucky guy that Sage is. I really loved to get more of the detailed back story on how and why he ended up in the situations that he did, and, per usual, close to death a few times. This series is super fun, firmly in the "boy book" category, which makes me happy that Jennifer Nielsen was able to take these characters and implant them into this world. Well done. Anyway, it's probably closer to a 3.5 in my opinion, but I'm in a good mood and loved the end of the book (what a cliffhanger!!) so I'm being generous in rounding up. I can't wait to get the last one!
magikspells's review against another edition
5.0
I honestly don't think I can say much about this book without giving anything away that might spoil it or the first book. I'll try to do my best.
Sage is back in this book, for another round of adventure. This time he's left the capital in order to travel to a neighboring country where he'll attempt to join the pirates. These pirates aren't confined to the sea, they have their own land and even their own king. And Sage has a score to settle with them.
This book further reiterates what I love so much about Sage, he's sarcastic and mean, but he's damn clever and resourceful. People continually doubt and underestimate him, and yet he perseveres. Yet judging by the end of this book, it seems people aren't done underestimating him though. I assume that will be their loss.
Familiar faces grace this book as well as some new ones. Roden was a surprise, he's changed so much, but he's so bitter about how events transpired in the first installment. But I loved Harlowe and Erick. I wasn't sure how I felt about Erick to begin with, but they were great additions to the cast, even if it already was kind of a sausage fest.
I have to wait until 2014 for the next book! The next book doesn't even have a synopsis yet! Ugh, what am I doing to do?
Sage is back in this book, for another round of adventure. This time he's left the capital in order to travel to a neighboring country where he'll attempt to join the pirates. These pirates aren't confined to the sea, they have their own land and even their own king. And Sage has a score to settle with them.
This book further reiterates what I love so much about Sage, he's sarcastic and mean, but he's damn clever and resourceful. People continually doubt and underestimate him, and yet he perseveres. Yet judging by the end of this book, it seems people aren't done underestimating him though. I assume that will be their loss.
Familiar faces grace this book as well as some new ones. Roden was a surprise, he's changed so much, but he's so bitter about how events transpired in the first installment. But I loved Harlowe and Erick. I wasn't sure how I felt about Erick to begin with, but they were great additions to the cast, even if it already was kind of a sausage fest.
I have to wait until 2014 for the next book! The next book doesn't even have a synopsis yet! Ugh, what am I doing to do?
votesforwomen's review against another edition
4.0
Fun and emotional, basically. I need the third one pronto. *weeps* *laughs* *dies*
mandy_smithburrows's review against another edition
4.0
I finally read this book (: I really enjoyed it and in true Jennifer A Nielsen style there were twists I was suprised by. Not as good as False Prince though but that's hard to beat ^^