Reviews

My first thought reading this was "what a bold and brave choice on the author's part to have the main couple go their separate ways in order to find themselves and figure out what they really want." And then disappointment sunk in when at the end of the book, nothing changed.

I found Denna's behavior throughout the book frankly appalling. The way she treated Mare was inexcusable, especially when Mare had every right and every reason to feel the way she did. And then to have Mare be the one to apologize to Denna and to not have any of their issues addressed was so frustrating. They ended the book exactly how they started it. With no direction and no sense of who they are as individuals. But hey, Denna now has some sort of control over her powers (and the voice of the dragon queen in her head manipulating her every thought!) and Mare knows how to fight with a sword. So I'm sure they're going to be just fine...

aubreyprobably's review

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

A little disappointing compared to the first book personally, but I was able to push to the end. While the plot was mostly good,

having the two POVs in completely different places was just not fitting together well

Not the worst book I've ever tried but not as interesting as the first to me.

maramalade's review

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adventurous slow-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

While the world-building and storytelling in this book were overall good, I can tell it was a little off-balance compared to the last one. As in, Denna is the only one pushing the plot forward for most of it. For a good portion of the middle of the book, I rolled my eyes at the end of the chapter when Denna's perspective was getting good and I remembered that I had to go back to Mare being emo. She was such a strong character in the first book, and that character doesn't shine thru until she's suddenly a better person at the end.

Also, I'm just now realizing that we didn't get a single word from Faye after the final fight and Aleks death got maybe a few paragraphs. And in this book we got more about her being sad about her dad than we did about Nils! In the first book I felt like she was upset about her dad but Nils death carried so much more of an impact to her life, and she literally watched him die. So what's all that about?!?

Also, I didn't get as attached to the side-characters in this one, I feel like I didn't know much about any of them other than Faye and maybe Alek which seems like such a shame bc they all seem interesting from the little bits we do get. I feel like this book would have done good with an additional 100 pages or so to give more time to flesh out the characters and plot points and yet at the same time the pacing feels much slower than the previous book. Maybe could've done with a few more side-plots to even out the pacing and give us some resolutions throughout the book instead of putting it all to the end.

Either way, it was still an enj yable read. I like the new world-building elements we learned about, and I liked the moments we get between the girls.

tantrumbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dead_vole_jumpscare's review against another edition

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3.0

not as enjoyable as the first. so much was left unresolved and i have no idea if there's another book coming out? i heard it was a duology but i didn't look into it much. the queen was such a morally gray and ominous character but that didn't end up going anywhere, which was really unsatisfying. i liked hearing the denneleia chapters much more than the mare ones

kian_annus's review

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adventurous relaxing 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? Yes

4.0

dlberglund's review

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3.0

Mare and Denna are back, traveling to another kingdom for both political and personal reasons. Mare is hoping to make an alliance to save her kingdom from hostile attacks; Denna is hoping to find someone to help her get her magic under control. Though there's a lot of complications, including unique modes of travel and battles with both swords and spells, the pacing still somehow feels sloooow. I'm still happy to have the pair out there in literature, but the books still need a little more polish.

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