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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
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
Loved it!
Reads very easy. Love the complicated real life application of racism, compassion and heroism. Can't wait to finish the next one!
Reads very easy. Love the complicated real life application of racism, compassion and heroism. Can't wait to finish the next one!
Disclaimer: I am fervently #TeamYvan, and that does influence a good part of my upset and rating.
However, the majority of my upset is due to the fact that this book was about 400 pages too long and has some of the worst pacing I've seen in a YA fantasy series. I technically DNF'ed at about 50% through the Kindle edition, right when it turns into soft-core porn, and just started flipping pages, trying to see if anything of import would happen in this damn book. The Iron Flower similarly suffered from pacing issues, what with 50% of the book being the Selkie rescue mission, though at least most of it was INTERESTING and involved the characters doing something more proactive besides kissing a lot. (Though there were a LOT of lingering stares between Elloren and Yvan.)
It takes the author EONS to describe anything. A simple carriage ride becomes a thirty-page treatise on Elloren's wood addiction. (WEIRD, by the way.) Thirty percent of this book revolves around the Sealing Ceremony, an event that takes roughly two days in the life of the characters. Elloren has the SAME back-and-forth "Can I trust you" conversation with Lukas five or six times, and while I think Forest was going for some sexy Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes, I wanted to tear my hair out and scream at her, "Either tell him or don't!"
Speaking of the Sealing ceremony... let's face it, it was just a stupid plot device to have Elloren be sexed up by Lukas Grey. It felt like a cheap ploy, made worse by the fact that the writing was oh-so-very-tortured, with each moment of their coupling described in sappy detail. If they are going to be fasted, then fine, have them be fasted, but don't make it into some "life-and-death" thing or justify it for that purpose.
Even though I love-hate Sarah J. Maas, she did love after grief MUCH better in her Throne of Glass series. It's a topic that is interesting and can be important to address, especially in a fantasy world like this where everything is "fate" and "destiny"--the dark pulls, the fiery attractions, yada yada. I don't think it's a bad thing for someone to move on after experiencing a soulcrushing heartbreak. But we all knew as soon as this major character died in the first twenty pages that he was not TRULY dead. If you can't see the body, then they are not dead. (Except for Sirius. RIP.)
Even though it's a touch cliche, the previous novel set up the plot SO PERFECTLY for Yvan and Elloren to be working together and yet be a part of a prophecy that appears to pit one against the other. It's the perfect culmination for a story that begins with a girl harboring dangerous prejudices against another race to end up with the "evilest" of them all--except she doesn't, she fasts with the guy she was attracted to when she was super racist.
As for the couple, I found Elloren and Lukas's relationship to be absolutely boring and yet another YA fantasy couple that is so perfectly destined to be with one another due to their physical makeup that their chemistry is so SMOLDERING. Elloren and Yvan also had hints of instalove and uber attraction in the first novel that made me initially dislike that pairing, but their relationship actually developed in the second, and they had a lot of tension born from having to deal with their differences. With Elloren and Lukas, it was just constant kissing, for stupid reasons--we have to kiss to strengthen your shields! Let's make out a lot even though we're on the run from the most powerful evil in the world! And both characters pretending they weren't already in love with each other, at least until Forest deemed enough time had passed for them to be making starry-eyed confessions.
And finally, Elloren is still kind of useless. I'm not saying this to be mean, but she's had 1200 pages to get her shit together, and she only starts training in the last 20% of the third book? C'mon, girl. I like that her power initially frightens her and that she struggles to control it and not give in, but the constant wood analyses and incoherent depictions of their magical system get pretty tiring.
It's so disappointing because while this wasn't my favorite YA series, I was getting interested in the overall world building and the fact that the author took a somewhat disastrous attempt at tackling race issues in a fantasy series and made it palatable.
However, the majority of my upset is due to the fact that this book was about 400 pages too long and has some of the worst pacing I've seen in a YA fantasy series. I technically DNF'ed at about 50% through the Kindle edition, right when it turns into soft-core porn, and just started flipping pages, trying to see if anything of import would happen in this damn book. The Iron Flower similarly suffered from pacing issues, what with 50% of the book being the Selkie rescue mission, though at least most of it was INTERESTING and involved the characters doing something more proactive besides kissing a lot. (Though there were a LOT of lingering stares between Elloren and Yvan.)
It takes the author EONS to describe anything. A simple carriage ride becomes a thirty-page treatise on Elloren's wood addiction. (WEIRD, by the way.) Thirty percent of this book revolves around the Sealing Ceremony, an event that takes roughly two days in the life of the characters. Elloren has the SAME back-and-forth "Can I trust you" conversation with Lukas five or six times, and while I think Forest was going for some sexy Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes, I wanted to tear my hair out and scream at her, "Either tell him or don't!"
Speaking of the Sealing ceremony... let's face it, it was just a stupid plot device to have Elloren be sexed up by Lukas Grey. It felt like a cheap ploy, made worse by the fact that the writing was oh-so-very-tortured, with each moment of their coupling described in sappy detail. If they are going to be fasted, then fine, have them be fasted, but don't make it into some "life-and-death" thing or justify it for that purpose.
Even though I love-hate Sarah J. Maas, she did love after grief MUCH better in her Throne of Glass series. It's a topic that is interesting and can be important to address, especially in a fantasy world like this where everything is "fate" and "destiny"--the dark pulls, the fiery attractions, yada yada. I don't think it's a bad thing for someone to move on after experiencing a soulcrushing heartbreak. But we all knew as soon as this major character died in the first twenty pages that he was not TRULY dead. If you can't see the body, then they are not dead. (Except for Sirius. RIP.)
Even though it's a touch cliche, the previous novel set up the plot SO PERFECTLY for Yvan and Elloren to be working together and yet be a part of a prophecy that appears to pit one against the other. It's the perfect culmination for a story that begins with a girl harboring dangerous prejudices against another race to end up with the "evilest" of them all--except she doesn't, she fasts with the guy she was attracted to when she was super racist.
As for the couple, I found Elloren and Lukas's relationship to be absolutely boring and yet another YA fantasy couple that is so perfectly destined to be with one another due to their physical makeup that their chemistry is so SMOLDERING. Elloren and Yvan also had hints of instalove and uber attraction in the first novel that made me initially dislike that pairing, but their relationship actually developed in the second, and they had a lot of tension born from having to deal with their differences. With Elloren and Lukas, it was just constant kissing, for stupid reasons--we have to kiss to strengthen your shields! Let's make out a lot even though we're on the run from the most powerful evil in the world! And both characters pretending they weren't already in love with each other, at least until Forest deemed enough time had passed for them to be making starry-eyed confessions.
And finally, Elloren is still kind of useless. I'm not saying this to be mean, but she's had 1200 pages to get her shit together, and she only starts training in the last 20% of the third book? C'mon, girl. I like that her power initially frightens her and that she struggles to control it and not give in, but the constant wood analyses and incoherent depictions of their magical system get pretty tiring.
It's so disappointing because while this wasn't my favorite YA series, I was getting interested in the overall world building and the fact that the author took a somewhat disastrous attempt at tackling race issues in a fantasy series and made it palatable.
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
Why? Why? Why?
First book was very good, second still ok but his one. It is like written by somebody else. Many characters from first two books were abandoned and there was absolutely nothing about them (lupines, professors, Rafe ...). There was almost nothing happening. And the main issue I had was with Elloren and her love interest. She mourned Yvan like 5 minutes and ended with Lucas (also his transformation from power dominant to revolutionarist was somehow strange and I would like to know what changed for him). It felt like different person.
I hope next books will be better and I will not be forced to finish reading the series before the end.
First book was very good, second still ok but his one. It is like written by somebody else. Many characters from first two books were abandoned and there was absolutely nothing about them (lupines, professors, Rafe ...). There was almost nothing happening. And the main issue I had was with Elloren and her love interest. She mourned Yvan like 5 minutes and ended with Lucas (also his transformation from power dominant to revolutionarist was somehow strange and I would like to know what changed for him). It felt like different person.
I hope next books will be better and I will not be forced to finish reading the series before the end.
4.5 stars! Wow!! This series is so well written and the world is phenomenal! I have NEVER experienced a world like this. I ate it up and the narrator is Julia Whelan so the audiobook is top-notch! My only qualm was it could have been a bit shorter. Don’t get me wrong, I love long books, but there was quite a bit of repetition that could have been cut. However, I adored it and I cannot wait for the next book. That ending was… WHOA!
It is a bit slow, and Elloren frustrates me because she acts so weak. I want to see her come into her power and stop being afraid to embrace who she is which is the Black Witch. The Vi warriors know who she is, but they are split on what to do with her. Half want her dead and the other half want to use her as weapon to defeat Vogel.
I enjoyed this and will definitely read the next in the series, but it wasn’t as entrancing at the other books in this series. However, the Black Witch was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time and I stayed up all night reading and didn’t even regret it when I was exhausted for work the next day. In this book quite a few major characters are killed off with very little fanfare. Suddenly they were just dead and everyone else moves on really quickly. I felt like this book was trying to explain some of the background and was mainly just setting up what’s coming next. A lot happened in this book, but it felt more like I was being told about it than being emerged in it. All that said, I love the magic system in this series and the creative world that Laurie Forest has built and I can’t wait to see what happens next.