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immovabletype's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
my rating is actually 4.43 stars, which i only point out because it's the exact same number as the average rating. wild! i did dock the half star because it took me a while to get into this one due to the focus on the main romance in the beginning (i'm a romance girly, but this one was just a little too young for me, i think, and i really loved the plot and wanted to get back to it). however, this duology is a new favorite that i want everyone to read if they haven't yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Confinement, Death, Grief, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, and Torture
Moderate: Pregnancy and Slavery
Minor: Abortion and Homophobia
Child death/infanticide and rape are not graphically depicted, but they are so prevalent and baked into the worldbuilding and main conflicts that I can't call them moderate.janagaton's review
4.0
I enjoyed it more than Strange the Dreamer because I knew most of the characters, but I wasn't as captivated as I wanted to be. Love Laini Taylor's writing though, so I will definitely still pick up her DOSAB series.
alialu's review against another edition
5.0
Review on July 2023, 2nd reread:
Let all the ugliness end.
Oh my mother frigging gods. Thank you, THANK YOU universe for making me forget everything about this book in this past 4 years. Not often it happens that you get to experience one of your favourite books for the second time like it was the very first time.
I was able to enjoy this book like it was brand new, but with a sense of "calmness", since what I did remember is that I had liked the ending a lot, it not being catastrophic at least. It's not catastrophic. It's just perfect.
From Thyon, Eril-fane and Minya's arcs,
The story filled with Witchlight,
Eagles and blue beasts,
Ghosts and gods,
A beautifully but vaguely depicted universe that I HOPE we get to see more of,
To my precious Lazlo.
There's NOTHING in this book I dislike.
And please, some day, Laini, just take me back to the sky with all of them.
Review on first read:
No words...
So this is the end of this review
(or is it?)
Damn you Laini
Let all the ugliness end.
Oh my mother frigging gods. Thank you, THANK YOU universe for making me forget everything about this book in this past 4 years. Not often it happens that you get to experience one of your favourite books for the second time like it was the very first time.
I was able to enjoy this book like it was brand new, but with a sense of "calmness", since what I did remember is that I had liked the ending a lot, it not being catastrophic at least. It's not catastrophic. It's just perfect.
From Thyon, Eril-fane and Minya's arcs,
The story filled with Witchlight,
Eagles and blue beasts,
Ghosts and gods,
A beautifully but vaguely depicted universe that I HOPE we get to see more of,
To my precious Lazlo.
There's NOTHING in this book I dislike.
And please, some day, Laini, just take me back to the sky with all of them.
Review on first read:
No words...
So this is the end of this review
(or is it?)
Damn you Laini
votesforwomen's review
4.0
RE-READ REVIEW:
Dear writers:
when it comes to sexy times, less is more. Please, PLEASE remember that. *sobs* Because DUDE I love this book but I just? Can't? Get over how much sexy stuff there is? Plz. PLZ. Let me love my favorite books and not weep (hahaha no pun intended) over content. Please.
Love y'all, peace out
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I will miss you, Strange the Dreamer.
This book didn't have the same raw power as the first, and while I still loved it, my heart was not captured in the same way. Kora and Nova were simply not as compelling as the other characters, although I still felt their pain. But oh, the OTHER CHARACTERS.
A series like this, one that understands that its strength all comes from the people within its pages, who walk through its worlds...there's not enough of them out there. I have never felt my soul, which screams for the fulfillment of dozens of well-crafted, dimensional, changing characters, so fulfilled with one book.
I fell in love with Lazlo Strange and his sweetness, his beauty, his love of books and his certainty that the world could be a better place. How many protagonists can say the same?
I fell in love with Sarai and her desire to heal people, even as she felt trapped within her own power of inflicting nightmares.
I fell in love with Feral, Ruby, and Sparrow--three kids with limited opportunites, kids who didn't know what they were doing or where they were going, just that they wanted MORE.
I fell in love with Suheyla, the grandma who just loves everyone and made me so, so happy. I want a Suheyla.
I even loved Minya in this one. Because I understood her. The pain of what she felt hung in raw nerves around her and I could feel it with every page I read. Her guilt chokes her, trapping her where she is, and she could not escape. I know people like this. They may not be trapped in the age of six, eternally reliving the worst moment of their life with no way at all to escape, but I think it's important to remember that while Minya and her situation are fictional, there are people like her. And I loved it.
AND ERIL-FANE.
He's a guy who's strong and weak and conflicted and broken and he cries and he loves but he's afraid that he's unworthy of love. He did the best thing he could think of at the time, and his decisions haunt him. Everything he's ever done hangs before his eyes, and he wants redemption, while at the same time thinking he isn't worthy of it.
This guy broke my heart. I want more characters like this. I want more Eril-Fanes. The godslayer who feels only pain in the wake of his accomplishments. I loved him, so very much.
Eril-Fane gave me a lot of feels, in case you couldn't tell.
If you were wavering on reading this series on the basis of sexy stuff, this is the point where I will shout EJECT EJECT ABORT MISSION DO NOT PASS GO. There was definitely some fade-to-black (although the line "The iguana was not invited" made me laugh SO HARD I choked for some reason. I'm not sure why it was so funny, it just was.) Pretty detailed kissing and touching and stuff going on here. So, if that's not for you, I would say skip this, probably.
But if you can handle such things as that, then absolutely, yes, read this. It's SO GOOD. I want the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series now, because I want more of Laini Taylor's writing. <3
4 stars to this amazing sequel and the conclusion of this duology. (Hey, now I know what to say when people ask what my favorite duology is! Ha.)
Dear writers:
when it comes to sexy times, less is more. Please, PLEASE remember that. *sobs* Because DUDE I love this book but I just? Can't? Get over how much sexy stuff there is? Plz. PLZ. Let me love my favorite books and not weep (hahaha no pun intended) over content. Please.
Love y'all, peace out
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I will miss you, Strange the Dreamer.
This book didn't have the same raw power as the first, and while I still loved it, my heart was not captured in the same way. Kora and Nova were simply not as compelling as the other characters, although I still felt their pain. But oh, the OTHER CHARACTERS.
A series like this, one that understands that its strength all comes from the people within its pages, who walk through its worlds...there's not enough of them out there. I have never felt my soul, which screams for the fulfillment of dozens of well-crafted, dimensional, changing characters, so fulfilled with one book.
I fell in love with Lazlo Strange and his sweetness, his beauty, his love of books and his certainty that the world could be a better place. How many protagonists can say the same?
I fell in love with Sarai and her desire to heal people, even as she felt trapped within her own power of inflicting nightmares.
I fell in love with Feral, Ruby, and Sparrow--three kids with limited opportunites, kids who didn't know what they were doing or where they were going, just that they wanted MORE.
I fell in love with Suheyla, the grandma who just loves everyone and made me so, so happy. I want a Suheyla.
I even loved Minya in this one. Because I understood her. The pain of what she felt hung in raw nerves around her and I could feel it with every page I read. Her guilt chokes her, trapping her where she is, and she could not escape. I know people like this. They may not be trapped in the age of six, eternally reliving the worst moment of their life with no way at all to escape, but I think it's important to remember that while Minya and her situation are fictional, there are people like her. And I loved it.
AND ERIL-FANE.
He's a guy who's strong and weak and conflicted and broken and he cries and he loves but he's afraid that he's unworthy of love. He did the best thing he could think of at the time, and his decisions haunt him. Everything he's ever done hangs before his eyes, and he wants redemption, while at the same time thinking he isn't worthy of it.
This guy broke my heart.
Spoiler
When he died, I screamed. I wanted to punch the book. And then he kept on dying and dying and I cried and cried and this is the real reason I hate Nova. Sorry. xDEril-Fane gave me a lot of feels, in case you couldn't tell.
If you were wavering on reading this series on the basis of sexy stuff, this is the point where I will shout EJECT EJECT ABORT MISSION DO NOT PASS GO. There was definitely some fade-to-black (although the line "The iguana was not invited" made me laugh SO HARD I choked for some reason. I'm not sure why it was so funny, it just was.) Pretty detailed kissing and touching and stuff going on here. So, if that's not for you, I would say skip this, probably.
But if you can handle such things as that, then absolutely, yes, read this. It's SO GOOD. I want the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series now, because I want more of Laini Taylor's writing. <3
4 stars to this amazing sequel and the conclusion of this duology. (Hey, now I know what to say when people ask what my favorite duology is! Ha.)
aftaerglows's review against another edition
5.0
i didn’t know what the fuck was going on but like... in a good way
beatrice0607's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.75
thatsmrsnyder's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
3.5
I want to love this series, but for every emotional beat it lands successfully (and there are many), there's this nagging pull of emptiness from the world building and wasted characters, a feeling that it could have been a terrific novella but isn't quite fully realized in a 500 page book.
madnew's review
2.0
I don’t have many thoughts except that this was a great continuation of the first book. This felt like a continuation vs a sequel.
The quote that stood out to me the most:
“People,” she said. “People are our safe places. I have one: a person who’s a home and a world to me.”
The quote that stood out to me the most:
“People,” she said. “People are our safe places. I have one: a person who’s a home and a world to me.”
brendalovesbooks's review
4.0
Second time through:
I still thought the beginning was really slow, but the second half definitely picked up. I like the characters, and think the author did a good job of making characters that did bad things, but you could understand their reasoning. There were very few true villains here. I still definitely prefer the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy over this one.
First time reading:
The first half was so slow I had to skim in parts to get through it.
I still thought the beginning was really slow, but the second half definitely picked up. I like the characters, and think the author did a good job of making characters that did bad things, but you could understand their reasoning. There were very few true villains here. I still definitely prefer the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy over this one.
First time reading:
The first half was so slow I had to skim in parts to get through it.