You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
bauke's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: War
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Gaslighting
Minor: Transphobia
jayinbee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
rikuson1's review against another edition
- 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
-★★★★✮- (4.50/5.00)
My Grading Letter Score = 90% (A)
When I finished The Well of Ascension, the first words that came out of my mouth were "simply incredible." But at first the pacing of this book at the start, I completely understand why some people would consider this weaker than The Final Empire if we are discussing overall pacing because The Well of Ascension was constantly going from slow to fast to slower to faster. For me, I'm not really someone who heavily focuses on pacing if what is being provided to me is engaging and if it's building up to something that is paid off when it's due, which this book mostly everyone agrees it does just that. So, regarding pacing consistency, sure, you can go ahead and give The Final Empire the upper hand when it comes to that. But honestly, outside of that, I most definitely feel like The Well of Ascension is tied with The Final Empire in almost every other criteria, and/or The Well of Ascension did it better.
The two categories I feel The Well of Ascension did better were characterization and character development. Every single character that was focused on in The Well of Ascension, for the most part, felt like they were given the time they needed to be fleshed out enough to be commended at least above what the characterization execution was provided to us in The Final Empire and goes for the development they went through in this book. World-building, Lore, Action, and Prose are all categories that can be debated which one did it better. I don't really care since I enjoyed all of these things in both of these books.
Verdict
At first, I was Team Final Empire, until around Chapter 47 when my favorite fight scene in the series so far occurred did I start to lean over to Team Well of Ascension, after that the pacing slowed back down and then I started to lean back over to The Final Empire and then the last fifty pages of this book leveled me out. It brought me to the conclusion of thinking that I like both of these books equally critically, to be honest. If I was held at gunpoint and forced to choose one over the other, I might say The Well of Ascension, since the hype of just finishing it is still on me and I love great characterization which this book gave me a whole lot of. But I love both of these books equally and I'm glad I did not come out of it thinking less of it in comparison to its predecessor, a successor should be as good or better than what came before it and I feel The Well of Ascension accomplished just that. So regardless of what the majority of people state or what the rating score in comparison says about this book.
I Really Liked It.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Xenophobia and War
Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism
tilo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Not to mention, the amazing and captivating writing style!
Due to the ending, I am both extremely curious and mortified to find out what is waiting in Book Three.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Minor: Ableism and Sexism
naomi_k's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault
emmacartlidge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pedophilia
webz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Death, Violence, and War
Minor: Self harm
knerys's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction and Drug use
Minor: Rape
steven_v's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: War
Minor: Violence
rachelh92's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death