Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
However, I did enjoy the plot and the way everything got twisted in this book. It makes you question everyone and you're not sure who to trust. On the adventure end, it was definitely a 4.5 :)
3/15/15 - i just started reading this, as i just borrowed it from my library. as i was putting my due date slip in the book a page or two after the end of the story, i just happened to glance at the last line. (i won't say what it is!) if that's the reason what for what happens to Yelena (i won't say what that is either!), right now i'm reading the book from the point of view to find out the ways that information becomes known to her as opposed to her finding out what happened. for me, it's now a HowDunIt, as opposed to a WhoDunIt. i look forward to the journey to the Reveal.
“Yelena?”
“Hmm?”
“I’d like you to stay with me while we figure out how to unblock your magic. We’re stronger together.”
“All right.”
He laughed. “I thought I’d have more of a fight.”
“I’m too tired to argue.”
“Then I should take advantage of the situation.”
I cracked one eye open. “And?”
“I’d like you to stay with me forever.”
I was prompted to read this after seeing the above snippet of conversation between Valek and Yelena, which I found quite cute. I loved Poison Study and, while I didn't much like the sequels, Valek and Yelena have always held a spot in my heart. However, the issues I had with the sequels did not vanish in this book – if anything, they intensified.
Once again, Valek and Yelena only spend about 2% of the book together and that time generally consists of them in bed. The fantastic, push-and-shove relationship dynamic and quick dialogue from the first book are gone, replaced by empty platitudes and love-making. The rest of the book was then reduced to a plodding mystery that felt like more of a check-in with old characters than a solid storyline. Valek's chapters primarily consisted of flashbacks of Valek's assassin training and the commander's takeover; while somewhat interesting, I kept assuming they would somehow be tied back into the story, but the ending did not satisfactorily provide an explanation for their inclusion and I was left with the impression that they were just added to increase page-count.
What kept me reading was the need to reach the snippet of conversation, and I confess, there were some boring and detail-oriented pages that I skimmed. I finally found the quote two pages before the end and it wasn't much expanded upon – quite the let down. Can't say I'll be reading the sequels to this one, despite the cliffhanger-ish ending. Or maybe I will, I seem to have a weakness for reading these books despite not really liking the direction they take.
Yelena: I adore her craziness, madness, stubbornness, loyalty and everything about her.
Valek: Deadly but definitely has a soft spot for his woman, Yelena
Janco: BAE
Let's go back a tad further though.
Things are getting serious in this universe. There's a drug that can paralyse magic and incapacitate a person. There's a drug that can open a person's mind and leave them vulnerable to psychic attacks. There's a type of magic that prevents magic from being used near another person. There's a type of magic, now outlawed and hopefully lost, that allows a person to use another's magical potential as their own. There's a magical way to swap a person's soul into another's body.
There are countless poisons that will be undetectable to the average person.
And then, you have a rag-tag bunch of magicians and assassins and spies trying to keep the world as balanced as they can without everything turning to mush when they go on holiday.
Caught up?
Yelena is a soul-finder. She finds souls. Frees them. Let's them move on. Pretty much what it says on the box.
At the start of this book though, she loses her magic. The rest of the book is a tight plot following her search to find out how she lost her magic - it covers all possible avenues, almost tiresomely at times.
This is also the first time the book has not been told entirely from Yelena's point of view. We get chapters titled with other characters names and the story is told 3rd person from their point of view. Helpful for all the action we miss when Yelena splits the party.
We also get Valek's backstory. I know people were dying to have it and to be honest, I could have done without. The version in my head was so much richer. And he was so much more brutal and fierce for not having a fleshed out backstory.
I'm going to finish this because I love this series and as always, the secondary characters are amazing in Snyder's books. It just didn't rock my world the way the first series did.
