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evekenzinator's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, War, and Fire/Fire injury
rchatterjee188's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Confinement, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Classism, War, and Colonisation
Minor: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship
mallorypen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.25
This series took such a surprising turn in my level of enjoyment - each book was better than the last!
This installment felt particularly well-plotted; I think knowing all the players and conflicts intimately from the first three books was a huge bonus, and so was having all the players on the same board versus jumping back and forth across the country.
Raisa felt like she came into her own in the last novel, and this novel built on that beautifully. Her heartbreak over Han’s “death,” her choosing to go on anyway, her choice of love being her people and queendom was really well done. My one complaint for her is how everyone was so in love with her - Micah ended up caving in beneath his own ambitions because he loved Raisa and she/Han out-maneuvered him; Amon loved her and only the magical bond prevented him from being with her; all the baddies were like “marriage? Marriage!” and Nightwalker - who was a skeeve from the outset - literally wanted to use Raisa as a puppet for his own pride and twisted sense of justice … but he also loved her in a weird way.
Han felt fully formed in this novel, too. I rooted for him the entire time, and when he finally set his goal of marrying Raisa because he loved her despite of her position rather than because of it … amazing. What I didn’t totally buy was Han believing Raisa would marry Micah instead, especially after they’d agreed to trust one another. It did squick me ever so slightly that he and Raisa were cousins 95 times removed, but just a little.
I did love that Lord Bayer was ultimately killed by a trap Alger bad set hundreds of years earlier. Lucas and Alger’s relationship was interesting, and I absolutely adored the idea of Han bringing Hanalea to Alger in Aeiddon at the end. There was a lot of happily ever afters, but I was largely okay with it.
It seems like of everyone, Amon got the worst deal. Well, Night Bird got the worst deal, but of the living, poor Amon. That’s rough, buddy.
This installment felt particularly well-plotted; I think knowing all the players and conflicts intimately from the first three books was a huge bonus, and so was having all the players on the same board versus jumping back and forth across the country.
Raisa felt like she came into her own in the last novel, and this novel built on that beautifully. Her heartbreak over Han’s “death,” her choosing to go on anyway, her choice of love being her people and queendom was really well done. My one complaint for her is how everyone was so in love with her - Micah ended up caving in beneath his own ambitions because he loved Raisa and she/Han out-maneuvered him; Amon loved her and only the magical bond prevented him from being with her; all the baddies were like “marriage? Marriage!” and Nightwalker - who was a skeeve from the outset - literally wanted to use Raisa as a puppet for his own pride and twisted sense of justice … but he also loved her in a weird way.
Han felt fully formed in this novel, too. I rooted for him the entire time, and when he finally set his goal of marrying Raisa because he loved her despite of her position rather than because of it … amazing. What I didn’t totally buy was Han believing Raisa would marry Micah instead, especially after they’d agreed to trust one another. It did squick me ever so slightly that he and Raisa were cousins 95 times removed, but just a little.
I did love that Lord Bayer was ultimately killed by a trap Alger bad set hundreds of years earlier. Lucas and Alger’s relationship was interesting, and I absolutely adored the idea of Han bringing Hanalea to Alger in Aeiddon at the end. There was a lot of happily ever afters, but I was largely okay with it.
It seems like of everyone, Amon got the worst deal. Well, Night Bird got the worst deal, but of the living, poor Amon. That’s rough, buddy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Murder, and War
Minor: Incest
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was rather good. I recommend for 13-15 but if you are older you’ll probably still enjoy it. The only thing about this series that really makes me not LOVE it was how many subplots there were. Each subplot seemed to be its own main plot that didn’t get wrapped up until this ending. It was still good and I loved how Cinda Williams Chima put those twists in the end and gave us a happy ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Racism, Kidnapping, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Murder, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent and Blood
Minor: Sexual content and Incest
Why are they cousins!?
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