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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
2.25 stars. wow i feel so bad about this rating but i have to be honest ok.
the same issues from the first book persist, though perhaps there is some improvement. once again there are overly meticulous puzzles that are solved in info dumping sessions, using bits of history that don’t even relate to the wider world building. thankfully not as farfetched this time, but i still really do not care for this method bc these solutions are actually conjured out of nothing. like it removes all sense of reader involvement and makes you feel like you’re reading a textbook instead
the flowery writing didn’t bother me before, but it did now. maybe it was the slow, empty plot that made the descriptive language feel more like filler than ever!! i didn’t have fun parsing sentences with a forced sense of poetry, but that’s probably personal preference judging from the high praise that this particular brand of writing style typically receives idk
the characters were what i loved about the gilded wolves, but this book turned them into my biggest annoyance. wow i’m so sad about it. is it possible to write characters too strongly? bc i thought the character writing was soo overdone, not a bit of subtlety and super repetitive. it’s like one or two traits are assigned to each of the cast, one being some inner emotional turmoil, and these traits are beaten into you with a stick every single chapter
i don’t get how the characters’ feelings are written about at such length, yet their actual progression inches forward at a snail’s pace. it’s infuriating, because everyone refuses to communicate for some reason !! they’re all isolated in their stubborn little heads and i'm stuck in there with them. the result is angst for the sake of angst, and what i feel is unreasonable, manufactured character drama.
severin has become so emo and his quest for godhood is unconvincing and obnoxious. and this side character, ruslan. his only personality trait is that he’s bald?? i’m not even exaggerating, every line he spoke included some mention of hair wtf. either someone else’s hair or the lack of his own. i guess this was supposed to be funny but just i thought it was so odd lmao
spoiler warning. but my two fave characters got split up ;-; . howw could u give me a queer relationship and rip it out of my hands! in favour of a het one that is bereft of genuine closeness, imo! this part was actually perfectly reasonable and i seem to be the only one mad about it, but still. one thousand years pain
finally, i think i’ve solidified a bit more why i don’t like the magic system. most of the time it just feels like the magic’s main purpose is that of whimsical imagery. also, with forging, it seems that the possibilities are literally endless — anything imaginable can be forged. which ironically, is uninteresting. limitations are a good thing! it’s restrictions that foster intentional creative decisions! less is more, and all that !!
forging wasn’t further explored or developed from the first book, either. kind of sad that we see so much of forged art/artifacts but get hardly any insight on the modern makers themselves. the magic is all a backdrop instead of being its own sort of character. i still dunno what i’m saying bro
idk if i can say if this is a bad book, but i didn’t enjoy any part of it. so many weak points, and the characters could not save it this time T-T . oh yeah the last 20 percent or so was pieced together well but wtf stop saving good shit for the end. /side eyes acotar
and yeah. ok bye
the same issues from the first book persist, though perhaps there is some improvement. once again there are overly meticulous puzzles that are solved in info dumping sessions, using bits of history that don’t even relate to the wider world building. thankfully not as farfetched this time, but i still really do not care for this method bc these solutions are actually conjured out of nothing. like it removes all sense of reader involvement and makes you feel like you’re reading a textbook instead
the flowery writing didn’t bother me before, but it did now. maybe it was the slow, empty plot that made the descriptive language feel more like filler than ever!! i didn’t have fun parsing sentences with a forced sense of poetry, but that’s probably personal preference judging from the high praise that this particular brand of writing style typically receives idk
the characters were what i loved about the gilded wolves, but this book turned them into my biggest annoyance. wow i’m so sad about it. is it possible to write characters too strongly? bc i thought the character writing was soo overdone, not a bit of subtlety and super repetitive. it’s like one or two traits are assigned to each of the cast, one being some inner emotional turmoil, and these traits are beaten into you with a stick every single chapter
i don’t get how the characters’ feelings are written about at such length, yet their actual progression inches forward at a snail’s pace. it’s infuriating, because everyone refuses to communicate for some reason !! they’re all isolated in their stubborn little heads and i'm stuck in there with them. the result is angst for the sake of angst, and what i feel is unreasonable, manufactured character drama.
severin has become so emo and his quest for godhood is unconvincing and obnoxious. and this side character, ruslan. his only personality trait is that he’s bald?? i’m not even exaggerating, every line he spoke included some mention of hair wtf. either someone else’s hair or the lack of his own. i guess this was supposed to be funny but just i thought it was so odd lmao
spoiler warning. but my two fave characters got split up ;-; . howw could u give me a queer relationship and rip it out of my hands! in favour of a het one that is bereft of genuine closeness, imo! this part was actually perfectly reasonable and i seem to be the only one mad about it, but still. one thousand years pain
finally, i think i’ve solidified a bit more why i don’t like the magic system. most of the time it just feels like the magic’s main purpose is that of whimsical imagery. also, with forging, it seems that the possibilities are literally endless — anything imaginable can be forged. which ironically, is uninteresting. limitations are a good thing! it’s restrictions that foster intentional creative decisions! less is more, and all that !!
forging wasn’t further explored or developed from the first book, either. kind of sad that we see so much of forged art/artifacts but get hardly any insight on the modern makers themselves. the magic is all a backdrop instead of being its own sort of character. i still dunno what i’m saying bro
idk if i can say if this is a bad book, but i didn’t enjoy any part of it. so many weak points, and the characters could not save it this time T-T . oh yeah the last 20 percent or so was pieced together well but wtf stop saving good shit for the end. /side eyes acotar
and yeah. ok bye
3.5, not 4 stars.
Chokshi builds on her last world very well but the characters drove me insane. I know having a tortured lead sells well but oh my god was I tired of him by the end.
I do wish she had gone more in depth with a few other characters (Hypnos remains a lovely C character) but the plot was solid, the twist was both in your face and also a little surprising.
Not going on my favorites list, but certainly a decent read if you want to finish the arc.
Chokshi builds on her last world very well but the characters drove me insane. I know having a tortured lead sells well but oh my god was I tired of him by the end.
I do wish she had gone more in depth with a few other characters (Hypnos remains a lovely C character) but the plot was solid, the twist was both in your face and also a little surprising.
Not going on my favorites list, but certainly a decent read if you want to finish the arc.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
this was a fun read (i read it in two days!), but ultimately it needed more polish. the beginning was a slog (did we really need a chapter for each of them as an introduction???) but the ending had me at the edge of my seat. the characters have potential but they all fell flat to me because of the many ways they can be better. i like that it discusses colonialism and imperialism, which is always great to see in a YA book, but yeah, the characters leave more to be desired. it's an easy read but there were bouts of unnecessary exposition and flashbacks, and some scenes needed more of that atmospheric touch. this book also massively lacks subtlety. we get it, séverin wants to be a god! no need to repeat it in each of his POV chapters. just because a book is YA doesn't mean it has to spell everything out for the reader.
all in all, still a fun read, and the ending has me wanting to read the next book sooner than i planned. i just wish it was better.
all in all, still a fun read, and the ending has me wanting to read the next book sooner than i planned. i just wish it was better.
4.5 stars.
I am so obsessed with this world and the characters but lemme just tell you one thing, this book? This whole ass book ? It hurt. From page 1 to the end of it, it bought so much pain :)
(RTC when I recover from that ending)
:)
I am so obsessed with this world and the characters but lemme just tell you one thing, this book? This whole ass book ? It hurt. From page 1 to the end of it, it bought so much pain :)
(RTC when I recover from that ending)
:)
adventurous
mysterious
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:
Yes
The plot was much more predictable than the last book and Severin was sooooo emo 17 year old coded that I rolled my eyes every scene he was in. Love the other people in the gang though!
Beautiful narrative of how grief can alter our perspectives and goals.
Super stressful and impossible to put down!
Was fit to kill Séverin a few times. It was great! :D
This sequel has great character-building and interesting concepts building on the power of Forging, but Séverin’s inward gaze & selfishness distracted & disappointed me. I love the characters —especially Zofia— but didn’t really enjoy the direction of this story. Nevertheless, I’ll read book 3 when it’s released.