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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
love this talented writer! one of my very favorite series!!
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It started off strong, but fizzled out. The plot in Karthain is not interesting to me. I generally find the bondsmagi overpowered and uninteresting; considering the ending the author most have a somewhat similar feeling.
As in the previous gentlemen bastards books, the ending is too abrupt and deus ex-machina like.
As in the previous gentlemen bastards books, the ending is too abrupt and deus ex-machina like.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Complicated
adventurous
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
I love the flashbacks
Excited for book 4!
Excited for book 4!
**I DON'T THINK THIS REVIEW HAS ACTUAL SPOILERS BUT IF YOU CAN'T BEAR TO HAVE EVEN A HINT OF WHAT A BOOK MIGHT CONTAIN, MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T BE READING REVIEWS??**
I loved it. I did. If my expectations weren't so ridiculously, Everestly high thanks to the previous books, this would be an ecstatic 5 stars. Call it a 4.5, because I do have to acknowledge that it wasn't quite "The Lies of Locke Lamora" yet was super duper fun to read.
Quibbles:
Sabetha: It was lovely to read a female character standing up for herself and demanding to be seen as a person rather than the occupant of a pedestal. But somehow the execution seemed a bit pedantic at times... like, I love Captain Awkward but don't wish to read a novelization of Captain Awkward "scripts". In a world where young women considering relationships are written so terribly most of the time, it seems ungenerous in the extreme to quibble, yet I quibbled.
Politics: IT TURNED OUT FINE but there were a few chunks there where I would get nervous that we were about to spend a very long time examining voting processes. I think this is residual Neal Stephenson trauma rearing its head. On a re-read, I'd know that these chunks weren't going to get out of control and it would be a smoother read.
I don't know, typos or something?: there were a couple of repeated errors, like someone did a find-and-replace they shouldn't have done. THIS IS NOT THE BOOK'S FAULT but it does distract the crap out of me. Also, I need to re-read but I think a very pivotal scene had a mistaken character name, which if you read these books you know the who's-where-doing-what-dressed-as-who stuff is incredibly detailed and important, so it fucked up the whole climax for a moment. Unless I totally misunderstood... but I don't think I did.
Awesome things:
Loved the theatre-troupe stuff, and I thought the switching between present-day and past timelines was very effective for the most part. It could have been disruptive and caused pacing problems, but instead, it was like reading two books for the price of one. And although I listed politics as a quibble, I actually loved the election shenanigans; it was a fun change that in this high-stakes political game, many of the strategies were just cheap tricks and small cons. In the previous book, there were some VERY long games being played, and to get much longer and more complex would be to become unreadable.
Best of all, finally the introduction of the full-series major plot arc/mystery; there have been hints in the previous books but the things that start to come out in this one explain a lot and make me extremely eager for the rest of the series!
I loved it. I did. If my expectations weren't so ridiculously, Everestly high thanks to the previous books, this would be an ecstatic 5 stars. Call it a 4.5, because I do have to acknowledge that it wasn't quite "The Lies of Locke Lamora" yet was super duper fun to read.
Quibbles:
Sabetha: It was lovely to read a female character standing up for herself and demanding to be seen as a person rather than the occupant of a pedestal. But somehow the execution seemed a bit pedantic at times... like, I love Captain Awkward but don't wish to read a novelization of Captain Awkward "scripts". In a world where young women considering relationships are written so terribly most of the time, it seems ungenerous in the extreme to quibble, yet I quibbled.
Politics: IT TURNED OUT FINE but there were a few chunks there where I would get nervous that we were about to spend a very long time examining voting processes. I think this is residual Neal Stephenson trauma rearing its head. On a re-read, I'd know that these chunks weren't going to get out of control and it would be a smoother read.
I don't know, typos or something?: there were a couple of repeated errors, like someone did a find-and-replace they shouldn't have done. THIS IS NOT THE BOOK'S FAULT but it does distract the crap out of me. Also, I need to re-read but I think a very pivotal scene had a mistaken character name, which if you read these books you know the who's-where-doing-what-dressed-as-who stuff is incredibly detailed and important, so it fucked up the whole climax for a moment. Unless I totally misunderstood... but I don't think I did.
Awesome things:
Loved the theatre-troupe stuff, and I thought the switching between present-day and past timelines was very effective for the most part. It could have been disruptive and caused pacing problems, but instead, it was like reading two books for the price of one. And although I listed politics as a quibble, I actually loved the election shenanigans; it was a fun change that in this high-stakes political game, many of the strategies were just cheap tricks and small cons. In the previous book, there were some VERY long games being played, and to get much longer and more complex would be to become unreadable.
Best of all, finally the introduction of the full-series major plot arc/mystery; there have been hints in the previous books but the things that start to come out in this one explain a lot and make me extremely eager for the rest of the series!