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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
There were somethings I liked about this book and some things I didn't. For the most part, I really liked it; the pacing is great (I love an author that knows they don't need to have a 500 page book), the story is great and I love the characters we get to see and explore.
Considering this was a revised edition of this book, there were some glaring errors that made it through editing. It's not a huge deal for me, but it does take me out of the story when I notice it.
The biggest issue for me was the ending. It felt like the story was going to go to this location and story beat at some point but Samantha Shannon didn't know how to get us there. Throw in a giant deus ex machina to fix the solution for us! It just made a very tense and dramatic ending fall flat for me.
Considering this was a revised edition of this book, there were some glaring errors that made it through editing. It's not a huge deal for me, but it does take me out of the story when I notice it.
The biggest issue for me was the ending. It felt like the story was going to go to this location and story beat at some point but Samantha Shannon didn't know how to get us there. Throw in a giant deus ex machina to fix the solution for us! It just made a very tense and dramatic ending fall flat for me.
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
You can find my full review for this as well as other books on my blog here
When I started reading The Bone Season I did not expect to like it as much as I do. This is a series that just keeps on getting better.
I’m not sure if it is the author finding her feet with the series or if it is just because the more you read the better understanding you have of the world so you just enjoy it more. Does that make sense? I think it does!
So Paige is now Underqueen of the entire London syndicate. She has betrayed Jaxon Hall and turned her back on him entirely. Now she has to lead and some people are not at all happy about it! And of course things are about to get a whole lot worse for the Clairvoyants of London as Scion have developed a device called Senshield which allows Voyants to be detected via a portable scanner and detailed.
This forces Paige and her Mime Order into hiding while a whole bunch of shit goes down. I mean the last two books had a bit of a slow pacing issue but this book was a totally different story. Twists and turns galore, I loved it!
Paige travels outside of London in order to find where the Senshield is being manufactured with the intent of destroying it but nothing is ever so simple, is it? The Rephaim always seem to be one step ahead of Paige and her syndicate so prepare yourself for an adrenaline fuelled ride!
The way the characters, particularly Paige have grown and developed over the course of the three books really has been exceptional. You feel like you really know her by now, she is still not perfect and she is still making some really poor choices but she is brave and her heart is in the right place, always.
You feel what she feels and let me tell you… she feels a LOT throughout this book. It hurts! There is a lot more emotion in this book than in the previous two. I felt excitement before but this one really gets you in the feels!
By the time you reach the end, characters are truly broken. You are broken.
I am really glad that I didn’t have to wait for this book to come out because I can imagine that it must have been a long, hard wait! It has been a pleasure to read and I am really excited to see what is in store for Paige in The Mask Falling which I currently have on loan from the Borrowbox library but have not yet started.
This was the most exciting, emotional and difficult read of the series so far and I am looking forward to diving into the next book after a short break from the series to read other things.
When I started reading The Bone Season I did not expect to like it as much as I do. This is a series that just keeps on getting better.
I’m not sure if it is the author finding her feet with the series or if it is just because the more you read the better understanding you have of the world so you just enjoy it more. Does that make sense? I think it does!
So Paige is now Underqueen of the entire London syndicate. She has betrayed Jaxon Hall and turned her back on him entirely. Now she has to lead and some people are not at all happy about it! And of course things are about to get a whole lot worse for the Clairvoyants of London as Scion have developed a device called Senshield which allows Voyants to be detected via a portable scanner and detailed.
This forces Paige and her Mime Order into hiding while a whole bunch of shit goes down. I mean the last two books had a bit of a slow pacing issue but this book was a totally different story. Twists and turns galore, I loved it!
Paige travels outside of London in order to find where the Senshield is being manufactured with the intent of destroying it but nothing is ever so simple, is it? The Rephaim always seem to be one step ahead of Paige and her syndicate so prepare yourself for an adrenaline fuelled ride!
The way the characters, particularly Paige have grown and developed over the course of the three books really has been exceptional. You feel like you really know her by now, she is still not perfect and she is still making some really poor choices but she is brave and her heart is in the right place, always.
You feel what she feels and let me tell you… she feels a LOT throughout this book. It hurts! There is a lot more emotion in this book than in the previous two. I felt excitement before but this one really gets you in the feels!
By the time you reach the end, characters are truly broken. You are broken.
I am really glad that I didn’t have to wait for this book to come out because I can imagine that it must have been a long, hard wait! It has been a pleasure to read and I am really excited to see what is in store for Paige in The Mask Falling which I currently have on loan from the Borrowbox library but have not yet started.
This was the most exciting, emotional and difficult read of the series so far and I am looking forward to diving into the next book after a short break from the series to read other things.
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is more like a 3.99, taking off a star for personal stress made by this book lol
The copy I read was also of the 2024 revised copies so this may differ from the OG ones.
Based on some reviews saying TSR was more like a bridge into The Mask Falling, I partially disagree. Mainly because TSR has its own plot line and doesn't leave a lot of stuff hanging to be solved in the next book. We also learn a little bit of the outside world and the dynamics of the Syndicates with Paige as Underqueen. So I feel like if this was a bridge into the next book then it wouldn't have wrapped up the Senshield storyline and would have left it for the mask falling instead.
As for the rating, on a real note, I did rate it below 4 stars by a hair because while I enjoyed it I found myself frustrated with some of the characters. That and I used my enjoyment of the 1st book as a benchmarker on how I feel about each book. Mime Order I rated higher than the 1st book because I enjoyed it more, while The Song Rising I rated lower because I just had more issues with it then I did with the Bone Season. Idk if that makes sense but that's how I go about this lol
One of the big things that frustrated me was mostly Paige. Some of her choices I just don't agree with, especially the whole thing with Jax andhow he planted those seeds of doubt in her. I hate miscommunication tropes, especially when it's something that can be fixed with a simple conversation. I know it was part of Jaxs manipulations but at the same time I was like Girl please just say something. Then when it's finally cleared up between her and Warden she just kinda breaks it off anyway, but then regrets it towards the end of the book. Then there was that whole thing with Cait which I was so annoyed when reading. I will never not be annoyed at how Paige acted shocked when Cait killed the dude that Cait had implied she wanted dead not even a whole page before . It just felt like Paige thought about her choices but never really THOUGHT about it for the long run. Which I guess is in character when you have a 19 year old in charge.
Now it wasn't purely Paige that annoyed me, because Warden annoyed me an equal amount. Knowingthat Paige was being treated less than by Terebell and Warden not standing up for her AT ALL boiled my buttons. He says it's so Terebell and the rest of the Ranthen wouldn't suspect anything so as to keep the alliance but I call BS cause I believe the Syndicate has more pull over the Ranthen then they think. Sure Terebell has money but the Syndicate has man power and knows the ins and outs of London. Plus I find it hard to believe that if Warden stuck up for Paige that it would expose their relationship. It just made me mad. Like you're just gonna sit there? Okay...
That said I do still really like Paige and Warden, I think their relationship is interesting. I just hope it gets a bit more umph in the next book or just some development between the two. And also hopefully the whole issue of Warden & Paige isn't completely dropped and they still dive into that.
I think one of my favorite parts were truly anything with the side characters. The side characters shined where Paige made me want to chew on furnishing. Nick, Eliza, Maria (my trans QUEEN AHH I LOVE HER), and Tom(RIP my Scottish King) , they all were excellent.
The last portion of the book was probably the best part,I'm glad that the issue of Senshield was resolved (as far as we know) in this book rather than just left to be solved in the next book. The parts where Paige was tortured definitely had me going "Whoa" cause a lot of time in books with torture, they never do waterboarding as that method. It's almost always like breaking bones or something that requires physically scaring the body. Waterboarding is just so much more intense and I really did have to pace it out when reading through that.
All in all, the song rising is a good book. Depending on how the Mask Falling goes (and soon The Dark Mirror 🫶) I think it will bet least favorite of the series. Not bad but not the best when compared to the others.
The copy I read was also of the 2024 revised copies so this may differ from the OG ones.
Based on some reviews saying TSR was more like a bridge into The Mask Falling, I partially disagree. Mainly because TSR has its own plot line and doesn't leave a lot of stuff hanging to be solved in the next book. We also learn a little bit of the outside world and the dynamics of the Syndicates with Paige as Underqueen. So I feel like if this was a bridge into the next book then it wouldn't have wrapped up the Senshield storyline and would have left it for the mask falling instead.
As for the rating, on a real note, I did rate it below 4 stars by a hair because while I enjoyed it I found myself frustrated with some of the characters. That and I used my enjoyment of the 1st book as a benchmarker on how I feel about each book. Mime Order I rated higher than the 1st book because I enjoyed it more, while The Song Rising I rated lower because I just had more issues with it then I did with the Bone Season. Idk if that makes sense but that's how I go about this lol
One of the big things that frustrated me was mostly Paige. Some of her choices I just don't agree with, especially the whole thing with Jax and
Now it wasn't purely Paige that annoyed me, because Warden annoyed me an equal amount. Knowing
That said I do still really like Paige and Warden, I think their relationship is interesting. I just hope it gets a bit more umph in the next book or just some development between the two. And also hopefully the whole issue of Warden & Paige isn't completely dropped and they still dive into that.
I think one of my favorite parts were truly anything with the side characters. The side characters shined where Paige made me want to chew on furnishing. Nick, Eliza, Maria (my trans QUEEN AHH I LOVE HER), and Tom
The last portion of the book was probably the best part,
All in all, the song rising is a good book. Depending on how the Mask Falling goes (and soon The Dark Mirror 🫶) I think it will bet least favorite of the series. Not bad but not the best when compared to the others.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
dark
funny
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
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated