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secre's review
4.0
A really clever finale with some epic twists and turns that I didn’t see coming at all. Character development is far more empathised within this novel and you get to really build up a three dimensional image not just of Romy, but of those around her as well. The narrative arc didn’t go in the way I anticipated at all, which was a pleasant surprise and by and large the majority of what happens is realistic within the world it is set in.
The only reason this isn’t a five star review is that whilst the ideas within the novel are excellent, the pacing of the novel suffers some serious flaws. The beginning and the ending in particular are rushed, meaning that you don’t build essential an connection with a character to begin with and then it finishes with an explosive yet strangely unsatisfactory climax. Part of me actually wonders if this should have been four books rather than three.... with the first few chapters and last few chapters actually spanning a half book each respectively. There’s certainly enough going on that that edit to the pacing would likely work.
Whilst those two areas are the most obvious, there are other moments that seem poorly paced; some where the author seems to be savouring every detail of the surrounding area to the point of boredom... or Romy’s internal monologues which get very repetitive and tedious as there is little that changes there throughout the three books... and yet at other moments you are raced through an action packed sequence so quickly your teeth rattle and it feels stilted, as though the author is so desperate to get through the exciting bit that she forgets how powerful and poetic words can be.
That said, I did very much enjoy this novel - indeed as I have enjoyed the two preceding it. They have certainly become more thought provoking and controversial as the trilogy progressed, but that’s no bad thing. I’ll be interested in following the authors writing career and progress.
The only reason this isn’t a five star review is that whilst the ideas within the novel are excellent, the pacing of the novel suffers some serious flaws. The beginning and the ending in particular are rushed, meaning that you don’t build essential an connection with a character to begin with and then it finishes with an explosive yet strangely unsatisfactory climax. Part of me actually wonders if this should have been four books rather than three.... with the first few chapters and last few chapters actually spanning a half book each respectively. There’s certainly enough going on that that edit to the pacing would likely work.
Whilst those two areas are the most obvious, there are other moments that seem poorly paced; some where the author seems to be savouring every detail of the surrounding area to the point of boredom... or Romy’s internal monologues which get very repetitive and tedious as there is little that changes there throughout the three books... and yet at other moments you are raced through an action packed sequence so quickly your teeth rattle and it feels stilted, as though the author is so desperate to get through the exciting bit that she forgets how powerful and poetic words can be.
That said, I did very much enjoy this novel - indeed as I have enjoyed the two preceding it. They have certainly become more thought provoking and controversial as the trilogy progressed, but that’s no bad thing. I’ll be interested in following the authors writing career and progress.
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