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ellelainey's review
4.0
POV – 3rd person, multi character, often omni-present
Would I read it again – Yes!
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Serial, Historical, Coming-of-Age, Queer
Content Warning – mild violence, sexual situations, adultery/cheating, prostitution
Orientations – MM, MF, FF
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
I love the world building of this series, and the talented writers who bring it all together, but I was left heartbroken by the events of Season One and I'm hopeful that Season Two will at least offer some relief from that. I'm coming straight into this, just an hour after finishing Season One, so it's all fresh in my mind. There are still the infrequent issues of editing mistakes, changes of tense that don't always make sense, as were in Season One, but the recurring issue of font change has been eliminated, which is a relief.
Because of the format Netgalley sent, or perhaps because of how Kindle interprets them, the formatting for the first half of this series of ARC's was terrible. The documents had either one or two lines then a line of gapping, repeated throughout and it wasn't only hard on the eyes, but made it more difficult to follow in terms of flow. The second half were much better formatted.
~
Episode 2: Old in Mischief, by Tessa Gratton
★★★★☆
Pages: 41
And so begins another intriguing episode. Only, this time, we have some new characters in play: Lord Arlen, and Florian and Shade. They play different fields, but are just as sly as each other. I particularly loved the way Lord Arlen rattled Diane's confidence at the end!
When it comes to the writing, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. I'd hoped that the authors of Season 1 would be writing every season, so changing to a new writing style this far into the story was jarring. Especially since I didn't exactly warm to Gratton's style in the first place. There were some editing issues, expected of an ARC copy, but I also found that this one seemed to wax lyrically in a few places, characters unexpectedly drifting off into deep thoughts, and unnaturally glowing descriptions of themselves in their own POV. It just didn't feel as seamless as the writing I've come to love in this series.
It was good to see the old characters back again; Vincent getting his own POV for the first time, and with reason, Ixkaab being her usual reckless self and not thinking about others, Micah and Joshua getting themselves into trouble so unexpectedly. Even Diane stepped in, for a little while. But I was disappointed to find that there was no Rafe. I'll admit that I'm intrigued by Florian and Shade, though I worry that they'll be a problem for Joshua and Micah. I loved finally getting to see a hint of Vincent's past, and was shocked that Reza was a part of that!
Overall, it was a good episode, but I was missing Rafe, I was missing the political intrigue, and I missed the lightheartedness that Rafe often brings to the story. Joshua tried, but he was barely in it long enough to have any impact.
Favourite Quote
“Diane de Tremontaine understood with utter finality that there were layers and threads of intrigue and promise running through the political web of this City she could not even see, and she was not – yet – the most cunning spider at its heart.
But she would be.”
Would I read it again – Yes!
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Serial, Historical, Coming-of-Age, Queer
Content Warning – mild violence, sexual situations, adultery/cheating, prostitution
Orientations – MM, MF, FF
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
I love the world building of this series, and the talented writers who bring it all together, but I was left heartbroken by the events of Season One and I'm hopeful that Season Two will at least offer some relief from that. I'm coming straight into this, just an hour after finishing Season One, so it's all fresh in my mind. There are still the infrequent issues of editing mistakes, changes of tense that don't always make sense, as were in Season One, but the recurring issue of font change has been eliminated, which is a relief.
Because of the format Netgalley sent, or perhaps because of how Kindle interprets them, the formatting for the first half of this series of ARC's was terrible. The documents had either one or two lines then a line of gapping, repeated throughout and it wasn't only hard on the eyes, but made it more difficult to follow in terms of flow. The second half were much better formatted.
~
Episode 2: Old in Mischief, by Tessa Gratton
★★★★☆
Pages: 41
And so begins another intriguing episode. Only, this time, we have some new characters in play: Lord Arlen, and Florian and Shade. They play different fields, but are just as sly as each other. I particularly loved the way Lord Arlen rattled Diane's confidence at the end!
When it comes to the writing, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. I'd hoped that the authors of Season 1 would be writing every season, so changing to a new writing style this far into the story was jarring. Especially since I didn't exactly warm to Gratton's style in the first place. There were some editing issues, expected of an ARC copy, but I also found that this one seemed to wax lyrically in a few places, characters unexpectedly drifting off into deep thoughts, and unnaturally glowing descriptions of themselves in their own POV. It just didn't feel as seamless as the writing I've come to love in this series.
It was good to see the old characters back again; Vincent getting his own POV for the first time, and with reason, Ixkaab being her usual reckless self and not thinking about others, Micah and Joshua getting themselves into trouble so unexpectedly. Even Diane stepped in, for a little while. But I was disappointed to find that there was no Rafe. I'll admit that I'm intrigued by Florian and Shade, though I worry that they'll be a problem for Joshua and Micah. I loved finally getting to see a hint of Vincent's past, and was shocked that Reza was a part of that!
Overall, it was a good episode, but I was missing Rafe, I was missing the political intrigue, and I missed the lightheartedness that Rafe often brings to the story. Joshua tried, but he was barely in it long enough to have any impact.
Favourite Quote
“Diane de Tremontaine understood with utter finality that there were layers and threads of intrigue and promise running through the political web of this City she could not even see, and she was not – yet – the most cunning spider at its heart.
But she would be.”
chirson's review
2.0
I'm waiting for the second season to pick up the pace and get going with the story, but instead this chapter was an exercise in secondary plotlines and very little plot movement.
amyjoy's review
I am going to wait & review the whole thing once this season is complete. I am happy to see Micah again! Hopefully, she'll actually get to DO something this time around!
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