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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
Still as enjoyable as the first one! I do enjoy the way this author writes. :)
I agree with the other reviews I read though: more serious, sometimes it was a bit much, etc.
Nevertheless, everyone was still as lovable as ever. I truly love the camaraderie between Sam, Ryan, Gary, Tiggy, and Kevin. <3
The book did have a cliffhanger and I really want to read books 3 and 4 ASAP!!!!
I agree with the other reviews I read though: more serious, sometimes it was a bit much, etc.
Nevertheless, everyone was still as lovable as ever. I truly love the camaraderie between Sam, Ryan, Gary, Tiggy, and Kevin. <3
The book did have a cliffhanger and I really want to read books 3 and 4 ASAP!!!!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the 2nd book of the Tales From Verania series! When I first read TLSH, I fell in love. I immediately sought out other books by T.J. Klune and found myself diving headfirst into a pile of books that would quickly move T.J. into my favorite author's list.
I'll admit, I read DoD rather slowly, mostly because I was swamped with assigned reading for classes, and in my free time I chose gaming over reading for fun. That being said, I loved DoD, even though I chose to give it 4/5 stars. It was wonderful to reconnect with Sam, Ryan, Gary and Tiggy, and I had looked forward to getting back into the world of Verania since I finished TLSH. DoD was a bit darker, but it only added to the depth of the story and created a real sense of "Holy shit, we are so fucked." The hilarity, ridiculous and often inappropriate, was still there, and I truly appreciated it, because it only adds to the charm of the story.
The only negative thing I can think of is that I felt that DoD had a few spots where it dragged on a bit, or plateaued momentarily. Regardless, I still loved this continuation, and I am eager to see the direction it will go.
I'll admit, I read DoD rather slowly, mostly because I was swamped with assigned reading for classes, and in my free time I chose gaming over reading for fun. That being said, I loved DoD, even though I chose to give it 4/5 stars. It was wonderful to reconnect with Sam, Ryan, Gary and Tiggy, and I had looked forward to getting back into the world of Verania since I finished TLSH. DoD was a bit darker, but it only added to the depth of the story and created a real sense of "Holy shit, we are so fucked." The hilarity, ridiculous and often inappropriate, was still there, and I truly appreciated it, because it only adds to the charm of the story.
The only negative thing I can think of is that I felt that DoD had a few spots where it dragged on a bit, or plateaued momentarily. Regardless, I still loved this continuation, and I am eager to see the direction it will go.
I think more than the first book, the side characters, and the banter, on and on and on – one after the other really stole the magic away from the plot. I would have been more interested in Sam’s (the word he hates) destiny and his love for Ryan Foxheart if the jokes were tamed a bit. But that’s not the author, and no disrespect to their style of writing. This book just wasn’t for me. It’s like 17 hours long and then I think after hour 8 or 9, I skipped about 4 or 5 hours/chapters, and then listened to the last two chapters and got the gist of what happens w/ the bad guy and what’s gonna happen in the next book.
I totally missed Zero and his timeline and the chapters of his introduction. But if it’s as ridiculous and over the top as Kevin, then honestly, I don’t even give AF.
Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to finish the book in one go – and here I go again making excuses for myself to why I didn’t like something – maybe it just wasn’t good and that makes me feel bad b/c I really adore this author.
If you really want to appreciate this book, only give it 2 hours of your day, every other day, and it’ll take you month to finish and then maybe – you’ll love it.
I… did not… love it.
I totally missed Zero and his timeline and the chapters of his introduction. But if it’s as ridiculous and over the top as Kevin, then honestly, I don’t even give AF.
Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to finish the book in one go – and here I go again making excuses for myself to why I didn’t like something – maybe it just wasn’t good and that makes me feel bad b/c I really adore this author.
If you really want to appreciate this book, only give it 2 hours of your day, every other day, and it’ll take you month to finish and then maybe – you’ll love it.
I… did not… love it.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Loved this. Just wish it didn’t end on a cliffhanger.
OH MY GODS I LOVED THIS JUST AS MUCH AS THE FIRST BOOK. I agree that the pacing was a little slow at times, but who am I kidding, I didn't really mind. Every minute with these wonderful characters is a minute wonderfully spent.
adventurous
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
I liked this one, not as much as the first one but then again when do sequels ever live up to/surpass their prequel? That's not to say I didn't love it, but there were just some things that were enough to pull me out of the story because of real world events that were very obviously pulled into the book to help draw a parallel. I'm talking, of course, about the Obama presidency and the whole event where people were demanding his birth certificate as proof of his heritage and legitimacy. This book was written and published in the time that Obama became the president of the United States, and it wasn't that long ago so it felt really ham-handed and kind of shoved in there to try and give some kind of real world connectivity and drive home a message that I feel missed the mark. At least for me. As a Canadian reader, having American politics suddenly being used to try and create some kind of sense of familiarity to the struggle the main character was facing in that moment actually managed to spoil the book for me quite a bit.
Politics aside, this book was definitely a darker tone than the first one. It had the same banter, the same dirty sense of humor and characters with copious amounts of insatiable libidos. Though I really do miss the oblivious pining from the first book, I like the cute moments with Ryan and Sam being disgustingly in love with each other. Plus Ryan trying to out dude-bro Ruv was hilarious.
Gary's still annoying.
Kevin's still gross but he's growing on me.
Tiggy is still a sweet bean and is clearly the best character.
Sam's still a motormouth with no sense of self preservation.
Justin actually shows a modicum of growth and I liked it.
Ryan is still a knight. Kind of a tool, but we love him anyways.
Also, I don't care what you say but Vadoma is WAY more diabolical and evil than Lady Tina will ever be. Never let them team up, because that would be a literal nightmare coming to life.
And I'm going to adopt Zero. You can't stop me.
Rounding up to 4 stars but this might have been a 3.5 for me simply because I couldn't mentally get past the real world political angle. If there's one thing I hate, it's a reminder that the real world exists being shoehorned into the very thing I'm using to escape it.
Politics aside, this book was definitely a darker tone than the first one. It had the same banter, the same dirty sense of humor and characters with copious amounts of insatiable libidos. Though I really do miss the oblivious pining from the first book, I like the cute moments with Ryan and Sam being disgustingly in love with each other. Plus Ryan trying to out dude-bro Ruv was hilarious.
Gary's still annoying.
Kevin's still gross but he's growing on me.
Tiggy is still a sweet bean and is clearly the best character.
Sam's still a motormouth with no sense of self preservation.
Justin actually shows a modicum of growth and I liked it.
Ryan is still a knight. Kind of a tool, but we love him anyways.
Also, I don't care what you say but Vadoma is WAY more diabolical and evil than Lady Tina will ever be. Never let them team up, because that would be a literal nightmare coming to life.
And I'm going to adopt Zero. You can't stop me.
Rounding up to 4 stars but this might have been a 3.5 for me simply because I couldn't mentally get past the real world political angle. If there's one thing I hate, it's a reminder that the real world exists being shoehorned into the very thing I'm using to escape it.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
A great sequel to The Lightning-Struck Heart.
This book definitely suffered from sequelitis- it’s just not as good as it’s predecessor. It was funny and had sweet family relationships and friendships, but these aspects weren’t as strong as they were in the first book. Instead the author pursued a larger overarching plot which was just not as interesting, and frustratingly left very unresolved at the end. I appreciated that he didn’t mess with the romance as a plot point, though. My complaint about the first book not having enough female characters still stands, since the only woman introduced was Sam’s manipulative grandmother.
I think if you LOVED the first book and are still dying for more time with the characters this could be good for you but I don’t think it had the same charm as the first one, because without the constant will-they-wont-they/mutual pining, the substance of the book is lacking.
I think if you LOVED the first book and are still dying for more time with the characters this could be good for you but I don’t think it had the same charm as the first one, because without the constant will-they-wont-they/mutual pining, the substance of the book is lacking.
My absolute favorite thing, what I love about TJ Klune, is how he builds these amazing relationships between his characters. There are A LOT of ridiculous moments and silly banter, but through it all Team Sam loves each other. It’s beautiful.
*screams forever at that ending*
Content Notes:
🐉 reference to non-consensual hugging
🐉 casual ableism
🐉 dead animal, revived
🐉 non-consensual hugging
🐉 dominance/submission elements
🐉 mention of vomiting
🐉 mention of kidnapping
🐉 mention of death
🐉 seizure, hallucinations
🐉 g*psy
🐉 skeevy sexual comments
🐉 talking about masturbatory fantasies
🐉 sexual objectification
🐉 explicit on page sexual content
🐉 mention of getting high in past
🐉 parental neglect in past mentioned
🐉 racism experienced by mixed-race MC
🐉 exotic to describe POC
🐉 vomiting
🐉 acemisia - “everyone does it” meaning sex
Not going to lie, this one was a little slow in the middle and seemed to have less humor than TLSH. That said, the last third or so is nonstop and I couldn’t put the book down! So many things are happening for Sam and his merry band of misfits, and so much darkness is coming their way. Cannot wait to see the continuation and so very glad I don’t have to wait. That ending!!!
Content Notes:
🐉 reference to non-consensual hugging
🐉 casual ableism
🐉 dead animal, revived
🐉 non-consensual hugging
🐉 dominance/submission elements
🐉 mention of vomiting
🐉 mention of kidnapping
🐉 mention of death
🐉 seizure, hallucinations
🐉 g*psy
🐉 skeevy sexual comments
🐉 talking about masturbatory fantasies
🐉 sexual objectification
🐉 explicit on page sexual content
🐉 mention of getting high in past
🐉 parental neglect in past mentioned
🐉 racism experienced by mixed-race MC
🐉 exotic to describe POC
🐉 vomiting
🐉 acemisia - “everyone does it” meaning sex
Not going to lie, this one was a little slow in the middle and seemed to have less humor than TLSH. That said, the last third or so is nonstop and I couldn’t put the book down! So many things are happening for Sam and his merry band of misfits, and so much darkness is coming their way. Cannot wait to see the continuation and so very glad I don’t have to wait. That ending!!!