You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
(Second Review)...........
Okay let's try this again, shall we?
First of all Laia in the book, has really grown. She went from that scared girl who was desperate for everyone's help to women who made decisions on her own. I'm so proud of her. omg. I wanted to clap every time she spoke her mind to Musa, Darin, Elias, Helene, ...cook.
Oh, Cook...
Elias is just Elias. He's mini-Dara who gets hurt and suffers WAY TOO FREAKING MUCH. It really does suck that he doesn't get a break. Besides that sad bit of truth, I loved his character development even though it hurt me to see him becoming MORE of the soul catcher than ever before.
Helene is getting better, but she still frustrates me considering that she's still fully a Martial at heart, though I will say that ending was pretty intense, and I like who she is paired up with. DESPITE her being a stupid Martial, I do ship the everloving crap out of her and Harper. I need that fire to hurry up and burn. They are so good together. He's her second in command and he just understands her so well!
All in all, this is a wonderful installemnt. READ THIS SERIES.
-
(First Review) Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
This installment was good. Painful. But still as entertaining as the rest. Elias, Laia, and Helene all suffered so much in this book and that made it hard to read it as fast as I normally would. My little heart couldn’t take it.
I will say, that the one thing that I found lacking was the fights. They were all summarized and I found that a little bothersome. I guess I just didn’t want her to skip over it.
Okay let's try this again, shall we?
First of all Laia in the book, has really grown. She went from that scared girl who was desperate for everyone's help to women who made decisions on her own. I'm so proud of her. omg. I wanted to clap every time she spoke her mind to Musa, Darin, Elias, Helene, ...cook.
Oh, Cook...
Elias is just Elias. He's mini-Dara who gets hurt and suffers WAY TOO FREAKING MUCH. It really does suck that he doesn't get a break. Besides that sad bit of truth, I loved his character development even though it hurt me to see him becoming MORE of the soul catcher than ever before.
Helene is getting better, but she still frustrates me considering that she's still fully a Martial at heart, though I will say that ending was pretty intense, and I like who she is paired up with. DESPITE her being a stupid Martial, I do ship the everloving crap out of her and Harper. I need that fire to hurry up and burn. They are so good together. He's her second in command and he just understands her so well!
All in all, this is a wonderful installemnt. READ THIS SERIES.
-
(First Review) Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
This installment was good. Painful. But still as entertaining as the rest. Elias, Laia, and Helene all suffered so much in this book and that made it hard to read it as fast as I normally would. My little heart couldn’t take it.
I will say, that the one thing that I found lacking was the fights. They were all summarized and I found that a little bothersome. I guess I just didn’t want her to skip over it.
Just not for me. Character growth was minimal and it was hard to follow the plot with it switching characters far too often to really get a feel for anything that was happening. I’m definitely in the minority with my thoughts on this series.
I enjoyed the first book, but the second and third books were just not up to the same standards.
I enjoyed the first book, but the second and third books were just not up to the same standards.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i really, really enjoyed the intrigue and excitement of the sequel, but unfortunately this one was underwhelming in comparison because laia, elias, and helene move separately. while i understand that’s supposed to be build-up to the finale, this series shines brightest as an interactive ensemble. it didn’t help that the entire read felt so bleak; again, understandably when considering the discussions of politics, war, and death.
it wasn’t until the last 150 or so pages that i was enraptured—the pacing, development, and reveals were *so* greatly timed even with laia and elias’ chapters that i didn’t care for at a certain point when helene took center stage. also, the emphasis on grief and frustration in decisions the characters are faced with at their young age were stunning and reminds you what an absolute star sabaa tahir is when it comes to writing. i mean, even the chapter names changing to “blood shrike” and “soul catcher” were gutting (my heart stopped at the latter…).
settling at a 3.75 since majority of the book didn’t resonate with me as i hoped, but i'm still thinking about all the reveals and chaos in-between so yeah!
it wasn’t until the last 150 or so pages that i was enraptured—the pacing, development, and reveals were *so* greatly timed even with laia and elias’ chapters that i didn’t care for at a certain point when helene took center stage. also, the emphasis on grief and frustration in decisions the characters are faced with at their young age were stunning and reminds you what an absolute star sabaa tahir is when it comes to writing. i mean, even the chapter names changing to “blood shrike” and “soul catcher” were gutting (my heart stopped at the latter…).
settling at a 3.75 since majority of the book didn’t resonate with me as i hoped, but i'm still thinking about all the reveals and chaos in-between so yeah!
I cared little to nothing about anything in this book.
I can feel the slight shift in writing style compared to the last 2 books and I don’t hate it but the content itself in this book did not keep me engaged whatsoever. I didn’t care about anything or anyone. Not even the characters I had connected with from the previous books.
We spent so long establishing and building up to Darin in the last 2 books and working for so long to save him only for him to appear in 20% of this book and be basic af. I looked forward to his interactions with Laia and to see how their relationship had shifted since his time in prison but it was only explored for like 1 page. 1 fight that didn’t even have a satisfying payoff at the end.
Helene (oh, I’m sorry, bLoOd sHrIkE) wasn’t a character I particularly loved in the first 2 books but I really respected and connected with her as a character. But in this book, she mostly just annoyed me to no end and I found myself skipping paragraphs and sometimes even pages in her chapters. She seemed dumbed down and volatile and mostly uninteresting.
Elias’s chapters were interesting but very repetitive. As much as I didn’t enjoy the outcome of his arc at the end, it was at least something and it satisfied me to see one thing come out of 400+ pages of words.
Avitas Harper was a character I truly enjoyed and was a redeeming part of this book for me. I wish we got to spend more time with him.
This book brought in so many magical elements and world-building plot points that had never been established in the first 2 books. I felt blindsided when things like prophecies and brooding wars were sprung on me from out of nowhere. Things like that are too important to only now be established. Antium politics, the houses and its paters, the Khana-whatever-they-were-called, the Mariners, that city Musa was from; so many world-building plot points that should have warranted at the very least one paragraph in the earlier books just sprung out of nowhere. It makes it seem cheap and I had zero interest or connection to them. I found it hard to care or believe anything outside of the scholars, the tribesmen, and the empire because I’d never heard about anything outside of the scholars, the tribesmen, and the empire for 2 whole books.
The fact that this book had aspects of things I enjoy in fantasy (politics, war, bat shit crazy magic) but still managed to be incredibly boring to me is actually quite impressive.
I can feel the slight shift in writing style compared to the last 2 books and I don’t hate it but the content itself in this book did not keep me engaged whatsoever. I didn’t care about anything or anyone. Not even the characters I had connected with from the previous books.
We spent so long establishing and building up to Darin in the last 2 books and working for so long to save him only for him to appear in 20% of this book and be basic af. I looked forward to his interactions with Laia and to see how their relationship had shifted since his time in prison but it was only explored for like 1 page. 1 fight that didn’t even have a satisfying payoff at the end.
Helene (oh, I’m sorry, bLoOd sHrIkE) wasn’t a character I particularly loved in the first 2 books but I really respected and connected with her as a character. But in this book, she mostly just annoyed me to no end and I found myself skipping paragraphs and sometimes even pages in her chapters. She seemed dumbed down and volatile and mostly uninteresting.
Elias’s chapters were interesting but very repetitive. As much as I didn’t enjoy the outcome of his arc at the end, it was at least something and it satisfied me to see one thing come out of 400+ pages of words.
Avitas Harper was a character I truly enjoyed and was a redeeming part of this book for me. I wish we got to spend more time with him.
This book brought in so many magical elements and world-building plot points that had never been established in the first 2 books. I felt blindsided when things like prophecies and brooding wars were sprung on me from out of nowhere. Things like that are too important to only now be established. Antium politics, the houses and its paters, the Khana-whatever-they-were-called, the Mariners, that city Musa was from; so many world-building plot points that should have warranted at the very least one paragraph in the earlier books just sprung out of nowhere. It makes it seem cheap and I had zero interest or connection to them. I found it hard to care or believe anything outside of the scholars, the tribesmen, and the empire because I’d never heard about anything outside of the scholars, the tribesmen, and the empire for 2 whole books.
The fact that this book had aspects of things I enjoy in fantasy (politics, war, bat shit crazy magic) but still managed to be incredibly boring to me is actually quite impressive.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
I am LOVING how this series is evolving! I heard so much buzz about the second book, I was worried the third would lower standards but it absolutely did not! One of my favorite fantasy reads in a while! I really enjoy the new setting - the culture of the mariners, the new characters and magic, as well as the growth in Helene’s character! I feel like this series keeps getting better and better, and this book particularly impressed me by having some more ~spicy~ love scenes that didn’t feel forced, and instead enhanced the main narrative.
A true 5/5, can’t wait to read the next one!
A true 5/5, can’t wait to read the next one!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
I don't know how I feel about this book. On the one hand, I was very happy to be reading about these characters again. On the other, I wasn't pleased with the way the story was going. It almost feels like Game of Thrones - where there is so much build up and then you get to the end and you are like this is it!?! So, this isn't actually the end - there is another book. But it feels like so much has been lost that a good ending is near impossible