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cendi's review against another edition
4.0
Reviewed By: Paperback Princesses
Let me start by saying that this is the second installment of the Internment Chronicles. It follows shortly after Perfect Ruin. Morgan, Pen, their betrotheds, the princess, and others have all reached the ground after fleeing the floating city of Internment. It may not be as much of a safe haven as they thought, for they landed in the middle of a war between two cities. Morgan has choices to make regarding the safety of her people and becomes an unlikely ally to the princess in the process.
This book, by no fault of the author (who remains one of my favorites) was a little harder for me to get through at the start. It seemed a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up speed in the middle. The story in this one is different than the first, but that is to be expected. It will be interesting to see where Lauren takes the third book.
Morgan, as in the first book, is an unextraordinary person by herself. It is through those around her that she shines the most, and its refreshing to see a character like her in a book, as she doesn’t have any hidden magical powers that she has to hide. It’s mostly about her survival.
I will definitely suggest this to readers who liked Perfect Ruin, as well as fans of the author’s other series, the Chemical Garden trilogy. I’ll be reading this one again when the release date of Broken Crowns nears.
Let me start by saying that this is the second installment of the Internment Chronicles. It follows shortly after Perfect Ruin. Morgan, Pen, their betrotheds, the princess, and others have all reached the ground after fleeing the floating city of Internment. It may not be as much of a safe haven as they thought, for they landed in the middle of a war between two cities. Morgan has choices to make regarding the safety of her people and becomes an unlikely ally to the princess in the process.
This book, by no fault of the author (who remains one of my favorites) was a little harder for me to get through at the start. It seemed a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up speed in the middle. The story in this one is different than the first, but that is to be expected. It will be interesting to see where Lauren takes the third book.
Morgan, as in the first book, is an unextraordinary person by herself. It is through those around her that she shines the most, and its refreshing to see a character like her in a book, as she doesn’t have any hidden magical powers that she has to hide. It’s mostly about her survival.
I will definitely suggest this to readers who liked Perfect Ruin, as well as fans of the author’s other series, the Chemical Garden trilogy. I’ll be reading this one again when the release date of Broken Crowns nears.
corkykat's review against another edition
3.0
This series is losing momentum for me. I liked the first book quite a bit. It was a solid plot with good characters and good development. This book took it too far. It felt overextended. It felt like she was trying too hard with the ground, and I wasn’t clear on what she was going for. Is it meant to be a dystopian version of our world? Is it meant to be something different but similar? There was too much in common for it to be different, but too much different to be the same. It felt like there was one foot in both, but not in a way I enjoyed. I also really didn’t like the direction she went with for the characters. I thought they were one of the strongest aspects of Perfect Ruin, and I think they took a step back in this installment. I still think the first book was cute, but this one has me on shaky ground. I’m tentatively starting the next one. Let’s hope this is just second book blues.
meganmreads's review against another edition
2.0
Let me start by saying that I loved Perfect Ruin, book one, so much. I absolutely loved every inch of that book and I was dying to get my hands on Burning Kingdoms. When it showed up unexpectedly on my doorstep shortly after release, I was ecstatic. However, Burning Kingdoms suffers from a horrible case of second book syndrome and bridge book syndrome. It was so disappointing, I wish that the ending of Perfect Ruin was just that they landed and we got to wonder what would happen next. I would have been more satisfied with that open ending.
Not much happened in Burning Kingdoms, though the conflict and motivations of the King below and the resources of Internment certainly provided some questions about the fate of the characters, nothing was actually decided in this book. Some character building occurred and the characters got to understand that grass isn’t always greener on the other side, as the world below had their own set of problems and conflicts.
As always, Lauren DeStefano wrote a beautiful novel. The writing is exquisite and is something to be savored. It is a shame that such poetic words failed to move the plot. In Perfect Ruin, the magic of the world, the horror of the conflict, and the wonderful writing absolutely captivated me, but the loss of world building and the slowness of the plot hindered the sequel. It lost every bit of magic and wonder that Perfect Ruin had.
I hate to be so critical of an author and a series that has so much potential. I really do. I will probably still recommend Perfect Ruin and just pretend that it’s a standalone novel because it was really good and had a ton of elements I loved. But after reading the author’s other series since reading Perfect Ruin and then reading this disappointing book, I have to admit that I’m sensing a trend. The author writes beautifully and I see the parallels to our world, the points she’s trying to make, and the issues she’s trying to bring to light in the book that are important in the world. The potential is tremendous and I applaud her efforts. However, her books tend to unravel, drift, and take weird turns. The result is a story that isn’t quite hard hitting and doesn’t make much sense at all.
Perfect Ruin managed to maintain it’s world building as Internment sat away from anything we were familiar with, having just a few minor unrealistic plot devices, but the rest of her books have contained weird out of place events, items, or other aspects. Burning Kingdoms contained a world that I’m still trying to figure out where kings, speakeasies, silent movies, and mermaids all exist without any explanation. It probably would have made more sense for them to have landed in our 1920s, but then the author would have had to research history in order to weave the story in with the events and somehow explain the existence of the floating city. The more I try to reason a better way for Burning Kingdoms to have gone, the more I think Perfect Ruin should have just ended and remained isolated in a fantasy world. *sigh*
I’m still holding out hope that the next book will be more action packed and move the story along better. I would be a lot more optimistic and less critical of this sequel had I not read The Chemical Garden Trilogy and been able to notice the unfortunate similarities and the things that don’t make any sense. I don’t know that I’d recommend reading this one, but I don’t necessarily advise against it, either, because I did enjoy the writing quite a bit. If you have the capability of suspending belief and can live with the fact that the sequel only moves the plot a little bit, it’s a great read.
Not much happened in Burning Kingdoms, though the conflict and motivations of the King below and the resources of Internment certainly provided some questions about the fate of the characters, nothing was actually decided in this book. Some character building occurred and the characters got to understand that grass isn’t always greener on the other side, as the world below had their own set of problems and conflicts.
As always, Lauren DeStefano wrote a beautiful novel. The writing is exquisite and is something to be savored. It is a shame that such poetic words failed to move the plot. In Perfect Ruin, the magic of the world, the horror of the conflict, and the wonderful writing absolutely captivated me, but the loss of world building and the slowness of the plot hindered the sequel. It lost every bit of magic and wonder that Perfect Ruin had.
I hate to be so critical of an author and a series that has so much potential. I really do. I will probably still recommend Perfect Ruin and just pretend that it’s a standalone novel because it was really good and had a ton of elements I loved. But after reading the author’s other series since reading Perfect Ruin and then reading this disappointing book, I have to admit that I’m sensing a trend. The author writes beautifully and I see the parallels to our world, the points she’s trying to make, and the issues she’s trying to bring to light in the book that are important in the world. The potential is tremendous and I applaud her efforts. However, her books tend to unravel, drift, and take weird turns. The result is a story that isn’t quite hard hitting and doesn’t make much sense at all.
Perfect Ruin managed to maintain it’s world building as Internment sat away from anything we were familiar with, having just a few minor unrealistic plot devices, but the rest of her books have contained weird out of place events, items, or other aspects. Burning Kingdoms contained a world that I’m still trying to figure out where kings, speakeasies, silent movies, and mermaids all exist without any explanation. It probably would have made more sense for them to have landed in our 1920s, but then the author would have had to research history in order to weave the story in with the events and somehow explain the existence of the floating city. The more I try to reason a better way for Burning Kingdoms to have gone, the more I think Perfect Ruin should have just ended and remained isolated in a fantasy world. *sigh*
I’m still holding out hope that the next book will be more action packed and move the story along better. I would be a lot more optimistic and less critical of this sequel had I not read The Chemical Garden Trilogy and been able to notice the unfortunate similarities and the things that don’t make any sense. I don’t know that I’d recommend reading this one, but I don’t necessarily advise against it, either, because I did enjoy the writing quite a bit. If you have the capability of suspending belief and can live with the fact that the sequel only moves the plot a little bit, it’s a great read.
greylandreviews's review
3.0
3 stars
This book was a little slow in the beginning but, got more interesting at the end. How Ms. DeStefano writes is magical and has such a 1920s era to it. A review will come later.
This book was a little slow in the beginning but, got more interesting at the end. How Ms. DeStefano writes is magical and has such a 1920s era to it. A review will come later.
que_bella's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a great book, making me think with lots of twists and turns. It was an interesting look at the world around us. I can't wait to read the next book!!
immortalgirl92's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a little slow at times but still really enjoyable. I got to witness some of the characters grow (e.g. Celeste) and see the world in a different light. A lot of secrets were also revealed.
briar_rose_reads's review against another edition
2.0
Very little actually happens in this book, and of freaking course one of the only YA series without a love triangle now has a love triangle. I'm going to have to write my own.
Totally heartbreaking, after how much I loved the first book. I'll still finish the series just out of hope and love of the characters.
Totally heartbreaking, after how much I loved the first book. I'll still finish the series just out of hope and love of the characters.
dolaya's review against another edition
3.0
Not bad. Apart from the sadly changed cover design, this book is a well-done continuation to Perfect Ruin.
However, it certainly is not as good.
The first issue is that DeStefano doesn't seem to have as much to go on as she would like. Sure, there are good moments of surprise, and a passable bit of intrigue, but there really isn't the amount of plot tension and solidity that the first book has. Most of the time in the book is spent idle, and that is what a lot of the reviews here seem to complain abut. And while I agree that this book has a severe case of "second-book syndrome", that doesn't mean it's a bad book.
In fact, it's not a bad book at all. It's actually quite good. DeStefano has the gift of being able to write absolutely beautiful prose, absolutely wonderful characters, and excellent relationships. The first book makes you love the characters, and this one is something of a study in their personalities and the issues or demons that they have to deal with every day of their lives. It explores romance, and what it means to love someone, it has it's own bit of romantic uncertainty, conflict among characters, and most of the characteristics of a book whose main focus is not a thriller-type edge-of-your-seat rollercoaster, but developing and following what the characters think and feel.
In that sense, this book is a success. The reader learns so much more about the characters and gets to see a little deeper into their hearts and minds. That's not to say that the plot is non-existent. There's enough of a plot to set up the next book that it seems that number three will be a little more fast-paced. This is a set-up book, it seems: its plot sets up the next installment while flushing out the characters in order to be able to springboard into a next book that looks like it will be a conclusion.
My verdict: Well done. Whoever liked Perfect Ruin is of course going to read this, but if you read the first one and are uncertain, I advise you to read this one. DeStefano's prose and the character development carry the book, and it is enjoyable, if not action packed. Not as good as the first, but very good nonetheless.
However, it certainly is not as good.
The first issue is that DeStefano doesn't seem to have as much to go on as she would like. Sure, there are good moments of surprise, and a passable bit of intrigue, but there really isn't the amount of plot tension and solidity that the first book has. Most of the time in the book is spent idle, and that is what a lot of the reviews here seem to complain abut. And while I agree that this book has a severe case of "second-book syndrome", that doesn't mean it's a bad book.
In fact, it's not a bad book at all. It's actually quite good. DeStefano has the gift of being able to write absolutely beautiful prose, absolutely wonderful characters, and excellent relationships. The first book makes you love the characters, and this one is something of a study in their personalities and the issues or demons that they have to deal with every day of their lives. It explores romance, and what it means to love someone, it has it's own bit of romantic uncertainty, conflict among characters, and most of the characteristics of a book whose main focus is not a thriller-type edge-of-your-seat rollercoaster, but developing and following what the characters think and feel.
In that sense, this book is a success. The reader learns so much more about the characters and gets to see a little deeper into their hearts and minds. That's not to say that the plot is non-existent. There's enough of a plot to set up the next book that it seems that number three will be a little more fast-paced. This is a set-up book, it seems: its plot sets up the next installment while flushing out the characters in order to be able to springboard into a next book that looks like it will be a conclusion.
My verdict: Well done. Whoever liked Perfect Ruin is of course going to read this, but if you read the first one and are uncertain, I advise you to read this one. DeStefano's prose and the character development carry the book, and it is enjoyable, if not action packed. Not as good as the first, but very good nonetheless.
ellen's review against another edition
4.0
This was so sosososososooo good
Lauren destefano I love you
Um so is this like set in the 1920s because that made this 10x cooler and more amazing like
again like with wither and perfect ruin Lauren shows how amazing she is when it comes to world building because the ground is incredible
This was so cool being able to explore the world along with Morgan
I'm a lil sad there wasn't as much basil but that's ok
Also NICE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT
Lauren destefano I love you
Um so is this like set in the 1920s because that made this 10x cooler and more amazing like
again like with wither and perfect ruin Lauren shows how amazing she is when it comes to world building because the ground is incredible
This was so cool being able to explore the world along with Morgan
I'm a lil sad there wasn't as much basil but that's ok
Also NICE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT