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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
2.5 rounded up
This was my least favorite in the trilogy, which is always a bummer when you end on a low note. Tonally, this book was a lot darker and grimer than the first two books, in a way that I was totally unprepared for based on what was set up in the first two. Yes, this is a war, but things got a lot more gruesome and depressing than what I felt the author had set us up for--I can handle dark when I'm expecting it, but this didn't feel in line with the first two books and thus took me off guard. I found Nykin to be a lot less likable as well--frequently over-reacting and misunderstanding his husband/not giving him the benefit of the doubt or understanding his position, which was not a cute look. I also thought the resolution, when we got there, felt super rushed leaving the ending ultimately unsatisfying. I found Nykin's weird and continual bondings to various elves to be such a weird plot point that was never addressed, and IDK, there was just a lot of stuff that I didn't like in this series that I was able to ignore in the first book, but by the time I got to book 3 was starting to be annoyed by.
This was my least favorite in the trilogy, which is always a bummer when you end on a low note. Tonally, this book was a lot darker and grimer than the first two books, in a way that I was totally unprepared for based on what was set up in the first two. Yes, this is a war, but things got a lot more gruesome and depressing than what I felt the author had set us up for--I can handle dark when I'm expecting it, but this didn't feel in line with the first two books and thus took me off guard. I found Nykin to be a lot less likable as well--frequently over-reacting and misunderstanding his husband/not giving him the benefit of the doubt or understanding his position, which was not a cute look. I also thought the resolution, when we got there, felt super rushed leaving the ending ultimately unsatisfying. I found Nykin's weird and continual bondings to various elves to be such a weird plot point that was never addressed, and IDK, there was just a lot of stuff that I didn't like in this series that I was able to ignore in the first book, but by the time I got to book 3 was starting to be annoyed by.
*Review will be identical to that contained within the Torsere Trilogy*
~
Book – Alliance (Torsere #3)
Author – Annabelle Jacobs
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages - 284
Movie Potential – ★★★☆☆
Ease of reading – easy to read, but long.
Would I read it again - Maybe
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
This one didn't sit well with me. There was quite a lot wrong with it that didn't have to be. Saying that, however, there was enough of the original characters, plot and feeling of the two previous books to keep me happy. I just think it could have been better.
For me, book 3 is nothing more than the second half of book 2. The two should have been one book, with one complete storyline, the way that book 1 was. However, that's not the case. Book 3 acts more like the missing parts of book 2; the action, adventure and danger that was missing from the previous book. It's all been crammed into this one – much shorter – story, so much so that it doesn't really work out the way that book 1 did. There's no balance.
Irritatingly, the characters also seemed to have developed supreme short-sightedness, as well as a case of terminal stupidity. Things that are mentioned, quite cleary, as being important are conveniently “forgotten” or never mentioned again, until it fits neatly into the plot. I can't tell if we're expected to not notice the importance of them, which is kind of stupid, or if we're supposed to believe that Ryneq is really that stupid, busy or ignorant of their importance.
I can get over Ryneq being stupid enough not to see the second spy – even though I knew they were a spy in book 2 – since it was never glaringly obvious until near the end. But, I absolutely refuse to accept that he's ignorant enough to forget something important – that he demanded an answer to, during an interrogation – when it was staring him right in his face and had been vocalised. Yet, he never once brought it up or thought about it again until it had already happened. Ryneq has NEVER been so shortsighted, ignorant or irresponsible before, in any of the books and it irritated me to see it happen here.
There was a big change in a lot of the characters, which was really unsettling. Ryneq was ridiculously stupid, when he'd never been before, Nykin was a little more pathetic and prone to overreacting, which had never happened before and it all left me really unsettled. By the time I was halfway through this story, I didn't care how much action was in it, I just wanted it to be over soon. It felt so much like it was being dragged out, in a way that was unbelievable and unnatural, when the first two books had been so evenly plotted. It felt too much like the author realised they didn't have a lot of space left in the first half, so tried to cram too much into it, then realised they actually had more space than they thought by the second half, so they dragged it out a little longer.
Maybe my big problem is that books 1 and 2 in the trilogy build up my expectations too high. Whatever the reason, this one lacked so much that it didn't have to. If it had been combined with book 2 – with the action replacing some of the more lovey-dovey stuff that was over done in the previous story – then it could have been an epic ending to a two-part series. However, because it was three books, there was a lot of faffing about and cramming in whatever could fit into a short space. There was also a lot of repetition – both with Ryneq's captivity, the arguments and misunderstandings between him and Nykin, as well as the day to day activities.
~
Overall, book 3 should have been the big bang of the series, the masterful closing of a trilogy. Instead, it tried too hard to answer all those unanswered questions, to tell us a million and one things, and to make sure everything was tied off in a nice little bow.
~
Favourite Quote
“He ran his hands over the hot skin of Nykin's chest, watching the way Nykin trembled under his touch and ignoring the desperation threatening to surface. Despite all his wishes to the contrary, Ryneq couldn't shake the feeling that this was good-bye.”
~
Book – Alliance (Torsere #3)
Author – Annabelle Jacobs
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages - 284
Movie Potential – ★★★☆☆
Ease of reading – easy to read, but long.
Would I read it again - Maybe
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
This one didn't sit well with me. There was quite a lot wrong with it that didn't have to be. Saying that, however, there was enough of the original characters, plot and feeling of the two previous books to keep me happy. I just think it could have been better.
For me, book 3 is nothing more than the second half of book 2. The two should have been one book, with one complete storyline, the way that book 1 was. However, that's not the case. Book 3 acts more like the missing parts of book 2; the action, adventure and danger that was missing from the previous book. It's all been crammed into this one – much shorter – story, so much so that it doesn't really work out the way that book 1 did. There's no balance.
Irritatingly, the characters also seemed to have developed supreme short-sightedness, as well as a case of terminal stupidity. Things that are mentioned, quite cleary, as being important are conveniently “forgotten” or never mentioned again, until it fits neatly into the plot. I can't tell if we're expected to not notice the importance of them, which is kind of stupid, or if we're supposed to believe that Ryneq is really that stupid, busy or ignorant of their importance.
I can get over Ryneq being stupid enough not to see the second spy – even though I knew they were a spy in book 2 – since it was never glaringly obvious until near the end. But, I absolutely refuse to accept that he's ignorant enough to forget something important – that he demanded an answer to, during an interrogation – when it was staring him right in his face and had been vocalised. Yet, he never once brought it up or thought about it again until it had already happened. Ryneq has NEVER been so shortsighted, ignorant or irresponsible before, in any of the books and it irritated me to see it happen here.
There was a big change in a lot of the characters, which was really unsettling. Ryneq was ridiculously stupid, when he'd never been before, Nykin was a little more pathetic and prone to overreacting, which had never happened before and it all left me really unsettled. By the time I was halfway through this story, I didn't care how much action was in it, I just wanted it to be over soon. It felt so much like it was being dragged out, in a way that was unbelievable and unnatural, when the first two books had been so evenly plotted. It felt too much like the author realised they didn't have a lot of space left in the first half, so tried to cram too much into it, then realised they actually had more space than they thought by the second half, so they dragged it out a little longer.
Maybe my big problem is that books 1 and 2 in the trilogy build up my expectations too high. Whatever the reason, this one lacked so much that it didn't have to. If it had been combined with book 2 – with the action replacing some of the more lovey-dovey stuff that was over done in the previous story – then it could have been an epic ending to a two-part series. However, because it was three books, there was a lot of faffing about and cramming in whatever could fit into a short space. There was also a lot of repetition – both with Ryneq's captivity, the arguments and misunderstandings between him and Nykin, as well as the day to day activities.
~
Overall, book 3 should have been the big bang of the series, the masterful closing of a trilogy. Instead, it tried too hard to answer all those unanswered questions, to tell us a million and one things, and to make sure everything was tied off in a nice little bow.
~
Favourite Quote
“He ran his hands over the hot skin of Nykin's chest, watching the way Nykin trembled under his touch and ignoring the desperation threatening to surface. Despite all his wishes to the contrary, Ryneq couldn't shake the feeling that this was good-bye.”
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
A fitting and tension filled ending
Annabelle Jacobs wraps up this excellent high fantasy trilogy with a final book which is action packed and plot heavy.
Things move so rapidly from one beat to the next that it's like being taken on a blindfolded horseback ride with only a sure hand on the reins to keep on track.
Both Ryneq and Nykin have their own journey to undertake and the pressure on each of them is immense.
There are some sad losses along the way too and my heart was in my mouth for so much of this book.
No spoilers, but I felt the ultimate outcome had a good grounding in what had gone on before, no sudden deus ex machina to save the day.
I think there was scope for perhaps a bit more after the ultimate challenge and I still have a few questions left outstanding, but no quibbles about the main arc being nicely tied up.
Annabelle Jacobs wraps up this excellent high fantasy trilogy with a final book which is action packed and plot heavy.
Things move so rapidly from one beat to the next that it's like being taken on a blindfolded horseback ride with only a sure hand on the reins to keep on track.
Both Ryneq and Nykin have their own journey to undertake and the pressure on each of them is immense.
There are some sad losses along the way too and my heart was in my mouth for so much of this book.
No spoilers, but I felt the ultimate outcome had a good grounding in what had gone on before, no sudden deus ex machina to save the day.
I think there was scope for perhaps a bit more after the ultimate challenge and I still have a few questions left outstanding, but no quibbles about the main arc being nicely tied up.