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agentkp's review against another edition
4.0
Well, finally finished this series, I've been putting off cause I didn't wanna end but now that I have I don't know how to feel. I've loved the series as a whole and the verse and the different people and cultures. The characters were also very lovable and I'm always down for found family and strong female characters but this book had a lot of twists that didn't feel like they were completely explored and the consequences of the 'evil/bad' things the characters did were pretty mild or non existent. I don't know, I guess I expected more from this last book. Especially from Starbride powers and her losing herself. I personally didn't like that in the end they all just didn't have their powers and were just going to be "ordinary" royals. A lot of what got me into the story was exactly the fact that they had powers that mixed and worked together.
lumbermouth's review against another edition
2.0
I'm doubly furious because a) I didn't realize there were 4 books and b) I had to actually BUY THIS ONE. I guess the upside is that my needing it accidentally coincided with the book's release, because I probably would have been even MORE furious if I had to wait for the book to come out. So I had to buy this one for $10 because my library doesn't have it yet. WOW, YAWN. So much of the ~dramatic storyline about Starbride becoming powerful was SO TEDIOUS. This book was very tedious. Yawn. Also still a total fucking mess a lot of the time, where is the editor??
frankvanmeer's review
3.0
Urg.
I thought long and hard about the final installment of the Katya and Starbride series. The first two books were amazing; I had some issues with the third and I must admit: I'm not sure about The Fiend Queen.
When I first saw that title, I thought I had an idea how it was going to end. And I was wrong. In fact, the title confuses me, as there is no Fiend Queen. I can't say much more without this review getting riddled with spoiler tags.
At the start of the book, Katya and Starbride are still seperated, each locked into the battles of their lives, but they find eachother soon enough, only to find them once again split up after they fight Roland in dark tunnels. It gets a bit hazy there, as Katya finds herself in an unknown underground complex where she finds clues that will change the people of Farraday and Allusia forever; Starbride however is forced to make a monumental decision that might end the war, but can possibly destroy her.
The Katya parts have an interesting, almost retro-active worldbuilding. Starbride undergoes a massive change. She discovers the origins of the Fiends, but is that knowledge helping her? The change is so massive and abrupt, it's almost unnerving. One moment I was rooting for her and then within a chapter, I was almost fearing her.
Lucky for me, most everyone else in the book shares that sentiment, and just as one war ends, the next starts.
It was well-written, with a lot of drama, death and destruction. Kudos to the author for having the guts to kill off major characters. But I was missing something. I expected more on the matter of the differences between Adsnzi and Pyrdystés. Sure, Redtrue has to make a difficult decision, but there's nothing about the conseqeunces. I expected more about getting rid of the Fiend. I expected more on the aftermath.
What Katya wanted as soon as the Starbride became consort was, in my opinion, glossed over.
I said in my comment when I started to read I hoped I wasn't being disappointed. And I can't shake the feeling that I am. The series as a whole gets 5 stars from me (the first two being classics in my opinion). But I wouldn't be honest to myself if I gave The Fiend Queen more that 3 stars. I'm sorry.
I thought long and hard about the final installment of the Katya and Starbride series. The first two books were amazing; I had some issues with the third and I must admit: I'm not sure about The Fiend Queen.
When I first saw that title, I thought I had an idea how it was going to end. And I was wrong. In fact, the title confuses me, as there is no Fiend Queen. I can't say much more without this review getting riddled with spoiler tags.
At the start of the book, Katya and Starbride are still seperated, each locked into the battles of their lives, but they find eachother soon enough, only to find them once again split up after they fight Roland in dark tunnels. It gets a bit hazy there, as Katya finds herself in an unknown underground complex where she finds clues that will change the people of Farraday and Allusia forever; Starbride however is forced to make a monumental decision that might end the war, but can possibly destroy her.
The Katya parts have an interesting, almost retro-active worldbuilding. Starbride undergoes a massive change. She discovers the origins of the Fiends, but is that knowledge helping her? The change is so massive and abrupt, it's almost unnerving. One moment I was rooting for her and then within a chapter, I was almost fearing her.
Lucky for me, most everyone else in the book shares that sentiment, and just as one war ends, the next starts.
It was well-written, with a lot of drama, death and destruction. Kudos to the author for having the guts to kill off major characters. But I was missing something. I expected more on the matter of the differences between Adsnzi and Pyrdystés. Sure, Redtrue has to make a difficult decision, but there's nothing about the conseqeunces. I expected more about getting rid of the Fiend. I expected more on the aftermath.
What Katya wanted as soon as the Starbride became consort was, in my opinion, glossed over.
I said in my comment when I started to read I hoped I wasn't being disappointed. And I can't shake the feeling that I am. The series as a whole gets 5 stars from me (the first two being classics in my opinion). But I wouldn't be honest to myself if I gave The Fiend Queen more that 3 stars. I'm sorry.
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