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reclusivereader's review against another edition
2.5
The good news? This series is finished and so is any continued effort required on my part. It was also another great experience with the buddies along for the ride with me. The bad news? Unfortunately, things did not quite end on a bang for this series. Which isn’t to say there weren’t some big events and big-ish twists and betrayals but I was instead overwhelmed by how the majority of this (particularly the first two sections) felt like the book-one era slog I had to force myself to push through. And also because so many of the characters I had felt emotional connections to throughout the first two books, who helped to push me through some of the worst of what came before, just didn’t end up being who I thought they were. Either for reasons that I could rationalize (begrudgingly) but not agree with or because I just couldn’t find myself caring anymore.
Which isn’t to say there weren’t an emotional moment or two that did make me feel something but, at least in the case of one situation, said emotional beats felt.. cheated by how things played out in the end.
I’m sad we are ending on something of a low note but at least this didn’t start out as a huge love only to disappoint. It was pretty middle of the road all the way through. Though it has to be said : the good parts were good. It just continually felt overwhelmed by other parts that weren’t. There was a lot of interesting and thoughtful dialogue in this series, about so many things, and I would maybe try this author again. Maybe this just wasn’t the right fit for me.
Which isn’t to say there weren’t an emotional moment or two that did make me feel something but, at least in the case of one situation, said emotional beats felt.. cheated by how things played out in the end.
I’m sad we are ending on something of a low note but at least this didn’t start out as a huge love only to disappoint. It was pretty middle of the road all the way through. Though it has to be said : the good parts were good. It just continually felt overwhelmed by other parts that weren’t. There was a lot of interesting and thoughtful dialogue in this series, about so many things, and I would maybe try this author again. Maybe this just wasn’t the right fit for me.
mbmartin42's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.25
acrone's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
What a fabulous whirlwind of action to wrap up this series. Once I got into it, I didn’t want to put the book down!
squeakfan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bookphenomena_micky's review against another edition
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
I found The Second Rebel rather confusing as a mid-trilogy installment and I have to be honest that confusion was constant throughout this final part. The strengths of this world lie in some of the characters, some of the world-building and the queerness woven througout. This was a buddy read and I am more grateful than normal for that, we split this long read into four and had a chat each day. Those chats helped us all try and get this world into some clarity; there was so very much going on.
Character-wise, I continued to like Hiro, Lito and Luce. I liked some of the other characters but I came to absolutely dislike Astrid in this book. She had far too much page-time for my liking and her constant need to make stupid decisions and walk into traps felt on repeat. Alongside her, Lily was also a bucket of dislike for me, untrustworthy and a bit insipid.
I liked seeing the synthetics fleshed out more and finding my way to some understanding of how they worked. The evil father continued to be evil.
The last few pages were a nice epilogue, good to see but for me overall, this has been an up and down series. This book was sorely in need of a key to refer to on charcters (including their alternate names), which character was connnected to which,different locations and which species/race was from where. That would helped a hell of a lot with the constant confusion.
I enjoyed the first book but I feel like this series has gone down in enjoyment with each book, sadly.
Character-wise, I continued to like Hiro, Lito and Luce. I liked some of the other characters but I came to absolutely dislike Astrid in this book. She had far too much page-time for my liking and her constant need to make stupid decisions and walk into traps felt on repeat. Alongside her, Lily was also a bucket of dislike for me, untrustworthy and a bit insipid.
I liked seeing the synthetics fleshed out more and finding my way to some understanding of how they worked. The evil father continued to be evil.
The last few pages were a nice epilogue, good to see but for me overall, this has been an up and down series. This book was sorely in need of a key to refer to on charcters (including their alternate names), which character was connnected to which,different locations and which species/race was from where. That would helped a hell of a lot with the constant confusion.
I enjoyed the first book but I feel like this series has gone down in enjoyment with each book, sadly.
dumbarton's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
vanessa_books26's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-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
5.0
foofers1622's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
nonesensed's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Tensions are mounting all over the solar system. A new Mother has been appointed, the Asters fight harder and harder for equal rights, and the protests among the Icarii are many since the revelation of Val Akira Labs' horrific experiments. But just as things seem to be in favor of the revolution, it turns out the Val Akira patriarch has an ace up his sleeve...
Great finale to a tense and thrilling (and many times terribly sad) story! What I enjoyed most about this trilogy was the sense that everything bad that happened to the characters had been foreshadowed and made sense. I never felt any character got injured or killed for "shock value". It's a dark story, but it's dark for understandable reasons. Fighting for equal rights has, historically, been anything but nice and peaceful.
I'm happy with how this ended. All questions I had were answered and all characters I'd been following felt like they ended up in a place that made sense. There's only one thing that irks me a little, but it didn't ruin the book for me. Spoilers ahead:
Okay, so, the Singularity that's keeping humanity from expanding farther out in space is clearly treating humanity as if the whole species <em>also were a singularity</em>. They blame all of humanity for the actions of its' (less than democratically elected) leaders and brutally kill many, many human individuals due to the actions of a few. And <em>then</em> the Singularity freaks the hell out once humans can do the same to it, forcing it to become individuals and aim to kill said individuals.
I though the big "stop the war" moment would be when the humans present would make the Singularity realize how hypocritically it was acting; that it can't treat humanity like a single hivemind entity with a gazillion bodies all linked together. But instead we got Hiro basically going "Come on, you're right about everything, but pretty please give us another chance!"
A bit of an anticlimax that, but I enjoyed the rest of the book so much (especially the part where Hiro gets their robo-sibling to realize they don't have to obey their awful father) that it didn't ruin the book for me.
All in all, recommended!
Great finale to a tense and thrilling (and many times terribly sad) story! What I enjoyed most about this trilogy was the sense that everything bad that happened to the characters had been foreshadowed and made sense. I never felt any character got injured or killed for "shock value". It's a dark story, but it's dark for understandable reasons. Fighting for equal rights has, historically, been anything but nice and peaceful.
I'm happy with how this ended. All questions I had were answered and all characters I'd been following felt like they ended up in a place that made sense. There's only one thing that irks me a little, but it didn't ruin the book for me. Spoilers ahead:
I though the big "stop the war" moment would be when the humans present would make the Singularity realize how hypocritically it was acting; that it can't treat humanity like a single hivemind entity with a gazillion bodies all linked together. But instead we got Hiro basically going "Come on, you're right about everything, but pretty please give us another chance!"
A bit of an anticlimax that, but I enjoyed the rest of the book so much (especially the part where Hiro gets their robo-sibling to realize they don't have to obey their awful father) that it didn't ruin the book for me.
All in all, recommended!