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pyphais's review against another edition
5.0
Oh man I'm a mess of tears, I did not expect this when I picked up that first book. Just wow
bearlet04's review against another edition
5.0
This... was so good.
I fell in love with Young Elite at first sight and wasn’t disappointed.
The end was so sad it actually made me cry!
I fell in love with Young Elite at first sight and wasn’t disappointed.
The end was so sad it actually made me cry!
musical_emmy's review against another edition
4.0
Ok wow, this entire series has been incredible, It's been so long since I've read a trilogy this good. Also there won't be any spoilers in this review.
So first of all I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5 simply because I didn't like how much time had passed between the end of The Rose Society and the beginning of this one. Having over a year pass was probably necessary to move the plot along to where it needed to be for this book not to drag but I can't help but think that the time gap made me feel detached from Adelina and the others. I found myself having to second guess what happened in the time between the two books which I wasn't a huge fan of, but that passed by the time I was about 25% into the book.
Now with that little negative out of the way, I want to focus on how much I absolutely loved this book! My favourite thing about the whole series has been that the lines between good and bad have been burred so cleverly and that I just never know how to feel about the characters. There are times when I love Adelina and times when I can't stand her, the same goes for Rafaelle and the other daggers. Each character just seems so perfectly realistic and Adelina's descent into darkness is just so gripping. I also like how complex Violetta and Adelina's relationship is underneath everything else.
And then there's Magiano... He's just so sweet and perfect. I loved how the romance between Adelina and Magiano is so subtle. It's not forced upon us which just makes it all the more effective. The few pages of them together were enough to invest me in their relationship but not so much that I was tired of the romance (like so many other YA books lately) and honestly, it just worked. Even though there wasn't much of a focus on it it seemed so important. Magiano is the small piece of light in Adelina's otherwise dark experiences.
And then the ending.... I'm so conflicted by that ending. I think it was appropriate and in a way predictable but the way it was written made it quite perfect. And those last few pages are pretty ambiguous so really, the ending could be interpreted differently by each person who reads it, which is something I love.
Just an all around amazing trilogy. If I were to ever write a book, this is the type of book I would want to write.
So first of all I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5 simply because I didn't like how much time had passed between the end of The Rose Society and the beginning of this one. Having over a year pass was probably necessary to move the plot along to where it needed to be for this book not to drag but I can't help but think that the time gap made me feel detached from Adelina and the others. I found myself having to second guess what happened in the time between the two books which I wasn't a huge fan of, but that passed by the time I was about 25% into the book.
Now with that little negative out of the way, I want to focus on how much I absolutely loved this book! My favourite thing about the whole series has been that the lines between good and bad have been burred so cleverly and that I just never know how to feel about the characters. There are times when I love Adelina and times when I can't stand her, the same goes for Rafaelle and the other daggers. Each character just seems so perfectly realistic and Adelina's descent into darkness is just so gripping. I also like how complex Violetta and Adelina's relationship is underneath everything else.
And then there's Magiano... He's just so sweet and perfect. I loved how the romance between Adelina and Magiano is so subtle. It's not forced upon us which just makes it all the more effective. The few pages of them together were enough to invest me in their relationship but not so much that I was tired of the romance (like so many other YA books lately) and honestly, it just worked. Even though there wasn't much of a focus on it it seemed so important. Magiano is the small piece of light in Adelina's otherwise dark experiences.
And then the ending.... I'm so conflicted by that ending. I think it was appropriate and in a way predictable but the way it was written made it quite perfect. And those last few pages are pretty ambiguous so really, the ending could be interpreted differently by each person who reads it, which is something I love.
Just an all around amazing trilogy. If I were to ever write a book, this is the type of book I would want to write.
tana_tomp's review against another edition
4.0
Best book in the series hands down. Ending left me feeling empty and suicidal Marie lu you know what you did
keimre734's review against another edition
4.0
“There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen. Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She's turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest, her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she's gained.
When a new danger appears, Adelina's forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite.
In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest-though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.” - Quote from inside front cover of my copy of The Midnight Star.
After reading The Rose Society, I was honestly not sure if I wanted to read the last book in the series. I was mad and disappointed that Adelina had turn into the anti-hero of the story. With that being said, I’m so glad I did finish the trilogy. When I closed The Midnight Star, I wanted to scream because I was frustrated with the characters. Marie Lu didn’t give me the story ended that I wanted but she gave me the ending that made the most sense for the characters.
When a new danger appears, Adelina's forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite.
In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest-though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.” - Quote from inside front cover of my copy of The Midnight Star.
After reading The Rose Society, I was honestly not sure if I wanted to read the last book in the series. I was mad and disappointed that Adelina had turn into the anti-hero of the story. With that being said, I’m so glad I did finish the trilogy. When I closed The Midnight Star, I wanted to scream because I was frustrated with the characters. Marie Lu didn’t give me the story ended that I wanted but she gave me the ending that made the most sense for the characters.
raven_nyx'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
5.0
mxpringle's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Why did they put 3 books worth of (attempted) world-building into the last third of the final book in the series? Random info about gods that were very central to the plot being suddenly explained as they make crazy deus ex machina scenarios. This seemed like they wanted to change the ending of the book to make it seem like the main character was a good person the whole time when she was actually evil, which was the whole point of the book. Absolutely horrible character development that was unrealistic and made no sense. Horribly written series with many plot holes. In the second half of the novel, Adelina's choices made absolutely zero sense with her previous characterization, and it was a complete nonsensical mess.
hannahinpages's review against another edition
4.0
Edit: For some reason I saw this was rated two stars when I actually rated it four ?? So I'm ~fixing~ it as this was quality content
solarhasta's review against another edition
4.0
I'm so conflicted on how I feel about this. I loved and didn't love it. Mostly love.