Reviews

The Endless Song by Joshua Phillip Johnson

thestoryteller's review

5.0

After quite a few mediocre reads, this book had me sobbing endlessly at the end. Johnson so aptly creates new archetypes, new stories, that stick in your mind. Tragic and beautiful and heart wrenching. 

"Think on the wind, Heat had told them, and Kindred found that she had been thinking of little else since. What did it mean to do good, to be good, when you were one note in the world's melody? What was a good life when a person could be nothing more than an empty cathedral built by the hands of everyone and everything they had ever encountered?" 

starlesssara's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

cookiecat73's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

sarahsnacks's review

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

This sequel was so much better than the first book. Feels like the two are written by different authors, very different writing styles.  

syllareads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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

shrineofyourlies's review

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

wanderonwards's review

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

The Forever Sea was one of my top reads of 2021: it had everything I was looking for in an environmental fantasy and I LOVED it. I couldn't wait to continue to explore this world and see how things came together in the next book and waited (somewhat) patiently as the sequel was delayed several times from fall 2021 until eventually early 2023. Suffice to say, The Endless Song was not the story I had hoped for. The first book had so much potential for me, but this honestly felt like the author decided they didn't want to write anymore in this series but was still contracted for a sequel. I was incredibly disappointed with how things progressed and eventually ended. 

dragontomes2000's review

adventurous informative mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book is hard to rate because I did feel like this book was slightly better then book one, The Forever Sea. However, I felt like this book, no, this series went nowhere. I saw so much potential, but ultimately for me this just didn't land for me. This series and book in no way are awful, but more so didn't give me what I wanted. Joshua Phillip Johnson has an amazing writing style, their ideas and world building, super strong. Where I can see they need improvement is in their characters because they lacked life and depth. The Borders Family though that was introduced in this book, now I could have followed them as the main characters over both book instead of Kindred.

This again is in no way a bad book. I didn't hate it and it is beautifully written, with potential. I still want to see more of what Johnson has to offer. So what ever he decides to put out next, I will be waiting.

lib_britannia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

nicmcphee's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

4.5