Reviews

The Conquering Dark: Crown & Key by Susan Griffith, Clay Griffith

amybraunauthor's review

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4.0

Actual rating is 3.5! I was super excited about the ending of this trilogy and got exactly what I wanted and expected! Monsters, action, magic, wit, and a little bit of romance! The story was good, with the action taking the characters to various locations and testing the limits of their physical prowess. The characters basically filled their arcs, with Kate and Malcolm being the most prominent figures. As always, the action scenes were long and intense, and nobody walked away unscathed. While I did enjoy this finale and will miss this quirky family, there were some problem I had with it, such as a side character appearing over halfway through the book, only to be extremely important later. Considering her role at the end of the second book, I wish she had been included earlier. But the reason I knocked this rating down a 0.5 was because of the sudden, random twist regarding Simon's father near the very, very end. It was completely out of the blue and didn't make any sense to me. In fact, it was so shocking, that I feel it should have been a core part of the story and overarching series rather than just tacked on at the end. There are also questions that I feel were left unanswered and too ambiguous, but the final chapter seemed fairly solid to me. All in all, the series was a lot of fun and I'm really glad I got to finally read it. Recommended for anyone who's looking for a fun, easy read this summer!

monica_r_jae's review

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5.0

It's my sincere hope the Griffith's write another book set in this universe, if not another series.

felinity's review

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3.0

The opening scene firmly sets the story in its timeline, and shows the fusion of those with assorted magical, engineering or other talents into a cohesive team. Unified in their purpose, and supporting Simon, the heart of the team
Spoilerwhose magic was previously ripped away
, they now have a new mission: to protect the Stone of Scone, whatever the cost. It's a good thing they have Penny to create new weapons for them and Kate's vials, because between them they can be a match for almost anyone. There are touches of Indiana Jones, including the two-dimensional bad guys, and a very real moral question revisited from the previous books: can you sacrifice a few for the good of many?

Although a fun read, it didn't match the thrill and engagement of the first. It was never entirely clear why the Stone was targeted, and there were too many small niggles for me to fully enjoy it.
SpoilerThere were too many coincidences, the most obvious of which were the ease of finding the hidden entrance, Penny's ACME bag of many things paired with Kate's many vials really stretched my credulity, and the fact that all the players were known to them.
Some of them can be ascribed to "moving the plot along" but after making the same allowances in the previous book I'd run out of this sort of patience and found myself muttering, "How convenient" all too often. (If you didn't read them back to back, it might not be so obvious.)
SpoilerAnd by the time they reached the climatic battle, I was just plain tired of the Baronness' multi-armed semi-invincible constructs. Each was almost a repeat of the previous, and I couldn't help noticing how wonderfully the good guys *always* made it through.
Simon has come a long way though, and it was good to see how he and Imogen have been transformed.

It was worth reading to close out the trilogy, but nowhere near as good as the first.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

shoelessgirl's review

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3.0

This was a solid 3.5 stars, and an action-packed end to an enjoyable trilogy. Penny remains my fave - would happily read more about her!

paperbackmatt's review

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4.0

The Crown and Key Trilogy - Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

3.5 / 5 Stars Urban Fantasy (Period) / Steampunk (Science Fantasy) / Action

The Crown and Key Trilogy are full of werewolves, undead, and elementals for our heroes to overcome in these three action-packed books. These books have a great 19th Century setting with tastes of steampunk and comfortable use of magic for any fantasy readers. If you’re just looking for a well-paced action read and all of the above appeals to you, then I would recommend this trilogy to you!

This series follows the last Magical Scribe known to the world, Simon Archer, and a well accomplished Alchemist, the daughter of a renowned adventurer, Kate Anstruther. The two main protagonists' paths quickly cross and their ultimate goals align so they decide to work together. Each becoming more trusting of one another they slowly build up a solid group of equally talented friends to overcome the atrocities of werewolves (Book 1), The Undead (Book 2) and Elementals (Book 3).

I picked this book up off a ‘staff favorites’ section back in November and half-way through the first novel I had to go looking for the next two; I knew I would want to read them. They were easy reads, and they were just fun! I found there was a good mix of Strong female characters and male characters and they all contribute equally to the team’s success. In the first novel, I found the authors used a little too much description when introducing their characters which took me out of the novel, but I was quickly drawn back in with all the action. The characters that get introduced later in the book are added in more naturally and the books read a lot smoother.

Overall I was very happy with this series, and I would recommend it for someone looking for a fun action-packed, cozy/safe read. This is honestly one of the first novels I’ve read with any steampunk elements in it. I wish the authors embraced this a little more in the first novel because it was very enjoyable -nevertheless, they deliver in the following novels with just the right amount of steampunk.

https://paperbackmatt.wordpress.com/ <-- More reviews here : )

Books in this series:
The Shadow Revolution
The Undying Legion
The Conquering Dark

slc333's review

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2.0

2.5 stars. Again there was too much repetitive action. I mean it basically went our heroes battle the bad elementals and their steampunk constructs, the bad guys flee (some constructs defeated). Our heroes return home where they are attacked and battle elementals and constructs, (some constructs destroyed bad guys flee). Kate does alchemy, they are attacked, they battle, bad guys flee, they follow a lead, they battle, bad guys flee, they follow another lead, another battle with much destruction then again and again until the final 'dramatic' battle in which they fight the main bad guy, much destruction ensures, they win, the end. Only you know, it is not dramatic if it is the 25th such massive battle against unbeatable monsters.

traveling_in_books's review

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fast-paced

3.25

gnull's review

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4.0

4.5 stars. I listened to the audio book. Anything negative I may think of it is probably because I wasn’t always focused, and it took me so long to finish it. The Griffiths write fun adventurous books and create lovable complete characters. This was no exception.

jessreadthis's review

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3.0

I received this book courtesy of Random House Publishing Group-Del Rey via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review of this book.

What is it about: Fans of the Crown and Key Society are once again eager to dive into this third installment of the series and hoping to gain some closure! Simon Archer, the last magician-scribe, has lost his powers and evil forces are still at work against them. Simon struggles with his newfound version of humanity and reinvent his arsenal against the supernatural. The group must channel all efforts to find a way to restore Simon's powers quickly as a powerful demigod, Gaios is set on a course that could mean utter destruction for Britain and ultimately the world. Through determination, ingenuity, team work, ultimate sacrifice, love, and mad fighting skills the Crown and Key Society set forth on a course to save each other and the world.

What did I think: This was my first exposure to the series. I found it to be a fun summer read that will take the reader on a short break from the mundane into the fantasy. The storyline was original and kept an incredibly fast pace for the reader. This isn't really a book you can put down and pick back up again. It will be easier to sit awhile and read the story through!

indigo_han's review

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3.0

This one gets a 3.5. I really enjoyed book 1, but all the characters seemed to fade away in books 2 and 3. The characterisation and interpersonal relationships get forgotten in a rush of action. Even the little bit of romance gets pushed aside. There was genuine chemistry in the beginning.

It's clever, and the female characters are bad ass, which I like. And adopting a teen age werewolf into the family is seriously cute.
I feel like there is some more story left. There are still a few disappearances to explain. And some romance, dammit!