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ceilidhwilliams's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
YA protagonists often get criticised for being stupid, but Maddie is by far the dumbest protagonist I’ve ever read, this book would be 200 pages shorter if she had even on ounce of intelligence.
The last ~50 pages made this some what redeeming.
The last ~50 pages made this some what redeeming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Violence, Trafficking, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
abutler's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Kidnapping and Murder
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I found this book to be fast paced for it's size and covers a lot of story in 320 pages.
There was some interesting characters and relationships which I forgot about before reading it again. I felt like I also enjoyed it more this time around at 3.75 instead of the 3.5 (so much of a difference I know), where I think I could appreciate what was resolved in the first book and what still needs to be resolved in the second.
The ending also leaves this open to have a couple of different scenes and potential scenarios, which I'm interested to see if they do happen or not.
I think my favourite characters are Taya and the Silver Prince, and probably for almost opposite reasons. Taya feels like a very rounded character and the more Maddie interacted with her the more I wanted to read and get to know her, as this is a shorter book and there is a lot happening, she isn't in it as much as I would like and doesn't have a huge amount of character development because of that.I'm not sure how much I'll get to see her in the sequel considering she is now in another world and it looks like the door sealed behind her. The Silver Prince on the other hand is very 2D in my opinion but I kind of liked that. We don't know anything about him other then he created the Oasis city in his world. Instead you are given "Charismatic Leader that seems to know more than letting on" which is just fun. Sometimes it is just fun to have characters that you don't have to overthink and you get what you are given.
This to me is very much a fun weekend read where you can sit down and read it in a day or two which is what I more or less this time around.
There was some interesting characters and relationships which I forgot about before reading it again. I felt like I also enjoyed it more this time around at 3.75 instead of the 3.5 (so much of a difference I know), where I think I could appreciate what was resolved in the first book and what still needs to be resolved in the second.
The ending also leaves this open to have a couple of different scenes and potential scenarios, which I'm interested to see if they do happen or not.
I think my favourite characters are Taya and the Silver Prince, and probably for almost opposite reasons. Taya feels like a very rounded character and the more Maddie interacted with her the more I wanted to read and get to know her, as this is a shorter book and there is a lot happening, she isn't in it as much as I would like and doesn't have a huge amount of character development because of that.
This to me is very much a fun weekend read where you can sit down and read it in a day or two which is what I more or less this time around.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Murder, and Kidnapping
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