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haylzno's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.5
Wow. Just WOW.
So many of the questions we were left with in book 1 were answered in this sequel and it was just so satisfying to start to put the pieces of the puzzle together and start to see the bigger picture.
That twist at the end?!?! Absolutely floored me.
I'm enjoyed that we got multiple POVs in this book vs. the (almost) singular POV from book 1.
We are introduced to a new character in this book and her POVs made me truly angry. There are certain tropes used that I am personally not a fan of. But regardless of how I feel about those tropes, they added a lot of substance to the plot and it served the story well!
Battle Drum picks up almost immediately where Final Strife left off and we are thrown into the thick of it right away which I loved. Final Strife took me a second to really get into but Battle Drum stole my interest from page 1.
I also adored the world building we got in this sequel. I need fan art of the giant mushrooms IMMEDIATELY.
I cannot waitttttt for the third book. I NEED ANSWERS SAARA
Thank you to netgalley, Penguin Random House and Saara for a copy of an eARC in exchange for an honest review
So many of the questions we were left with in book 1 were answered in this sequel and it was just so satisfying to start to put the pieces of the puzzle together and start to see the bigger picture.
That twist at the end?!?! Absolutely floored me.
I'm enjoyed that we got multiple POVs in this book vs. the (almost) singular POV from book 1.
We are introduced to a new character in this book and her POVs made me truly angry. There are certain tropes used that I am personally not a fan of. But regardless of how I feel about those tropes, they added a lot of substance to the plot and it served the story well!
Battle Drum picks up almost immediately where Final Strife left off and we are thrown into the thick of it right away which I loved. Final Strife took me a second to really get into but Battle Drum stole my interest from page 1.
I also adored the world building we got in this sequel. I need fan art of the giant mushrooms IMMEDIATELY.
I cannot waitttttt for the third book. I NEED ANSWERS SAARA
Thank you to netgalley, Penguin Random House and Saara for a copy of an eARC in exchange for an honest review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Sexual assault, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Murder, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: War
jashanac's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc for review!
WHAT A SEQUEL!
I cannot express how much I love the world-building here. I am ENTHRALLED with the history and lore that the author has created and am having so much fun trying to put all of the puzzle pieces together.
The religious zealotry and cult explored here is fascinating and terrifying. There were SEVERAL moments that made me shout out loud and get shivers all over, from the absolutely horrifying gory scene on the page.
Anoor was fairly frustrating throughout, due to her naivety and being SO gullible, my god. She hasn't seemed to learn from her lessons and it was really irritating a couple of times. Where her storyline leaves off at the end makes me nervous for how frustrated I'm going to be in the final book... but we'll see!
I love that Hassa is so no-nonsense with Anoor, though. She is an understanding, emotionally intelligent person, but she's not afraid to knock some sense into Anoor and doesn't coddle her. I love that, because good god Anoor needs it. I'm SO curious to see what happens with Hassa in the next book.
WHAT A SEQUEL!
I cannot express how much I love the world-building here. I am ENTHRALLED with the history and lore that the author has created and am having so much fun trying to put all of the puzzle pieces together.
The religious zealotry and cult explored here is fascinating and terrifying. There were SEVERAL moments that made me shout out loud and get shivers all over, from the absolutely horrifying gory scene on the page.
Anoor was fairly frustrating throughout, due to her naivety and being SO gullible, my god. She hasn't seemed to learn from her lessons and it was really irritating a couple of times. Where her storyline leaves off at the end makes me nervous for how frustrated I'm going to be in the final book... but we'll see!
I love that Hassa is so no-nonsense with Anoor, though. She is an understanding, emotionally intelligent person, but she's not afraid to knock some sense into Anoor and doesn't coddle her. I love that, because good god Anoor needs it. I'm SO curious to see what happens with Hassa in the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Body horror, Gore, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Torture
Moderate: Colonisation and Slavery
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