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delle's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
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
cjburright's review
5.0
Whatever Anne Bishop writes, I'll read! Another great installment in the Black Jewels world with all my favorite characters. I can't help but appreciate Daemon Sadi's particular flavor of totally deserved justice amid the drama of one fabulously fun and equally scary family. I adore this world and its damaged, broken characters who, despite enduring unspeakable horrors, manage to find acceptance, love...and Scelties!
keshwyn's review
I realized partway in that I'd missed a book in the series (this one was a gift) and that I didn't know quite what was going on - but then I figured out that I didn't actually like the direction the book was trending. I skipped ahead, read the last third to figure out if the ending was one I was going to enjoy, and then determined that there was really only one character I wanted to know what happened to, and I didn't read the middle of the book to find out how she got there.
I suppose I technically "finished" this book, but since I skipped about half of it, I"m going to consider it a DNF.
I suppose I technically "finished" this book, but since I skipped about half of it, I"m going to consider it a DNF.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
sjb86's review
5.0
great but sad story for
great but sad story for people who adore the previous trilogy.
Absolutely love any of the black jewels books but this book is very sad when it comes to Daemon daughter and I really hope there’s more to come in this series
great but sad story for people who adore the previous trilogy.
Absolutely love any of the black jewels books but this book is very sad when it comes to Daemon daughter and I really hope there’s more to come in this series
xavia's review
4.0
This is going to be a long one, so I'm sorry. But I have a lot to say.
I struggled with what rating to give this book, because on one hand, everything about the Yaslana family is written wonderfully, and everything about the SaDiablo family is written to be awful.
Lucivar's children are a treat to read about. Everytime they came onto the scene, I felt like the story picked up momentum (course, he is my favorite character and always has been so maybe I'm biased). Daemonar is a young man now, and is starting to learn more about the horrors his father and uncle faced in Terrielle and that those horrors might be making their way to Kaeleer. Titian is also coming into her own, and is very different from her brother, taking after Marian more than Lucivar. She wants to study art not warcraft and she and her brother are clearly very close.
Daemon's child... is the opposite. Jaenelle Saetian is far from the charming, wonderful, magical child she was introduced to be. In fact, she is an entitled brat. My biggest problem with Saetian, is that she doesn't want to be compared to Jaenelle Angelline, but she wants everyone to treat her like she is as special as Jaenelle Angelline. And I've read some other reviews, and I've seen people talk about how one harsh word shouldn't sever the motherly connection between Saetian and Surreal, but I honestly believe that that was just the straw that broke the camels back. It's been centuries of Saetian being dismissive of Surreal, contemptuous of Surreal, judgmental of Surreal, and this was just the last in that long line of heartache. Was it shown well, I don't think so (my thoughts on how to fix that below) but it's my belief that Surreal is too good for her daughter.
I am of the opinion that this book, this story line, should have been it's own duology. I know that technically, its part of a duology, but if we're being honest there isn't a whole lot tying it to the Queen's Bargain. The first should have expanded on the children's childhood. We should have been shown charming wonderful Saetian and how she ended up such an entitled brat (because as it stands, she was the second coming of Angelline in the High Lord's Daughter and mini Kermilla by The Queen's Bargain). Seeing how she went from one extreme to the other would go a long way to fleshing out how she got to be this way. This would also give us a chance to see how Delora and Hespera got to this point. Surely they didn't come into this world fully formed as mini Dorothea and Heketah. And even if they did, how did they gain a following? How did they get their claws in Saetian? Putting all of this in it's own book would go a long way towards fleshing out a plot that felt rushed and half thought out. Additionally, we could take this time to actually explore Dorian and Orian, not just toss them in there so that Daemonar has a problem but not actually develop them.
The second book can be all the school stuff, but more fleshed out. With more of a focus on the children. The school stuff wasn't too bad, but it was thin since it had so much else to compete with in this book. I did very much enjoy the climax of this book, which was the SaDiablo staff taking. Care. Of business. Mrs. Beale and her meat cleaver deserve a special mention for sure, as well as Holt. They are all wonderful. While we're on the subject of that climax, and it's aftermath, I think Saetian got off too easy. I know that Daemon couldn't do what was asked of him, but I think Witch could have extracted a higher price for the pain and suffering she inflicted. Not just on Daemon and Surreal and the girls at the party, but on Lucivar and Titian and Daemonar and Zoey. She betrayed her family, and got what feels like a slap on the wrist.
All in all, Jaenelle Saetian is the worst part of this book, and I understand that she had to be for the book to work, but there wasn't enough foundation there to make it feel justified. The books feels like a big retcon. "Oh the Daemon and Surreal pairing was unpopular? Okay let's drive them off a cliff and find another way for Daemon and Angelline to be together in death." "Oh, you know I've decided I don't think they deserve a perfect, wonderful, magical child. Let's just drive a stake through her personality and make her completely unlikeable."
Personally, I think, if she writes other stories in this world, she needs to stop writing about the SaDiablo's. Some how she cannot seem to pull it off anymore. I'm happy to continue reading about the Yaslana's, Titian and Jillian in particular I think would be interesting, or we can go to the rebuilding of Terrielle like in the Shalador Duology, or hey! I'd love to know what happened to Wilhelmina Benedict! But I think it's time to let the SaDiablo's sleep.
I struggled with what rating to give this book, because on one hand, everything about the Yaslana family is written wonderfully, and everything about the SaDiablo family is written to be awful.
Lucivar's children are a treat to read about. Everytime they came onto the scene, I felt like the story picked up momentum (course, he is my favorite character and always has been so maybe I'm biased). Daemonar is a young man now, and is starting to learn more about the horrors his father and uncle faced in Terrielle and that those horrors might be making their way to Kaeleer. Titian is also coming into her own, and is very different from her brother, taking after Marian more than Lucivar. She wants to study art not warcraft and she and her brother are clearly very close.
Daemon's child... is the opposite. Jaenelle Saetian is far from the charming, wonderful, magical child she was introduced to be. In fact, she is an entitled brat. My biggest problem with Saetian, is that she doesn't want to be compared to Jaenelle Angelline, but she wants everyone to treat her like she is as special as Jaenelle Angelline. And I've read some other reviews, and I've seen people talk about how one harsh word shouldn't sever the motherly connection between Saetian and Surreal, but I honestly believe that that was just the straw that broke the camels back. It's been centuries of Saetian being dismissive of Surreal, contemptuous of Surreal, judgmental of Surreal, and this was just the last in that long line of heartache. Was it shown well, I don't think so (my thoughts on how to fix that below) but it's my belief that Surreal is too good for her daughter.
I am of the opinion that this book, this story line, should have been it's own duology. I know that technically, its part of a duology, but if we're being honest there isn't a whole lot tying it to the Queen's Bargain. The first should have expanded on the children's childhood. We should have been shown charming wonderful Saetian and how she ended up such an entitled brat (because as it stands, she was the second coming of Angelline in the High Lord's Daughter and mini Kermilla by The Queen's Bargain). Seeing how she went from one extreme to the other would go a long way to fleshing out how she got to be this way. This would also give us a chance to see how Delora and Hespera got to this point. Surely they didn't come into this world fully formed as mini Dorothea and Heketah. And even if they did, how did they gain a following? How did they get their claws in Saetian? Putting all of this in it's own book would go a long way towards fleshing out a plot that felt rushed and half thought out. Additionally, we could take this time to actually explore Dorian and Orian, not just toss them in there so that Daemonar has a problem but not actually develop them.
The second book can be all the school stuff, but more fleshed out. With more of a focus on the children. The school stuff wasn't too bad, but it was thin since it had so much else to compete with in this book. I did very much enjoy the climax of this book, which was the SaDiablo staff taking. Care. Of business. Mrs. Beale and her meat cleaver deserve a special mention for sure, as well as Holt. They are all wonderful. While we're on the subject of that climax, and it's aftermath, I think Saetian got off too easy. I know that Daemon couldn't do what was asked of him, but I think Witch could have extracted a higher price for the pain and suffering she inflicted. Not just on Daemon and Surreal and the girls at the party, but on Lucivar and Titian and Daemonar and Zoey. She betrayed her family, and got what feels like a slap on the wrist.
All in all, Jaenelle Saetian is the worst part of this book, and I understand that she had to be for the book to work, but there wasn't enough foundation there to make it feel justified. The books feels like a big retcon. "Oh the Daemon and Surreal pairing was unpopular? Okay let's drive them off a cliff and find another way for Daemon and Angelline to be together in death." "Oh, you know I've decided I don't think they deserve a perfect, wonderful, magical child. Let's just drive a stake through her personality and make her completely unlikeable."
Personally, I think, if she writes other stories in this world, she needs to stop writing about the SaDiablo's. Some how she cannot seem to pull it off anymore. I'm happy to continue reading about the Yaslana's, Titian and Jillian in particular I think would be interesting, or we can go to the rebuilding of Terrielle like in the Shalador Duology, or hey! I'd love to know what happened to Wilhelmina Benedict! But I think it's time to let the SaDiablo's sleep.
athenaevarinya's review
2.0
While there was a handful of nice moments in this book, I find I have the same unsettled and nauseous feelings I had when I finished the previous book. The author has created an interesting world, but the last two books she has managed to ruin my enjoyment of it. I think she would have done better to write books like the Shaldor/Dena Nehele books that explored the rebuilding of Terrielle after the purge of the corrupt Blood.
siavahda's review
5.0
This review contains spoilers for the earlier books in the series.
The ‘main’ story of the series wrapped up with Twilight’s Dawn, with as picture-perfect a happy ending as Bishop could write from the corner she’d backed herself into – inevitably, if your romance is between someone from a species that lives 3000 years, and someone else whose race only lives for maybe 100 (like us humans) – well, that’s going to end in heartbreak for one part of your couple and your readers, eventually. Despite that, Bishop did the best she could to make the closing of the series not completely tragic, and it did manage to end on a hopeful, if slightly odd, note.
In writing Queen’s Bargain and Queen’s Weapons, it feels very much like Bishop came back to the Black Jewels world to close the book on it properly.
And I have to say, I think she’s done it. I have no idea if she intends to write any more Black Jewels books, but as a reader, I don’t need any more. This is the ending we didn’t quite get with Twilight’s Dawn; not the forced cliche of a white-picket-fence happy ending, but a happy ending that actually fits the strange, unconventional, wonderful family of characters we’ve known and loved for so long. This is the perfect place to stop. This is every question answered, every loose thread tied up, every Jewel set and left in its proper, perfect place.
A standing ovation for Ms Bishop, please!
Now, let me do my best to describe the actual book to you without spoilers!
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
The ‘main’ story of the series wrapped up with Twilight’s Dawn, with as picture-perfect a happy ending as Bishop could write from the corner she’d backed herself into – inevitably, if your romance is between someone from a species that lives 3000 years, and someone else whose race only lives for maybe 100 (like us humans) – well, that’s going to end in heartbreak for one part of your couple and your readers, eventually. Despite that, Bishop did the best she could to make the closing of the series not completely tragic, and it did manage to end on a hopeful, if slightly odd, note.
In writing Queen’s Bargain and Queen’s Weapons, it feels very much like Bishop came back to the Black Jewels world to close the book on it properly.
And I have to say, I think she’s done it. I have no idea if she intends to write any more Black Jewels books, but as a reader, I don’t need any more. This is the ending we didn’t quite get with Twilight’s Dawn; not the forced cliche of a white-picket-fence happy ending, but a happy ending that actually fits the strange, unconventional, wonderful family of characters we’ve known and loved for so long. This is the perfect place to stop. This is every question answered, every loose thread tied up, every Jewel set and left in its proper, perfect place.
A standing ovation for Ms Bishop, please!
Now, let me do my best to describe the actual book to you without spoilers!
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
laughlinesandliterature's review
4.0
I am excited and apprehensive about this. I LOVE The Black Jewels Trilogy. No joke, I've been reading these since I was like 13(I've always been an avid reader). I want to revisit the characters but I HATE that Jaenelle is only kind of missing. I didn't want to see Daemon without her, but I also didn't want to to see him with anyone else. I liked Surreal, but I haven't liked her in the last two books. As a mother, it is hard for me to read how she treats Jaenelle Saetien, because what that girl needs is a firm 'no' and a mother. Not someone who stays away and can't be bothered because of her own pain. That's NOT what a mother does. A mother accepts that her children will hurt her, hate her, and she will push through it. Because that's what a mother does. A mother is a safe space to fall, but a mother doesn't just give up and that's what Surreal did. Jaenelle Saetien made her own choices, but she made those choices because her mother wasn't honest, wasn't there, and couldn't be bothered to actually parent. Can you even imagine what Jaenelle Saetien would have been like with a mother like Marian? She wouldn't have been nearly as spoiled or selfish because Marian wouldn't have allowed it. You shield your children from the pain of the world, but you make sure they understand it too. Surreal and Daemon didn't do that and they deserve a large shoulder of blame for what happened. The next book better freaking redeem them because right now I don't love any of these characters. Except Lucivar, Marian, and their kids. Those guys are great.
pandapjays's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
karmakit's review against another edition
4.0
It was such a joy to be back in this world. I enjoyed this book a lot more than the last installment, and really hope there will be another. The plot and character development was spectacular.