Reviews

i’m lowkey emotional… the end of this book was actually quite perfect in a way i didn’t expect it to be. i will say, i think the loss of the mystery that’s present in caraval and legendary made this a little harder for me to get through (i LOVED the not knowing what was real and what was fake) but the last third of this book had me on a wild ride! i did think legend’s proclamation of love felt a little rushed and i wished there was a liiiittle more leadup but what can you do. also unsure of how willing the kingdom of valenda would be to just hand over the throne to scarlett for seemingly no real reason. other than that had a marvelous time. quite excited to embark upon UOABH.

mjreutman's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

adisonopal's review against another edition

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4.25

With Caraval, I felt speechless because I was so entranced. With this book I’m also speechless (I will still be writing an essay with this review don’t get me wrong), I’m not quite sure why but definitely not for the same reason.

This book was a rollercoaster for me with what I liked and didn’t like. Going into this series, I knew Jacks had a spin-off series with someone else not in this book. But because I read Caraval, I also didn’t have Jacks blindness that a lot of the fans seem to have, which I did appreciate. However, this confused me so much with the love triangle in this book. Much of this series is me knowing a spoiler and going ‘but what if’ and then the spoiler was right. I do think that is a testament to SG’s writing ability. There were multiple points where I was second guessing what I knew about Jacks and Tella (in a good way).

I also found myself theorizing the connection to OUABH, specifically with Evangeline.

At one point I was thinking, ‘What if she’s Tella and Legend’s daughter and that’s how that part gets brought up again’. I’m not sure I believe that’s the case, but that would be such good writing in advance.

In terms of planning in advance, I think that’s this series weakest points. I mentioned in my last review that the fates should’ve been brought up in Scarlett’s book.

I didn’t like that she just became Empress at the end of the book. It didn’t seem to really fit her character. I think it was just a little too ambitious. I think it would made sense if there were some subtle hints in the first book, but I don’t think SG had it planned out that far. However there were a few good callbacks too, like how Scarlett had a different dad, and how it was mentioned in the start of the first book that Scarlett looked nothing like her ‘dad’.

In terms of the dual povs, it was definitely more Tella based, which made me kinda of sad at first because I prefer Scarlett, however I think Tella needed more time for her story to be wrapped up then Scarlett.

I was also nervous at first about Scarlett’s story in this book being lame with the Nicolas/Julian competition, so I’m glad that pivoted. Rip Nicolas though, he reminded me of Lord Debling from Bridgerton lol.

Listen I liked Legend, and I think he’s the best love interest for Tella (even though he pissed me off at times), but putting him next to Julian made him look sooo inferior. Julian is def my fav book boyfriend of the year so far ❤️❤️❤️. I just love that boy.

reginapizza's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

favorite book of the series by far

meganlaza's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

malaikama's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

4.5

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