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laurajaylive's review against another edition
4.0
Great continuation and finale to this duology! I am so happy with all I learned about the characters and how their story ended. It's great to see their growth through the book and feel their struggles. Great duology!
thea_rem's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bookish_mrs_w's review against another edition
3.0
I feel ambivalent about the ending of this duology. It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t my favorite. At times it dragged, at times I flew through it….and then once “the big reveal happened”…the story seemed to wrap up and end pretty quickly. There were characters that I had hoped were going to be a bigger part of the story but were quickly swept aside. I do think the strongest part of this book was it’s characters. I adored the two main characters and even the secondary characters were so enjoyable…I sometimes wished for their POV’s. Overall, it was a good ending.
dame_samara's review against another edition
4.0
It's gay, and it does slap.
I had honestly forgotten how much I truly loved the world Tara Sim had built-in Scavenge the Stars. Until I was 34 pages in and remembered how fantastically queer this world is. Do you want representation? We've got it. Demi-Sexuals, Trans Characters, Lesbians, Nonbinary peeps all pop up within this book in a way that shows this is normal for this world, and it's great.
I am sure I mentioned it in my review of Scavenge the Stars, but I'm a sucker for the idea of broaches that indicate pronoun preference.
I loved this book truly; it was full of heists and drama, AND so much character development, especially from Cayo. It was interesting watching him struggle with the addictive behavior he shows when it comes to alcohol and gambling, which I have never seen in Young Adult books.
I loved 95% percent of this book, the last 5% being the ending. I personally felt like the story had been built up for a reveal that wasn't equative to the reveal we actually got.
I would still recommend this series because, in reality, it was more about the journey than where we got. I would definitely recommend reading this duology back to back.
I had honestly forgotten how much I truly loved the world Tara Sim had built-in Scavenge the Stars. Until I was 34 pages in and remembered how fantastically queer this world is. Do you want representation? We've got it. Demi-Sexuals, Trans Characters, Lesbians, Nonbinary peeps all pop up within this book in a way that shows this is normal for this world, and it's great.
I am sure I mentioned it in my review of Scavenge the Stars, but I'm a sucker for the idea of broaches that indicate pronoun preference.
I loved this book truly; it was full of heists and drama, AND so much character development, especially from Cayo. It was interesting watching him struggle with the addictive behavior he shows when it comes to alcohol and gambling, which I have never seen in Young Adult books.
I loved 95% percent of this book, the last 5% being the ending. I personally felt like the story had been built up for a reveal that wasn't equative to the reveal we actually got.
I would still recommend this series because, in reality, it was more about the journey than where we got. I would definitely recommend reading this duology back to back.
musica_mondel's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
lizshayne's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Update to my review for the first book: it did not get better.
So, first of all, the two main characters keep doing the thing of “you kept SECRETS from me?” As if they are not themselves hiding truly astonishing amounts of information and it was annoying the first time and progressively more annoying with each subsequent occurrence. There was a lot of interpersonal conflict that seemed to exist because the book had a conflict quota and was working to exceed it.
Also, this is a book written after 2020, so OBVIOUSLY I’m going to judge it for its portrayal of an epidemic and, in particular, the way our main characters seem to constantly do the thing that should-by the rules of the world-get them sick but don’t. The explanations offered are insufficient for making me feel like it’s more than a hand wave plot device and, I mean, come on.
Also, wow, is this a book about bad dads. Just like EVERYONE. Dead moms and bad dads. Which also made it FASCINATING to see who got forgiven by the narrative. One evil mom would have been a lovely change of pace.
And while I’m kvetching, the book definitely set up the main romance to be far kinkier than it actually delivered on. Which, like, fine. Given the publishers, it makes sense. But why write it that way to start then?
This could have been so much less meh.
So, first of all, the two main characters keep doing the thing of “you kept SECRETS from me?” As if they are not themselves hiding truly astonishing amounts of information and it was annoying the first time and progressively more annoying with each subsequent occurrence. There was a lot of interpersonal conflict that seemed to exist because the book had a conflict quota and was working to exceed it.
Also, this is a book written after 2020, so OBVIOUSLY I’m going to judge it for its portrayal of an epidemic and, in particular, the way our main characters seem to constantly do the thing that should-by the rules of the world-get them sick but don’t. The explanations offered are insufficient for making me feel like it’s more than a hand wave plot device and, I mean, come on.
Also, wow, is this a book about bad dads. Just like EVERYONE. Dead moms and bad dads. Which also made it FASCINATING to see who got forgiven by the narrative. One evil mom would have been a lovely change of pace.
And while I’m kvetching, the book definitely set up the main romance to be far kinkier than it actually delivered on. Which, like, fine. Given the publishers, it makes sense. But why write it that way to start then?
This could have been so much less meh.
ameserole's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not going to lie. After finishing the previous book, Scavenge the Stars, I was really excited to dive into Ravage the Dark. In it, you will still be following Amaya and Cayo. Also, the rest of the found family crew filled with amazing people. We are also still trying to figure out what's going on with the mysterious plague. Yeah, so a lot happened in this book and my mind is still trying to cope with what went down.
Now the plague isn't the only dramatic thing in this either. Nope, we have Amaya trying to figure out her family history and such. Things weren't that easy to digest when it came to her family. So I could see why she kept some things a secret but it still hurt my heart that she didn't tell Cayo the truth until it was (sort of) too late.
Speaking of Cayo. Oh man. These two frustrated me so much in this one. I just don't get why they dance around one another and don't communicate necessary things. I'll even admit that I wanted to strangle them from time to time. I still like them but the trust issues are THERE people.
In the end, this sequel did a pretty good job for me. The twists and turns throughout this adventure definitely made it a page turner for me. I'm so happy that I dove into this and fell in love with these characters!
Now the plague isn't the only dramatic thing in this either. Nope, we have Amaya trying to figure out her family history and such. Things weren't that easy to digest when it came to her family. So I could see why she kept some things a secret but it still hurt my heart that she didn't tell Cayo the truth until it was (sort of) too late.
Speaking of Cayo. Oh man. These two frustrated me so much in this one. I just don't get why they dance around one another and don't communicate necessary things. I'll even admit that I wanted to strangle them from time to time. I still like them but the trust issues are THERE people.
In the end, this sequel did a pretty good job for me. The twists and turns throughout this adventure definitely made it a page turner for me. I'm so happy that I dove into this and fell in love with these characters!
elizkacz's review against another edition
5.0
Sometimes it's not about getting revenge. Sometimes it's about forgiving and moving on.