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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Disappointing. I was really excited for this, the chance to dive deeper into Ambessa and what happened in her past to create the woman we met in Arcane. Especially after seeing the ‘Blood, Sweat, and Tears’ video. Unfortunately, we didn’t really learn anything new. I didn’t “hear” Ambessa in the way CL Clark wrote her and had trouble envisioning her. There was a disconnect. The characterization was off. The story was meandering and the pace was off beat. It was difficult to stay engaged.
I don’t think CL Clark understood the character of Ambessa well enough to write this book. I think they were more interested in Mel, Rudo, and Rell than Ambessa. Or at least they identified more with them. In the end, what did we really learn? Ambessa is ruthless. (Duh.) She likes feminine men. (We know.) She manipulates young women into doing her bidding by acting as a mentor. (Seen it already.) She claims to do all for her family but it’s a cover for her selfish ambition. (We’ve been through this one too, yup.) But she’s not totally heartless, there’s some shreds of humanity in there. (Yeah, yeah, we know, we got it!) Arcane showed us this. Arcane developed those themes already. This book was an opportunity to explore the deeper complexities of this really fascinating woman and it’s so frustrating that didn’t happen.
The music video did a far better job encapsulating the multifaceted intricacies of Ambessa than this book did which is just a shame.
I don’t think CL Clark understood the character of Ambessa well enough to write this book. I think they were more interested in Mel, Rudo, and Rell than Ambessa. Or at least they identified more with them. In the end, what did we really learn? Ambessa is ruthless. (Duh.) She likes feminine men. (We know.) She manipulates young women into doing her bidding by acting as a mentor. (Seen it already.) She claims to do all for her family but it’s a cover for her selfish ambition. (We’ve been through this one too, yup.) But she’s not totally heartless, there’s some shreds of humanity in there. (Yeah, yeah, we know, we got it!) Arcane showed us this. Arcane developed those themes already. This book was an opportunity to explore the deeper complexities of this really fascinating woman and it’s so frustrating that didn’t happen.
The music video did a far better job encapsulating the multifaceted intricacies of Ambessa than this book did which is just a shame.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
positives:
- I do feel like the characterizations in here are really strong; also, the world/lore felt well researched.
- I loved Ambessa’s multilayered rageful badass perspective & her unwavering loyalty to her family that leads to questionable morals at times.
- I really enjoyed Mel’s perspectives & those were probably my favourite portions of this book.
- I also think there were some epic quotes/moments in here, & some fun league name drops.
- I was locked in enough to binge this book in pretty much a day and a half?
Negatives:
- My issues are in the story/plot structure primarily. It really just felt like this didn’t really go anywhere new? It just felt pretty repetitive & laid out what the Medarda’s were up to leading up to the Arcane show, all of which we are already told/shown on the show??
I’m quite surprised there haven’t been more Arcane/League books coming out…? (I have read the Lux graphic novels and loved those, and I am interested in trying out Ruination) I feel there’s definitely a market for more!!! I would love to know Ekko’s journey into the Fireflies/Post Arcane Ekko, & prequel Vander x Silco. I’m not a CaitVi shipper personally, but I know maaaaannnyyy diva’s love them and I feel there’s a market for a post Arcane book about them?? Or Jayvik??? Heimerdinger???? Jinx (surviving season 2) and heading to Demacia to kick it with Lux??? I’m just surprised they aren’t doing more because the people want it!!!
I know my rating is low for this, but I do think if you love Arcane but most especially loved Mel or Ambessa, or if you are a League fan who loves Noxus this might be for you 🤪
- I do feel like the characterizations in here are really strong; also, the world/lore felt well researched.
- I loved Ambessa’s multilayered rageful badass perspective & her unwavering loyalty to her family that leads to questionable morals at times.
- I really enjoyed Mel’s perspectives & those were probably my favourite portions of this book.
- I also think there were some epic quotes/moments in here, & some fun league name drops.
- I was locked in enough to binge this book in pretty much a day and a half?
Negatives:
- My issues are in the story/plot structure primarily. It really just felt like this didn’t really go anywhere new? It just felt pretty repetitive & laid out what the Medarda’s were up to leading up to the Arcane show, all of which we are already told/shown on the show??
I’m quite surprised there haven’t been more Arcane/League books coming out…? (I have read the Lux graphic novels and loved those, and I am interested in trying out Ruination) I feel there’s definitely a market for more!!! I would love to know Ekko’s journey into the Fireflies/Post Arcane Ekko, & prequel Vander x Silco. I’m not a CaitVi shipper personally, but I know maaaaannnyyy diva’s love them and I feel there’s a market for a post Arcane book about them?? Or Jayvik??? Heimerdinger???? Jinx (surviving season 2) and heading to Demacia to kick it with Lux??? I’m just surprised they aren’t doing more because the people want it!!!
I know my rating is low for this, but I do think if you love Arcane but most especially loved Mel or Ambessa, or if you are a League fan who loves Noxus this might be for you 🤪
adventurous
funny
tense
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
adventurous
emotional
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I see Arcane. I love Arcane.
adventurous
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I fell in love with the Arcane series and introducing me to Ambessa. This was such a rich story and some little perspective. The audiobook is superb! And C L Clark did an amazing job. I highly recommend!
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was so excited for this book. I adore the tv show arcane and Ambessa is one of my favourite characters from the show. When I heard there would be a book centred on her backstory I immediately sprung to preorder. However this book fell so short of my expectations and left me disappointed and disheartened. While the events of the book were tense and exciting, and the exploration of inter-character relationships were interesting, the writing made everything fall flat. The pacing was sporadic and focused too heavily on the wrong things at the wrong times, making entire chapters uninteresting and dull where they could have been engaging and exciting. Word choice and sentence structure was clunky and left me disconnected from the narrative. I enjoyed seeing parts of Ambessa’s life and origin that we will likely never see on screen in future Arcane-adjacent projects but this book could have been so much more.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes