Reviews

Apostles of Mercy by Lindsay Ellis

intothevolcano's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

Each instalment of the Noumena series has felt fresh and different from the others - with the one key similarity being me hopefully using "series" to refer to these books, and already eager for a further follow-up. Apostles of Mercy felt even more action-packed than the previous instalments - which is quite a feat. However, this is balanced alongside brilliant character development - even from characters you would previously have thought incapable of it. In terms of newer characters, I adored Paris. It was really interesting to see Cora's mindset changing and developing, and the world itself is slowly diverging more and more into alternate history as well. Once again, I eagerly await the follow-up, and hope there is one! 
Thanks to Titan Books and Netgalley for the ARC. 

zagfros's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I was so happy to get a chance to read this early, I've been eagerly awaiting the continuation to Cora & Ampersand's journey and it did not disappoint. 

We deal with the impact of Kaveh's death in the previous book on both Cora & Nikola. The dynamics between Cora & Ampersand are further explored and Cora is finding her voice when it comes to the differences in norms between the two, which is great to see. Paris is a great addition to the core group and helped contribute to Cora's character growth and provided another point of view. I was happy to see more of Luciana & Sol too. The personal stakes seem ever higher in this one than in any of the previous entries and I was constantly at the edge of my seat in certain chapters revolving around specific characters.

The Physterines were fascinating and I could hardly put the book down as the conflicts between all the species escalated. The last 20% of this book especially, was just non-stop. You won't want to stop reading. The last chapter as well!!! I was expecting the story to wrap up with this novel but with that ending, I hope this is not the last we've seen of these characters.

Thanks to Titan Books & Netgalley for the chance to read this arc!