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_inge 's review for:
Last Descendants
by Matthew J. Kirby
adventurous
dark
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Sometimes it’s just nice to read a book that’s easy to read and isn’t unnecessarily complicated. Assassins good, Templars (mostly) bad, POE are powerful, got it.
Story-wise it was… fine? Maybe this was meant to be more of a setup for the other books, especially since this one had an open ending too. It just didn’t make me feel… anything. You get multiple teens all entering the animus simultaneously, so not only do you have to get to know them, you also need to become familiar with their ancestors. I do definitely prefer reading about one person in the animus, this worked so well in Heresy. I now struggled to connect to any of the characters.
The information we do get about every lead is also way too little to allow the reader to connect with them. The blurb makes it seem like this book is mostly about Owen figuring out what happened to his dad for instance, but this only comes up briefly at the start and end. I’d basically forgotten about it by the time it was brought on again. I would’ve liked more Sean too, because every time he came into view now it was to discuss how much it sucks to be in a wheelchair. They could’ve done so much better there. I am really interested in Natalya because she seems autism coded to me. Early on it’s mentioned that she seems shy, but she’s really not, and apparently she’s always really direct with people when she doesn’t want to come off as mean. But it’s only these descriptions that got me thinking something’s up, as her interactions with others or the way she behaves seem totally neurotypical on the outside. So I really wonder why they’ve chosen to stress these characteristics in this way. Probably, like Sean, they won’t explore it any further.
Might read the second one for Natalya, or if I want something that’s easy to read. I did enjoy the experience of reading it, but I’ll probably forget about it soon.
Story-wise it was… fine? Maybe this was meant to be more of a setup for the other books, especially since this one had an open ending too. It just didn’t make me feel… anything. You get multiple teens all entering the animus simultaneously, so not only do you have to get to know them, you also need to become familiar with their ancestors. I do definitely prefer reading about one person in the animus, this worked so well in Heresy. I now struggled to connect to any of the characters.
The information we do get about every lead is also way too little to allow the reader to connect with them. The blurb makes it seem like this book is mostly about Owen figuring out what happened to his dad for instance, but this only comes up briefly at the start and end. I’d basically forgotten about it by the time it was brought on again. I would’ve liked more Sean too, because every time he came into view now it was to discuss how much it sucks to be in a wheelchair. They could’ve done so much better there. I am really interested in Natalya because she seems autism coded to me. Early on it’s mentioned that she seems shy, but she’s really not, and apparently she’s always really direct with people when she doesn’t want to come off as mean. But it’s only these descriptions that got me thinking something’s up, as her interactions with others or the way she behaves seem totally neurotypical on the outside. So I really wonder why they’ve chosen to stress these characteristics in this way. Probably, like Sean, they won’t explore it any further.
Might read the second one for Natalya, or if I want something that’s easy to read. I did enjoy the experience of reading it, but I’ll probably forget about it soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Classism