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A review by write_of_passages
An Echo in the Sorrow by Hailey Turner
4.0
What a brilliant installment in this series! Things are really heating up with this one and my pulse was racing in a few areas! You really get the sense that sh*t is hitting the proverbial fan now, but everything has been set up pretty perfectly for what I hope is going to be an incredibly satisfying end to this series with the final book.
Would I go back in time and still read this book, knowing what I know now?
Absolutely.
See below for the four criteria I use to decide whether and when to read a book
CHARACTERS: I was really enjoying Wade in this series. I feel he grew quite a lot in this book without losing the very clear traits that make him Wade. So many pieces occurred in this one that really got under Patrick’s skin in such a delicious way (in terms of character growth). Even with Jono, I personally felt that in this book they were tested more than they have been in previous books, which is so incredibly vital to a fulfilling series.
PLOT: Still fast-paced, although one of the main conflicts in this book differed from previous books and dealt with the issue of powerlessness and loss of autonomy in more than one way. Definitely had my pulse racing in both instances. Everything is falling down around them but at the same time it feels so wonderfully relieving. You really get a sense of the stakes finally coming back into play. This book very much feels like ‘the beginning of the end’.
EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.
3 out of 5. Medium. While I still didn’t feel that the characters weren’t going to succeed, the specific themes explored with the conflict in this book are a pressure point that had my pulse racing. To see these conflicts resolved was definitely an emotional relief.
CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled?
95%. I’ll give this one a fairly high score. The emotional intensity was higher, but the author resolved the conflicts in a way that balanced with the angst I was put through. The final 5% of course comes from skimming the aftermath, as per usual. However, the fact that there seem to be lasting effects to the characters as they grow is wonderfully fulfilling.
Would I go back in time and still read this book, knowing what I know now?
Absolutely.
See below for the four criteria I use to decide whether and when to read a book
CHARACTERS: I was really enjoying Wade in this series. I feel he grew quite a lot in this book without losing the very clear traits that make him Wade. So many pieces occurred in this one that really got under Patrick’s skin in such a delicious way (in terms of character growth). Even with Jono, I personally felt that in this book they were tested more than they have been in previous books, which is so incredibly vital to a fulfilling series.
PLOT: Still fast-paced, although one of the main conflicts in this book differed from previous books and dealt with the issue of powerlessness and loss of autonomy in more than one way. Definitely had my pulse racing in both instances. Everything is falling down around them but at the same time it feels so wonderfully relieving. You really get a sense of the stakes finally coming back into play. This book very much feels like ‘the beginning of the end’.
EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.
3 out of 5. Medium. While I still didn’t feel that the characters weren’t going to succeed, the specific themes explored with the conflict in this book are a pressure point that had my pulse racing. To see these conflicts resolved was definitely an emotional relief.
CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled?
95%. I’ll give this one a fairly high score. The emotional intensity was higher, but the author resolved the conflicts in a way that balanced with the angst I was put through. The final 5% of course comes from skimming the aftermath, as per usual. However, the fact that there seem to be lasting effects to the characters as they grow is wonderfully fulfilling.