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A review by evakristin
The Shining Court by Michelle West
3.0
This series has been quite the roller-coaster. The first book I loved, the second I could hardly finish, but I decided to give the series one more chance.
The third book goes far to redeem the second, but still doesn't come close to the quality of the first.
My main annoyance is still Jewel. See my review for The Uncrowned King for my anti Jay rant. Let me just add that now she has also developed the habit of slapping people in the face, usually for nothing more than disagreeing with her. I suppose West hopes this will make Jewel come across as a feisty and plucky female, but actually, hitting people for no good reason makes you an abusive bully in my book, no matter your gender.
I've also mentioned earlier that West overuses the lifting of brows until it gets cartoonish. Her characters also have tendency to... hesitate in their dialogues, supposedly so that what they say will seem more... profound. Problem is, when everyone do this all the time, it comes off as... parodic.
And in spite of all this, I will read the next book in the series. But seldom have I come across a good story told so badly.
The third book goes far to redeem the second, but still doesn't come close to the quality of the first.
My main annoyance is still Jewel. See my review for The Uncrowned King for my anti Jay rant. Let me just add that now she has also developed the habit of slapping people in the face, usually for nothing more than disagreeing with her. I suppose West hopes this will make Jewel come across as a feisty and plucky female, but actually, hitting people for no good reason makes you an abusive bully in my book, no matter your gender.
I've also mentioned earlier that West overuses the lifting of brows until it gets cartoonish. Her characters also have tendency to... hesitate in their dialogues, supposedly so that what they say will seem more... profound. Problem is, when everyone do this all the time, it comes off as... parodic.
And in spite of all this, I will read the next book in the series. But seldom have I come across a good story told so badly.