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sflan124 's review for:
The Bands of Mourning
by Brandon Sanderson
adventurous
funny
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:
Complicated
Quality: 5 ⭐️
Enjoyment: 4.75 ⭐️
Okay, this book was kind of a lot, but not in a bad way mostly. The world and lore expanded like crazy, which was a lot to take in at times, but I would say all the additions were positive. Some of them felt a little abrupt, but they were included well once they got introduced so I wasn’t too mad. I’m still a little confused about how everything works, which I’m not a huge fan of, but to be fair things are getting pretty complex. Once again, I am super happy with the development of the world and magic system, everything is expanding with the series to keep things interesting and even the little stuff is thought of so that all the new elements seem very richly developed. I love Wayne, and characters like Steris have definitely been growing on me. I’m not the biggest fan of Marasi’s arc this book, but I gotta see where it goes, that will settle a lot of things for me. Wax I’m still on the fence about, I’m not sure how I feel about him coming back to life. I feel like if he does it would’ve paved the way for a cooler arc for Marasi, but then again idk if she could’ve handled it, so maybe it was for the best, I’m gonna trust BrandoSando on this one. I hope the Bands come back into play at least a little in the next book, I wouldn’t like if they played such a huge role in being obtained in this book and then we’re basically forgotten about in the next. Also, once again, I’m glad he’s evolving the scale and stakes of each book as the series goes along, I’m very curious about the new villains introduced here. Also, possibly even more Kelsier??? I’m in. Even more original trilogy cameos in the next book too please. Anyways, overall I love the relationships that have developed between the core characters in this book (sans romantic ones, ofc) and I like how the magic system is evolving and the world lore is growing, I’m excited to see where this goes to settle some lingering doubts I have. Also, just a note, I don’t think this book is worse than the first book in the series bc I rated it lower, I’m just not a fan of some plot points and it was a little confusing and I’m just not as amazed by the same level of development, you know? Anyways, here’s some thoughts I had while reading:
Enjoyment: 4.75 ⭐️
Okay, this book was kind of a lot, but not in a bad way mostly. The world and lore expanded like crazy, which was a lot to take in at times, but I would say all the additions were positive. Some of them felt a little abrupt, but they were included well once they got introduced so I wasn’t too mad. I’m still a little confused about how everything works, which I’m not a huge fan of, but to be fair things are getting pretty complex. Once again, I am super happy with the development of the world and magic system, everything is expanding with the series to keep things interesting and even the little stuff is thought of so that all the new elements seem very richly developed. I love Wayne, and characters like Steris have definitely been growing on me. I’m not the biggest fan of Marasi’s arc this book, but I gotta see where it goes, that will settle a lot of things for me. Wax I’m still on the fence about, I’m not sure how I feel about him coming back to life. I feel like if he does it would’ve paved the way for a cooler arc for Marasi, but then again idk if she could’ve handled it, so maybe it was for the best, I’m gonna trust BrandoSando on this one. I hope the Bands come back into play at least a little in the next book, I wouldn’t like if they played such a huge role in being obtained in this book and then we’re basically forgotten about in the next. Also, once again, I’m glad he’s evolving the scale and stakes of each book as the series goes along, I’m very curious about the new villains introduced here. Also, possibly even more Kelsier??? I’m in. Even more original trilogy cameos in the next book too please. Anyways, overall I love the relationships that have developed between the core characters in this book (sans romantic ones, ofc) and I like how the magic system is evolving and the world lore is growing, I’m excited to see where this goes to settle some lingering doubts I have. Also, just a note, I don’t think this book is worse than the first book in the series bc I rated it lower, I’m just not a fan of some plot points and it was a little confusing and I’m just not as amazed by the same level of development, you know? Anyways, here’s some thoughts I had while reading:
- I like seeing more of the kandra in general
- Every Wayne “POV” is great
- I like the relationships between the three main characters, they seem unique
- Steris is cool, I love how Wax is accepting of her even though she’s strange and no effort has been made to make her less strange
- I’m decently for Wax and Steris getting together, but Wayne and Marasi would seem too convenient for me (though their personalities do mix decently well)
- I like how all of the core (now) four have unique relationships and get along in their own ways (though the sisters seem to have the least developed on-page relationship so far, which is a little strange)
- This book is so witty
- Wayne is definitely my favorite Brandon Sanderson character so far
- He’s developing the kandra so much, even adding little bits of info that are unnecessary to the storyline to help us see the kandra as a whole unique species, not just characters or plot devices, which is super cool — it’s hard to explain, but bottom line is that I like how much rich detail goes into the world-building, even when not strictly necessary or plot-driving
- I’m glad Marasi got shot, they were starting to seem a little too invincible — okay it actually turned out she wasn’t even bad off, furthering the invincibility issue, but I’m really not that bad about it because she was healed in a cool way with kandra stuff
- The Allomantic boat is so fucking sick
- If the Lord Ruler really survived I’m gonna be mad — I’m guessing it’s the spirit of Kelsier or something tho, this Sovereign
- So much info is being shared from Allik and I’m a little confused but I trust BrandoSando, let’s see where this goes
- Okay I’ve decided the whole southern civilization being dumped in with no (obvious to me) foreshadowing was a little too jarring…I’m trying my darndest to process everything, so hopefully it works out
- I’m not really a fan of Telsin…I also feel like he’s trying to develop her character too quickly bc she was introduced so late
- Did he actually just die???? Like ACTUALLY???
- Wayne’s little POV of Wax’s death was so sad
- The Bands being the spearhead was so predictable
- I like Marasi okay but not enough to be the big hero of the story and get all the powers
- Okay okay, it appears I spoke too soon — I’m getting a little bit of whiplash here, I’m unsure about how I feel about these developments yet
- Bro just KILL THEM no one CARES about the law
- Why is bro grabbing a gun when he literally has god-like powers
- The Sanderlanche was lowkey the last like 40% of this book
- Hell yeah Wayne, kill that bitch
- Their introduction was a bit sudden, but I like the dynamic being set up with the southern peoples
- Ugh why is this bitch still alive, Suit at least better stay locked up
- I’m not fully on board with Marasi’s character arc rn, mostly because he didn’t clarify yet what she means by stepping back, rn it just looks like she gave up a bit
- I’m glad the villain gets bigger and bigger every book, it’s good the stakes get higher
- Okay so the Sovereign WAS Kelsier — but how was he in the physical realm?
- “There’s always another secret” is such a badass catchphrase for this universe/world