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19lindsey89 's review for:
I enjoyed most of this one, but it is probably my least favorite so far. The issues I've had with the previous two books are compounded in this one. Too many characters and the POVs aren't told in chronological order. And it starts to unravel here.
Some characters were in this one who we haven't seen since book one. For example, Ash showed up halfway through this one and it was a bit jarring. Destin is also back. But Breon disappeared pretty early in this book. The cast is not used effectively. They seem to be secondary to the plot. Some events happen and they should impact something, but too late, we are off to the next plot point. Chima's writing style is interesting because some plot points happen and they are given the proper weight and ramifications with the characters, but others are glossed over entirely. If the plot points aren't going to be used effectively, why include them?
There's one scene in particular that I feel illustrates this quite well and I would like to discuss/rant about it.
Spoiler
Bosley. My problems with Bosley are manyfold. What is his purpose? Because from my point of view, Bosley could have been removed entirely and nothing would have changed. In the previous book, he causes tension between Lyss and Hal, I guess. From Hal's point of view, he's seen as competition for Lyss's affection. But it is pointless because there is enough tension between Lyss and Hal because they are on opposite sides of the war. So cut Bosley out and we could have had more time for other things to play out.
And Bosley is barely mentioned since the fall of Delphi. But then he magically appears hundreds of pages later to he assault Lyss. And the assault is where I take real issue, and not for the reasons you are thinking (but I'm opposed to it for those reasons too).
1. It has no effect on Lyss (so far). Bosley assaults her, then gets dropped off a cliff by a dragon. It's almost comical how unceremoniously he's disposed of and never mentioned again (in this book). Lyss doesn't even take a second to say that she is rattled by the experience. We immediately move on to Jenna and the dragon (which is acceptable), then "oh, my brother's alive," and "oh, my mother's dead," and "Oh, my mother's not dead," and "Oh, talking wolves," and "Oh, I'm the queen!" There's no room for any of these revelations to breathe. Why couldn't we cut Bosley out entirely? Jenna could have talked to Lyss because Lyss was alone on the cliff. Simple.
2. Bosley thinks he can assault the heir to the throne and somehow this will make him king consort? How delusional can he be? If by some miracle they both made it back home, wouldn't Bosley be immediately executed for blackmailing and assaulting the heir apparent?? This is the crux of my issue with Bosley, and this speaks to the worldbuilding. The North is a queendom. It has been ruled by queens forever. Wouldn't that create a different culture where rape is less likely to occur? What are the laws that deal with rapists? And since women are rulers and warriors, wouldn't that create a different culture that would change how men see women and not have them be conquests or property? Because if women are treated as equals on the battlefield, then they aren't vulnerable prey. Why does this queendom have ingrained patriarchy problems? But instead of putting in the work to worldbuilding, this scene is played out like every other fantasy novel.
