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A review by bobarisu
When She Reigns by Jodi Meadows
4.0
3.5-4 stars
JODI YOU ALMOST HAD ME THERE.
A large chunk of this book takes place in the Algotti Empire and it was very interesting to see where Jodi's worldbuilding took us. TBH the worldbuilding is amaze-balls here and one of the main reasons I love this series so much. Jodi takes so much time to show how integrated dragons are into the Fallen Isles and contrasts that with the empire. I love! Mira's character arc is beautiful and is the second reason why I adore this series. Watching her go from a political mouthpiece to Dragon Jesus made me so emotional and proud of her growth. . Tbh this whole thing reads like a fire emblem script and I live for it. I must have compared the Fallen Isles to FE before askdjflaksjdf my point still stands.
The themes and tone of the Fallen Isles series have always been consistent and well done and When She Reigns is no exception. I do feel that some of the scenes involving Empress Apolla and the Algotti empire were repetitive and the lore surrounding the Noorestones was vague and the reason why the vague explanations are narratively justified is because Mira is this world's Dragon Jesus so she can "feel" her way through the noorestone power because it *IS* her power.
The escalation of the different isles/Fallen gods rising didn't work for me. When Idris rose in book 2, there was so much time dedicated to the devastation Aaru felt, but when the other islands started rising, it didn't have the same effect as the first time. This, coupled by the fact that the Apolla and Mira conflict was largely made up of ideological conversations and vague noorestone lore, makes me think there's some sort of imbalance with scale and/or escalation in this installment. I also have an issue with so many of the plot developing scenes beginning or ending with descriptions of people running around and screaming. Yes, it makes perfect sense this would happen in the story given the circumstances. However, everytime something bad happens, Mira has to describe this running and screaming. Like when another island rises, it left me thinking "AGAIN?!"
I loathe to end a series by rating the last book with my lowest rating of the trilogy, but that doesn't mean I think it was a weak book. WSR did its job and gave me a satisfying ending. I don't think anything is missing per se, but the WOW factor in As She Ascends wasn't present here. The focus was on wrapping up Mira's arc and revealing all the Mira Treaty's origins, which it achieved. Since most of the other characters didn't have too strong of an involvement in the plot, the exchanges between Mira and the gang from previous books are replaced by the Mira vs. Apolla ideology clash. Focusing so much on Apolla, a new character, in the last book felt a little unnecessary. Everyone else in Mira's friend circle was sidelined into cheerleaders.
ANYWAY I liked it. It was a good conclusion. I just have nitpicks, as always.
JODI YOU ALMOST HAD ME THERE.
A large chunk of this book takes place in the Algotti Empire and it was very interesting to see where Jodi's worldbuilding took us. TBH the worldbuilding is amaze-balls here and one of the main reasons I love this series so much. Jodi takes so much time to show how integrated dragons are into the Fallen Isles and contrasts that with the empire. I love! Mira's character arc is beautiful and is the second reason why I adore this series. Watching her go from a political mouthpiece to Dragon Jesus
Spoiler
to normal dragon-adoring girlSpoiler
Plus everyone from the Isles having no god-given powers at the end really made me appreciate the choice made to make Mira normal. Before she was placed on a pedestal away from everyone else but now she can finally be just Mira and the differences between the different islands aren't the defining factors for how they'll rebuild their society bc they were part of what lead to so many of the problems in the Fallen Isles before.The themes and tone of the Fallen Isles series have always been consistent and well done and When She Reigns is no exception. I do feel that some of the scenes involving Empress Apolla and the Algotti empire were repetitive and the lore surrounding the Noorestones was vague and the reason why the vague explanations are narratively justified is because Mira is this world's Dragon Jesus so she can "feel" her way through the noorestone power because it *IS* her power.
The escalation of the different isles/Fallen gods rising didn't work for me. When Idris rose in book 2, there was so much time dedicated to the devastation Aaru felt, but when the other islands started rising, it didn't have the same effect as the first time. This, coupled by the fact that the Apolla and Mira conflict was largely made up of ideological conversations and vague noorestone lore, makes me think there's some sort of imbalance with scale and/or escalation in this installment. I also have an issue with so many of the plot developing scenes beginning or ending with descriptions of people running around and screaming. Yes, it makes perfect sense this would happen in the story given the circumstances. However, everytime something bad happens, Mira has to describe this running and screaming. Like when another island rises, it left me thinking "AGAIN?!"
I loathe to end a series by rating the last book with my lowest rating of the trilogy, but that doesn't mean I think it was a weak book. WSR did its job and gave me a satisfying ending. I don't think anything is missing per se, but the WOW factor in As She Ascends wasn't present here. The focus was on wrapping up Mira's arc and revealing all the Mira Treaty's origins, which it achieved. Since most of the other characters didn't have too strong of an involvement in the plot, the exchanges between Mira and the gang from previous books are replaced by the Mira vs. Apolla ideology clash. Focusing so much on Apolla, a new character, in the last book felt a little unnecessary. Everyone else in Mira's friend circle was sidelined into cheerleaders.
ANYWAY I liked it. It was a good conclusion. I just have nitpicks, as always.