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A review by coffeedragon
Reign of Mist by Helen Scheuerer
4.0
I received a free e-Arc in exchange for an honest review. This review was written as part of the Blog Tour hosted by That Bookshelf Bitch. To see the full schedule, check out my post!
Where do I even begin without accidentally spoiling the book?!
This book picks up directly after book one where Bleak has sailed into the Mist. I think this book does a great job of keeping up the pace of the action and the characters IF you read the first book directly before this. Since it’s been about a year for me and I have a terrible memory, I had a bit of trouble recalling what had happened previously. But once I got my reminder, I was in for the ride
I feel like this book is what you would expect from the second book in a series. There are A LOT of things happening now that the King has been exposed. We’re still following the story via four different points of views (Bleak, Henri, Dash, and Swinton) and it’s hard to pick which I preferred to read from. Bleak has recently discovered her origins while on Oremere, Henri is rallying forces for the upcoming battle (ok I admit this part was a bit on the boring side), Dash is in danger (GASP), and Swinton is torn between doing what he knows is right and keeping his loved ones safe
I’m really excited to see where the plot is going to go from here. While we did get a battle at the end, what seemed to be the focus here was building up the plot and character development. There were a lot of things I hoped would be covered because of hints from the first book (Dash’s heritage and Swinton’s development) and things I hadn’t even expected (let’s just say Valia). Speaking of Dash, I’m really excited about how “involved” he was in this book. In book one, I felt like we were only starting to get to know him, but with the king actively attacking the Ashai, I feel like he’s going to become a major character. Also, trying not to scream here because I want to know what he’s going to do or think when he learns about his origins!!!
I also found myself interested in future character involvements and THE DRAMA. For one, Olena and Prince Nazuri’s future involvement, Swinton’s growth (though his growth in this book had me a little confused since he doesn’t seem really committed to what he’s doing yet), Princess Olena and Dash’s reunion (GASP), and even what’s happening with Henri and the kindred of Valia.
As for why I didn’t give this book a solid 5/5 like I did Heart of Mist. It’s mainly the plot…I wasn’t really convinced. I get that Ines, the Queen of Oremere, is plotting with the king and she has evil torturous henchmen, but she doesn’t feel as developed as any of the other characters even though she’s supposed to be the main antagonist (she feels very typical bad guy and since Helen’s made such rounded and developed characters, I kind of expected more). This makes me less invested in the actual physical war since I’m too busy being emotional over our main cast. Not to mention the whole royalty shebang that was introduced and explained! I understood it after they mentioned it a couple times (it’s the names! I’m so bad at remembering new characters) but I felt it was a bit sudden. I get that we got a couple hints in book one, with Bleak’s memories of her parents being killed, but it just didn’t feel as integrated as I would have liked. There’s also another thing I want to mention but that goes into spoiler territory. My only hint on this is “Mariette”. I was not only not expecting it but also confused
Not really related but Bren is officially on my dislike list. I feel like RAGING. Like how could he say those things?!
Anywho, I can’t wait for book 3!
Where do I even begin without accidentally spoiling the book?!
This book picks up directly after book one where Bleak has sailed into the Mist. I think this book does a great job of keeping up the pace of the action and the characters IF you read the first book directly before this. Since it’s been about a year for me and I have a terrible memory, I had a bit of trouble recalling what had happened previously. But once I got my reminder, I was in for the ride
I feel like this book is what you would expect from the second book in a series. There are A LOT of things happening now that the King has been exposed. We’re still following the story via four different points of views (Bleak, Henri, Dash, and Swinton) and it’s hard to pick which I preferred to read from. Bleak has recently discovered her origins while on Oremere, Henri is rallying forces for the upcoming battle (ok I admit this part was a bit on the boring side), Dash is in danger (GASP), and Swinton is torn between doing what he knows is right and keeping his loved ones safe
I’m really excited to see where the plot is going to go from here. While we did get a battle at the end, what seemed to be the focus here was building up the plot and character development. There were a lot of things I hoped would be covered because of hints from the first book (Dash’s heritage and Swinton’s development) and things I hadn’t even expected (let’s just say Valia). Speaking of Dash, I’m really excited about how “involved” he was in this book. In book one, I felt like we were only starting to get to know him, but with the king actively attacking the Ashai, I feel like he’s going to become a major character. Also, trying not to scream here because I want to know what he’s going to do or think when he learns about his origins!!!
I also found myself interested in future character involvements and THE DRAMA. For one, Olena and Prince Nazuri’s future involvement, Swinton’s growth (though his growth in this book had me a little confused since he doesn’t seem really committed to what he’s doing yet), Princess Olena and Dash’s reunion (GASP), and even what’s happening with Henri and the kindred of Valia.
As for why I didn’t give this book a solid 5/5 like I did Heart of Mist. It’s mainly the plot…I wasn’t really convinced. I get that Ines, the Queen of Oremere, is plotting with the king and she has evil torturous henchmen, but she doesn’t feel as developed as any of the other characters even though she’s supposed to be the main antagonist (she feels very typical bad guy and since Helen’s made such rounded and developed characters, I kind of expected more). This makes me less invested in the actual physical war since I’m too busy being emotional over our main cast. Not to mention the whole royalty shebang that was introduced and explained! I understood it after they mentioned it a couple times (it’s the names! I’m so bad at remembering new characters) but I felt it was a bit sudden. I get that we got a couple hints in book one, with Bleak’s memories of her parents being killed, but it just didn’t feel as integrated as I would have liked. There’s also another thing I want to mention but that goes into spoiler territory. My only hint on this is “Mariette”. I was not only not expecting it but also confused
Not really related but Bren is officially on my dislike list. I feel like RAGING. Like how could he say those things?!
Anywho, I can’t wait for book 3!