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belles_bookishlife 's review for:
Greythorne
by Crystal Smith
This whole read I was think 2 stars and I really wanted to DNF, but the last 30% was amazing. The realization of why Aurelia could see ghosts, of who the ghost rider was, and how all those off little mysteries got solved in the end was genius and that’s why I’ve upped my review.
PLOT
The plot felt a bit disjointed in this book. Almost a s if the previous novel was completely irrelevant to the progression of the storyline. I also didn’t enjoy how in the six month time gap between the first and second novel, so much happens that we barely get to see. I found that plot wise I wasn’t really intrigued until we learn more about the gray and the last 30% of the book. There were some “twists” but I saw some of them coming.
CHARACTERS
2 new characters get introduced in this novel and I think they’re going to end up being important in the final Noel, so I’m excited to see how that goes. I found the romance between Kellen and this new character a little forced and didn’t enjoy that, but Kellens sarcasm was wonderful. Overall I felt there was a lack of character development. Both Aurelia and Zan deteriorate a bit and their relationship feels juvenile. My favourite character in this book was probably Onal. The antagonist felt pretty weak in this one too
WORLDBUILDING
there’s definitely more world building in this novel and more depth into the magic system. Which I really enjoyed. While I missed Aurelia being able to see the dead, I enjoyed the inclusion of the gray and how this is so crucial to the story
All in all a strange sequel, I didn’t like most of it but loved the end. I feel like maybe if this was made as the first in the series I would have enjoyed it more but the plot and worldbuilding was just so drastically different from the first that I struggled. Keeping that in mind this is a heavy book so check TWs. Would I recommend this series? Meh. Maybe if you LOVE ya fantasy, but honestly, there’s much better out there.
TW: rape, physical assault, manipulation, slavery, genocide, death of a loved one, murder, mutilation, gore, abduction,