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A review by secre
Whispers of Stone by Allegra Pescatore
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Having finished Where Shadows Lie on a high, Whispers of Stone starts off almost exactly where it left off. With Eleanor and Gabriel thrown together in the wake of her father's death and her part in it, Fedrik and Fay stuck in the new chaos of the desert in the wake of the death of a God and Daemon doing... well, Daemon things. He is a law unto himself. We also get a new perspective that widens the perspective further.
What I found really impressive here was how the plot expands and the narrative threads come together in unexpected ways, with betrayals, treacheries and the explosion of politics and intrigue. Eleanor's narrative is particularly well done, as the domino's start falling and she finds herself embroiled in other people's plots even as she tries to find her own footing as regent. The world expands as other countries are brought into play and there's a wealth of background and context without ever feeling like an info dump.
And the characters continue to grow and develop, all of them with their own personal - and sometimes cosmic - struggles. I loved how the relationships between characters - some of whom were very much at odds in the last novel - develop. There are no perfect characters here, everyone is wholly human, they have flaws and make mistakes and learn from them. And the new characters introduced were all vividly brought to life, from the frankly evil Aunt Sianta to Eleanor's betrothed.
All in all, this is an excellent sequel that had me immediately grabbing the third novel in the series.
What I found really impressive here was how the plot expands and the narrative threads come together in unexpected ways, with betrayals, treacheries and the explosion of politics and intrigue. Eleanor's narrative is particularly well done, as the domino's start falling and she finds herself embroiled in other people's plots even as she tries to find her own footing as regent. The world expands as other countries are brought into play and there's a wealth of background and context without ever feeling like an info dump.
And the characters continue to grow and develop, all of them with their own personal - and sometimes cosmic - struggles. I loved how the relationships between characters - some of whom were very much at odds in the last novel - develop. There are no perfect characters here, everyone is wholly human, they have flaws and make mistakes and learn from them. And the new characters introduced were all vividly brought to life, from the frankly evil Aunt Sianta to Eleanor's betrothed.
All in all, this is an excellent sequel that had me immediately grabbing the third novel in the series.