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A review by talysalankil
Darkbound by Scott Tracey
3.0
Full review coming on my blog, the Snark Theater.
This book…was a lot like its predecessor. Lots of potential, not fully realized.
Okay, there was also a few things wrong with it. Malcolm (this book's protagonist) has surprisingly little agency, between being the villain's plaything (almost literally, I was waiting for an attempted rape that thankfully never happened) and having his main power be…"old magic symbols pop up in my mind". Did I mention Scott Tracey is a fan of Cassandra Clare? It shows.
And in terms of character arc, it's Elsa from Frozen, except he learns to accept his powers because they're…useful. Not exactly as emotionally fulfilling.
Thing is, there are good things in here too. The characters are still pretty compelling, and I liked the development of the main five kids. Malcolm as a gay character who doesn't need a love interest to prove his sexuality is nice. The Prince is an enjoyable villain for the most part. So it's not like it's all bad. But it never goes above "this is pretty okay, I can keep reading this without wanting to gouge my eyes out".
And then there's the ending. I would have gone for a 3.5 stars, maybe even rounded up, if it weren't for that ending. See, this is the end of the series (I mean, sequels have been cancelled from what I gather), which I doubt was planned; as a result, it doesn't work as an end of series. But…it also doesn't work as an end of book. The Prince just…escapes at the last minute, just as Malcolm has all the tools to kill him. But he also frees all the kids under his control? None of this makes any sense, and more importantly, it's not very fulfilling. Oh, and we get a last-minute, tacked-on romantic teasing between Malcolm and Quinn after they barely interacted throughout the book. It's not that surprising after the way Tracey's described him throughout both books, but it still doesn't work without foreshadowing.
So…yeah, I'm not very impressed. I'm not angry about having read this book—though it was pretty difficult to get my hands on it—but at the same time I doubt it'll stick with me for very long. I said after finishing Moonset that I could see why the series would be cancelled, and this…didn't change my mind. It's okay, but that doesn't quite cut it.
This book…was a lot like its predecessor. Lots of potential, not fully realized.
Okay, there was also a few things wrong with it. Malcolm (this book's protagonist) has surprisingly little agency, between being the villain's plaything (almost literally, I was waiting for an attempted rape that thankfully never happened) and having his main power be…"old magic symbols pop up in my mind". Did I mention Scott Tracey is a fan of Cassandra Clare? It shows.
And in terms of character arc, it's Elsa from Frozen, except he learns to accept his powers because they're…useful. Not exactly as emotionally fulfilling.
Thing is, there are good things in here too. The characters are still pretty compelling, and I liked the development of the main five kids. Malcolm as a gay character who doesn't need a love interest to prove his sexuality is nice. The Prince is an enjoyable villain for the most part. So it's not like it's all bad. But it never goes above "this is pretty okay, I can keep reading this without wanting to gouge my eyes out".
And then there's the ending. I would have gone for a 3.5 stars, maybe even rounded up, if it weren't for that ending. See, this is the end of the series (I mean, sequels have been cancelled from what I gather), which I doubt was planned; as a result, it doesn't work as an end of series. But…it also doesn't work as an end of book. The Prince just…
So…yeah, I'm not very impressed. I'm not angry about having read this book—though it was pretty difficult to get my hands on it—but at the same time I doubt it'll stick with me for very long. I said after finishing Moonset that I could see why the series would be cancelled, and this…didn't change my mind. It's okay, but that doesn't quite cut it.