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A review by secre
Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This was another sequel that didn't quite live up to the initial novel. Wolf by Wolf was an excellent alternate history imagining with magical edges. It had tension, great characters and a vividly re-imagined world. The assassination plot drew the novel along, with the great race being a wonderfully utilised plot device.
The problem with this novel is that it utilises the same format of the first novel with the long journey, but it doesn't bring the tension and dynamic energy of the initial novel. The author builds up the romance, which felt unnecessary. They also don't continue to build on the world and the political fallout of the initial novel. The last few pages of the first novel were some of the most powerful I have read, but this was a disappointment.
The twist at the end was also very easy to see coming from a mile away. And again, the fallout of this was huge and yet minimal at the same time, covered in a handful of pages that didn't do it justice. I was expecting greatness from this and instead I got mushy romance with a long, and frankly boring journey across Germania and a twist that was both obvious and uninspiring. It really doesn't do the series justice.
The problem with this novel is that it utilises the same format of the first novel with the long journey, but it doesn't bring the tension and dynamic energy of the initial novel. The author builds up the romance, which felt unnecessary. They also don't continue to build on the world and the political fallout of the initial novel. The last few pages of the first novel were some of the most powerful I have read, but this was a disappointment.
The twist at the end was also very easy to see coming from a mile away. And again, the fallout of this was huge and yet minimal at the same time, covered in a handful of pages that didn't do it justice. I was expecting greatness from this and instead I got mushy romance with a long, and frankly boring journey across Germania and a twist that was both obvious and uninspiring. It really doesn't do the series justice.