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A review by opalmars
Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Shorefall takes place 3 years after the first book. Foundryside became a consulting firm where they help other scrivers with their scrivings, in exchange for having those scrivings in the Foundryside library, which I thought was really interesting.
In this book, our MCs end up having to face Crasedes, a powerful hierophant resurrected by Gregor’s mother, who just wants justice for the world. Crasedes, however, is willing to do terrible things to end injustice, and basically intends to take away everyone’s free will, because “If they cannot make the right choice, then it’s better to just remove the choice entirely.”… Okay, Kira from Death Note. 🥴💀 I thought Crasedes was a really intriguing villain! His actions were well-explained, and his powers were SCARYYYY!!
On the other hand we have Valeria, the mysterious figure that kind of, lowkey possessed Sancia in book 1. Even though she wants to fight Crasedes, Valeria is also not trustworthy, which makes this book much more intense. Who can our MCs trust? Is either Valeria or Crasedes good, or are they both bad in their own ways, despite being on opposing sides? When should they turn their backs on Valeria? Should they keep allying with her until they can take down Crasedes, or will that be too late, and by then Valeria will be too powerful to take down, too? There are so many questions and mysteries with the antagonists, which gives this book a LOT of tension!
A LOT ends up happening in this book:Clef came back (yey!), but we found out he is Crasedes’ father???????; Gregor merged not only with Valeria, but also with the city of Tevanne, as to not let Crasedes win the fight; Gregor/Valeria/Tevanne straight up tried to destroy everything and kill everyone in the city lol; Orso sacrificed himself to help Sancia and Berenice escape with Polina; Clef says a war is basically about to begin… 😰😰😰 Just like Foundryside, Shorefall’s story has a complete arc, but it also sets up for book 3, which I enjoyed.
Also, this book, just like the first one, is very action packed, has a great magic system where everything is really well-explained and detailed, so it’s easy to understand, and the characters are great! My only negative point would be that I didn’t care for the romance; in book 1 it wasn’t very developed, and in book 2, since it’s been 3 years, Sancia and Berenice are already well into their relationship. The romance isn’t a big part of the story, though, so whatever, I guess.
Overall, I really enjoyed this, and I ate up the (incredible!!!!) audiobook in just a couple of days! Definitely recommend this series if you enjoy heists, action-packed stories and intelligent magic systems!
In this book, our MCs end up having to face Crasedes, a powerful hierophant resurrected by Gregor’s mother, who just wants justice for the world. Crasedes, however, is willing to do terrible things to end injustice, and basically intends to take away everyone’s free will, because “If they cannot make the right choice, then it’s better to just remove the choice entirely.”… Okay, Kira from Death Note. 🥴💀 I thought Crasedes was a really intriguing villain! His actions were well-explained, and his powers were SCARYYYY!!
On the other hand we have Valeria, the mysterious figure that kind of, lowkey possessed Sancia in book 1. Even though she wants to fight Crasedes, Valeria is also not trustworthy, which makes this book much more intense. Who can our MCs trust? Is either Valeria or Crasedes good, or are they both bad in their own ways, despite being on opposing sides? When should they turn their backs on Valeria? Should they keep allying with her until they can take down Crasedes, or will that be too late, and by then Valeria will be too powerful to take down, too? There are so many questions and mysteries with the antagonists, which gives this book a LOT of tension!
A LOT ends up happening in this book:
Also, this book, just like the first one, is very action packed, has a great magic system where everything is really well-explained and detailed, so it’s easy to understand, and the characters are great! My only negative point would be that I didn’t care for the romance; in book 1 it wasn’t very developed, and in book 2, since it’s been 3 years, Sancia and Berenice are already well into their relationship. The romance isn’t a big part of the story, though, so whatever, I guess.
Overall, I really enjoyed this, and I ate up the (incredible!!!!) audiobook in just a couple of days! Definitely recommend this series if you enjoy heists, action-packed stories and intelligent magic systems!