Take a photo of a barcode or cover
caramel_sundae 's review for:
The Golden Tower
by Holly Black
Okay, there was one point in this book where I had to close it, pause for a moment, and then go "What?!"
And, unfortunately, I don't exactly mean that in a good way.
I'm not sure if this quote is a spoiler, so I'll mark it as one:
--
'"You're making me ruin my tower!" Alex shouted at Call. "You always ruin everything!"'
What................ what even................
I'm sorry, but WHAT?!
I'm sure I said something along the same lines of 'you always ruin everything' to one of my friends over a fight during a board game when I was like six. Alex is supposed to be the main villain of this book- of the past three books- and he's so easily defeated? Like what? And they somehow introduce this new thing- sorry if it's not new, but I don't remember it from previous books- of Alex being like a kid with his powers? I get that he's a teenager who's obviously pretty misguided, but I'm twelve and I think I'd make a better supervillain.
That being said, I've been reading this series since like 2014, when the Iron Trial came out. I've waited for the last four of them to come out- long waits, by the way!- and until the Golden Tower, they didn't disappoint. Some people have their issues with the Silver Mask, but I thought it was good... and then this happens.
Just.... why? Why even? What even?
But with this book, as Call says to Alex, '"Oh, shut up," said Call. "No one's interested."'
It was a relatively quick read, so I didn't get too bored, and I think the whole Alastair thing was kinda sad- he was an okay character- but there was just nothing about this book that made it seem like a finale. I own the Copper Gauntlet, and I've read it more times than I can count because there was actual plot and stuff in that one. Call had better worries and Jasper was interesting back then, and okay to be honest Aaron was always kinda boring to me, but he was good too!
So what happened? The Golden Tower had like the easiest solution to all of the problems and Alex was VERY CONVENIENTLY not interested in making any Chaos-ridden or anything remotely scary or problematic. He just wanted to get revenge on some random- okay, maybe not entirely random- teenagers, have a cool tower thing, and get back with his girlfriend.
Not exactly supervillain stuff.
And Aaron... they seriously couldn't find anyone else for him? Like ANYONE. Not the most hated mage in the world. I'm sure there were better candidates. Or maybe they could have told the Assembly the truth? Like Call didn't have anything left to hide, right? They already knew he was Constantine, so why more secrets? Does Aaron really want to live as someone else forever?
Anyways, this is one of my favorite series, and the book was OKAY, so I gave it three stars.
I had high expectations, though- especially since I like a lot of other books by these authors. But this just wasn't exactly for me. Still gonna miss this series- it was fun while it lasted.
And, unfortunately, I don't exactly mean that in a good way.
I'm not sure if this quote is a spoiler, so I'll mark it as one:
Spoiler
'"Assemblypeople of the mage world and other luminaries, I am glad that you've decided to cave to my demands and acknowledge my superiority," said Alex. "This tower you've built me is pretty nice. I plan to reign from it quietly and not disturb you too much. I don't want to do any gross Enemy of Death stuff, like reanimating people or animals. That's not my thing. My thing is letting everyone know how awesome and scary I am."'--
'"You're making me ruin my tower!" Alex shouted at Call. "You always ruin everything!"'
What................ what even................
I'm sorry, but WHAT?!
I'm sure I said something along the same lines of 'you always ruin everything' to one of my friends over a fight during a board game when I was like six. Alex is supposed to be the main villain of this book- of the past three books- and he's so easily defeated? Like what? And they somehow introduce this new thing- sorry if it's not new, but I don't remember it from previous books- of Alex being like a kid with his powers? I get that he's a teenager who's obviously pretty misguided, but I'm twelve and I think I'd make a better supervillain.
That being said, I've been reading this series since like 2014, when the Iron Trial came out. I've waited for the last four of them to come out- long waits, by the way!- and until the Golden Tower, they didn't disappoint. Some people have their issues with the Silver Mask, but I thought it was good... and then this happens.
Just.... why? Why even? What even?
But with this book, as Call says to Alex, '"Oh, shut up," said Call. "No one's interested."'
It was a relatively quick read, so I didn't get too bored, and I think the whole Alastair thing was kinda sad- he was an okay character- but there was just nothing about this book that made it seem like a finale. I own the Copper Gauntlet, and I've read it more times than I can count because there was actual plot and stuff in that one. Call had better worries and Jasper was interesting back then, and okay to be honest Aaron was always kinda boring to me, but he was good too!
So what happened? The Golden Tower had like the easiest solution to all of the problems and Alex was VERY CONVENIENTLY not interested in making any Chaos-ridden or anything remotely scary or problematic. He just wanted to get revenge on some random- okay, maybe not entirely random- teenagers, have a cool tower thing, and get back with his girlfriend.
Not exactly supervillain stuff.
And Aaron... they seriously couldn't find anyone else for him? Like ANYONE. Not the most hated mage in the world. I'm sure there were better candidates. Or maybe they could have told the Assembly the truth? Like Call didn't have anything left to hide, right? They already knew he was Constantine, so why more secrets? Does Aaron really want to live as someone else forever?
Anyways, this is one of my favorite series, and the book was OKAY, so I gave it three stars.
I had high expectations, though- especially since I like a lot of other books by these authors. But this just wasn't exactly for me. Still gonna miss this series- it was fun while it lasted.