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lydiaredwineauthor 's review for:
The Heart of Betrayal
by Mary E. Pearson
This is by far my favorite in this trilogy. Yes, I know it's only book 2...but I've heard some rather nasty things about the third book (which is out tomorrow!!!!) Regardless...I will read book three...of course. So why was this my favorite? Because it was frickin' awesome!!! And here are my reasons as well as a list of some dislikes that had me (almost) give it a four star rating. But it was better than KoD in my opinion.
This review contains minor spoilers for book one and a single spoiler for this book, but I will warn you before I say it.
Likes:
•Lia: This girl is kick butt, conniving, deceptive, clever, and ultimately one of my favorite female characters of. All. Time. I cannot stress how much I was rooting for her throughout this book. Also! Even after all of Rafe's lying she still forgave him!! #iloveher And that is exactly why I'm terrified of book three because I've heard she turns into a total brat...for lack of better word. I mean, there is a better word but I won't use it since I'm not a fan of the word "bitch" being used directly towards females.
And now I'm rambling. And if I'm rambling I might as well ramble about something worthwhile rambling about. *catches breath.* like...
•Kaden!!! A lot of people find Kaden to be a boring device used for the sake of drama, but I find Kaden to be the most interesting and layered character of them all! Learning of his past is very interesting. And YES I SHIP HIM AND LIA but have also come to accept that they won't happen. I still want a happy ending for him! AND SPOILER he has the gift!! Like what? For whatever STUPID REASON I didn't catch that the first time because I wanted death for a certain somebody.
•Aster: She was like the Rue of the Remnant Chronicles for err reasons. And she's also pretty clever. That line where Lia was talking about how Aster knew the ways of the sanctum (when she hid the knife in Lia's room) I about cheered for her because yay for little girl allies who are smart too!
•The Komizar: I hate him, and I enjoyed hating him. That's all there is to it.
Let's talk about some creepy things. I mean the Komizar was creepy but so was...
•Venda: I mean she just appeared out of nowhere!! And like walked around doing random stuff and even though I like her, she's still creepy. And I love creepy. Unless I can't sleep. I did sleep.
Now that was about Venda the person but I also really liked exploring Venda the place. It is dark, creepy, full of secrets and history, and ultimately just so enjoyable to see.
Oh and the Scholars too...they were also creepy. And that scene where Lia learns basically everything and they're all just gathered there in the dark sent chills everywhere!!
•Legends and Songs: KoD had to better in my opinion, but I still enjoyed the usage of the legends, songs, and history and how they tied in with what we were seeing in Venda.
•That ENDING: I mean the entire plot was face paced, thrilling, and wonderful. (It was action packed!!!) But the end especially was wonderful! I mean I can't be the only one who felt the extreme level of intensity radiating form those pages!
Dislikes:
•Pauline: *sighs* I never liked her in the first place and found her narrative quite boring. She seems like a really useless character. The only parts of her pov that I liked were the fact that Gwyneth was with her (who I love) and that they learned a little more about what the heck was going on. Needless to say, I still don't care one ounce for Pauline. Sorry not sorry.
•Rafe: I don't get why people love him? I mean...sure I like him, but I still don't adore him to the capacity I feel I should given the fact that he's Lia's main love interest.
•Ships: this is another note to aforementioned point. I just don't ship it for whatever reason. I don't hate it. And actually, I loved it the first time I read these books...but now...I just. No. Don't love it. I don't hate it either but yeaaah. *sighs* I am glad, however, that the love triangle as diminished for the most part. Yes, Lia cares for Kaden, but she's made her decision is love Rafe.
•Friendship: Or rather...lack thereof. In book one we were told that Lia and Pauline were besties and that they were compete devoted to one another and bla bla bla. BUT WE SAW NONE OF THAT IN THIS BOOK. Pauline thought about Lia a lot but I only found ONE instance in which Lia thought of Pauline. I mean, if I had been take away from my best friend into a forge in country, I would be missing her all the time. Lia seemed to forget all about Pauline which was rather annoying.
•The Writing: Pearson's style seemed to decline in this book. It was decent whereas it had been beautiful in book one. This book lacked eloquence and inserted similes about dead fish instead.
With all that said...This book did not suffer second book slump at all!! It was well done with a few set backs. Still better than KoD and I am very excited (although slightly hesitant) for book 3. Out tomorrow!!!
This review contains minor spoilers for book one and a single spoiler for this book, but I will warn you before I say it.
Likes:
•Lia: This girl is kick butt, conniving, deceptive, clever, and ultimately one of my favorite female characters of. All. Time. I cannot stress how much I was rooting for her throughout this book. Also! Even after all of Rafe's lying she still forgave him!! #iloveher And that is exactly why I'm terrified of book three because I've heard she turns into a total brat...for lack of better word. I mean, there is a better word but I won't use it since I'm not a fan of the word "bitch" being used directly towards females.
And now I'm rambling. And if I'm rambling I might as well ramble about something worthwhile rambling about. *catches breath.* like...
•Kaden!!! A lot of people find Kaden to be a boring device used for the sake of drama, but I find Kaden to be the most interesting and layered character of them all! Learning of his past is very interesting. And YES I SHIP HIM AND LIA but have also come to accept that they won't happen. I still want a happy ending for him! AND SPOILER he has the gift!! Like what? For whatever STUPID REASON I didn't catch that the first time because I wanted death for a certain somebody.
•Aster: She was like the Rue of the Remnant Chronicles for err reasons. And she's also pretty clever. That line where Lia was talking about how Aster knew the ways of the sanctum (when she hid the knife in Lia's room) I about cheered for her because yay for little girl allies who are smart too!
•The Komizar: I hate him, and I enjoyed hating him. That's all there is to it.
Let's talk about some creepy things. I mean the Komizar was creepy but so was...
•Venda: I mean she just appeared out of nowhere!! And like walked around doing random stuff and even though I like her, she's still creepy. And I love creepy. Unless I can't sleep. I did sleep.
Now that was about Venda the person but I also really liked exploring Venda the place. It is dark, creepy, full of secrets and history, and ultimately just so enjoyable to see.
Oh and the Scholars too...they were also creepy. And that scene where Lia learns basically everything and they're all just gathered there in the dark sent chills everywhere!!
•Legends and Songs: KoD had to better in my opinion, but I still enjoyed the usage of the legends, songs, and history and how they tied in with what we were seeing in Venda.
•That ENDING: I mean the entire plot was face paced, thrilling, and wonderful. (It was action packed!!!) But the end especially was wonderful! I mean I can't be the only one who felt the extreme level of intensity radiating form those pages!
Dislikes:
•Pauline: *sighs* I never liked her in the first place and found her narrative quite boring. She seems like a really useless character. The only parts of her pov that I liked were the fact that Gwyneth was with her (who I love) and that they learned a little more about what the heck was going on. Needless to say, I still don't care one ounce for Pauline. Sorry not sorry.
•Rafe: I don't get why people love him? I mean...sure I like him, but I still don't adore him to the capacity I feel I should given the fact that he's Lia's main love interest.
•Ships: this is another note to aforementioned point. I just don't ship it for whatever reason. I don't hate it. And actually, I loved it the first time I read these books...but now...I just. No. Don't love it. I don't hate it either but yeaaah. *sighs* I am glad, however, that the love triangle as diminished for the most part. Yes, Lia cares for Kaden, but she's made her decision is love Rafe.
•Friendship: Or rather...lack thereof. In book one we were told that Lia and Pauline were besties and that they were compete devoted to one another and bla bla bla. BUT WE SAW NONE OF THAT IN THIS BOOK. Pauline thought about Lia a lot but I only found ONE instance in which Lia thought of Pauline. I mean, if I had been take away from my best friend into a forge in country, I would be missing her all the time. Lia seemed to forget all about Pauline which was rather annoying.
•The Writing: Pearson's style seemed to decline in this book. It was decent whereas it had been beautiful in book one. This book lacked eloquence and inserted similes about dead fish instead.
With all that said...This book did not suffer second book slump at all!! It was well done with a few set backs. Still better than KoD and I am very excited (although slightly hesitant) for book 3. Out tomorrow!!!