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A review by daffz
Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve
2.0
I got angry while reading this book.
I loved the first book, then found the second mediocre. But this one just plainly got on my nerves, and I'm honestly debating whether or not to continue the series.
First of all, this book starts off with a huge time skip of 16 years. A bit odd, but okay. We meet Tom and Hester's daughter Wren, who I didn't like at first but who grew on me over the course of this book.
She wasn't the problem I had with this book, neither was the plot. My issue with this book were Tom and Hester themselves, and mostly Hester. The two characters I absolutely loved from the first book. I'll be going into some spoiler territory here.
It just feels like they didn't change in all that time, they didn't grow as people or grow more mature. If anything, they regressed into one dimensional versions of themselves. Hester especially seemed to have turned into the worst possible version of herself. I almost didn't recognize her, and I definitely didn't like her. Which is horrible because she was one of my favorites in the first book.
Also, can we stop with the talk about how ugly Hester is, for once? Please? I'm so tired of it! It's mentioned in every book, it's the root cause of her insecurities and presumably the underlying reason for her bad behavior, and it's just... not great.
I'm really debating just reading a summary of the fourth book and moving on, but I'm not sure.
I loved the first book, then found the second mediocre. But this one just plainly got on my nerves, and I'm honestly debating whether or not to continue the series.
First of all, this book starts off with a huge time skip of 16 years. A bit odd, but okay. We meet Tom and Hester's daughter Wren, who I didn't like at first but who grew on me over the course of this book.
She wasn't the problem I had with this book, neither was the plot. My issue with this book were Tom and Hester themselves, and mostly Hester. The two characters I absolutely loved from the first book. I'll be going into some spoiler territory here.
It just feels like they didn't change in all that time, they didn't grow as people or grow more mature. If anything, they regressed into one dimensional versions of themselves. Hester especially seemed to have turned into the worst possible version of herself. I almost didn't recognize her, and I definitely didn't like her. Which is horrible because she was one of my favorites in the first book.
Spoiler
It just feels like the author did everything in his power to make us hate Hester. She's jealous of her own daughter, seems almost glad she was kidnapped, said to her face that she wished she hadn't been born, and leaves a ten year old orphan boy behind on purpose after Tom promised him he could come with them. It was all just cruel and unnecessary, and it was very frustrating to read.Also, can we stop with the talk about how ugly Hester is, for once? Please? I'm so tired of it! It's mentioned in every book, it's the root cause of her insecurities and presumably the underlying reason for her bad behavior, and it's just... not great.
I'm really debating just reading a summary of the fourth book and moving on, but I'm not sure.