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A review by writervid
Archenemies by Marissa Meyer
3.0
Hmmmm. Interesting.
To start off-obviously love the moral concepts being explored here. While it is a bit too pro-cop in my opinion, the discussion over Agent N was really dynamic and interesting, and something I wish would have been deepened and stretched out. That concept really is the highlight of this series for me, along with the discussion of the place of heroes in a modern concept.
However.
I found this book to be extremely repetitive, so much so that the Act Two felt almost flabby? We got reduxes of the same scene over and over. The same plot points were hammered into us over and over. While I enjoy the superhero magic aspect going on, I don't think that the Vitality Charm being the crux of everything was good for this book, because it created repetitive stakes that seemed too contingent on an author related device. The narrative also felt unbalanced, because it was the same characters dealing with the same stakes over and over again, just in slightly different contexts. This book could have been MUCH shorter very easily.
The thing that I fundamentally enjoyed about Adrian and Nova as a couple is not only their friendship for one another, but also their diametrically opposed worldviews, and the surprising similarities between them. I wish there had been more of Adrian and Nova causing each other to question the world--they didn't totally seem to have arcs, and whatever changes they had (outside of the romance factor being intensely upped--almost to too high of an extent) were brought on by others. That...was not what I signed up for.
Decently written. Not great. 2.5/5
To start off-obviously love the moral concepts being explored here. While it is a bit too pro-cop in my opinion, the discussion over Agent N was really dynamic and interesting, and something I wish would have been deepened and stretched out. That concept really is the highlight of this series for me, along with the discussion of the place of heroes in a modern concept.
However.
I found this book to be extremely repetitive, so much so that the Act Two felt almost flabby? We got reduxes of the same scene over and over. The same plot points were hammered into us over and over. While I enjoy the superhero magic aspect going on, I don't think that the Vitality Charm being the crux of everything was good for this book, because it created repetitive stakes that seemed too contingent on an author related device. The narrative also felt unbalanced, because it was the same characters dealing with the same stakes over and over again, just in slightly different contexts. This book could have been MUCH shorter very easily.
The thing that I fundamentally enjoyed about Adrian and Nova as a couple is not only their friendship for one another, but also their diametrically opposed worldviews, and the surprising similarities between them. I wish there had been more of Adrian and Nova causing each other to question the world--they didn't totally seem to have arcs, and whatever changes they had (outside of the romance factor being intensely upped--almost to too high of an extent) were brought on by others. That...was not what I signed up for.
Decently written. Not great. 2.5/5