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joelfr 's review for:
Empire of Storms
by Sarah J. Maas
Rating subject to change....I did really enjoy it but...I have a lot of buts
People plugged into the online book world have been buzzing about diversity and lack thereof in the publishing world the last few weeks and this series is--as I saw it hilariously referred to on tumblr (by whittynovels) a few hours ago--a jar of heterosexual mayonnaise. Minor spoiler--revealed in this book that one character is bi but their love interest is opposite sex and the whole thing is just a paragraph shoehorned in like she realized at the last possible second the series was missing queer characters. I'd say points for trying, but this isn't much of a try.
Beyond that, some of my issues are probably somewhat due to my poor memory of installments past. I will probably endeavor to do a reread of the series before the final installment next year but the whole thing is so long I don't know if I will follow through. Like Queen of Shadows, I question how much this installment accomplished beyond throwing a few pairs together. It was a series of battles, with a few big informative plot twists thrown in with no foreshadowing (because secrets for everybody) but there really wasn't any character growth. Two minor romantic relationships developed but otherwise, there was no noticeable relationship development either. Maas seems fond of throwing people together or into situations and explaining how awesome they are or why they work together. It takes up a lot of space but it really doesn't convince me.
Its a fun plot though, and it is probably even better if you can keep the places and people straight. I can't, but that it is probably entirely on me. I wish QoS and this together were one 700 page book instead of two and we could get to the point a lot faster. I dont mind meandering fantastical travelogues when they have something else going for them but this just does not.
People plugged into the online book world have been buzzing about diversity and lack thereof in the publishing world the last few weeks and this series is--as I saw it hilariously referred to on tumblr (by whittynovels) a few hours ago--a jar of heterosexual mayonnaise. Minor spoiler--revealed in this book that one character is bi but their love interest is opposite sex and the whole thing is just a paragraph shoehorned in like she realized at the last possible second the series was missing queer characters. I'd say points for trying, but this isn't much of a try.
Beyond that, some of my issues are probably somewhat due to my poor memory of installments past. I will probably endeavor to do a reread of the series before the final installment next year but the whole thing is so long I don't know if I will follow through. Like Queen of Shadows, I question how much this installment accomplished beyond throwing a few pairs together. It was a series of battles, with a few big informative plot twists thrown in with no foreshadowing (because secrets for everybody) but there really wasn't any character growth. Two minor romantic relationships developed but otherwise, there was no noticeable relationship development either. Maas seems fond of throwing people together or into situations and explaining how awesome they are or why they work together. It takes up a lot of space but it really doesn't convince me.
Its a fun plot though, and it is probably even better if you can keep the places and people straight. I can't, but that it is probably entirely on me. I wish QoS and this together were one 700 page book instead of two and we could get to the point a lot faster. I dont mind meandering fantastical travelogues when they have something else going for them but this just does not.