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A review by stwriter92
The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
As you can see, I started reading The Song Rising immediately after finishing The Mime Order. However, it did take me quite a while to read it, as I have been preoccupied elsewhere. I finally finished reading it this morning over a cup of tea and....
That ending.
Well, not really an ending. So many things happened all at once at the very end of this book and I felt like I was holding my breath throughout my entire reading experience as the stakes seemed to climb exponentially higher with each passing chapter.
I feel like I had to wrestle with my own understanding of and, at times, disdain for the human race and human nature as a whole. Paige herself comes to this realization towards the end, realizing that she "had been naïve. I had thought of Nashira Sargas as purely evil, purely sadistic--but she knew more about us than we did. We had given her the tools to bring us to our knees" (p. 312).Nashira had seen the hatred present in all humans and had decided to wield it as a weapon, to make humanity fall upon their own sword. However, Paige counters this when she tells Nashira, "That's what humans do. We make. We remake. We build, and we rebuild. And yes, sometimes we paint with blood, and we tear down our own civilations, and it might never stop. but if we're ever to unlearn our darker instincts, we have to be free to learn better ones. Take away the chance for us to change, and I promise you, we never will" (p. 312-313).
As the good Samwise Gamgee once said, "There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for." So it is with Paige Mahoney and the Mime Order. She sees the filth of the world, the true, horrible, disgusting underbelly of humanity, and she still sees something worth saving. I think that this is the difference between Paige and Jaxon (who I still hate so, so, so much). Jaxon views the rest of humanity from a pedestal, looking down on the rest of his species and choosing to side with another in order to keep humanity in line. Paige, however, is the voice of free will. She places more faith in the human race and, in so doing, becomes an emblem and a rallying cry. She becomes everything Jaxon could have been, had he not been overcome by his selfish need to constantly save his own skin.
One could look at Paige Mahoney and see many different things. A fearless queen. A leader of a ragtag group of nobodies. A menace. A savior. A human. A battle cry. Turns out, she is all of the above.
I can't wait to see what happens in the fourth installment of this series!
That ending.
Well, not really an ending. So many things happened all at once at the very end of this book and I felt like I was holding my breath throughout my entire reading experience as the stakes seemed to climb exponentially higher with each passing chapter.
I feel like I had to wrestle with my own understanding of and, at times, disdain for the human race and human nature as a whole. Paige herself comes to this realization towards the end, realizing that she "had been naïve. I had thought of Nashira Sargas as purely evil, purely sadistic--but she knew more about us than we did. We had given her the tools to bring us to our knees" (p. 312).
As the good Samwise Gamgee once said, "There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for." So it is with Paige Mahoney and the Mime Order. She sees the filth of the world, the true, horrible, disgusting underbelly of humanity, and she still sees something worth saving. I think that this is the difference between Paige and Jaxon (who I still hate so, so, so much). Jaxon views the rest of humanity from a pedestal, looking down on the rest of his species and choosing to side with another in order to keep humanity in line. Paige, however, is the voice of free will. She places more faith in the human race and, in so doing, becomes an emblem and a rallying cry. She becomes everything Jaxon could have been, had he not been overcome by his selfish need to constantly save his own skin.
One could look at Paige Mahoney and see many different things. A fearless queen. A leader of a ragtag group of nobodies. A menace. A savior. A human. A battle cry. Turns out, she is all of the above.
I can't wait to see what happens in the fourth installment of this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent