wonder_jenn's reviews
689 reviews

What a perfect ending to the series. SO MUCH was happening I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the perfect balance between plot and character development. All the characters were here, and everything came together so perfectly.

If you love the first trilogy, you should like this one just as much. I certainly do. It's always a pleasure to see the original characters, and the new ones are just as interesting to follow.

Robin LaFevers writes in a way I simply love. She can mix history, magic, court intrigues, romance, bonds or even tragedy in an efficient and engrossing manner. When I read her books, I can't help but love the characters. The good and the bad guys are both cunning and resourceful. It makes the story all the more exciting.

After dnfing this book a first time, I must confess that my opinion hasn't changed.

I don't understand the author's choice as to the age gap. I mean, the age gap in itself is not the problem. My issue is with how the two main characters are at different stages of their lives when certain things are hinted at. Joe is only 10 when he becomes aware of Ox, who is 16, being is mate. That in itself made me super uncomfortable. Even if nothing romantic or sexual happened until Joe is more than 17, I can't fathom how an adult could be in a relationship with someone they've known as a child. I was oscillating between discomfort and disgust.

The plot became redundant and dragged a lot after some point. I was more interested in the found family element, especially in a few characters like Gordo, Carter and Kelly. But, honestly, it became hard to believe in the found familly when too many characters became part of Ox's pack. We didn't get to know them or care about them.

I had a good time but this sequel wasn't as good as the first book. I mean, plotwise, it was more interesting. However, I think everything happened too fast: the romance, the plot, the conclusion... It felt too easy and rushed.

I loved to see Jude and Cardan again though. And considering the ending, I hope we will have more of them.

Didn't like the plot twist one bit. Some reactions are... A choice

Dee was an interesting character: fat, bi, a bit of a loser. But we don't get to know the other characters that much. I couldn't bring myself to care.

I really wanted to love this book but nothing was fully explored.

The way magic is granted or learnable is unique. I wish we had more development as to the world-building, the plot and the romance.

We don't see Noam studying magic (sometimes, the author would mention something Noam studied or what a tutor said but we never *read* about it) or improving. As a result, we're left with nothing to witness the character's growth. What can he do? For how long? What are the limits? We don't know...

The romance could have been better as well. Just because it takes forever for the couple to be together or confess their feelings doesn't mean it's slow-burn. It's important to have interactions, a dynamic between the characters. Here, Noam and Dara don't interact much before the attraction starts. I expected them to get to know each other more, you know, since they are on opposite sides of the political conflict.

The ideas were good but the execution was unfortunately flat.

This book was 800+ pages of slow, boring and inconsequential stuff. I'm so disappointed.

Let's start with the crossover: it wasn't worth it. I was expecting some epic battle or discovery but it was basically "traveling" with Nesta and Azriel. I wanted more impact and to see more of the other characters.

The plot - if we can even call it that - was severely lacking. The Asteri never seemed like a real threat. They're mostly off page, doing nothing to chase and stop Bryce and her team. What kind of enemy is this? Also, most of the "action" served nothing. For instance,

Ruhn losing his hand horribly was for nothing since they couldn't even escape by themselves. Then, Sigrid got killed off and resurrected. For what? You can guess. Nothing.

Ithan and Tharion made shitty decisions after shitty decisions. Almost everything they did had no impact. It felt like SJM didn't know what to do with them.

Bryce and Hunt annoyed me to no end. Bryce was a cardboard copy of Aelin in this book without her qualities: she kept her plans from the team and was smarter than anyone else. Worst of all was how Bryce brushed off Hunt's trauma. For the record, that man was betrayed twice and got tortured and enslaved. Bryce didn't care. She never asked how Hunt and Ruhn were doing after what they went through. She didn't even ask what happened to them ffs. It pissed me off so much. As for Hunt, he lacked a backbone. He moved on easily for Bryce instead of standing his ground and telling Bryce to fuck off.

Some characters from the first book, like Bryce's best friends, were completely forgotten. You don't really see the angels or the werewolves while they were important pieces to the Asteri in the first book. Someone explain why the enemy was suddenly avoiding clashes lol.

The only things I liked in this conclusion was

seeing Danika and the Pack of Devils at the end, and the ToG easter eggs.

This was a worthy sequel. I enjoyed it a lot!
I love Emily and Wendell so much. The fairies were more vicious in this book 😈

Never the idiom "go girl, give us nothing" has ever had more meaning than in this series. There's a lot I can forgive as long as there's SOMETHING or SOMEONE to root for. It's not the case here.

Kamran is boring and is always misunderstanding the situation. Like, dude, make an effort and use your brain? And the author announced the third book wasn't the last? When there's already NOTHING?

No thank you ma'am

Once Cyrus showed up, the book got instantly better! I liked Alizeh but Karman's POV was not super interesting. I must say, though, that the plot and the world-building were superficial. For the most part, it was as if I was reading a lot of nothing. I don't know how to explain this better 😅.

But it became more exciting towards the end.