Rudi and his friends travel home while revisiting some of the people he met on his journey to the east coast.
I enjoyed the first Emberverse trilogy deRudi and his friends travel home while revisiting some of the people he met on his journey to the east coast.
I enjoyed the first Emberverse trilogy despite (or maybe partly because of) its excesses, but this follow up series has become disappointing. The idea of Rudi crossing the continent with a small group of young people who grew up in the changed world is pretty great, but reading about him meeting and usually winning over members of various wacky post-change cultures has gotten repetitive.
I assumed that we were going to finally see some aftermath of his journey, because it would be great for the story to finally move on a little further. Instead, this one is heavy on recaps and the characters talk every idea and feeling to death. The battle scenes seem thrown in to liven things up a little, most were low-stakes to the point of boring.
At this point I'm still invested enough to want to find out about the resolution of the war, but I hope the author gets on with it already.
Merged review:
Rudi and his friends travel home while revisiting some of the people he met on his journey to the east coast.
I enjoyed the first Emberverse trilogy despite (or maybe partly because of) its excesses, but this follow up series has become disappointing. The idea of Rudi crossing the continent with a small group of young people who grew up in the changed world is pretty great, but reading about him meeting and usually winning over members of various wacky post-change cultures has gotten repetitive.
I assumed that we were going to finally see some aftermath of his journey, because it would be great for the story to finally move on a little further. Instead, this one is heavy on recaps and the characters talk every idea and feeling to death. The battle scenes seem thrown in to liven things up a little, most were low-stakes to the point of boring.
At this point I'm still invested enough to want to find out about the resolution of the war, but I hope the author gets on with it already....more
I really enjoyed the first book, but couldn't get into this one at all, probably because I haven't reread Winter Tide since its release. I normally doI really enjoyed the first book, but couldn't get into this one at all, probably because I haven't reread Winter Tide since its release. I normally don't have this much trouble piecing all a story's secondary characters and their relationships back together. Not sure if that means the book doesn't include quite enough little memory refreshers or if it's more to do with my own lack of concentration lately. Either way, I had to give up for now.
Hopefully I'll remember to try it again at some point, maybe once the series is farther along....more
I loved the overall story, but there were too many unnecessary POVs going on. Continually swapping us into the first-person thoughts of relatively minI loved the overall story, but there were too many unnecessary POVs going on. Continually swapping us into the first-person thoughts of relatively minor characters made it feel like the book was prioritizing subplots and backstory over the development of the more interesting characters and relationships....more
I liked the setting and Blake's overall writing style, but the pacing needed help. Having three groups of mostly separated characters gave the whole tI liked the setting and Blake's overall writing style, but the pacing needed help. Having three groups of mostly separated characters gave the whole thing a real "prequel to the actual story" feel. I'm usually okay with a slow burn in something this detailed, but I want more payoff going on within the same actual book rather than making the whole thing one long tease for the rest of the series....more
This was beautiful and layered and absolutely heart-wrenching, but it didn't grab me in quite the same way that A Taste of Honey did.This was beautiful and layered and absolutely heart-wrenching, but it didn't grab me in quite the same way that A Taste of Honey did....more
This was a great concept, and while I'm rarely a fan of present tense, I think it was fine in this case. I also liked the setup and the descriptivenesThis was a great concept, and while I'm rarely a fan of present tense, I think it was fine in this case. I also liked the setup and the descriptiveness of the prose. Too bad the rest of the book didn't live up to its promise.
Jane read like a video game character, that kind of pushy person who follows every path in the preset dialogue tree and asks really invasive questions because, damn it, she's the protagonist. This might have worked for me if she'd been either more likable or more of a blank slate. Instead, she's that RPG character that you don't really care for, the one who makes you drop the game after ten or fifteen hours because she doesn't react to things in a very natural way and you're bored with being in her head.
I wish Cashore had either condensed this into one storyline or stuck with her original choose-your-own-adventure concept. Either of those would have been a nightmare to pull off, but the result would have been more satisfying than watching one simple choice lock Jane into caring about only one of the story's routes.
As the subplots got stranger, I kept waiting for Cashore to do something with the structure she'd chosen, to have Jane condense some of these possibilities in a way that made some of her more offputting traits worthwhile. But instead the book remained a slog through disparate story arcs, favoring fresh sets of worldbuilding details over character development.
And was anyone else completely put off by the fact that (view spoiler)[Jane choosing to spend time with her friend and hostess led to the worst ending? (hide spoiler)] That just struck me as icky....more
This was a great sequel overall, but one element of the ending played out in such an awkward way that it felt as if it was just there to gritty thingsThis was a great sequel overall, but one element of the ending played out in such an awkward way that it felt as if it was just there to gritty things up a little....more
I enjoyed how rich and developed the setting was, but I wish some of that same careful attention had gone to the other elements of the book. The tone I enjoyed how rich and developed the setting was, but I wish some of that same careful attention had gone to the other elements of the book. The tone was too dry for my taste, the middle was draggy and overlong, and every plot twist was telegraphed enough to shock me when things really did end up going the way they'd been heading.
My biggest beef was with the characters, though. They were all pretty flat, and we'd just kind of be told about shifts in their relationships while they attended yet another round of identical sounding classes. I also kept forgetting how young they were meant to be until someone would reference their ages; they didn't read like girls at all....more
I liked the slow, meditative style of this one overall, but I wish the plot had been a little tighter. It felt as if Agent Spector's entire mission goI liked the slow, meditative style of this one overall, but I wish the plot had been a little tighter. It felt as if Agent Spector's entire mission got brushed aside once they arrived at Miskatonic.
I wasn't too interested in Leah's scenes during Jeweled Fire, so it surprised me how much I enjoyed this one. The story was paced really well, and I wI wasn't too interested in Leah's scenes during Jeweled Fire, so it surprised me how much I enjoyed this one. The story was paced really well, and I was never left feeling like Shinn's thorough descriptions slowed things down. Some aspects of the plot were predictable, but I don't always mind that in this kind of character-driven tale....more
This doesn't have the emotional depth of the author's later books, but it's a nicely structured story in a great setting. I especially liked that FiamThis doesn't have the emotional depth of the author's later books, but it's a nicely structured story in a great setting. I especially liked that Fiametta reads more like a realistic character than a Plucky Fantasy Heroine.
I'm sure it also helped that some elements reminded me a little of Sabatini's Italy-based novels....more
This is a bland, by-the-numbers fantasy about a guy who's annoyingly good at everything (despite constantly pointing out that he's not a stereotypicalThis is a bland, by-the-numbers fantasy about a guy who's annoyingly good at everything (despite constantly pointing out that he's not a stereotypical hero) who reclaims his country from a cartoonishly evil bad guys. The characters are flat, the romance is pointless, and every element of the main plot is predictable.
The ending was interesting. Definitely a case of too little too late, but it might make me more likely to try the sequel....more
Lady Helen is the first YA heroine I've come across whose special magical destiny makes her less interesting.
The Dark Days Club is about whether she'Lady Helen is the first YA heroine I've come across whose special magical destiny makes her less interesting.
The Dark Days Club is about whether she'll risk becoming a monster-fighting Regency superhero or stifle her nature and talents for the sake of luxurious mediocrity. If she's a protagonist actually worth basing a series on, the choice should be obvious. But instead of getting the hell on with meatier topics, we get a whole book of Helen's dithering followed by a climax that skips the entire central question of the novel.
For the sake of some of the characters, I could have forgiven the draggy pacing. I could have forgiven the info dumps of supernatural lore and historical detail. I could even have forgiven my most hated of historical novel sins: peppering scenes with Byron and Beau Brummell and any Patroness of Alamack's. (I should know by now to quietly consign a book to my "didn't-finish" shelf the instant Prinny shows up at a party.) But a heroine who wrestles with a very specific dilemma and then has that choice taken out of her hands? I guess that's my breaking point....more
I loved the premise and tightly written setup, but the bulk of the investigation felt a bit draggy. I also got tired of watching Ginger tackle the conI loved the premise and tightly written setup, but the bulk of the investigation felt a bit draggy. I also got tired of watching Ginger tackle the constant chorus of "You can't do that, it's not safe!" that followed her from scene to scene. Yes, it's realistic. It's still tedious, though.
My biggest issue was that during another perfect opportunity to raise the stakes, the characters made a plan, seemed to have heaps of time to implement it, tweaked it slightly during the process, and then carried it off without a hitch. Personally, I'd have liked to see a bit more complexity. (view spoiler)[That part of the ending also felt off because Ginger's biggest worry during the battle was that killing the German spies could let them carry secrets back to their commanders. But the spies were there to learn how to set up that kind of after-death report, so they wouldn't have had an existing binding that let them get home and check in. Maybe there was another way for the ghosts to get that info across? I guess it worked as an excuse to get Ginger closer to the action, but a little more justification might have been nice. (hide spoiler)]
Ghost Talkers is a good book; I just wish it had been a little more even....more
This is my favorite of the series so far, mostly because of its refreshing take on the "young women hoping to marry a future king" plot. Shinn's princThis is my favorite of the series so far, mostly because of its refreshing take on the "young women hoping to marry a future king" plot. Shinn's princesses are intelligent, sophisticated young women who focus more on the mysteries of the court than on throwing themselves at the nation's potential heirs. There is a bit of romance, but this is still a book with friendship at its core.
I do wish that the oldest of the heirs had been a little more developed, and I wasn't hooked at all by the character who was set up to be the heroine of the next one....more
Rafe is oh-so-very special from the start, which makes his trajectory less of a surprise than I'd have liked it to be, and Josetta sometimes feels likRafe is oh-so-very special from the start, which makes his trajectory less of a surprise than I'd have liked it to be, and Josetta sometimes feels like too much of an observer in her own life. I wish she'd driven the key events of the novel a little more.
The setting and side characters kept me interested enough that I'll definitely go on to the next one though....more
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