Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book via Edelweiss. This has not influenced my review.*
I’m not sure what to say about this book. It wasn’t bad, but it went off the rails a bit too much for my taste.
The first book had a lot of strangeness and randomness, but I didn’t mind because the characters and the relationships between them were great and carried the book through. I could enjoy just being along for the ride. In this book though, the characters were mostly separated, and most things that happened in the plot just felt so random or unnecessary or convenient. I felt like I was just being thrown from one strange thing to the next. It made the relationships and emotions between the characters seem more forced too since I didn’t get to see them interacting much, and their interactions were kinda choppy.
I know that all sounds really harsh, but there were good things about this book too. It moved the overall story forward. It gave the readers answers about certain things and let us learn more about certain characters (like Aster’s father and the guidance counselor). There were some cute and funny moments. There was again a lot of creativity in this world the author has created. And I do like the characters individually. The erratic plot just made this one too difficult for me to really get into though. It may be more enjoyable for anyone who likes really unique fantasy worlds with lots of strange and unpredictable happenings.
*Trigger Warning*: Sexual abuse/assault (a man sexually assaulting a teen girl with plans to rape/kill her and also touching/kissing her while she sleeps).
Recommended For:
Fans of Book 1 in Greg Keyes's High and Faraway series. Anyone who likes quests through fantasy realms, sweet friendships, character growth, a lot of magic, and just a bit of strangeness.
More Books in the Series:
Book Review: The Reign of the Departed (The High and Faraway Book 1) by Greg Keyes
Book Review: Kingdoms of the Cursed (The High and Faraway Book 2) by Greg Keyes
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I haven’t read this series. I love when a fantasy author gets creative and presents a unique world, but I don’t think I could get through the erratic plot with this one.
Yeah, the plot was a bit much to handle even though the world was really unique.
Seems like this could be a fun book if that’s what you’re in the mood for though.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
I do think it could be more enjoyable, depending on taste and mood. There’s a lot of unique stuff.
Sorry that this one wasn’t particularly enjoyable ):
Thanks, I guess we can’t love every book!
Sometimes it’s hard when characters are separated. The plot does sound erratic, like you said, but glads there were some good parts too. I do like the cover! 🙂
It is tough when characters are separated or one isn’t around for a book or something cuz, as the reader, the characters or dynamic is often my favorite thing. But yeah, it wasn’t all bad! Love the cover too!
I think a book with strangeness can definitely be saved by the things around it… but I’m sorry this book couldn’t be 🙁
Agreed! It’s unfortunate this one didn’t have those same things I liked about the first.
That’s a shame this wasn’t as good as the first book in the series. I think all of the randomness with the plot would have bothered me too. It almost sounds like it was trying too hard to be random and quirky.
It kind of did feel that way :-/
I like strange fantasy worlds, but they are very hard to get right. If not handled properly you can end up feeling how you feel here, where nothing really makes sense and therefore the plot feels a bit too random. I know I got that with basically every Alice in Wonderland retelling, and the original classic… Until I read Heartless by Marissa Meyer where she balances everything perfectly!
Agreed. I didn’t think of the comparison to Alice, but yes, kind of like that. Although I enjoyed this much more because I absolutely hate Alice in Wonderland lol.