This book was such a mess. There were a lot of moments in each characters' POVs dotted throughout the book where the thoughts just meandered in a way This book was such a mess. There were a lot of moments in each characters' POVs dotted throughout the book where the thoughts just meandered in a way that wasn't really conducive to following the narrative. The switching between narration and stream of consciousness was simply jarring in a bunch of places. If the first book made it difficult to glean the relation of the characters' studies to Atlas' overarching plan, this book was at least 2 times worse. Warrants a slower reread and extremely thorough dissection, following a careful reread of the first book.
The remaining Society initiates begin their second year of independent study, while keeping the mysterious disappearance of Libby Rhodes in the back of their minds. Libby has found herself trapped in 1989 Los Angeles, with no idea how to get back and medeian resources just starting to grow. Meanwhile, Atlas and Ezra face off in a battle of ideologies as each finally puts their master plans into motion after years and years of plotting. Layers of mysterious to unravel, time travel and dimensional theory to penetrate, while Tristan and Reina learn there's something more to their power and specialty than they'd originally thought.
This book honestly scrambled more of my brain than I thought possible. It was much more coherent when everyone was together and studying the same things. However, I have enough memory to recall approximately what each person was studying and how it's relating to the secret bigger plan of the sentient archive. Long story short, these six individuals are currently the most powerful in the world and everyone wants them dead or enslaved, but leaning more towards dead. They may, or may not, be the new generation of gods.
Atlas has gathered them because he wants to travel to new worlds. Dalton wants his research back. Ezra wants to topple the establishment. Belen's a bitter angry activist. Nico's realizing there's something bigger out there than Gideon's existence, needs Libby back, and is questioning existence. Tristan realizes he's been misunderstanding and underrating his potential, and experiments with his powers. Parisa's just messing around with Dalton and Atlas on her own agenda, some psychological thing. Callum reveals he's just seriously depressed and offended Atlas considers him a kindred spirit, and decides that maybe there's some relation with him needing to be depressed to be such a powerful empath. Reina's accepting that she's probably the most powerful of the initiates, edging on godhood and finally takes an interest in her value, combining her classics background with her surface-level naturalism to find the truth. Libby just wants to get home, but in order to do so, comes face-to-face with her own pain and the necessity for change and self-confidence.
It sounds better than it reads, but warrants a rereading.
Merged review:
This book was such a mess. There were a lot of moments in each characters' POVs dotted throughout the book where the thoughts just meandered in a way that wasn't really conducive to following the narrative. The switching between narration and stream of consciousness was simply jarring in a bunch of places. If the first book made it difficult to glean the relation of the characters' studies to Atlas' overarching plan, this book was at least 2 times worse. Warrants a slower reread and extremely thorough dissection, following a careful reread of the first book.
The remaining Society initiates begin their second year of independent study, while keeping the mysterious disappearance of Libby Rhodes in the back of their minds. Libby has found herself trapped in 1989 Los Angeles, with no idea how to get back and medeian resources just starting to grow. Meanwhile, Atlas and Ezra face off in a battle of ideologies as each finally puts their master plans into motion after years and years of plotting. Layers of mysterious to unravel, time travel and dimensional theory to penetrate, while Tristan and Reina learn there's something more to their power and specialty than they'd originally thought.
This book honestly scrambled more of my brain than I thought possible. It was much more coherent when everyone was together and studying the same things. However, I have enough memory to recall approximately what each person was studying and how it's relating to the secret bigger plan of the sentient archive. Long story short, these six individuals are currently the most powerful in the world and everyone wants them dead or enslaved, but leaning more towards dead. They may, or may not, be the new generation of gods.
Atlas has gathered them because he wants to travel to new worlds. Dalton wants his research back. Ezra wants to topple the establishment. Belen's a bitter angry activist. Nico's realizing there's something bigger out there than Gideon's existence, needs Libby back, and is questioning existence. Tristan realizes he's been misunderstanding and underrating his potential, and experiments with his powers. Parisa's just messing around with Dalton and Atlas on her own agenda, some psychological thing. Callum reveals he's just seriously depressed and offended Atlas considers him a kindred spirit, and decides that maybe there's some relation with him needing to be depressed to be such a powerful empath. Reina's accepting that she's probably the most powerful of the initiates, edging on godhood and finally takes an interest in her value, combining her classics background with her surface-level naturalism to find the truth. Libby just wants to get home, but in order to do so, comes face-to-face with her own pain and the necessity for change and self-confidence.
It sounds better than it reads, but warrants a rereading....more
A dark academia in a similar vein and concept to The Atlas Six, but improves upon its subpar characters by replacing it with a slow, slow burn romanceA dark academia in a similar vein and concept to The Atlas Six, but improves upon its subpar characters by replacing it with a slow, slow burn romance (view spoiler)[and teacher-student relations (hide spoiler)].
Lennon's history of failed relationships and mental health issues culminates in a desperate attempt to commit suicide when she finds her fiancé in a compromising position with a close friend in the bathroom, right in the middle of their engagement party. Just as she's about to fatally overdose herself, she gets a call from an empty phone booth informing her about her acceptance into Drayton College and sending details about where to take her entrance exam. Drayton is unlike any other college she knows, in that the students study persuasion and their graduates are powerful and well-connected. Lennon learns that her flavor of persuasion is the most powerful on campus, and that nothing is as it seems; especially when it comes to the handsome and aloof Professor Lowe.
I think I'm getting more tolerant of slow burn romances. If all male leads were set up as mysterious and cold as Dante Lowe, I'd be less annoyed when I found out it'd be slow burn. (view spoiler)[I label this romance as a "slow burn" because they don't get together until the final third of the book, and that's also when it hits a little harder that 1) he had a secret love-child with the vice-chancellor and 2) he almost died for her. (hide spoiler)] He's called "Black Adonis" twice in the book, everyone comments about how attractive he is, and the amount of attention Lennon gives to his class exercises and how he differs from the other professors makes him the most memorable teacher to be thinking of on-campus.
The concept of Drayton College is an exclusive combination of Brakebills from The Magicians (I've only seen the show), and The Atlas Six. Drayton is located in its own pocket dimension historically originating from Savannah, Georgia (much like how The Scholomance of A Deadly Education had a physical gate in Lisbon, Portugal), and its higher-education entrance exam and student body are capable of incredibly dangerous manipulation and those esteemed graduates located in positions of power or great reach.
The writing follows Lennon from a third-person perspective likely to offer greater analysis into Lennon's character development; overcoming her shyness, her hesitation, her guilt, and her self-shame to become (view spoiler)[the chancellor and gatekeeper of Drayton, preventing its discovery by the greater public and the deaths of the current faculty and student body (hide spoiler)].
Read this book for the vibes and character growth....more
I mean...the story moves. Does it add anything new? Not really, it's just...French. And gathering allies. In a way, we're right back at the beginning I mean...the story moves. Does it add anything new? Not really, it's just...French. And gathering allies. In a way, we're right back at the beginning TBH. Oh yeah, some more acquaintances-to-possibly-lovers slow burn. Just send me the next book already.
The mysterious Domino network orders their newest recruit, the infamous Paige Mahoney, to rest and recuperate in one of their Paris safe houses before assigning her with new jobs as an intelligence officer. Mostly amaurotic, Paige knows that this network could be another possibly ally in the fight against the Rephaim. However, she still needs to think about finding more powerful voyants to gain support with and fully conduct a coup; onwards, she goes digging through the ancient catacombs to find the Parisian syndicate. But once she does, she finds herself in a very familiar situation.
Paige's companion, her support during her recuperation, is Arcturus. They've helped each other through painful and bloody injuries and talked through their darkest memories. However, there's still some dark secrets Arcturus is hiding and Paige can't afford to let herself be consumed by the Rephaim, or her revolution.
If there are several good things that go on in this book, is the gradual resolution of some loose ends from the previous books. For example, in book 1, who is Rackham and why is Paige supposed to look for him? (view spoiler)[He's the Rag and Bone Man! The Man in the Iron Mask! And startingly, the seemingly-innocent printer friend Alfred. Who'da thunk he was actually a very clever human trafficker? (hide spoiler)] Who does that oracle David really work for? (view spoiler)[Actually, still unclear. But at his reappearance we're assuming he's working for the French, under his real name Cade Fitzours. Also, potentially NOT and oracle and potentially ANOTHER DREAMWALKER?! Send the next book!! (hide spoiler)] What happened to Michael? (view spoiler)[A month after he gets separated from Paige when they return to London, he's captured and sent to Sheol II. Paige arrives just a few hours too late and misses him. Current whereabouts unknown, I supposed. (hide spoiler)]
I like the new characters, I suppose. They're just a little more fun to follow than their English counterparts. More mysterious and moody, too, because Paige is just another person to them and a foreigner as well; no grudging respect or leftover fear from her mollisher days, they only know her as the Underqueen resurrected.
It's almost a bit too obvious that this series is being made longer on purpose with three reasons:
1. The introduction of the Domino network. (view spoiler)[We only see like 4 characters from the entire network and while this is like a safety precaution to keep things siloed off in case of compromised agents and leaking information, killing some of the characters and keeping others is a blindingly obvious ploy (hide spoiler)] to keep interest in Domino as far as the next book. Speaking of which, still unclear how the Mannequin or whatever relates to Domino, I suspect it's like the French sub-section of Domino?
2. Paige and Arcturus (view spoiler)[let Jaxon live after they've cornered him in Versailles. (hide spoiler)] They literally had one verbally assigned job to do, to (view spoiler)[kill the Grand Overseer, and they couldn't complete it because of morals?! Are you really telling me they didn't think to bring an actual cold-hearted killer with them into the room to kill this guy because they didn't think they'd decide to give him mercy either because a) he's a father figure to Paige or b) literal MORALS?! (hide spoiler)] Big, big flag that there'll be another book.
3. Paige (view spoiler)[doesn't manage to rescue a possessed (hide spoiler)] Arcuturus. This really speaks for itself.
Hmmm, what else am I annoyed at? Hmmm, still made at David/Cade. Oh yeah! The cards, THE CARDS. Liss' reading still pervades through this book. Mainly, it's the Devil and the Lovers that keeps coming up over, and over, and over again. I thought we'd established their meanings earlier, that the Devil is Jaxon, or Nashira, or whatever, but really we keep rehashing this. And also, the Lovers is fairly obvious who it's representing, but Paige is still kind of fighting it and trying to resolve her connection to Arcturus and her obligations to the syndicate and voyants. So yeah, bored of trying to figure out who the Devil is; every time Paige gets betrayed or feels grief she goes like "...so this must be the Devil from the reading..." And really, let's get this girl to another cartomancer in Paris (where apparently it's very highly regarded) and get a fresh pair of eyes on her future....more
Illness, recovery, recollection, and renewal. Missing scenes from book 1 involving how Tilda dies, and planting the explosives. Detailing the aftermatIllness, recovery, recollection, and renewal. Missing scenes from book 1 involving how Tilda dies, and planting the explosives. Detailing the aftermath of the torture chamber and more specific detail about how the tortures went....more
This one is probably the most satisfying read of the series so far. There's less wishy-washy indecision and more "POW-POW BOOOM!" actions happening toThis one is probably the most satisfying read of the series so far. There's less wishy-washy indecision and more "POW-POW BOOOM!" actions happening to fight the alien incursion. As a result, this book just wooshes by super fast.
Paige's first act as the the new Underqueen of the Scion Citadel of London is to get her newly-reformed Mime Order to protection as the Senshield is deployed around basic services around London. A new player has entered the game, Hildred Vance, the mastermind behind several successful Scion invasions in places like Ireland and Bulgaria. Vance has been tasked by Nashira to capture and incapacitate Paige and her Mime Order. As the noose tightens around the voyants of London, Paige throws herself farther and farther away from her syndicate to distract Vance's operatives and locate the source and manufacturing of the Senshield to prevent the Rephaim from total world domination.
*dramatic music* World Domination! Yes, the goal of every baddie in YA fiction, ever. Except, when, if ever, did President Snow or President Coin ever want world domination? Or even Supreme Commander Anderson? It's a propaganda and supporter-recruitment game as Nashira appeals to foreign powers to create more penal colonies and set up their own Scion citadels, and Paige is trying to get all the foreign voyant powers to band together and buck the reins right off these psychic vampires.
The best part of this book probably has to do with all the travel and world expansion Paige is doing. We've seen the basic citadel and penal colony set-up, we've solved the mystery of who murdered Hector the Underlord and the mafia politics of the syndicate, and now we're exploring more parts of the UK and how different or similar the voyant community survives away from the capital hotspot.
Unexpectedly, (view spoiler)[Paige accidentally does a Trojan Horse and destroys Senshield at the end of the book, and in the next book she'll be shipped off to work with some secret spy network to...I guess, uncover the Rephaim's true aim or something? (hide spoiler)] Things are changing fast and so far Paige has done a great job keeping up....more
I think...this follows the YA formula and was, as expected, better than the boring and dull first book. World expansion, another side of the main charI think...this follows the YA formula and was, as expected, better than the boring and dull first book. World expansion, another side of the main character, and a different pressure; from escaping powerful apex predators in the open, to avoiding violent organizations at all times. A nice change of pace from the frustration that was book 1.
Paige successfully escapes the voyant and Rephaim penal colony back into London, where she must disappear into the underground as one of the Scion, and the Rephaim's, most wanted fugitives. She wants to save more voyants and reveal the Scion's dirty secret to everyone, but unexpectedly she learns that the corruption and manipulation runs far, far deeper than she ever knew.
It's a massive oversimplification and tired method of drawing attention to say this book hugely resembles Queen of Shadows, but really, it does. It's the return of the crime lord's favorite right-hand gal and instituting fear and apprehension amongst the other gangs that vibes strongly. If we had more Celaena Sardothian as Arobynn Hamel's right-hand assassin, well, this would probably be it. So, if you wanted this kind of content, here you go! Wrapped up quite nicely and neatly in a package.
Extending the universe more, well, we all love uncovering dirty dirty secrets and corruption. There's a large amount of satisfaction to be had here. But it sure does take a while to get there, like, 50% of the time is spent on re-learning how Paige is supposed to fit back into London when she knows what's really out there, and seeding the doubts and foreshadowing of later events of the book. There's heavy potential for the story to get better, and I can only hope it lives up to it.
Also, yeah...still mildly predictable, but less so than the first book....more
This definitely wasn't what I was expecting when I picked it up. I thought this would be a dry attempt at collegiate practical magic, but it does so mThis definitely wasn't what I was expecting when I picked it up. I thought this would be a dry attempt at collegiate practical magic, but it does so much more. It's a murder mystery and contrast between the magic and danger of fantasy crossed with the crimes of down-to-earth criminals.
Galaxy Stern is faking it until she really makes it; make it out of Yale with some kind of degree, make it out of this weird secret society of privileged rich kids using her abnormal ability to see the dead, and make her own new life after her traumatizing tragedy last year. Alex is the new Dante for the secret society, making sure no wandering spirits ruin the many rituals these main magic societies perform to benefit their bougie alumni. A routine ritual turns out to be not-so-routine when the spirits start trying to break into the wards and a dead body turns up the next day. It's Alex's job to investigate, and her investigation turns up something much, much worse than she expected. And she can't let anyone cover it up this time.
Even without thinking about the delicate complexity of weaving a story to build a new magic world and secret society, and introducing a decent mystery while tacking classist themes, it's amazing that the one issue I have with the the storytelling is the time jumps. Chapters are labelled by season. Am I paying attention to the season? Not at all. I pause at the chapter breaks and I categorize things into "Lore, Last Year, and Current." Maybe the dates and the seasons are important, but I'm certainly not feeling it.
The only reason this book hasn't hit five stars for me, is because I simply need time to go back to the beginning and remind myself what all these secret societies do and what they're named; this is important when we're evaluating our line of murder suspects. Thankfully most of the secret societies are named intuitively, I just need a little memory boost of who and what the suspects did in the time leading up to the exposure of the dead body. (view spoiler)[The surprise twist at the end sealed everything, but I feel like in order to feel the full impact of this truth, I need to review the societies and the suspects' involvements. At least I don't have problem tracking the Merity distributor! (hide spoiler)] The reveal of who the real villain is (view spoiler)[also felt like it was lacking in impact because I was barely keeping track of this Professor Belbam character, I only knew that there was some sort of salon that was functioning as an alibi for some people. Maybe this reveal is supposed to be an "I never expected it to be her!" moment, but my lack of attention towards the character and the character's actions aren't delivering. (hide spoiler)]
This book tackles class in the appropriate environment of Yale's undergraduate dorms in Connecticutt. How much more Ivy League-preppy can the setting get? Alex literally only getting in because of her ability and because the secret society wants her, combined with the absolute laziness of the legacy society members and the harsh crack of realism from Alex's past, she's well-equipped to manipulating stereotypes to her advantage in the investigation and coming to terms with her abilities and her trauma....more
I think I was expecting witchier and spookier, not this AU steampunk alien invasion dystopia-like sci-fi. It's also a complete different flavor from hI think I was expecting witchier and spookier, not this AU steampunk alien invasion dystopia-like sci-fi. It's also a complete different flavor from her later acclaimed books The Priory of the Orange Tree and reads as extremely YA. I'm not super impressed but neither am I super bored or annoyed. It functions as a nice in-betweener of the more soul-consuming series out there.
In the year 2059, England is a Scionist society, in which the clairvoyants are abhorred by the general populace as "unnatural". Most are shipped off to the Tower for eternal imprisonment, or otherwise keeping their secret identities on the down-low. If they are special, they can work out a deal to be part of the special division of officers capturing and trapping hidden voyants and delay their death sentence by thirty years. Otherwise, they band together in Sci-Lo, the London underground for voyants, under the protection of the sections' mime-lords and mime-queens.
Paige Mahoney is one of these clairvoyants, only, she's an extremely rare dreamwalker. One unlucky night, Paige is drugged and captured during a surprise identity check. Expecting to find herself in the Tower, she's surprised to find herself in the forbidden town of Oxford, under the care of inhumanly beautiful and cruel beings called the Rephaim. Paige learns that behind the cruel world she'd lived in all her life, there's actually something darker lurking in the next town over.
It feels hard to make this book feel like it's worth reading because, well, I can't say that nothing happens in this book, but it's just that the things...well...the events are somewhat predictable once you get over the shock of learning about the Rephaeim's existence. Again, this book reads like early 2010's YA (which it is, so it's par for the course). First book in a series always has to be somewhat dull because world-building. And so the next couple of books, presumably more world-building but also starting to build tension for a big final battle somewhere and vindication for the main characters. We just need to get there.
Happily, it's been a while since I've read some good ESP (extra-sensory perception) powered characters and it's actually a huge blast. The usage of spirits and ghosts, and contraptions for connecting to the either easily lends itself to a steampunk-feel, while not actually being fully steampunk.
The little gang of mime-lords and mime-queens feels especially like Six of Crows which is delightful, and maybe we'll get to see more of this dynamic in the next book. The romance? Lackluster, forced, and entirely too predictable. The plot? Hmmm...once the premise was set, predictable but still with some surprises thrown in that make that trip just a little bit more interesting.
The style is a huge departure from Priory of the Orange Tree, but honestly between the two I find this series more palatable and easier to digest because it's that much easier to remember what's going on in the story and all the character attributes. However, in terms of grand story-planning, Priory of the Orange Tree one-ups this series; while I might find Priory more clunky to follow I cannot deny the obvious superiority in characterization and themes, though this could be put down to the genre difference between the two (one is clearly high-fantasy, the other is like a starter YA)....more
So I admit this one did well to quell a lot of the gripes I had about the ending of King's Cage, especially resolving the Samos siblings' escape to MoSo I admit this one did well to quell a lot of the gripes I had about the ending of King's Cage, especially resolving the Samos siblings' escape to Montfort and confirming that Maven is actually dead.
It did, however reveal some questions I had about the aftermath of some of the families. Notably remembering how I hate that a bunch of characters who had a big impact in most of the books ends up being pushed to the background in subsequent books, the whispers and specifically House Merandus have not been heard of in quite some time. I wonder where they are, if they've gone underground and maybe are forming their own cult and takeover sometime? (view spoiler)[The same can be said about the Lakelanders and Piedmont, but especially the Lakelanders. We can still get historic aftermath because this is essentially a compilation of events by Julian, but after those chapters spent with Iris, where's her end? Where's her resolution besides from a tertiary correspondence with Evangeline and history? (hide spoiler)]
A major boon of this compilation of outtakes is that WE FINALLY GET A GOSHDARN MAP, confirming that this is indeed post-apocalyptic America and displaying where each of these kingdoms/countries are oriented and explaining a lot about why the Nortans can only get to Montfort by air and why Montfort has bison and geyser calderas. (view spoiler)[*laugh laugh* "Nation's Geography" and "Time", and writings of an angsty bat-themed caped crusader. I wonder what Horn Mountain is, because Fourskulls is very clearly Mount Rushmore. (hide spoiler)]
Mare is the least annoying since the first book, Cal is still insufferably heroic and handsome princely bearing. Evangeline is...different, but in the end she's still a bad-ass. (view spoiler)[Honestly surprised no one decided to assassinate Ptolemus, especially after Mare's kinda given Farley the OK, but I guess she decided he has his uses and the cycle of death has to stop somewhere.
It's cute af that Mare and Cal's kids are named Shade and Coriane. It's sweet that Clara is also a teleporter. Absolutely not surprised Farley is still at it with the infiltration and Red rights movement. Cameron actually being a vocal leader, I mean...okay I have very mixed feelings about her because clearly at this point she's just a "if Mare was not as traumatized but definitely lived in a harsher impoverished environment." (hide spoiler)]
There was a single extra-content story, about some unrelated characters. I love some crossover event, and it's kind of sweet to know that despite Maven claiming he killed the two Red servant girls, they in fact escaped to the Disputed Lands/Freelands to a better place. Those two new characters I think deserved a little bit more solid ending besides "hey, we're not dead!"...more
I admire that this book covered a lot, lot of ground and did as it was expected to do: close out the story in the final struggle for the throne of NorI admire that this book covered a lot, lot of ground and did as it was expected to do: close out the story in the final struggle for the throne of Norta. I have opinions about the execution, but who wouldn't?
Cal has once again chosen his birthright, the throne of Norta, over the all-consuming relationship he has with Mare. For the final leg of the war over Norta, Mare, Cal, and all their friends and allies are involved in one mega-big conspiracy to settle things between Reds and Silvers once and for all.
If I get any more involved than this, I'd be having to decide what part of the backroom dealings and web of spying and conspiracy I need to hold back and reveal. There are so many unexpected alliances and expected alliances, I fully think there's more betrayals and deals being made in this singular book than the entire 8 season run of Game of Thrones. There's so much perspective involved as well, from Mare to Iris the Lakelander queen of Norta. So. Much. Going. On.
What detracts from coherency is the number of people we end up following, as if things can't solely be completed with the people we were already following. Mare is there, of course, and Evangeline like we expected from King's Cage. (view spoiler)[However, we lose Cameron and replace her with the cold and calculating Lakelander Iris. We're also throwing in Cal and Maven. This passing of the ball between characters makes it so we can and have spent seven entire chapters without Mare. (hide spoiler)] We're watching each other's moves from a greater war theatre and from close in the trenches. Our main fighters from the previous books linger in the background like shadowy leftovers from another time. Everyone, including Mare and Cal, seem to have taken a literal backseat as we watch all these tensions between Silver supremacy and the Red rebellions build and build and build, and each leader pursues their own goals, all throughout this book.
At least the fights are on a bigger political scale. I miss watching the barbs in trainings like in King's Cage and even those annoying days with Mare's Messiah complex in Glass Sword.
The ending also feels like a cop-out, just like how Red Queen ended. The author had this wonderful opportunity to make sure Mare doesn't realize that she's kinda in love with an empty puppet controlled by the scary Queen Elara, but instead they let her keep her memories and be aware of the plan to exile Cal and kill the old king because suddenly Maven is supremely jealous of his brother and knows that Mare's heart is really with him. Similarly, (view spoiler)[we don't see Maven actually die, so can he really be dead? There's no real sigh of relief in any of these character deaths. And even at the end once Maven was dead, Mare and Cal are somehow alienated because Cal is soft-hearted and even though he's abdicated he's still got this tortured soldier feel going on and Mare, finally, has grown tired of their attitudes and doesn't seem to be having it.
But also, Mare and Cal have this weird agreement thing continuing where they try not to distract each other, but they're still distracting each other because it's "inevitable" and they're surprised when they feel betrayed about the other person's choices? I don't want to label it "toxic" but I will if the majority agrees, and that they need to break this pattern. The story doesn't feel like it's getting a proper resolution, which is the most aggravating detail of all. (hide spoiler)]
If you read Queen Song, you know that Cal's mother Coriane kept diary. You also know that supposedly (view spoiler)[Elara read and destroyed that diary. So...how can Julian have rescued and have had made a copy of the diary?! I don't know, it feels absolutely suspicious when Cal is this softhearted and indecisive, that when someone uses his weakness for his mother and hands him his mother's "legacy", he's just supposed to trust it?!
I didn't think Julian had a political bone in him, but he's surprisingly devious in this book. Working with Anabel for some weird shared goal to put Cal on the throne or keep him safe or something. And Anabel, who seems like the kind of woman who would keep herself and her family in power, is suddenly accepting of Cal's abdication quietly?! What about the rest of the Silver nobles in the country?! (hide spoiler)]
Like I mentioned, the ending just doesn't make any sense and has left me with a lot of questions....more
The third book is usually better than the second book, and reminds us why we're still reading this series in the first place. Sure we need the world eThe third book is usually better than the second book, and reminds us why we're still reading this series in the first place. Sure we need the world expansion and the main character needs to rest a bit from the trauma of the first book, that's why the second book exists and that's why the second book is usually some flavor of boring. And then we get a third book where usually there's a huge world-shaking battle and then we have to wonder if the boring of the second book was fully worth this lukewarm-hot big battle.
Mare turns herself over to the custody of Maven and the kingdom of Norta to save her friends and newbloods from instant death at the hands of the Sentinels. Following months and months of being held prisoner and being paraded around as the king's mouthpiece and ambassador of goodwill to the newbloods of Norta, Mare is struggling to find reason to live. One fateful turn of circumstance lets her escape and plot to dethrone Maven once and for all. But can she decide who to save, Maven the boy who once was, or Cal who's still fighting for her every step of the way? Whatever she decides, the future of Norta hangs in the balance.
There's a part of me that simply revels in the "I've been beaten and pushed down and imprisoned. And now that I'm free, I'm going to wreak havoc." That's why Cameron is a much more appealing POV to follow than Mare. In fact, Mare's flaws and criticisms come so freely from her continuous flip-flopping decision over whether she should kill Maven comes so frequently, I think that secretly even the author has given up on continuing the story through only Mare's point of view and has added the two other strong female characters as narrators as well: Cam and Evangeline. Because obviously, while Mare is a prisoner, we want and need to know what's happening on the Scarlet Guard front and the political landscape of Norta. I think. The story is still largely through Mare and her introspection, but pulling Cam and Evangeline into it is like pulling bits of details into the story just to push it forward because otherwise nothing is happening.
They're trying to reconcile all of these conflicts: Mare being a very traumatized mascot for the Scarlet Guard, Cam starting to understand Mare's motives but being a slightly better sport about treating the masses equally because she's not mooning over two Silver princes, and Evangeline being the typical noble daughter traded only for political clout despite being a very capable dangerous woman. The best quote by Cam that describes Mare perfectly: “No wonder she has personality issues. No one tells the girl the truth about anything.”
It's checking boxes at this point. And while I am still annoyed that Mare hasn't crossed the line into fully wanting to kill Maven and handle things with Cal like an adult, at least following her still is a lot more interesting and more worthwhile than having to suddenly pop over to Cam and Evangeline and learn about the grand plans.
Mare is a much more relatable and easier to swallow character in this book, and the world is expanding in a much more palatable way. So, great job author and editors! You've slightly smoothed over my major annoyances from the first book! You've even (view spoiler)[finally revealed to Mare that Farley is pregnant with Shade's child, and I think Mare and Cal are finally intimate and deciding that yes, they do need a distraction with all this war and horror and things are progressing semi-healthily in Mare's toxic love life. Because that's the kind of lovelife Mare has. Kilorn, whom I think is finally over her, Maven who's so sickly obsessed with her because his love for her got twisted thanks to mind-bendy Elara, and Cal who just as ineffective at communication as Mare and choosing power and comfort over her even if he's making decisions hoping to save her. (hide spoiler)]
One thing that slips my mind and kind of bothers me is the relative ages. It's clear about most of the secondary characters where they stand and their attitudes, but it annoys me a bit how everyone is referring to Maven as "the boy king." He couldn't have been born that much younger than Cal, and yet there are viable faction wanting to put Cal on the throne. Especially Mare, who refers to him as a "mad boy king" as well. Arguably this describes his emotional state and military/political strategies, or his attachment to his mother, but those words have now been used so aptly to describe Joffrey Baratheon in the Game of Thrones universe, it's slightly problematic to hear Maven being described as such. Or, is this what we're meant to be picturing? King Joffrey and King Maven being the same image?
The next book can't hop into my library fast enough....more
This book was heavy on the emotions. Mare got a little more annoying in this book; hopefully it leads to stronger character development.
Zooming away fThis book was heavy on the emotions. Mare got a little more annoying in this book; hopefully it leads to stronger character development.
Zooming away from an attempted execution, Mare reunites with her "dead" brother Shade and they retire to the local Scarlet Guard headquarters with the newly exiled prince Cal in tow. There, Mare learns about the ongoing rebellion of the Reds against the Silvers, and steps into the role of forcing the world to recognize this new Red-and-Silver blood combo she calls the "newbloods." Maven also knows about Julians' list of newbloods, and it's down to a ticking clock for Mare to reach the unknown hybrids before he does.
This story plopped more than sailed smoothly like the first book, and most of it could be attributed to Mare's ongoing contradictory "I don't trust anyone because I've been betrayed" but still deciding to trust some people, even the same people who have "betrayed" her multiple times (view spoiler)[Looking at you Kilorn! (hide spoiler)]. Is this an attempt to remind us she's still just a seventeen-year-old kid? That despite the horrific experience with the Silvers and almost dying multiple times, in this kind of life she's become jaded with negativity and stress, so to remember that she still has an undeveloped brain she's going to be edgy and angsty and emotional and contradicting? The twists and turns that happen with Mare "trusting people" but not "fully trusting people" is emotional whiplash, breaks are needed despite the strong desire to keep reading through.
I am surprised at the success of Mare (view spoiler)[striking out with Cal, Kilorn, Shade, and Farley to essentially establish their own secret newblood training school, without getting into any trouble with the Scarlet Guard for pseudo-desertion and escape. Plot armor here. And even more plot armor applied when they're storming a prison already? Guess Maven is forcing her to move fast? (hide spoiler)]
The ongoing will-they won't-they with the boys is the most mediocre slow-burn I've seen. There's no way Mare doesn't know how Kilorn feels about her, yet for the entirety of book one and most of book two she's "shocked" because suddenly she knows and she's been avoiding it? And with Cal and Maven, I guess she needs more time to grieve what is essentially a super messy break-up because her relationships with Cal and Maven were so close and almost indistinguishable thanks to the shenanigans in the first book that got her into the palace. (view spoiler)[It's clear that Cal and Mare mutually affect each other, and they make a decision to ignore it for the sake of the war, but come one. COME ON. We know Shade and Farley have been getting it on, Farley is probably pregnant, and we're completely glossing over how Mare is not denying anymore that she and Cal get up to nothing other than sleeping when they're at the Notch?! RIP Shade, they never really make it clear what Farley's question is when Shade/Jon says yes, though I'm hoping it's marriage. Can't wait for Mare to find out she's an aunt. (hide spoiler)]
They added another angsty teenager in the mix in the form of (view spoiler)[Cameron Cole, who also gives some serious protagonist vibes. It's like looking into a mirror for Mare. Both girls with dangerous abilities, brothers in the war, and so much angst. (hide spoiler)]
Mare keeps making what I think are sort of dumb decisions because of perceived self-impression, so you bet I'm reading onto the next book for vindication....more
I was indeed curious about Farley's background. And I got more than I bargained for with this mystery, and Shade's!I was indeed curious about Farley's background. And I got more than I bargained for with this mystery, and Shade's!...more
I can pinpoint the exact moment Elara started fiddling with Coriane's mind and she's an absolute bitch. Poor Cori.I can pinpoint the exact moment Elara started fiddling with Coriane's mind and she's an absolute bitch. Poor Cori....more
Yes, indeed I did swallow this in a day. Because the cliffhanger was magnificent and the writing got better as the series went on. I don't know if I cYes, indeed I did swallow this in a day. Because the cliffhanger was magnificent and the writing got better as the series went on. I don't know if I can give it a full 5-star rating, arguably it deserves that much, but I don't think this is exactly a life-changing type of amazement so I'll round it to like a 4.5.
We left Squad 312 scattered among space as the great battle between the Unbroken, the Aurora Legion, and the struggle over the Weapon ensues. Ancient alien tech plus psionic powers does not do time continuity a lot of favors when fighting over really sensitive, old, and powerful devices meant to defend against parasitic mushroom hive mind alien species.
The whole book is the best-written of the three. There's significantly less "look at these hot strangers and oh wow, everyone kind of feels inadequate except for the really self-confident people" and more "I've got the hots for this person and I think they've got the hots for me so let's get it on before the end of the galaxy." This is the action and danger I came to this series to find. If only Nevernight turned out to be this good, (view spoiler)[because I am absolutely not salty Tyler is with Saedii. When unrequited love and non-murder happens to a nice character, it's not unforgivable. Instead, it's kind of refreshing to have the strong female be the aggressor in the relationship. It's actually a pretty decent enemies-to-lovers kind of thing; it could only have been improved if we removed the Pull justifying the relationship (hide spoiler)].
Aurora is less annoying as a character, Kal is less caveman-y "must protect soulmate", Fin is overall less horny and is actually decent boyfriend material for Scarlett, Tyler's [just a little bit] less of a fck boy, everyone overall is significantly less annoying. Which makes for a better overall read. The pacing is also much better compared to previously.
Why aren't there any black holes or wormholes mentioned? Would have thought that would be prime material especially in a young adult science fiction romance thing which is already talking about harvesting quantum particles and what is essentially a warp gate. They mention some timey-wimey shenanigans like that experienced on Interstellar, and yet missed an opportunity to really talk about black holes. Or...maybe they did, but it's called a dark matter tempest?
(view spoiler)[The concept of the multiverse, it doesn't seem to really go anywhere. (hide spoiler)] It's mentioned, but I don't think it really explains the time shenanigans we've seen throughout the series. Nor does it really explain what happens to the (view spoiler)[Ra'haam at the end. I think what actually happened is Aurora uses the Weapon like an Ark and teleports them to an empty space at the edge of the universe to form their own galaxy, but maybe is it actually creating its own pocket universe? (hide spoiler)] I guess that part is up to interpretation.
I also think Aurora's plan at the end is stupid, real Hollywood plotting going on. (view spoiler)[You're telling me they thought of a previous Trigger stealing the weapon but didn't think that perhaps another previous Trigger could have come up with the plan to give themselves to the Ra'haam and convince them to acknowledge individuality at some point? If you're working on reducing the hive mind, there has to be a source somewhere that started that impulse overpowering and imposing itself onto the other identities, why didn't Aurora come across that source? Feels like kind of a cop-out to say that Aurora either overpowered that source, or there never was one in the beginning and she essentially became a new source. (hide spoiler)]
Great battle, great ending, am not entirely satisfied with the outcome. ...more
This is the kind of action scifi drama I was expecting from the first book! Thankfully, a little less hormonally driven but still too much focus on hoThis is the kind of action scifi drama I was expecting from the first book! Thankfully, a little less hormonally driven but still too much focus on how beautiful the other humanoid aliens are. Character development is on-point and while some things are still a little bit predictable, they still got me in some parts.
The horrific truth about the Global Intelligence Agency agents and the Ra'haam is fresh in everyone's minds, especially the loss of their dear friend Cat. They're now renegades wanted by the Terrans for treason, Aurora Legion for court-martialling, and the Unbroken Syldrathi Saedii to force her brother Kal to turncoat. Squad 312 barely has enough time to rest, grieve, and regroup, and now hunt with more drive than before to find the weapon the Eshvaren left to destroy the parasitic fungus and save the galaxy.
The most annoying trait of this book is that every time Syldrathi comes up, it's immediately preceded or succeeded by a few sentences about how beautiful Syldrathi are, how absolutely sexy they are, and the elegance of the script or the alpha-maleness of the Warbreeds or mystical sage frailty of their Waywalkers are. There're two more castes in the Syldrathi culture, why haven't we encountered more of them?! They're making pit stops at other stations and stuff, why are we only seeing Waywalker refugees and Unbroken Warbreeds? It's the same old same old.
I'm mad that they did Cat dirty. Obviously the team needs to experience some kind of loss to harden their resolve to end the bad mushrooms and stuff, but why was Cat written like a sexy independent tsundere pining over slightly unrequited love with Tyler, and then gets done in by plant-controlled zombie chimps? And then Tyler, realizing what he's lost, thinks about Cat a lot, exhibits what I consider (view spoiler)[slight necrophilia in that he keeps kinda getting turned on thinking about the time he and Cat had sex. But then seems like he's kinda masochistic or something with his sexual tension with Saedii? This, after there seems to be some sort of crush Aurora used to have with Tyler before she kinda began acknowledging the Pull with Kal. (hide spoiler)] These guys are so stereotypically guys, and the girls are also stereotypically girls. Makes it an easy read, but the more we can skip over their physical attractiveness and sexual tension, the easier I'll breathe when it's all over because the action happens fast, and the romance brakes it all with slow burn. I could get whiplash over it, but I read fast so it doesn't irritate me as much.
Leaning into stereotypes is the secrets. The secrets, secrets, secrets. (view spoiler)[How does Adams prepare a box an entire eight years before the team? I suspect it's there's some sort of pseudo-science going on about timelessness and its fluidity that allows some sort of time-travel to happen. Saedii and Kal are the Starslayer's kids, and he might be the previous Trigger before Aurora; so, the weapon used to destroy his homeplanet has to be Eshvaren in origin that was originally meant to be used against the Ra'haam. The memory of the Eshvaren is acting slightly sussy because it keeps saying "burn it all", what if the Eshvaren are higher-level beings existing on a different plane and want to reclaim this current plane, but can only do so if their cultured bacteria of Terrans/Betraskans/Syldrathi/other unnamed alien species in destroy the cancer that is the Ra'haam? So in fact, these higher-intelligence beings are not at all friendly and both deserve to be destroyed? (hide spoiler)] The secrets being uncovered leads to predictable decisions made by the characters....more
I'm glad I'm finally done with this prolonged monologue of a series. Every character, except maybe Nico or Gideon or some of the more childish cutish I'm glad I'm finally done with this prolonged monologue of a series. Every character, except maybe Nico or Gideon or some of the more childish cutish characters who are mostly focused on living in the now and fulfilling just another step to satisfy intellectual curiosity rather than the arrogance and self-involved need to prove they are worth something, but stepping through weird flashbacks to their childhood rehash their childhood trauma over and over again.
Libby Rhodes is back with a new sense of purpose. With the Forum and various other intelligence agencies and powerful individuals (known to us as the Ezra Six) continue to hunt them to displace their position in the Alexandrian Society, the Atlas Six can only scatter, regroup, and decide what they will do next as the graduating cohort: go through with the universe-changing experiment set in motion and devised years before they came together, sacrifice one of the cohort to the archives's magic to save themselves, or die for various other reasons. The end might shock you.
The end might shock you because (view spoiler)[you might, like me, be expecting the cohort to come together in some sort of epiphany moment where they all work together through their differences to knock out the competition and stop the archives from draining them dry. None of that happens. (hide spoiler)] Some things are still hard to follow from the changing character perspectives every chapter, but it's at least being done less chaotically than the previous books (that I can recall) so the story for the book itself remains intact. As for connecting these stakes to the previous too books, well, I've got nothing.
Important notes I remember from the first two books: 1. Tristan isn't just an illusionist, he can see quantum universes. 2. Libby's a bitch. 3. Libby's ex-boyfriend Ezra Fowler was an Alexandrian who can travel through time, and in a bout of nihilism when he is with Atlas Blakely jokingly devises an experiment to open the multiverse to rule the world. Ezra and Atlas' opinions on the proper usage of this experiment diverge as Ezra continues to jump through time and Atlas' depression and age matures with him. 4. Libby sets off a nuclear bomb so she can travel forward back to her original timeline, after she is betrayed by Ezra. Also, she kills Ezra. 5. The current Alexandrian cohort has "finished" and before they leave the portals to their respective homes, they decide to switch up who exits where so the Forum and the various assassins won't be able to easily subdue them.
So each character's individual reasons and monologue are steadily being built back up in this book to remind us and connect us to the previous, but it's boring and monotonous. Each character, except Gideon and Nico, have this self-righteous persecution complex about why they're so special and selected by the Society and Atlas to conduct this experiment or join this power-hungry Society where the rich are literally only getting richer and the poorer are collateral damage.
Libby's such a bitch. I've always hated Libby, I hate Libby even more each book, and here I still find her unforgivable (view spoiler)[for literally killing Nico because she reneges on going through with the experiment, which was what she wanted to do in the first place. Nico trusted her all the way to his death, and she freaking killed him. In a way, that probably satisfies the archives' need for power...right? To sacrifice one of the cohort is an initiation rite. If Libby really wanted to be a savior, she should have let her doubts overcome herself and taken responsibility for her actions, not drain Nico dry like that! (hide spoiler)] Especially after Nico and Libby have come to a real heart-to-heart about how things have changed and how they've always stood in relation to one another. (view spoiler)[In another universe, they would definitely be together. And Libby does this to him because (hide spoiler)] she's so damaged and changed from her time in the past (can't remember why) that she's taking it out on everyone else besides herself, because she thinks it's her job to fix the world and only she can be right. Worst character ever.
Everyone else is much more palatable than Libby. Tristan, Callum, and Parisa deal with self-worth issues, Reina develops her god-complex and pushing her agenda onto others using Callum's powers. And Nico and Gideon are doing great for themselves! They're stable, they're on the same page, there's no struggle or conflict between the two. They're the best characters to be around.
The Ezra Six...are the Ezra Six. Their wants and needs wash over me because they are unimportant to me, except for Nothazai; he's the head of the Forum (view spoiler)[and Parisa bribes him into becoming the new Caretaker of the Archives haha. He's like Libby, a biomancer who has seen the ignorance of humanity too many times, and believes he can fix the world with his biomancy powers and leaking documents from the Society. (hide spoiler)]
It's the previous struggles for the characters leading up to this I can't remember, and somehow that feels like it detracts from the experience. The proper way to read this trilogy would probably be taking notes and cards for each character starting from the first book to track their progression and evolution in skills and purpose. So whatever truth that (view spoiler)[Libby had to understand in order for her to stop getting a "Request Denied" paper from the Archives that Nothazai has yet to learn, I've wiped it from my mind. (hide spoiler)] Libby is unimportant to me, despite her role in the story, because it's the other characters I care about more. We especially see Parisa making progress as a person, and Dalton. (view spoiler)[Dalton Ellery is twisted and broken, no one can fix him, Callum rightfully euthanized him before he could do some serious damage to the archives, the world, and in reviving Nico. (hide spoiler)] Still unsure what Dalton's role is supposed to be besides a Pandora's Box that shouldn't have been opened. Parisa is the wild card that probably set all of this in motion, too. I wish her happiness.
I think (view spoiler)[Callum is dead, and I don't think he deserved it here. (hide spoiler)] He's always so self-assured, so powerful, and good at getting what he wants. (view spoiler)[And when he seemed close in finally getting together with Tristan after Tristan officially leaves Libby, well, I was shocked and upset he died. Not as upset as when Nico died, but still upset. And Tristan seeing through the multiverse to see if they could have been together, well that was beautiful. (hide spoiler)] I also think that (view spoiler)[Gideon is not long for the waking world. He is a dreamer, not really belonging in the waking world and clearly he was only continuing for Nico. Like he said, with no Nico and some tenuous relationships with Libby and Max to keep him tied to the waking world, Gideon can drift through the dreamscape. I do think that maybe the Archives recreated or even absorbed Nico in its spirit, so Gideon and Nico could have their happily-ever-after after all, in the dreamworld. (hide spoiler)]
The conclusion, the ending feels right. The journey getting there was tumultuous and definitely fraught with too much self-importance and ignorance and confusion and everything in-between and more. If I were to read this again, and that's a huge "if" because I don't think I want to stand doing this again, I'd seriously need to graph out all the events into a timeline or something because there's too much metaphor and internal conflict/people-shaping to really be able to make equal progress for each character in the story....more
It's not as good an ending as I was expecting. Maybe it's because I crave more action scenes rather than long introspections. I love character developIt's not as good an ending as I was expecting. Maybe it's because I crave more action scenes rather than long introspections. I love character development, but nothing's really happened here. It's honestly too predictable a book and too predictable an ending. And about this name thing, I'm still going to stick to Juliette and Warner.
Juliette is close to being merged with her sister Emmaline as part of The Reestablishment's next biggest project, Operation Synthesis. This is the resistance's final chance to stop The Reestablishment from keeping their dictatorship in control. They need to rescue Juliette and kill Emmaline before it's too late.
We finally get a book where Juliette isn't having a meltdown every other chapter; is this a sign of maturity? It only happens because (view spoiler)[Juliette is a fully brainwashed soldier for The Reestablishment so she is thinking she has to put aside her emotions (hide spoiler)] It's the best version of Juliette I've seen since book 1 Shatter Me. What does that say about the series and Juliette in general?
If there's one thing that's cringy to me, it's how emotional Juliette is. Setting aside her three-times-a-book meltdowns, her lovelife is such a mess. First Adam, then Warner, friendly with Kenji (?!) and (view spoiler)[being attracted to Anderson?! We knew he was handsome but the attraction was buffered by the knowledge of his sadism. And as a brainwashed soldier, Anderson is kind of into that?! Max did a good job calling him out on his depravity, I'll tell you that for sure!! (hide spoiler)]. We understand now, Adam was love in a weak time when they were chasing ideals. Warner is the fated soul-mate thing and she's always met up with him a bunch of times for their similar backgrounds as children of the Supreme Commanders. This thing with Kenji...
I love Kenji, but he starts out as Adam's best friend first. His allegiances morph, to being more friendly with Warner and then becoming Juliette's best friend. I don't know why, but it feels like Adam is basically completely rewritten out of the story. His relationship with Juliette is now Warner's, and his relationship with Kenji is now shared between Juliette and Warner. Adam's sole reason for living becomes James, but even with that they both play such minor roles ever since Adam's massive break-up with Juliette. Adam may have turned into a toxic boyfriend, but I think he deserved better than this.
I'm all for star-crossed lover stuff, but Warner calling Juliette "love" all the time really gives me the heebie-jeebies....more
Undoubtedly this was the best book in the series. It has the best storyline and action sequences, and it is objectively the best book since book 1 ShaUndoubtedly this was the best book in the series. It has the best storyline and action sequences, and it is objectively the best book since book 1 Shatter Me!
Soon after the strange fake-out massacre at the symposium, Warner and Juliette are missing and their friends are in a tense and precarious situation handling the aftermath in Sector 45. Their problems are nothing compared to the secrets and revelations Juliette and Warner are soon uncovering about their shared past and The Reestablishment's plans for the future.
I understand why the attention-grabbers for these books are so short. Because with the length and the way it's written, writing a fully endearing summary would just be spoiling everything. We've learned in the previous book that Juliette's parents are the Supreme Commanders of Oceania. But what does this actually mean for the kids and the plans of The Reestablishment? Oh boy oh boy oh boy, are you in for a treat!
(view spoiler)[The big ole 'rents have been brainwashing their kids to forget about Juliette, actually named Ella, and her older and more powerful sister Emmaline. Both were donated by their parents as experiments of Unnatural superpowers that eventually helped The Reestablishment gain power over time and helps them maintain their hold over the current society. Yeah, Emmaline is damn powerful. So powerful, she's finally found the will to undo the brainwashing on all her childhood friends in an effort to get them to unite and finally lay her to rest! (hide spoiler)]
Oh gosh I'm skipping so many details because this book is really cool and really is the best book of the bunch. Real Maximum Ride and Hunger Games vibes!...more
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