Chloe
Liked it. Not my fav of hers, but it was also her first book I think and I still enjoyed it :)
Ohhhhh my god Ruby Landers is far and away my fav romance author. Sweetly written and with a little bit of mystery woven in, I always finish her books feeling a genuine sense of hope and happiness. I loved Grace Notes so much that I put off reading this for almost TWO MONTHS, worried that I wouldn't like it as much. I should have picked it up as soon as it released.
An incredible followup to the first book and somehow surpasses it as well. Cannot wait to see what Martine puts out next.
Was okay, felt a little rushed in parts, especially towards the end. Might have been more interesting as a full novel.
Consider this a review for the whole series. Overall, the art, story, direction etc were good. I genuinely enjoyed reading it, almost in it's entirety (we'll get to that). The characters are developed decently, though occasionally make slightly out of character decisions to move the plot forward imo. The story being told through years, and in the last few issues, decades, was intriguing and it was interesting to watch the characters grow up from teenage killers and turn into regular people (ish).
However.... (spoilers ahead)
The last few issues were a paper thin veneer of neoliberal Gen X simpering for the establishment. The idea that after all of this punk rock/shitty childhood/teenage angst/assassin school buildup we essentially get a “and then everything was good because our ghoulishly evil standin for conservatism and racism was arrested” is just so incredibly toothless I found it laughable. A weird dig about “post-liberals” online, hamfisted “orange man bad” political analysis, the last few issues just felt forced and weak. It's clear that for Remender, its easy for him to look back and decry Reagan and the conservative movements of the 80s, but the whole thing just feels depressing and like the message is “eventually you grow up”. With the amount of anger the characters start out with, it feels like a betrayal to turn them into people who let the system decide what justice is, and more importantly, to allow them to embrace the system as it is, without making any meaningful difference.
DNF at like chapter 2, started listening on audiobook and it was fine I guess but switched to reading and just didn't like the writing at all
9.5/10 for star wars, 8.5 independently. Good entry for the new canon, better than a fair amount of the EU stuff.
Probably the best book I've read this year. Kept me hooked all the way through. 10/10, 5 stars, etc.
Learned more about contemporary Armenian culture from this book than from my family so that's something?
Good sequel to the first, organically introduces new characters and plot while keeping the thread of the first going. I enjoyed some parts more than others but overall worth the read
Enjoyable, though not quite groundbreaking. Probably what you'd expect from a post-apocalyptic YA novel, but more interesting than some of the schlock in the same category.
