Violet
A romance once against frustrates me to no end, whilst warming my heart against the backdrop of pain, heartbreak and death.
A new hope blooms in the most hopeless and terrible of situations.
A woman tested in fire finds herself powerless against the greatest power she has faced.
A man feels his heart shatter just as it is made whole again.
An ancient power in the hands of a cunning zealot unleashes Death on an usurped empire.
A battle must be fought.
I'm torn. I really am. Should I be happy or sad after that ending? Is Yarvi the devil incarnate, and therefore deserves to burn in the depths of hell for being a ruthless, cunning traitor, or is he a man who struggled under the weight of power and did his best to steer the Gettland and the Shattered Sea towards a unified future? Is Yarvi the man with the wicked, ruthless glean to his eyes and enough ambition for 100 men, or is he the man who broke down with tears before Princess Skara?
Is the conclusion to Raith's story the happiest it could be for a man who scorned all he once was and stood for and could never be with either of the women he wanted?
All becomes dust. If Raith's perspective has told me anything it is this. War, peace, kings and high kings come and go but ultimately, all returns to what is was before.
I don't know.
This book was good, and other than the love triangles (triangle? I feel like Helene and Elias were never going to be together) I can't really fault it too much(see also: instalove). But these days, it seems you can't sell a YA book without love triangles and instalove, so I've learned to overlook them. But I didn't develop a close relationship with many characters. Laia.. Laia. Laia was interesting. Many would call her spineless, but she was thrown into a very hard situation, that she'd never been in before, and imho, performed honourably. Elias was an interesting character as well. But at the end of the book, I still didn't care as much as I should about the characters.
I liked the relentless brutality of the book. Kept everyone on their toes. But still.. I didn't like it as much as other 4-star books I've read. I don't know quite why though, so I'll give it the 4-stars it deserves.
So I am reviewing this after reading all three books. This is the only book I am placing a review on in the trilogy.
This one is the best.
Book one was slow and too romantic. book 3 was good but the ending was.. unsatisfying somehow. This one was great. I cannot fault it.
Amazing prose. Not quite Patrick Rothfuss, but still, some of my favourite writing.
This book is somewhat philosophical and definitely grim. Karou is sad. Akiva is sad. Everyone is sad. I am sad. War is sad. sad. sad. sad.
This is a very quotable book. So many amazing passages. SO much beautiful writing.
I don't know if I can finish this.
post-apocalyptic ya... ugh.
Once the action stops, I realize I hate the characters, the plot, the everything. Sorry everyone, it seems I simply can't like this genre.
So this book is getting a temporary DNF, until I decide to force my way through it like I did with divergent... sigh.
I don't like Tamlin, not because i though he was an asshole in this book, but because he is boring as fuck. And not fun. Also lets ignore the first half of the book with its boring uninspired romance and too much feeling and not enough actual plot.
ahh
shit
that
gods
damned
ending.
I really loved this book. This book had a lot more action and stuff. More stuff happened. More stuff. I am really eloquent aren't I? Book 1 felt slow at times, especially in the first half. Book 1 felt like it was setting up for something for the whole book. That something, was this book.
It really annoyed me how close Arin kept getting to the true motives behind Kestrel's actions. And how close Kestrel kept getting to telling him.
Had Arin just stayed a few more moments at that tavern...
Or maybe if Arin had realized that she was denying him for her father in the music room..
Orrrr if Tensen had delivered Kestrel's letter...
It is so infuriating.
JUST LOVE EACH OTHER ALREADY PLEASE.
The ending was amazing and painful. So very painful. I almost cried - that is a hard thing to get me do for a book- I think I've only cried once: for Brandon Sanderson's the Hero of Ages. I am very exciting for book 3.
