I managed to finish this book but that’s the most positive I can say about this book. While many of the pieces technically qualify as YA, the narrative voice felt like a cheesy Disney movie targeted at 8 year olds.I do not know how this seemed like a good idea to publish for a YA audience.
Oh. My. Word. I loved this book. Finally, another fantasy 5 star read. (They have been few and far between this year.) I read this book over a single afternoon, sucked in and unable to resurface until the end. This book cements Alix E. Harrow’s status as an auto-buy author for me.
Fonda Lee has incredible skill. I normally have little interest in fight scenes whether written or filmed but Lee beautifully crafted the many (many!) fight scenes in this book. I also appreciated how she adapted her writing for a YA audience. I will definitely continue in this series.
Prior to writing my review, I rated this book 4.5 stars. Upon reflection, I bumped my rating up to 5 stars. Lu’s adult debut completely wowed me. I loved how she crafted the world, the magic system, and the characters. I cannot wait to see where she takes the two main characters in the rest of the series.
It took me a little while to get back into this book since it has been years since I read the first one. I appreciated a lot of what Zhao did in this book – especially the space travel sort of aspect – but felt like the narrative got weighted down by bloat. I will complete the trilogy but will not automatically pick up more books from the author.
Garber’s Once Upon a Broken Heart series must be a unicorn for me. I have absolutely not liked any of her other books with this one coming in the lowest. The concept could have worked but I could not stand the main character. With the stakes as high as Garber purported them to be, that main character should not have survived. I will definitely not continue in the series and will likely not pick up from Garber again.
