The Laughing Listener
April 2019
*I was graciously given a free copy in exchange for an honest review*
Format: Ebook ARC
Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars

“Failure is inevitable. In everything we do. It’s what you make of it that matters.”

Oh man, what a ride! I’m so upset that I sat on this book for so long because it was such a fun read!! The characters in this book are top-notch and I am 100% on board for the second one. Mordecai is everything I wanted The Darkling to be in [b:Shadow and Bone|10194157|Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1339533695s/10194157.jpg|15093325], so don’t mind me swooning in the corner over here.



Admittedly the beginning half of this book was a little slow. I really loved the story and that we’re dropped in this new world with Ember. It was so fun learning everything with her and trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. But this also meant a lot of explanations and history lessons of the universe and at times it felt a little information-dump-esque. I didn’t mind too much because what we learn is interesting, but it doesn’t exactly make for an exciting plot.

We do get to meet a lot of fun characters though and getting to know them was my favorite part of the first half! Eriyan and Dantos are my FAVORITE and I can’t wait for more of their banter in the next book!! I also really really loved Ember and felt such a strong connection to her character. She’s not strong in the literal physical sense, but she has a quiet inner strength and a great sense of humor. Ember is also super cunning and good at manipulation, which I always really love reading about.

When you reach the halfway mark on this thing, LOOK OUT. Because the plot takes off and I couldn’t put this down! I was literally sneaking reads in the bathroom at work by the end. Mordecai is such an awesome morally grey villain and I LOVED IT. First of all, his name is so cool?? At first it was weird because it made me think of the giant blue jay Mordecai from The Regular Show.



But it didn’t take too long to win me over and I just love how different that name is—I’ve never heard it in another YA novel. And he was such a layered character, it was so fun to watch his relationship with Ember unfold. Okay, maaaaaaybe it was a little cliche at times, but WHATEVER. I’M HERE FOR IT. SIGN ME UP FOR MORE.

I’m hoping that in book two we get to explore the world a little more. We get some really cool glimpses of it in the beginning, but I couldn’t help wishing for a little more exploration. Understandably, Ember is a tad distracted being on the run for her life and all, so it didn’t bother me too much. But my fingers are crossed for more next time because this universe seems awesome! I love that the lands are broken up by the different placements of the sun and times of day.

FINAL WORD

If you like young-adult fantasy romance books, then you’ll like this too. The characters are awesome and it only gets better the more you read!

#1 ↦ Evenfall ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧
#2 ↦ [b:Emergence|42616309|Emergence (Shadowfire, #2)|Gaja J. Kos|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1541209532s/42616309.jpg|66331697] ↦ ?????