Bit of a letdown, actually. This book meanders more than a road trip book, and I rolled with it previously because it was a middle book and thematically it seemed fun and slightly on point. But this is something else.

It opens with B-plot from the previous book and just… coasts for around half the entire book, and the A-plot by this time is so tangled up in just seemingly random stuff going on, that I just didn’t care that much about it. By then Simon and Baz have had the same argument for the, I don’t know, 12th time? The plot beats are so boring, especially concerning their relationship, which seems to spin endlessly on wheels.

But then we also have the joy of endless digressions into so many points of views nothing actually seemed to matter anymore. There are so many tangents with other characters that this book is literally not even about Baz and Simon anymore. The questions I did find interesting weren’t even answered by the end still.

Even the magic spells in this one were weird; a large amount I’d never even heard of. Don’t they derive their power from being in the general intellect?

Bad plot, bad plotting, way too many diversions, way too many B plots, so much so A-plot was B-plot and a much too slim payoff. Rowell seems to be at her best when depicting courting, rather than an actual relationship. I did like Shepard, but the most interesting things about him, again, go unanswered (despite taking up like half the book).

There is an interesting reveal, a few genuine moments, some of which are tender, the main draw of this writing, I feel—but otherwise felt like a few anime episodes leading up to a finale with filler and tangents and trying to tie up random plot threads you probably won’t remember while actually dolling out little substance.