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shealea 's review for:
Honor Bound
by Rachel Caine
I am confused, baffled, and flabbergasted by what I just read. And I suspect that the absurd cliffhanger ending is a strategic ploy to force readers into buying the last book.
But y'all can't fool me. I am DONE with this series, and I will happily pretend that I never read the first two books.
Final impressions:
• Honor Among Thieves was weird in a fun, compelling way. But this sequel? Plain weirdness all around.
• The beginning was sluggish and boring, the middle was unexpectedly convoluted, and the ending was frustratingly abrupt
• Beginning - Admittedly, my interest started dwindling during the pit fights where, shocker of all shockers, it was discovered that Zara Cole has an unparalleled talent for fighting and a superpower for identifying her opponents' weaknesses.
• Middle - From fighting against a godlike Big Bad to making life-threatening deals with an organized crime boss to engaging in multiple skirmishes against the phage, this sequel threw so many elements into its plot that if it were a meal, I'd spit it out. There were so many add-ons to the original threat (i.e. the phage) that the plot was absurdly messy and insufferably redundant, jumping from one battle to another.
• Ending - Since majority of the story was spent fighting baddies and running away, the final battle scene came across as anticlimactic and unsatisfying.
• I adored all the character relationships and found family energy in the first book, so I was disappointed to see Zara Cole's crewmates becoming hollowed husks whose sole purpose is to hype her up.
• In line with this, the bizarre sexual undertones of Zara and Nadim and Beatriz's relationship were not for me.
• On top of all my complaints, the biggest shortcoming of Honor Bound lies in its protagonist, Zara Cole. Cementing her status as special snowflake with superpowers early on in the sequel, her self-serving, impulsive behavior and presumed self-importance (enabled by the other characters) quickly grew irritating.
Not recommended.
But y'all can't fool me. I am DONE with this series, and I will happily pretend that I never read the first two books.
Final impressions:
• Honor Among Thieves was weird in a fun, compelling way. But this sequel? Plain weirdness all around.
• The beginning was sluggish and boring, the middle was unexpectedly convoluted, and the ending was frustratingly abrupt
Spoiler
since it literally ends in the middle of a big battle scene.• Beginning - Admittedly, my interest started dwindling during the pit fights where, shocker of all shockers, it was discovered that Zara Cole has an unparalleled talent for fighting and a superpower for identifying her opponents' weaknesses.
• Middle - From fighting against a godlike Big Bad to making life-threatening deals with an organized crime boss to engaging in multiple skirmishes against the phage, this sequel threw so many elements into its plot that if it were a meal, I'd spit it out. There were so many add-ons to the original threat (i.e. the phage) that the plot was absurdly messy and insufferably redundant, jumping from one battle to another.
• Ending - Since majority of the story was spent fighting baddies and running away, the final battle scene came across as anticlimactic and unsatisfying.
• I adored all the character relationships and found family energy in the first book, so I was disappointed to see Zara Cole's crewmates becoming hollowed husks whose sole purpose is to hype her up.
• In line with this, the bizarre sexual undertones of Zara and Nadim and Beatriz's relationship were not for me.
• On top of all my complaints, the biggest shortcoming of Honor Bound lies in its protagonist, Zara Cole. Cementing her status as special snowflake with superpowers early on in the sequel, her self-serving, impulsive behavior and presumed self-importance (enabled by the other characters) quickly grew irritating.
Not recommended.