I won’t lie. I was reluctant to dive back into the world with Darrow. So much war and ruin, and to be fair the last book felt sluggish. I loved the story but it felt out of place and glacial compared to the first trilogy of books. This one took until nearly 250 pages to get cranking. We get to see the weariness from our favorite main characters. The war, the political machinations, the scheming and plotting- it wears the soul down to a nub. Chaos reigns supreme, and never was it more chaotic than when Vox upends everything only to fall victim to more of the Golds and their endless 4D chess moves. 

Y’all. I’m tired. The parallels to the current issues in the US are not lost on me. But this feels like it’s all over the place. We got Red Hand, we got Ephraim and his bullshit, we got Mercury, and now we have Fa and his mythical crap (did I miss the seeds planted for this one, or did this just materialize from deep space for the hell of it?) And poor Pax and Electra feel like they’ve been nearly forgotten for most of the book so far, despite being the main plot point for most of the action. I am at a loss, dear readers. I want to love this, I do. But I’m not even to page 500 and I am wondering what in the hell is going on here. This doesn’t feel like good chaos, it just feels like too many cooks in the editorial kitchen chaos. 

I’ll continue reading. I’ve come this far but if Brown doesn’t pull a rabbit out of a hat and start weaving these together, I’ll be sending him a box of grapes. 

Okay. Seriously. A CLONE. Ffs. I can’t even…

Lysander, you little pissant. No one likes you. Gods that child is insufferable. 

I have mixed feelings on this one. It felt like a lot going on and at times, frenetic pacing. Then it would crawl along. I found myself getting bored and irritated. I’m not sure if it’s just where I am mentally or if it’s with the storyline. This felt like a lot (more than just page count).

I think I might hold off on Lightbringer for a bit. Maybe I need a break before I dive back in.