This was a pretty good ending to the series, as far as the actual plot goes. I enjoyed seeing more of the queen and getting a little more insight into how the blood debts work, as that's been a bit hazy throughout the series to this point. 

I really feel like there wasn't enough character development in this series, though. It felt like all of the characters were really shallow empty husks, and we were just being told these surface facts about them. 

There was also zero chemistry between anyone, ever, in the entire book. There was literally a marriage, and I never felt any kind of romance between the two. Maybe, for like half a second, there was a cute swoon scene with Rhen and Marjory, but even that's a stretch! 

These books needed to be longer and more fleshed out. The characters needed some deeper personality points, and the relationships need A LOT of work (plus a few sparks). But the plot was there. The story was there. This is one of those times I stuck around for the plot and NOT the characters, and I don't think that happens very often. 

I'm not sure if I lost my attention span in this one or if the story just lost its pull on me because I definitely didn't love book two as much as book 1. 

The book goes by in a blink, but yet so much happens in that blink at I feel like ingot hit upside the head with it all, and I'm struggling to come to terms with it. 

There's not enough of this book for everything that happened in it. I constantly felt like I was being bombarded by new information and new villains and new allies. I honestly had to stop a few times just to get my bearings. 

That being said, I like the story. The plot is absolutely there, I just with the author took a breath and maybe slowed things down a little bit. I could use a little bit more character development and world building. Maybe some background into the magic system. 

This book was just as good as the first. It absolutely followed through as a sequel, and I loved every minute of it. 

We cycle through all of the povs so seamlessly that I never feel like there is a lull in the story. The pace is so steady, and the alternating character focuses kept me so interested that it was impossible to put this one down. 

I'm so invested in all of the different characters, some for different reasons than others. I love and hate characters. I worry for others, I'm scared of others. I can't help but hope for so many of them (and then get my hopes dashed because this is not a happily ever after kind of book). All of the emotions, all of the time.

I'm so completely, 100% invested in this story, and I can't get enough. 

This book went by so fast, and I loved it. Maybe so much so that I felt like there should be more of it. 

I love Nim and her character. The magic system is intriguing and interesting, and I love the spin that this story took. All the little pop-ups of things I didn't see coming kept me on my toes. I love being surprised in a book, so if I am, I'm one happy camper. 

While I like Warrick, I don't feel all the feels with him and Nim, so that part of this book is a little lacking for me. This book is super fast-paced, so that might have something to do with it, but there really wasn't much chemistry or development in their relationship for me. They weren't, they kinda were, and then they were. Bing bang boom. 

Character shout out to Wes ♡

While I think we could have gone a bit deeper into the magic system, and the Origins of the chaos between the King and the Queen, the story is done quite well, and I look forward to the next.

I love Mo Willems. His stories are a staple in my household, and I always look forward to the nights when my kids pick one of his books. So, as soon as I stumbled across this book, I knew I needed it. 

It was absolutely everything I wanted it to be. The perfect little nugget of happiness in my life.

This series was… not worth my time. That's the best way to put that. 

I was bored 90% of the time. It was predictable and frustrating because of it. None of the characters had any depth and lacked any kind of personal development that didn't have anything to do with getting magic powers. 

Cal is the worst FMC that I've read in a while. Her “quartz” powers were absolutely ridiculous and felt like a cop-out to make things easy and end the series. 

I didn't have fun here. I rolled my eyes too much. I was annoyed too much. The story never even tried to surprise you. It just followed the cliche tropes and embraced the fact that it wasn't trying to be any kind of different.

This book was entirely predictable and felt simple. I was bored for most of it because it was pretty obvious what was going to happen, and therefore, I didn't care about getting all that invested.

All of the characters are shallow, and there was no real effort put into giving them any kind of personality, and the only character development came in the form of super special power. Insert eye roll.  

I can't tell you why exactly, but this book just isn't quite working for me. 

I don't think I'm entirely grasping the magic system, which I can only assume is going to come into play a lot more in the following two books, so I'm a little worried about that. 

I also don't really like Cal. Or Ash. Or Fox… so there's an issue there as well. Cal just feels like a knock-off Katniss, honestly, and she spends most of the games hiding. 

It was a quick read, so that's saving it somewhat as I got through the games.and into.the heart of the rebellion pretty quickly, and that part of the book was a little more interesting. 

I'm not invested, though. I won't lie. I don't really care about what happens next. 

This whole series has been quite a let down for me. 

All of the characters in this book were extremely cliche and I struggled to connect with anyone at all. 

The only thing that really kept me even a little bit interested was the hope that we would learn more about Waylynns connection to the guys. But we don't. At all. We barely even touch on it whatsoever. 

Considering it started off as a big selling point to me for these books, I found it to be extremely misleading. It wasn't a part of these novels at all. It was thrown in now and then just to keep the reader intrigued, but nothing ever came from it. 

I found Waylynn to be meek and pathetic. And Her woe is me attitude along with cowering to the guys at every chance absolutely ruined her character for me. The typical jock, alpha male and third wheel best friend as her boyfriends was just over the top. 

It wasn't for me. This series was not for me.

This was fun! 

I was so excited to find this series when I was looking for books to read to my daughter, and although the overall storyline might have been quite predictable, it did not disappoint. 

I loved Carter and the gang. It was so fun reading them all finding their places together and creating magic within their little group. 

Mr. Vernon (and the other Mr. Vernon) were such awesome little side characters, and I had this little giggle every time Mr. Vernon came around pretending he had no idea what the kids were up to. As a parent reading the story to my daughter, I think he added so much to the overall story. 

My 9 year old daughter thought it was fun and loved the riddles in the book and all the illustrations. Without spoilers here, she absolutely loved the ending and got so excited when everything came together. 

We are without a doubt moving on to book 2 immediately!