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Not at all recommended unless you HAVE read Part 1. But if you have, then it closes the story off nicely, although I don't think I followed all the complexity of some of the plot strands.
Male and female POV writing - nicely done.
Military detail - extensive and lovingly described, esp. battle strategy, you'll need to really enjoy that stuff to get through this book.
An awareness of how fantasy realms track against real ones and the resonance of an army of 'plucky whites' fighting overwhelming numbers of 'the locals' in a desert setting - highly lacking. Making the indigenous people 'grey-skinned' didn't in any way solve the race problem, especially when we start the book very promisingly from their POV.
A good story, that could have been made great by listening to a sensitivity reader's feedback. 14/20
Military detail - extensive and lovingly described, esp. battle strategy, you'll need to really enjoy that stuff to get through this book.
An awareness of how fantasy realms track against real ones and the resonance of an army of 'plucky whites' fighting overwhelming numbers of 'the locals' in a desert setting - highly lacking. Making the indigenous people 'grey-skinned' didn't in any way solve the race problem, especially when we start the book very promisingly from their POV.
A good story, that could have been made great by listening to a sensitivity reader's feedback. 14/20
Loved: the overall premise of dream hunting and their playback for healing and entertainment -- and more; the descriptions of the land; the family & friend relationships between the characters; magical singing.
Didn't love: the end of the book coming halfway through the story, not at all a satisfying place to stop; Laura-the-heroine's spinelessness and thoughtlessness; Sandy-the-possible-love-interest's uncomfortable stalkerishness and unpleasant obsession with wealth and privilege; having to reread the start a couple of times because I lost track of the family tree very quickly; mentions of the Christian church and 'The Mill on the Floss' ... I was quite comfortable in this being an alternate reality, and those elements grounded it a little too much for me. Hadn't twigged that it was set in a version of New Zealand, but that does make sense with the global geography described.
If you come across both Duet parts, then it's worth a read. 14/20
Didn't love: the end of the book coming halfway through the story, not at all a satisfying place to stop; Laura-the-heroine's spinelessness and thoughtlessness; Sandy-the-possible-love-interest's uncomfortable stalkerishness and unpleasant obsession with wealth and privilege; having to reread the start a couple of times because I lost track of the family tree very quickly; mentions of the Christian church and 'The Mill on the Floss' ... I was quite comfortable in this being an alternate reality, and those elements grounded it a little too much for me. Hadn't twigged that it was set in a version of New Zealand, but that does make sense with the global geography described.
If you come across both Duet parts, then it's worth a read. 14/20
The top critical reviews rather sum up my thinking. It's a technically well-written book, on the Y end of YA, but I've just finished a fan fiction with a similar starting point (arranged marriage for the good of the lands) and the story of actually going through with the relationship and dealing with its outcome was, sadly, way more realistic for a fantasy royal, and enjoyably-told for this fantasy reader, than feistily running away and working in a pub for half the book, risking war for everyone else. 13/20
