A beautiful conclusion to the series. I am so glad I had the chance to say goodbye to each of the characters I have grown to love and get a glimpse into their futures. Orange is definitely a series that will stay with me for a very long time.

I would have definitely preferred another volume or two; there was easily enough content that could have been expanded. The ending felt a tad rushed, as if a happy ending took precedence over character development. The way certain characters acted seemed against their normal behavior. But the ending was still sweet and I very much enjoyed this story.

This book sets a good foundation for what I hope is a wonderful trilogy. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the characters. There could have been some more action and some of the scenes felt a little dragged out and boring, but that is to be expected of the first book of a series. The stage needs to be set before the performance can begin. I look forward to starting the next book.

This book suffers terribly from “middle book in a trilogy” syndrome. Most of it is boring with hardly any action, only serving to set up events that I assume will happen in the third book. The main love interests spend more than half the book arguing or flat out not speaking, which is just exhausting at this point. Alina is becoming more dislikable with every passing chapter. I truly hope she sorts herself out in the next book, because it is awful watching her treat people the way she does. Some of the twists revealed were a bit too predictable. I’m disappointed, but I remain hopeful that the third book will impress me.

I really enjoyed this conclusion to the trilogy. I can understand other readers’ anger with it, but I think an unsatisfying, imperfect ending is necessary every now and then. It’s what makes the story real. It was enough for me.

Alina is an irritating and infuriating protagonist, but my main issue with this trilogy was the constant recycling of plot points. Oh, Alina and Mal are captured. Oh, they’ve escaped. Oh, they’re captured again. It’s not just the big plot points like that either, it goes down to the little ones too. Its just the same story told over and over. It’s exhausting and made getting through this trilogy a bit frustrating. I felt like this story could have been told a lot quicker with the repeating plot cut down.

Despite my criticism, I truly did enjoy this series. Leigh Bardugo has achieved something quite special by not only making me want to read, but making me want to WRITE. I haven’t felt this inspired in a very long time. I’m looking forward to reading more of the Grishaverse from another protagonist’s perspective.

What I expected was a ruthless and stunning villainess who would do anything to further her own agenda. What I got was a sweet little cinnamon roll who is far too precious for any world. Am I disappointed? No. Mystia is selfless, compassionate, and adorable. But she lacks the common cliches bestowed upon young female protagonists like herself in the romance manga genre. She is refreshing and delightful. The other characters that I have met so far have also been wonderful. I am very much looking forward to continuing Mystia’s story and meeting the remaining members of the main cast.

I really enjoy the glimpses this manga gives of the feelings and stories of other characters. Yes, Mystia is the protagonist, but it’s refreshing to let another character shoulder the mantle for a chapter every now and then. It keeps the story engaging and interesting. This volume loses a star simply because of Jey. He’s straying a bit too far into the creepy stalker arena instead of humble love interest. I hope some sense is knocked into him later on.

I enjoyed having a strong female protagonist that is not constantly questioned by the men around her. The men surrounding Shahrzad celebrate her strength and admire her resolve; they aim to make her stronger rather than tear her down. She isn’t a flawless protagonist either. She acknowledges her shortcomings and works to fix them.

But I still felt this book had some limitations. I understand the allure behind being cryptic every now and then, but so much of this book was extremely muddled and difficult to tell exactly what was going on. I felt that a lot was left up to reader interpretation. The magic was underwhelming. For how much of this plot depends upon the existence of wizardry and curses, magic was hardly ever mentioned or explored. I also felt that this book was twice as long as it needed to be. The story was very drawn out and slow-moving, and it doesn’t ever really pick up.

A very cute retelling of the Disney movie, but it feels geared towards much younger readers. Cinderella is sick of waiting around in misery for someone to save her and decides to pursue her happy ending herself. I like how she is still the sweet, kindhearted heroine we’re familiar with, but she isn’t a pushover. She stands up for herself and overcomes most of her troubles on her own.

A very simplistic story that’s heavy on the fan-service, but if you enjoy that kind of thing every now and then, this is a good one to pick up. This concept has been done numerous times, but it’s nice to see it as two female characters this time around.