ofclumsywords's Reviews (486)

“Defeated by a young boy, a naïve girl, and a Jedi Apprentice. It was not a good day.” 

This was another great addition to The Phantom Menace story told in Darth Maul’s point of view. The reader gets background into Maul’s training as a sith and how truly horrible Darth Sidious is. The author—Jude Watson—always does a fantastic job writing in the Star Wars universe and she brought Maul to life in a new way in which we have never seen before. 

I have mixed feelings about this book. As the final book of the trilogy, the ending was good but I felt like the final battle was a little predictable.

Especially when Rhen had Grey turn him back into a monster to kill Lilith. I really wish that it had been the magical dagger or Tycho to kill her instead of going back to the plot point of the first book. That seems a little more original and would give Tycho a great turning point as a character.

Though on the other hand, I did like the theme of peace and Rhen and Grey both growing more as characters to find another way to resolve their issues. The ending was also a bit opened ended. But by the time I read this book Forging Silver into Stars was already announced and released so I knew that a new story about what happens after the war would tie things up and continue the story of Emberfall and Syl Shallow. 

One of my biggest peeves of the book is something that I get annoyed with other books as well:

unnecessary pregnancies

. I did not think that this book needed it or it added to the plot as well. If anything, I am glad it happened at the end of the book so that Grey wasn’t worrying about Lia Mara the entire time instead of focusing on the war. 

All in all, this book was fine. I don’t regret reading it, but its a little shocking that book two was the best out of this trilogy. Usually I find myself loving the ending more than the lead up to the main plot, but this series surprised me in many ways. But I can’t give Kemmerer enough praise for not only writing an interesting and new idea for the age old Beauty and the Beast retelling, but also for all the other amazing series’ she has created. 

“A war does not ignore half the people whose lives it touches. So why do we?”

A story told by Calliope giving inspiration to a poet who is in need of something to write. 

Calliope makes it clear from the very beginning that the only inspiration she is giving the poet is of the women of Troy. Haynes added such passion to her performance of the audiobook that you feel everything each of the women feels. That alone makes this book so memorable. I am so glad this book exists and I can’t wait to discover more of what Haynes has written. 

I wish I could change my ratings on A Curse so Dark and Lonely and give the remaining stars to this book. Not only that, I wish there were more than five stars to give. Here I thought A Curse so Dark and Lonely was excellent and then here comes this book and smashes all my expectations! Usually when I read a second book in a series, it doesn’t hold muster to the first; but this series is certainly turning my expectations upside down. 

I adored Grey in the first book as the surly yet stoic guard commander to the prince. But this book has added so much more depth to Grey and I think I love him even more now. Not to mention the introduction to new characters that instantly stole my heart. I can’t wait to find out what happens in the last book, especially with the huge surprise at the end. I’m still not a fan of Rhen—especially in this book—but with how that last chapter ended I can kind of understand where he is coming from. Even if he is doing everything the wrong way. I would love to see a redemption arc for Rhen in this last book to make up for his stupid mistakes in this series. While also getting a happily ever after for all the amazing characters. 

“Fate is a tangle. We can only follow a thread.”

This book added so much to Phantom Menace and we get to see everything through Padme’s eyes. The added moments she and Qui-Gon have right before he left to battle Maul was heart wrenching. As was the few moments Padme and Obi-Wan shared after Qui-Gon’s death, discussing how to honor his memory. It was an excellent book and paired very well with the junior novelization of Phantom Menace.

I’m going to try the audiobook of this instead. You can tell that this is one of Sanderson’s very first books. Even though its an interesting plot, he had not honed his writing skills yet and the flow seems off and there is a constant info dump that it is hard to keep up. 

This is one of the most spine chilling books I’ve ever read. St. James sets such an atmosphere around the motel that as the reader you feel like you are there right along side Vivian and Carly. It was so vividly written that I felt the same terror as these characters felt as they experienced the motel coming to life around them as the mystery unraveled. I honestly don’t know if I will ever find another book that transports me into its pages like this one does. 

I also enjoyed the fact that this book has two timelines; Vivian’s in 1982, and her niece Carly’s in 2017. Both of their stories connect, but yet they clearly have their own story to tell. When the POV changed I was both excited to get back to the other timeline and yet frustrated because I needed to know more of the other and didn’t want to be left hanging. St. James kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and yet made it so spooky that I almost didn’t want to turn the next page. This is exactly the kind of ghostly murder mystery I’ve been looking for!

The conclusion to the Defy the Night trilogy is the most action packed out of the three and easily my favorite book. Corrick, Tessa, and Harristan grew as characters throughout this entire series, but I would argue the most growth was in this book alone.

I am so glad Harristan was given more chapters in this book because he easily is my favorite character. After he and Corrick have to part ways we really get to see who he is without the support of his brother and how he handles having to save his kingdom by himself. And let me tell you, he did an excellent job becoming the king Kandala needed during all the unrest.

Corricks return had me in tears (if you know, you know). But seeing him also become the man he was meant to be and forgive himself for what he had to do in the past was another excellent turning point for this book. Him and Tessa are really a power couple and I wish there would be more books to see what the future brings for them. 

There was no big reveal of who the main bad guy was; though there was a shock of a reveal that another character was involved in something that began before the books started.  Kemmerer was clear from the beginning who the villains were and it was a breath of fresh air to already know who they were and for the main characters to already know as well. The majority of the book instead was dedicated to character growth and how the main characters would take down the villains. 

I did not reread the first two books before starting the final one (as there was at least a year between the publishing of each one) so a few of the minor political plots I had forgotten about. But this book easily reminded me of most of it as I was reading. Though that is also the beauty of rereading books one after another so you can find those minor details and enjoy it more. And I intend to revisit this series again so I can get my fill of incredible characters and an amazing plot.