3.5 to 4. I definitely enjoyed the first one more but I still love this crew. In the author, interview in the back, she mentions that she had to write this book quickly, or at least more quickly, and near the end, you could feel that as a reader.

Kaz is a fun and darkly damaged Jonny Ocean character, but some things just felt too slick. Even when she has them tripped up and failing in the middle, he still felt too smooth.

Spoiler-ish:

The character death at the end felt random, rushed, and almost forced. Like she couldn’t allow all of them to make it out, there had to be some loss, but it didn’t seem like it carried the gravity it should have. If that’s how it was going to go down, I think she should’ve just let them all live.

I really thoroughly enjoyed this. A peak into another world and culture, a flawed but relatable main character, female relationships, some funny and sexy stories written by older women, a murder plot. There’s just a lot here to enjoy.

We did it! The final canonical WOF in the series. We still have one stand alone left, but good lord. I’ve read 15 of these out loud to my kids - time well spent.

I’m giving this five stars not so much because of the emotional or intellectual impact it had on me but for the effort and creativity. This is so creatively assembled and hooked me from the first chapter. For the length I did think I got a little rushed at the end and we could’ve explored the big reveal of what was happening a little more.


SPOILER COMMENTS:

I don’t totally understand why Felicity decided to come back and kill Evelyn. What was her motivation for that? Also, I really wanted to learn more about who the hell Annabelle was before prison. They wanted us to believe she was the worst person ever and told us one antidote, but why did she do that? Who is she?

3.5 | I love the setting, the Yōkai, the characters; it’s just that most of the book is spent on Ren’s internal monologue of self doubt and guilt. That’s important, sure, but I got tired of her. Meanwhile the conflicts came and went too easily. I found Neven’s storyline particularly disappointing, particularly in the first half. There was so much more to explain and cover there. Ren didn’t even have to work for it.

Again, always amazing.

I have a son who wants to be a spy and a mechanic, so this modern take on Joe and Frank Hardy is fun before-bed reading! At 5 my kiddo is not exactly a master mystery solver, but it’s fun to watch him try to track the clues and begin thinking critically about details.